Page 30 of Legal Attraction

Some grumbling followed, but the door was shut.

ChapterThirteen

Coral wasn’t sure how Rand would handle all of that. Or what it would mean for them. There wasn’t even really a them. It was awkward in every way. But maybe it was a good way to see if Rand fit in with her as even a friend. Only a precious few could handle all the complications that came with being a royal. Might as well see early on if Rand was one of the few.

He pulled her into a hug. “You still doing alright?”

She hugged him back, the sweet security of his arms around her, the fresh smell coming off his clothes all combined to make her smile. “I am now.” She pulled back. “But you’ve been pulled into some royal nonsense. Please know this doesn’t mean I’ve told them you’re like a boyfriend or something. It’s just, everyone who comes over and might come over more than once, gets the talk.”

He pouted. “And here I thought I was special.”

“Oh, well you are. If you want to be. But special people get additional public relations talks.”

He held up his hands. “I’m not special.”

Coral ignored the ping of hurt. She knew he was kidding. But it hurt all the same. So few lasted long enough to get the special talk.

“Can I finally admit that I was happy to see you walk into Goldstein and Smithson?”

“You were?” She sat up so she could look him in the face. “You were not.”

“I was! I was also unhappy.”

“If we’re being honest?” She crossed her arms. “I was not happy either if you must know. You didn’t call. You just let me go like I didn’t matter. And then. I show up at your law firm? What kind of mess is this going to cause me? I liked this firm.” She fell back against the sofa. “I guess I’m kind of an emotional wreck still. Let’s just stick with happy to see you.”

“I understand. I’ll do whatever I can to make things uncomplicated as far as I’m concerned. You already made sure they don’t think we text each other.” He had questions there. His eyes asked, but he waited.

“I didn’t want to add complications. I didn’t want them to know we know each other any more than we do. It was more a gut feeling than anything. I hope it didn’t cause problems for you.”

“Not yet. But it’s not often easy to hide things from them. They make it their business to know things.”

“Do you hear yourself? Is that normal?”

“I don’t know. They’ve never wanted to know personal things before. And I don’t honestly think they want personal information now. It’s all related to the day and the intruder.”

“True. Let’s hope you’re right because right now this whole thing has me pretty creeped out.”

“Well, I hope you’re hungry. I brought enough takeout for an army.”

“Starving! I wasn’t sure you’d remember.”

“Of course. I’m counting this as the best part of a very weird day.” He pulled out all the different dishes and pieces of the Thai food he brought. They both piled food on their plates, and Coral was happy that Rand sat as close to her as possible.

“Remember before the sharks came?”

She almost choked on her drink. “In the ocean? Yeah.”

“That was nice. The water was perfect. The waves were calm. You were…amazing.”

“It was awesome, wasn’t it? Even after the sharks though.”

He took a huge bite of noodles. And then nodded. “Mmhmm.” He took a large drink. “I loved spending time with you.”

She ate in silence for a moment, wondering why he hadn’t reached out.

“I thought you lived on the islands full time.”

She wiped her mouth.

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