Page 60 of Safe Harbor
His charming smile faltered and he reached for his glass. "Oh, sorry. I thought you were here alone."
"I am. He just couldn't make it tonight."
Drew gave her a sarcastic smile and took a drink from his glass. "He's busy on a Friday night when he could be here with a gorgeous lawyer?"
"He already had plans with some friends, and I think we would both agree that hanging out with a bunch of pretentious lawyers at a fancy restaurant isn't a top priority for everyone."
Drew laughed and put his drink down on the table. "I actually can't argue with that," he said. "Although the pretentious food is good."
"That is very true," she said with a smile.
She leaned back and took another sip of her wine, letting the awkward silence settled between them for just a moment. But then Drew had to talk again.
"So who is this mysterious man you're dating?"
Was dating the same as seeing someone? Lucy couldn't worry about the semantics right now considering she needed to come up with a cover story. And yes, she needed a cover story. There was no way she was telling Drew or anyone else here that she was dating one of the stars of the Detroit Pirates. That would just open her up for way too many questions that she didn't want to answer.
"His name is Ryan. We have a mutual friend."
"I don't know any lawyers named Ryan," he replied.
Lucy tried to casually take another drink from her wine glass. "Oh, he's not a lawyer."
Drew put his drink down, his eyebrows going up in mock surprise. "Not a lawyer? Are you implying you have a life outside of work?"
She laughed at his joke. "I may be implying that."
He shrugged and picked up his drink, giving her a sly smile. "Well, let me know if that changes."
"I'll think about it," she said. "So tell me what you're working on now."
"I kind of want to ask more questions about this mysterious Ryan."
"And I don't want to answer them," she said with a smile. "So what are you working on?"
"Remind me to avoid litigating a case against you."
And with that, he started talking about some business contracts he was working on for one of the newest property developers in the city trying to cash in on the city's housing boom. She nodded along and asked questions when she was supposed to. Drew politely poured her another glass of wine. They were joined by a few more lawyers from their firms to rehash the class action case they won or talk about Lucy's role in wrapping up the John Martin case.
It was kind of strange to sit here listening to everyone talk and notice what was going on in the room around them. Doug's date Ashley was in the corner with a few more significant others talking about something, probably shoes. Lucy was sitting with a bunch of lawyers talking shop, which was actually something she did enjoy after a few glasses of wine at something like this.
It wasn't nice or great, but that was fine. Lucy was in a good spot in her comfort zone, and seeing the dates of the lawyers over in a corner away from them just reminded Lucy how much Ryan wouldn't fit in here. He would have a few strikes against him: young, not a lawyer. Lucy couldn't think of many more at the moment, but those two were big enough to be plenty. Plus, he would get stuck talking about shoes with a bunch of women. Well, that wasn't totally fair. He may have ended up stuck talking hockey with a bunch of lawyers. He probably would've liked that. He was always good when it came to being out and social.
So why didn't Lucy want him there? Because she wanted to be with him, but not have other lawyers know she was with him?
Things had changed for the better between them now that he was back in town full time, but as Lucy sat there, she started to get worried that they may have also changed for the worse. She was starting to see him outside of that little cabin in the woods. She was seeing him interact with other people now that they were out of their little bubble. It was good and fine, but it was also mainly just Sydney and Andy.
She wasn't really sure she liked the idea of what would happen if other people in her circle of acquaintances knew she was dating a young hockey player. She also didn't know what would happen when she went out with his rowdy hockey friends. Would they see her as the old straight-laced lawyer who didn't belong?
She wasn't going to get the answers tonight, not while Drew was occasionally glancing at her cleavage from across the table as Doug regaled them with some story about getting charges dropped against some millionaire from the suburbs. She would go home in the car service by herself thinking about what ifs and what could bes.
Tomorrow, however, was Ryan's birthday. He was having a party at a fancy bar downtown. All his hockey buddies would be there. Tomorrow would be a real test, and Lucy wasn't sure if they would pass or fail.
