Page 48 of Defend Me

“What?” I ask.

“He cooks?”

“Yeah. He made dinner last night.” I don’t mention the spaghetti coming tonight.

“Did he now?” Grayson waggles his eyebrows.

“He’s my client, Grayson.”

“Like a lawyer has never broken boundaries with a client before.”

“It’s not like that,” I say, aware of the heat flaming in my cheeks. “He’s dating this insanely hot kindergarten teacher from Magnolia Bay.”

I can hear the bite in my tone as I say it.

“Shame,” Grayson says.

“Besides, he’s my brother’s best friend. And we hate each other.”

Except it doesn’t really feel like we do. Not anymore.

“He’s so ruggedly handsome,” Grayson says, with a dreamy expression. “With that sexy small-town cop vibe going. Too bad he’s not playing for my team.”

“Too bad it’s unethical to sleep with your client,” I say, poking him with my pen.

Grayson chuckles. “Ethics smethics. Have you seen his traps? I bet he could bench press a buffalo.” He whistles. “That kindergarten teacher is one lucky lady.”

I try to ignore the lurch in my chest as the image of Noah and Charlotte together blooms in my mind. I quickly turn to work, losing myself in the comforting pattern of writing motions, making notes, and researching the law.

Noah’s traps—buffalo bench pressing or not—are none of my concern. He’s my client. Nothing more.

When I get back to the apartment, I’m once again surrounded by incredible smells. Roasting meat and garlic and tomato. Noah has mastered the lights and the speakers, and Duke Ellington greets me along with the delicious scents. I didn’t realize Noah was so into jazz.

“You’re back!” he says excitedly, then vanishes behind the door of the fridge and emerges with a bottle of champagne. I shriek as he pops it open with a loud bang, the bubbles fizzing up over theneck. “Tell me everything that happened today again,” he says, pouring us two glasses. His celebratory mood is infectious, and we chat over champagne before he serves up dinner. I find myself laughing a lot more throughout our meal than I have in a while.

There’s got to be something nice I can do for him—aside from defending him, of course. That’s my job. It doesn’t count.

By the time Friday rolls around, and there’s whole weekend spreading out in front of us, I decide it’s time to take more aggressive action. I’m no closer to coming up with an idea on my own. I need help. My first thought is to ask Caden, but he’s got enough on his plate with the estate and dealing with Sebastian’s visa. As I leave the office and slide into the backseat of the town car, I bite the bullet and pull up Charlotte’s number. If anyone would know of a nice thing to do for Noah, it would be his girlfriend.

Hey Charlotte, it’s Von. Question for you: is there anything you can think of that Noah would really want to do in the city?I pause. I don’t want to sound like I’m trying to take him on a date or anything. Best to keep this work-related.It’s been a long week and I’d like to keep his mind off the case.

There. That sounds professional. I hope Charlotte doesn’t feel like I’m encroaching on her turf. My phone pings one minute later.

He’s always wanted to rent one of those boats in Central Park. Rowboats on a lake, I think?

I know exactly what she’s talking about.Great!I reply.Thx.

He’s got a whole fucking list of NYC stuff he’s always wanted to do,she adds.Just FYI. He loves making lists.

I chuckle at that even as I feel a twinge in my chest. It doesn’t surprise me Noah likes making lists—he’s obsessively organized. I wonder if Charlotte teases him about it on their dates. I wonder if they’re missing each other. I bet he’s a really attentive boyfriend.

I shake those thoughts away and pull up info about the Central Park Boat House.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

NOAH

As my first week in the city comes to an end, I have to admit, living in New York is kind of fun.

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