Page 14 of Alive At Night

I need your help.

He licked his lips again, trying to catch all the residual powdered sugar from the donut, and I cocked my head to the side. Behind him, the clock on the wall read nearly two o’clock. Had he been gone that long for lunch? I must have gotten carried away listening to my new audiobook. Rebecca Elez was my favorite narrator, and she’d sucked me right into my latest guilty pleasure—a spicy Cinderella retelling. I’d been so engrossed that Julian scared the crap out of me when he came in.

And now he was staring back at me with a strange expression. The crease between his eyes was particularly prominent. And he’d eaten one of my donuts.Odd.

“Are you okay?”

“Well, I did just ask for your help,” he said wryly, “so I think you can figure it out from there.”

He was wrong about that. Because even though I was trying very hard to figure it out, it still didn’t make sense.

“No, I mean, like…are you sick?”

Julian sighed heavily and ran a hand through that reddish hair of his. “I’m going to be if you keep this up.”

“Fine.” Although I was still worried that Julian was either messing with me or terminally ill, I slouched forward in my seat, resting my elbows on my knees to give my very best impression of concern and undivided attention. “What can I help you with?”

Julian stiffened as his eyes flicked over me, leaving me confused. Did he want my help or not?

He looked at the ceiling for a long moment, and I tapped my foot with impatience.

“I need you to fill me in on the details of how your team won the McKinley case,” he said with a regretful sigh.

I drew back, leaning into my chair again. Julian relaxed in his, getting comfortable. He seemed to think this would be a long conversation, but he couldn’t be more wrong.

“I’m not going to help you take my spot on the case I’m working with Cameron.”

“I’m not—” He broke off abruptly with a growl of annoyance. His hands clapped down on his knees, squeezing. “I’m not trying to take your spot on the case.”

Based on his reaction, I was almost inclined to believe him. But it would be foolish not to ask more questions. “Why do you want to know, then?”

“It’s for a separate case I’m consulting on,” he admitted after a brief pause.

“I thought you were assisting Daphne with research for her case.”

“I am.”

The brevity of his response told me he wanted to leave it there. But I couldn’t care less what he wanted.

“But I thought that case was a child custody case.”

Although Gardner Law was on the smaller side, it had enough breadth that it was able to provide specialized consultation in more than one area of law. It was one of the reasons why I wanted to work here. My experience with medical malpractice had been what got me through the doors, but the option to branch into family law, specifically adoption law, was what made me want to stay.

“It is.”

I wondered if Julian realized that for every short answer he gave me, I’d come back with a follow-up question. On principle, I had to.

“But you’re consulting on another case, too?”

He nodded, folding his arms over his chest, which only served to draw my attention to how his suit stretched over his muscled arms. Considering how long it had been since Julian played football, he still maintained himself well. Working in his dad’s shop likely helped.

I forced my gaze up to his face. “Why are you consulting on it if you don’t have the required experience?”

“Juniper.Please.” My name came through clenched teeth, shocking me at how desperate he sounded. His eyes didn’t shift with mischief, and his dry drawl was absent from his words. This wasn’t Julian Briggs, my best friend’s brother who always gave me a hard time in everything I did in life. This was Julian Briggs, my colleague…who apparently needed help. Genuinely.

So I gave in. He did say please, after all. And that was an awfully large leap of progress for him. “Sure, I’ll help you.”

He breathed a sigh of relief before realizing that I wasn’t finished.

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