Page 41 of Cocky Counsel

Twenty One

Ethan

“What is that smell?” I asked Kate as I stopped at her desk and sniffed the air. It smelled like something was on fire.

“Um, toast,” she said quietly, glancing down the short hallway to Eva’s office. “Ms. Sanchez made toast this morning.”

I pulled my lips in, forcing myself to hold the laughter in. I rapped my knuckles against the top of Kate’s desk a few times and smiled before I walked down the hall. I was surprised that the fire alarm wasn’t going off and the closer I got to her office, the worse the smell was.

I stood outside her door and knocked lightly on it, pulling her attention away from the computer. On a plate beside her keyboard were two pieces of black toast.

“Morning,” I said as she looked up at me then glanced down at the toast nervously.

“Good morning,” she said quietly. “I’m sorry about the smell, I made—”

“Toast,” I finished for her. “I thought I smelled your culinary skills from the elevator.”

She grimaced and looked down again at the burnt disaster in front of her.

“Is that your breakfast?” I nodded to it.

“Yeah. But I’ll probably save myself the embarrassment and just eat a granola bar. I think I still have one or two in my desk.” She pulled open the drawer to check and frowned when she couldn’t find any. “I guess there goes that option as well.”

I felt bad that I kept forgetting to replenish her stock from the one I swiped last week. It was on my to-do list with a million other things.

“How about we go to breakfast? I needed to talk to you this morning anyway. The least I can do is buy you something edible to eat.”

“Don’t you have meetings?” she asked. I could tell that she was hesitant to go.

“My first meeting isn’t until ten-thirty, and it’s with Graham. I wanted to talk with you about the Gainesworth deal before he gets here. Plus, I owe you a granola bar so until I can get you one, we’ll have to make do with actual breakfast.”

I waited for a minute as she sat there, staring at me without making any effort to get up. Shit, I must’ve pissed her off more than I thought.

“I’m not leaving until we go eat, and I’m starving, so…” I raised my eyebrows at her and shoved my hands into my pockets. She narrowed her eyes at me as she reached down and pulled her purse out of the drawer then stood up.

“Why do you owe me a granola bar?” she asked as she walked around the desk and stood next to me at the door.

“I might have stolen one while you were out sick.” I rocked back on my heels and smiled, hoping she would find it cute and that it wouldn’t piss her off even further.

After a minute, she pursed her lips and tilted her head to look up at me.

“I knew one was missing… and just for that, I’m ordering a side of pancakes with breakfast.” She turned and walked out of her office, swinging her purse up onto her shoulder as her ass swayed perfectly behind her.

I shook my head and laughed. We walked a few blocks to the diner on the corner and found a booth in the back. It was busy for a Thursday morning, and I needed to be able to talk to her without having to shout over everyone else. While I needed to talk to her about Graham, I really wanted to clear the air between us about Cora.

“Do you know what you want?” I asked, looking over the top of my menu to see her.

“Everything looks delicious,” she said as she looked at hers. “But I think I know what I’m getting.”

At that moment, the waitress came back and set our cups of coffee on the table before pulling out her notepad to take our order.

“What can I get you guys?” she asked, looking between us. I nodded to Eva and she turned to her, waiting.

“I’ll do the meat lover skillet, but can I add onions and mushrooms?”

“Sure,” she jotted it down on the notepad. “Do you want toast or English muffin?”

I felt Eva’s eyes dart to mine, a warning look for me not to say anything.

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