Page 17 of His Temptation
Jay grinned before becoming serious once more. “All I’m sayin’ is… don’t let yourself drown again. Okay? You’re not in the middle of the ocean with no one to help you. If you need a raft, just call me.”
“You sound as if you care.”
“I do care, you dumbass,” Jay responded. “I don’t have to want you romantically in order to be your friend.”
“So, we’re friends?”
He smoothed his hands down his face. “You’re so goddamn stupid.”
I laughed and grabbed the doorknob, but before I left I looked at him. “Thanks, Foley. Guess you’re not just a pretty face after all.”
He snarled and flipped me off.
With his words playing in my head, I stepped outside and walked down the sidewalk toward my car. I felt lighter than before. He said I wasn’t alone, and for the first time in months, I believed it.
***
“I must be crazy to have an August wedding,” Becca said Tuesday morning after walking through the side entrance of the office. Her brow shined and she heavily sighed as she plopped down in the chair in front of my desk. “It’s only mid-May and the heat is killing me. The Farmer’s Almanac predicted a hot, dry summer too. I’ll roast alive in my seven-hundred-dollar gown.”
“Move the wedding inside,” I suggested, glancing back at the document pulled up on my computer. “Did we send the invoices to the clients last week?”
“Yep. I did. Three have paid in full, and another paid half, saying they’ll bring the rest tomorrow.” Becca ran her hands through her long blonde hair and pulled it back in a ponytail. “And an inside wedding? Ugh. No can do. I’ve wanted to get married under the large oak at my grandparents’ house ever since I was little.”
“Then I guess you need to suck it up,” I said, sensing her evil eye without even looking at her.
“‘Suck it up,’he says.” Becca stood and went toward the door. “I’ll remember that the next time you come crying to me about needing an emergency order or for me to drop everything and run to the courthouse because you forgot an important file or a flash drive fifteen minutes before a hearing.”
I smirked. “Last I checked, that was your job.”
“Speaking of which.” She stood in the doorway, her expression all business now. “Judge Meyers granted the order I sent last week, and the court date has been moved as per your request.”
“Thank you.”
Becca nodded and went to her office, which sat across from mine. Some might think she was unprofessional with how she spoke to me sometimes, but she only acted that way when we were alone. In front of clients or other attorneys, she was strictly business. Eight years of working together had made us both comfortable enough to joke around.
“Cross & Patel,” Becca said, answering the phone. “Mhm. What’s the reason for your call today?”
I closed my office door and sat back down. Becca had put together a client memo that listed all open cases and what needed to be done in them, plus stated what had already been filed and included the discovery we had available. I opened the document and looked it over. With a hundred and five open cases, I knew I’d be a dead man if not for my paralegal. She worked her ass off and made my life so much easier.
After work, I went home, ordered Thai food, and had it delivered before eating in silence. The quiet, empty house reminded me of the direction my life had gone. However, even when living with Amber, I had still felt lonely. At least now I was free of her constant bitching and I no longer had to pretend to be something I wasn’t.
Walking down the hall, I cringed at Ryan’s room. It looked like a tornado had passed through there. I preferred to keep things tidy. Organized. Which was why he made such a huge mess each time he came over.
Even though he would trash it again the next time he visited, I cleaned it after I ate dinner. Trash was taken out, dishes were placed in the sink, and I changed the sheets on his bed. I also hung up his clothes and put everything where it belonged.
Things could’ve been worse, I supposed. After the initial shock waned, Ryan had agreed to still see me at least, little by little. He could’ve cut me out of his life completely, but he didn’t. It gave me hope that he’d let go of his anger someday. Maybe he even wanted to now but didn’t know how yet. He was still a teenager after all, letting his impulses get the better of him.
Cason is a teenager too, and it hasn’t stopped you from wanting him.
I sharply exhaled and went into the living room. A night of mindless TV was exactly what I needed. An hour into binging a show calledMurderous Affairs, my phone lit up with a notification. It was a message from the hookup app I’d joined.
HungDaddy: U want this big cock?
Attached was a photo of said cock. I’d seen bigger. With a username like that and being so forward in the first message, I knew the guy wasn’t my type. Uninterested, I focused back on the show.
I had joined the site after things ended with Jay, and I occasionally met up with men for sex. I never posted photos of my face, and I didn’t list my real name. Just a picture of me in a suit from the neck down and a few shots of my chest.
Another message came through, this one from username PowerBottom. I chuckled at the name and read the one-word message:Hey.
