Page 74 of Until You

Chapter Twenty

Lanie sat in Britt’s backyard having major second thoughts about Aiden’s offer. She was fairly certain Atlanta was even hotter and more humid than Kansas City. But now that she’d turned in her notice, she might not have a choice.

She wandered over to the drinks table and grabbed a bottle of water. Everyone else was drinking margaritas or beer, but she felt unsettled for some reason. Probably because she’d spent most of the afternoon giving Aiden’s offer serious consideration. She’d worked for Montgomery Enterprises for nearly her entire adult life. If she took Aiden’s job, her whole life would change.

Randy made a subtle motion to her from over by the grill. She took a drink of water as she headed toward him.

“I’ve been stewing about this for an hour,” he said, keeping his voice low. “I can’t believe I’m about to tell you this…”

“What are you talking about?”

“See that guy in the pink polo shirt over there?”

“Yeah…”

“He’s the attorney representing the firm that filed the injunction.”

She gasped.

“I know for a fact he’s talking about the case to the other guy, who is also an attorney from our firm.”

She glanced up at him in shock.

“I didn’t tell you a thing. And I don’t even know who you really work for. So if you happened to wander over there, how would I know that an interested party might hear some key strategy?”

“Randy Harris, I had no idea you could be so devious.”

He gave her a wicked grin. “If you ever implicate me, I’ll deny it until my dying breath.”

“Understood.”

He winked. “Go get ’em.”

She headed back to the drinks table and poured herself a frozen margarita from the pitcher. With drink in hand, at least she’d blend in. Part of her wondered why she even cared what Randy’s colleague had to say about his strategy. She was leaving Margo Benson. But she’d had a successful seven years opening the stores, and she wanted to end it on a high note.

The question was, how to play this? She decided to stand by them to see if she could pick up their conversation.

“Going with Nelson versus Neidermier, huh?” a man in a white-and-blue plaid button-down shirt asked.

“That’s right. Try to go through the back door,” the guy in the pink shirt said, then he looked up and saw Lanie. “Well, hello there. You must be Brittany’s cousin.”

She had no choice but to be direct now. “That’s right.” She stuck out her hand. “Lanie.”

“Victor. I work with Randy.” He shook her hand, holding on longer than necessary.

She tugged her hand free. “So you’re an attorney?” she asked, feigning surprise.

“You like attorneys?” he asked hopefully. “People either love them or hate them.”

Tyler instantly popped into her head. “I fall into the approval camp.”

“Britt tells me you’re single.”

The interest in his voice made her shoot a quick glance to his left ringer finger. No ring. Thank God. Nothing worse than married guys hitting on her, which happened more often than she liked. But when she looked back up, she realized he’d noticed. She didn’t feel like leading this guy on. “Actually, I’m seeing someone.”

Disappointment filled his eyes, but he said, “He’s an attorney.”

She was never going to see this man again. What would it hurt? “Yes.”

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