Page 94 of When The Night Falls

I swallowed. ‘Still, I feel I—’

‘It’s in the past. I’d rather we left it there.’

I closed my mouth, nodding. Unsure of what to say, I glanced at the cup on my desk. ‘Well, I appreciate the gesture. Aren’t I supposed to be fetching coffees for you, though?’

He took another sip. ‘As if I’d ever trust you to fetch my coffee for me. It’d be laced with poison, I’m sure. I haven’t got a death wish.’

His banter caused an involuntary smile to bend my lips. ‘So my boss is paranoid. Good to know.’

He smiled crookedly, and the view flooded me with emotion. That smile. It felt surreal to finally see it again.

‘How have you been?’ he asked and averted his eyes. ‘How did your exams go?’

His questions helped me relax a bit. I was glad he was initiating small talk, because it gave me hope that we would at least be able to act civil toward one another.

‘Really well, actually. Well, apart from Commercial Law, where I could’ve done better.’

He nodded and delved his free hand in his pocket. ‘You must be relieved they’re all over and done with.’

‘For now.’

‘For now?’ He frowned and looked back at me.

‘Plan is to start my master’s degree after the summer.’

His eyebrows arched. ‘Oh. Full-time?’

‘Yeah.’

‘I did that too.’

‘You’ve got an LLM?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Oh.’ I hadn’t known that.

Ellie reappeared behind him. ‘Morning, Will.’

He turned. ‘Good morning, Ellie. Thanks for being here earlier than usual to help Cara get started.’

‘Least I could do.’

‘Still, I appreciate it.’

She gave him a knowing smile. ‘I thought you might.’

‘Anyway’ – his gaze veered to the door to his office – ‘I’ll leave you to it.’

Hopelessly intrigued, I stared after him.

‘No,’ Ellie suddenly said. ‘Trust me, love, you do not want a piece of that.’

It felt like somebody had just punched me in the gut. Had she seen me ogle him just now? She must have.

Breathless, I said, ‘What?’

She eyed me sternly. ‘Trust me.’

---