Page 6 of Silver Flirt

Get it together, I scold myself. This is Bash freaking Cooper. I can’t let myself get sucked in by his charm again.

“Thank you,” he murmurs, his breath tickling my ear. “I knew I could count on you.”

I pull back and muster a professional smile. “I’ll do my best. No promises though.”

“Trust me, your best is more than enough.” He stands up, his large frame once again dominating my office. “I’ll be in touch with more details.”

“Sounds good.” I walk him to the door, my head spinning. As he steps out into the hallway, he pauses, looking back at me over his shoulder.

“Actually, I was thinking... any chance you’re free for dinner? I have a long drive back to Barton Beach and wouldn’t mind some company. We could talk more about the case.”

My heart races at the thought of dinner with Bash. Alone. Outside of the office. It’s tempting. Dangerously tempting. But is this really a good idea? Mixing business with whatever unresolved personal history still simmers between us?

I hesitate a beat too long. Bash holds up his hands, a rueful smile on his lips.

“Hey, no pressure. I get it. You’re a busy woman, probably have plans already...”

“No,” I blurt out before I can overthink it further. “I mean, yes. Yes, I’m free for dinner.” I grab my purse, aiming for breezy and casual even as my heart pounds. “I know a great tapas bar that’s walking distance from here.”

Bash grins, and damn if it isn’t just as knee-weakening as it was twenty-five years ago. “That sounds perfect.”

I smile back, trying to ignore the butterflies in my stomach. “Great. Let me freshen up, and I’ll meet you by the elevators in five minutes.”

Bash nods. “I’ll be waiting.” He gives me one last lingering look before heading down the hall.

The moment he’s out of sight, I dash into the ladies’ room and pull out my phone to call Lisa.

She answers on the first ring. “That was fast. What happened?”

“Guess who just showed up at my office just now?”

“Who?”

“Bash Cooper.”

Lisa gasps. “The Bash Cooper? From high school?”

“The one and only.”

“What’s he doing in Houston?”

I check my reflection in the mirror, reapplying my lipstick with an unsteady hand. “He says he needs my help with some embezzlement case for his foundation.”

“Right. And is that all he wants your help with?” Lisa asks suggestively.

I roll my eyes. “It’s not like that. This is strictly business.”

“Sure it is. So why do you sound like you’re about to hyperventilate? And why are you primping?”

I pause with the mascara wand halfway to my eye. Am I primping? “I am not primping! I’m just...freshening up. Bash and I are about to go to dinner.”

“Dinner?” I can practically hear Lisa’s smirk through the phone.

“To discuss the case.”

“How convenient.”

I sigh, my stomach fluttering with nerves. “Look, I know what you’re thinking. But I can’t let myself get carried away here.”

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