Page 4 of Silver Flirt

My friend Lisa makes a sympathetic noise on the other end of the line. “You know how Peter Foulkes is. Always putting profit over people.”

It’s Friday afternoon. And thanks to a late meeting with a vendor, I’ve decided to wait out the worst of Houston traffic at the office before heading home.

“Exactly. And now that John’s retired...”

My voice trails off as I think about my former partner and Lisa’s husband, John Barton.

John was the one person at the firm who always had my back. But now he’s living in Barton Beach with Lisa, running his family’s hotel. And without him here to advocate for the pro bono cases, I feel like I’m fighting a losing battle.

“You’re thinking about rage quitting, aren’t you?” Lisa asks knowingly.

I let out a rueful laugh. “Is it that obvious?”

“Well, as someone who’s been there and done that, let me just say that you should think it through before you do anything rash.”

“Oh, like you did?” I say teasingly, recalling how Lisa had stormed out of the firm two years ago after a huge fight with John. It was a spur of the moment decision that ended up changing her life.

“That was different.”

“How was that different?”

“Because I was in love,” she says simply. “When you find the right person, you just know. And you’re willing to take risks, to leap into the unknown, because being with them is worth everything.”

A knock at my office door interrupts my venting session.

“Ms. Graham?” My secretary Emma pokes her head in. “Your 5:30 is here.”

I furrow my brow. “My 5:30? I don’t have any appointments scheduled for this afternoon.”

“He just showed up to the office a few minutes ago. Nancy told him you were about to leave for the day, but he said it was urgent?”

“Did she get a name?”

“Sebastian Cooper.”

My breath catches in my throat.

Sebastian Cooper. Bash. I haven’t heard that name in years, not since high school when I used to tutor him in English. Is he really here? At my law firm?

“Melissa? You still there?” Lisa asks.

“Sorry, girl. Gotta go,” I say distractedly. “I’ll call you back later.”

I hang up before she can respond and stare blankly at Emma. “I’m sorry. Did you say Sebastian Cooper is here to see me?”

Emma nods. “He’s waiting in the lobby. Should I send him in?”

I take a deep breath, trying to compose myself. Part of me wants to tell Emma to send him away, but curiosity gets the better of me.

“Sure. Send him in.”

My heart is pounding in my chest as I hear Bash’s deep voice thanking Emma. Then his footsteps approach my office door.

When Bash walks in, my knees nearly give out at the sight of him.

He’s just as tall and muscular as I remember, his frame filling out the doorway. But he looks even more handsome now, with a sexy sprinkling of salt and pepper in his brown hair.

His green eyes sparkle with mischief as they meet mine.

---