Page 44 of Already At Risk
Fuck.
“That’s amazing,” I said warmly. “Must be a great feeling.”
“It is.” She nodded, a little more alive and animated than when she’d come out of the bathroom, which I was thankful to see. Her head cocked to the side, examining me more closely. “How are you?”
“Can’t complain.” Actually, I could think of a lot of things to complain about at the moment, namely how unfair it was that I was all the way over here on this side of the hallway, and she was all the way over there on that side. “Work was good, everything’s good.”
I didn’t want to talk about me. I just wanted to talk about her. I wanted to ask her what an escharotomy was.
“I’m realizing as I stand here thinking about what to say that I don’t know much about you besides that you’re a lawyer.” She crossed her arms over her chest, mirroring my position. “And you know a million things about me.”
“It’s my job to know things about you, Natalie,” I said steadily. “You have no need to know anything about me.”
I admittedly didn’t mind herwantingto know things about me, though.
“I know, but…” She wrinkled her nose. “Just feels weird, you know? You even know my bedtime routine.” A laugh drifted out of her. It was airy and bright, making light of a night that I thought about all too often.
The corners of my lips curled as I lifted a brow. “If I told you my bedtime routine, would it make you feel better?”
She nodded with so much force that a lock of hair fell out of her claw clip. And just like the other night at her house, I had to force myself to keep my hands to myself, to not push her hair back behind her ear for her. “Yes, exponentially.”
“It’s not very exciting,” I warned her.
“You mean you don’t read sexy tentacle books before bed?” she questioned, narrowing her eyes in keen assessment of my nighttime activities.
I chuckled. “You know, Juniper does lend me her books. And there’s definitely sex. But I haven’t found one with tentacles in it yet.”
Natalie tsked. “A shame, honestly.”
I gave her a look I probably shouldn’t, a little pointed, a little heated, because what the fuck else was I supposed to do when faced with Natalie London talking about sex.
“Is that a shame, Natalie?”
She simply shrugged at me, a sparkle of mischief in her eyes as she suppressed a grin.
“So you readnon-tentacle sexy books,” she said evasively, not answering me. “What else do you do at night?”
The real shame was that I couldn’t answer that question honestly.
Lie in bed and think about youwould be a supreme answer.
In a world where this woman wasn’t my client, of course.
“I’m a big baseball fan,” I said instead. Baseball was a very safe topic. “I grew up watching it with my dad. My Pops and uncle, too. So sometimes I catch the end of a game or watch reruns. Get a workout in. I like to run. Shower afterward. Read Juni’s book recommendations. That’s usually about all I have time for.”
For some reason, Natalie seemed intrigued by each word out of my mouth. “Baseball, huh?” she said. “I’ve always thought it would be fun to take Chloe to a game at Fenway. But usually when I do have time to take her to sports games, it’s one of Noah’s.”
“They’re a lot of fun,” I acknowledged. “But typically when I catch a game, it’s in New York with my family.”
“You’re from New York? Wait,” she mused. “I knew that, didn’t I?”
A chuckle left my lips, which were curving into a smile, a sort of subconscious thing that happened around this woman.
“I think you know more about me than you may remember.”
A little flush rose on her face, not quite as apparent as earlier, but still very much present.
“You’re probably right. Some of the details are…fuzzy.”
