Page 2 of Kiss Me, Mr. Bridge

I thought I was an independent, can-do-it-all person.I am. But it doesn’t stop me from wanting someone to do it all for me.

Being a lawyer, you’d think I had it all worked out. I did once. When I was younger, I had this expectation–no, I’d assumed–being on a high five-figure salary, that I’d be eating lobster for lunch and traveling the world on my weeks off.

I never banked on how much money I’d owe, or that the average law student can take twenty years to repay their student debt. At this rate, my name is going to be added to that statistic.

My phone rings. I check my watch once more, then I answer it.

“Lucia speaking.”

“Do you have time to fit in Mr. Bridge before lunch? He has some documents for you to look over.”

My breath catches in my lungs as I stare at the door.

“Lucia?”

“Yeah. Send him down.”

Minutes later, the door opens. Mr. Bridge stares at me and smiles. “Miss Simmons.”

“Hello, Mr. Bridge.”

His voice is low and sexy when he replies, “I’d ask you to call me Ronan, but there is something about the way you say Mr. Bridge I cannot stop thinking about.”

Our eyes lock as I take a seat behind my desk. I have to, so he doesn’t see me squeezing my thighs together at his deliciously low tone.

“Please take a seat,” I mumble before I straighten my backbone, just after finding it again. “How can I help you today?”

He lingers for a moment. Just staring as I look over at him. I can’t deny that I find him gorgeous. His dark hair has strands ofsilver just above his ears. That silver seems to match the color of his eyes.

He is very good-looking for a man in his early forties. A man fifteen years my senior, I must add. A man whose offer I turned down, yet I know he is still waiting for me to accept.

I never turned it down because of his age. Nor because my father is one of his golfing buddies. Or because I live with his daughter. I certainly didn’t turn it down because Mr. Bridge is my sister’s father-in-law. The man whose photo I’d just stared at as he stood next to my brother-in-law.

I turned it down because despite my debt growing week after week, I cannot sell…

I can’t even finish the sentence, despite what I told him in Florida months ago.

“Amelia was telling me you’ve split up with your boyfriend.”

I nod, wondering why she told him—probably to stop talking about her own love life. “He cheated on me. I was hardly going to stay.”

“Good.”

I laugh, but I’m not sure why I find it funny. “Why is that?”

“It’ll give you the time to reconsider my offer as a single woman.”

I tilt my chin up and glare at him, still standing with his large hands on the back of the chair in front of me.

He’s waiting for my response.

A pleasant heat spills through my limbs and makes its way to my belly. “I didn’t say no because I was in a relationship,” I finally reply.

He pulls out the chair and sits opposite me. His gray eyes are on mine for a few seconds before I look away.

“Why did you?” he asks. “My age?”

I shake my head.

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