Page 20 of Dominate Me

I was wound much too tight to find room in my stomach for food, but his suggestion was more of an order. I flipped through the menu and settled on a simple chicken salad. Enough to make him happy, light enough for me to potentially get a few bites in.

After the waitress returned with our drinks and I placed my order, Jensen leaned back in the booth.

“Now. Let’s start with your need for a lawyer.”

I sneered at the reminder of Timothy. Jensen had given me time to relax, which I assumed had been his goal, but the mere thought of my ex made my gut clench in an unfavorable way.

“I told you the other night that I’m divorced. Timothy is my ex, and when I left him, I gave him everything even against the advice of my attorney at the time. He recommended we split everything fifty-fifty, but by the time I was finally done, I just wanted out. I took my clothes, my car that I’d had before we got married, and a few picture frames. I figured he’d be happy enough with that and let me walk away.”

Jensen’s head tilted. “And he’s not?”

“No.” I ran a fingertip through the condensation quickly growing on my water glass. “This morning I received paperwork saying that he’s not only hired the law firm I used for our divorce, but he’s now suing me for half the land values of the property I purchased after we separated.”

Jensen’s thick, black brows pinched together. “He’s using your old lawyer?”

“Law firm. It seems similar to what I know of yours. They house seven different lawyers, all with their own focus, but yes...he’s hired the same firm.”

“That’s unethical.”

“I figured that,” I said. “It hasn’t stopped them from accepting his case or suing me.”

“What land did you purchase?”

“Portsmouth Inn.” I grinned. Thinking of my family’s resort, which was now mine, always did that to me. “I own it now.”

His brows rose and his jaw went slack. “That’s a large resort.”

I smiled wider. “You’ve heard of it?” I shouldn’t have been surprised. Portsmouth Inn was one of the oldest resorts along the eastern coast of Lake Michigan. Grand Rapids was thirty minutes away from Denton, but we were still well-known.

“Spent summers on the beaches and sliding down sand dunes on the coast,” he said. “It’s hard not to have heard of it or seen it. It’s changed a lot over the years.”

“It’s been in my family for generations,” I admitted, pride suffusing my voice. “My dad did most of those renovations. When I first mentioned I was finally thinking of leaving him, they sprung their retirement plans on me and offered to help me buy them out. Looking back, I think they wanted to retire years ago but were holding out hope I’d come back.”

“That’s quite an impressive undertaking for someone as young as you.”

I scowled. I was twenty-seven, not exactly young and I definitely wasn’t inexperienced when it came to the resort. “I’ve worked that resort since I could lift a cleaning brush. I learned accounting and economics in the front office. I’m more than qualified to run it.”

Jensen laughed softly. “I wasn’t trying to imply you couldn’t, Haley. Merely pointing out that it’s impressive.”

His eyes glimmered with sincerity and I flashed him an apologetic grin.

Perhaps I’d become too defensive. When I quit my job in Ann Arbor and told Timothy as well as my old co-workers my plans, all of them had essentially laughed in my face, proclaiming there was no way I could handle the responsibility.

Whatever. They could all suck it.

Jensen took a drink from his Scotch.

The waitress returned with my chicken salad. After I assured her there wasn’t anything else I needed, she left.

Jensen leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table. “Now, I won’t be taking your case, but I called Ron Bauer. That’s why I was late. I gave him a heads up that you’ll be calling him first thing tomorrow morning and he needs to clear his schedule for whenever it’s convenient for you to come in. If you have files, timelines of everything that has occurred, along with your purchase agreement and anything that might be helpful, have that ready.”

Relief immediately flooded me and my shoulders relaxed for possibly the first time since I’d opened that envelope.

“Thank you,” I breathed out.

“So you really weren’t kidding the other night when you said you’re busy with work. I imagine you work almost twenty-four hours a day.”

He was close.

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