Page 3 of Worth the Risk

“Taylor Harrington.” I shake his hand, our fingers lingering briefly before we separate. “Nice to meet you, stranger on the train I just had a weird heart-to-heart with.”

“My pleasure.” He bumps his shoulder against mine and for a brief moment, it’s like we really are friends, maybe old acquaintances that reconnected or long-lost lovers. “This is my stop.” He nods his head toward the doors before standing up and reaching into his pocket. He produces a small white card and hands it to me. “You know, I could really use a lawyer as I start up my own firm, someone to come on board and hold my hand along the way.”

“Oh yeah?” I take the card from him, my fingertips grazing his softly. I glance down at it to read his name embossed in simple black letters. “I just happen to be specialized in corporate law and financial services.”

“Please tell me you’re fucking with me?”

I smile and shake my head. “I love statistics and numbers and I had actually planned on studying actuarial—well, never mind, that doesn’t matter. Bottom line”—I wave my hand in frustration at my own nervous chatter—“I had better odds getting a good lawyer job in finance than insurance.”

His smile only grows wider, like he’s just as invested in my path to financial law as I am. He reaches his hand out and just barely grazes my chin. “You know what this is, Taylor?” He winks. “This is fate. You know that, right?”

“And what if I get the job offer from this other firm?”

He gives me a different smile this time, more of a half smirk that tugs at one corner of his lips. It’s sexy, something I imagine he’s used on women in bars over the years and it probably has a very high success rate. Apart from his looks and his approachable, easygoing manner, the man has a body like an athlete wrapped in a fitted suit.

“Then I can take you on a date instead.”

He doesn’t give me time to reply, just tosses his suit coat over one shoulder and walks off the train. I let my gaze follow him, finding myself gnawing on my bottom lip as I watch his ass in those pants before the train pulls away.

“I’m sure you were expecting this call.” Dawson Metzler’s wheezy laugh follows. “We would be more than happy to have you join our firm, Miss Harrington. Human Resources, of course, will be reaching out with details, but I wanted to be the one to call and congratulate you.”

My chest feels tight as I squeak out a response. “Thank you, sir. I-I don’t know what to say.”

He assumes I’m overtaken with excitement, I’m sure, but I’m not lying. I have no idea what to say. I hardly slept last night thinking about the conversation with Austin. I flipped his card over and over in my hand, debating if I should call him and say I’ll do it, I’ll be his lawyer.

“Listen, before you say anything, I meant what I said about taking some downtime. I’ve let HR know there’s no timeline on your start date. You tell them what works for you.”

“Thank you.” I sigh, grateful for the time this buys me but still no closer to making a decision.

“We can’t wait to have you on board.” He doesn’t offer any pleasantries after his comment, just the faint click of the line going dead letting me know he hung up.

I jump up from the couch and grab Austin’s card from my nightstand where I left it. Then I look down at my phone in my hand and think of Noah. Sweet, kind Noah who told me that if I get the job, I should absolutely take it. Then proceeded to tell me all the risks I’m taking if I were to walk away from an opportunity like this.

“You could seriously destroy your reputation in the lawyer space, especially with this firm. Do you really want to risk that?”

“I’m sure they’d be understanding,”I tried to explain.“I wouldn’t just not show up. I’d explain everything to Mr. Metzler.”

I close my eyes for a brief second, then I type out a quick message and hit send before I can talk myself out of it.

Taylor

Hey, girl from the train here… how’d things turn out?

My heart thuds in my chest as three little bubbles appear, dancing across the screen as he types out a response.

Austin

Hey, guy from the train here… come over for a drink. We’ll discuss.

My mouth falls open when a second later, his address pops into the text box. A giddy little feeling sizzles in my belly as I type out a response.

Taylor

Is this the part where you kill me? What time?

Austin

Now and no, I’m smart enough not to leave a text trail.

---