Page 34 of Fast Justice

“Probably because you’re only half-awake. Here.” Her assistant shoved Rowan’s high heels at her.

Rowan quickly slipped them on and grabbed her purse. “Tell Val I’m on my way.”

“Okay. Hurry.”

I’m hurrying.She raced down the hall, took the stairs rather than wait for the elevator and rushed to her car. Of course there was an accident on the way over to the meeting location, putting her arrival time at forty minutes late. From the looks on her boss’s and client’s face, they were both pissed.

“Late lunch?” Val said in a disapproving tone that made her cringe inside.

“Sorry. Here.” She began laying out the paperwork, her heart lurching when she couldn’t find one critical file. Crap, she’d left it in the damn photocopier before she’d lain down to nap. God.

The meeting was awkward as hell, and Val didn’t mince words as they left together after.

“I don’t know what’s going on with you, Rowan, but I have to say I’m extremely disappointed in your lack of focus and effort lately.”

She flushed in embarrassment, squirming inside. “I’m sorry.”

“Every day this week you’ve left the office at four, even though we’re gearing up for trial in another month.” Val frowned. “Is everything all right?”

“Yes. I’m fine.” Just distracted, and sleep deprived. Not that those were good excuses. She’d thought she could juggle her work schedule and her new relationship with Malcolm without a problem, but apparently not. It was embarrassing and a blow to her ego to be reprimanded by her boss. And not only had she allowed Malcolm to distract her, it scared her a little how easily he had gotten under her skin. Deeper every day, it seemed.

Val sighed. “I don’t want to take you off the case, but if you’re not willing or able to put the necessary time in and get everything done when I need it, then I’ll have to.”

“No, it won’t happen again.” She didn’t dare mention Malcolm, or that she had to leave work by four-thirty today to meet him for their dinner reservation. God, this wasn’t like her. She was driven. Dedicated. Married to her job. Had she really changed that much over the past few weeks because of Malcolm? “I’ll come in early from now on and stay late until we’re caught up.” She hated to give up her time with Malcolm, but he would just have to understand. Right now her job had to come first. She would have to talk to him tonight, tell him they needed to stop seeing each other during the week.

Val nodded. “Can you stay late tonight?”

“I…” They’d already bought tickets to the movie. “Not tonight, but starting tomorrow, I’m clear.”

He looked annoyed but didn’t argue. “Fine.”

By the time she got home and freshened up for their date, she was still suffering pangs of guilt about sneaking out of work early. But seeing Malcolm’s smile when she walked up to the restaurant door at six and the feel of his arms around her as he pulled her into a tight hug had gone a long way to temporarily pushing her worries away. She would talk about slowing things down with him later.

“Everything okay?” he asked as they waited for their appetizers. “You seem a little distracted.”

“Just had a rough day at work,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “How was your day?”

“Great.” He talked about the team a little, a training exercise they’d done on vehicle takedowns. “Commander let us break for lunch, so we headed to this little pub I found a while back. There’s an old building across the street that’s been newly renovated and has a couple two-bedroom units for rent. My teammate knows the landlord, says he can get us a reduced rate. Price is reasonable, and it’s closer to work for both of us. Might save you about twenty minutes commute time. You mentioned you might want to move. Interested in going to take a look with me this weekend maybe?”

Fingers tightening around her wineglass, Rowan raised her eyebrows at him in surprise. He hadnotjust casually asked her whether she wanted to move in together. After not quite three weeks of dating? Who did that? “What?”

His broad shoulders moved in a casual shrug and a slight smile tugged at his mouth. “I thought it might be worth taking a look.”

Unease stirred in her gut. She’d already been unsettled about how intense her feelings were for him, and how her performance at work had suffered since they’d begun dating. But apartment shopping at this stage? No. Things were moving way too fast and he was assuming too much. She’d just gotten out of a bad relationship with a controlling former military man two months ago. She wasn’t ready for any sort of long term commitment; she wanted to keep things light and have fun. And ithadbeen fun with Malcolm, up until a minute ago.

“I thought I was clear about wanting to keep things casual,” she finally said.

Another shrug. “No pressure. It’s just a good price in a great location if you were interested. Which you’re clearly not,” he added with a wry chuckle.

No pressure? Her smile was forced, brittle. “Thanks, but I’ve got my plate full with work right now. I can’t even think about moving.”

He let it drop, but she couldn’t get past it for the rest of the meal. Or that the relationship was already interfering with her professional life. Her career was something she’d worked a lifetime to attain. She couldn’t jeopardize that for a guy, even one as amazing as Malcolm. She also didn’t trust her feelings for him, since she was on the rebound, had been reluctant to go out with him in the first place for that reason.

Then, later, as they were leaving the theater, she couldn’t hold back the giant yawn she’d been fighting for the past hour. “Sorry, I’ve been burning the candle at both ends a little too often lately.”

“Huh. Somebody keeping you up too late maybe?”

“Gee, I wonder who.”

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