Page 40 of Objection to Love

“I did, yes.”

Garrett smiled. “Well, consider this your warning. I don’t intend to ever let a lady pay for me. Especially not when I forced her to join me against her will.”

The older gentleman handed Garrett his sundae, and he motioned Em to precede him back to their booth.

“But I did agree to the contract,” Em grumbled, feeling strangely cheated that she wasn’t able to settle her debt.

“We never even made a contract,” Garrett teased, throwing her former words back at her.

Em’s mouth twisted to the side, avoiding a smile. “I know a lawyer.”

Garrett shook his head with a bemused smile as he sat down. Em slid into the other side of the booth. She glanced at the clock. They had just under a half hour before the place closed.

“So,” Garrett asked when she looked back at him, unaware or uncaring about the time, “what’s this case you’re working on?”

Em scraped the top of her ice cream with the spoon, savoring the taste of raspberry and chocolate before she answered, “It’s a murder case.”

His eyebrows went up. “And you’re… prosecuting, not defending?”

She nodded. “I’m pushing for a higher sentence than my boss initially wanted me to go for… but it’s one of the nice things about my position—no one can tell me what to do.”

“I’d like to see them try,” he mumbled.

She smiled at her ice cream. “He—my boss—is on board now though. It’s a very high-profile case, but I’m confident.”

Garrett nodded, drinking his milkshake. “Do you get a lot of cases like this, then?”

“Not really, no. Lots of assault and drug-related crimes, usually.”

“Do you deal directly with the perpetrators often? Have you ever had any issues with any of them?”

She cocked her head at him. “Are you worried for me, Garrett?”

He leaned back, crossing his arms. “Of course not.” He paused, then added, “You have a gun, after all.”

“And it’s not even pink.”

He cracked a smile, but then his eyes focused on hers. “You don’t, though, do you? Run into any issues with the perpetrators?”

She shrugged one shoulder, taking another bite. “I don’t have social media, and my personal number is unlisted. They’d have to follow me home from work somehow to cause any problems.”

His eyes stayed on hers, his jaw tight. But then he nodded once.

“Happy?” she asked.

“Marginally. I just realized I’d hear if you screamed or something.”

She pushed back the surge of something that filled her chest at knowing he was actually worried about her. “We do have paper-thin walls, don’t we?”

“Seriously. There’s no way those things are to code.”

“What about the windows though? I swear plastic wrap would be more effective.”

“The owner of the house before me must have replaced mine because I think they are the only thing in the home from this decade.”

“Ah, you’re so lucky. I need to get mine replaced.”

“I know a contractor.”

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