Page 135 of Come Apart
She takes a deep breath. "I hate to call you about this. I know it's not fair. I asked for space and I don't want to drag you around." There's fear in her voice.
Something is wrong. "Ally, are you okay?"
"Yeah." She takes a deep breath. "I don't want to talk about it yet. I just want to be around you. To talk about nothing and drink too much coffee and watch some bad TV show."
"Of course."
"I'm going to leave soon. With traffic, I'll probably be there in an hour."
"I have a meeting."
"Go to it. I'll make myself comfortable."
"Comfortable how?"
"Do you mind being used as a distraction?" she asks.
I swallow hard. I like the thought of Alyssa getting comfortable in my bed, sliding off her clothes, draping herself over the sheets. Part of me is satisfied by it.
But I want all of her, not just her admittedly amazing body.
Still. This is what Alyssa wants. And it's tempting. Just imagining her on the couch, a coy smile on her face, her dress trailing up her legs—my blood starts to flow downward.
"Whatever you want," I say.
I hang up.
And just as my head is filling with all sorts of delicious ideas, there's a knock on the door.
Ryan.
He enters with his usual smug look and folds his hands.
"I spoke to Mrs. Pike again," he says.
I shake my head.
I'm not letting Ryan get to me. Not today.
"Yes?"
"She asked me to represent her." He tries to play it cool, like this isn't the best news he's heard all week.
"Sounds like she found what she wanted."
"I'm sorry, Luke. But I'm sure it's not personal."
"Fine. I have someplace to be. Do you think you could—" I motion for him to leave.
But he stays put. "Don't you have a consult in twenty minutes?"
"And I have twenty minutes of work between now and that."
He shakes his head. "If you want to stay in this firm, you need to listen to what your clients want."
"Yes, we established that Mrs. Pike prefers whatever it is that you promised her. If you don't have anything to add, I have things to do."
"I hope you have more planned for this consult than a little flirting."
