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“And that’s why the third slice is for me, sweetie. From what I can tell, you weren’t invited to the wedding anyway. But you go on and have yourself a nice afternoon.”
I have to smile at that. Eden has a rare ability to cut people in two without being rude about it.
Josie lifts her chin. “The cake’s probably better at the café across the street.”
“I won’t argue with you there,” Eden says as she sets the tray on the table. “I’m guessing there’s a reason we don’t have any business. Either way, you’ve got places to be, and this isn’t one of them.”
Shane nods to Josie. “Call me this weekend to set up an appointment.”
“I will.” Something flashes in her eyes, and she smirks at us. “Enjoy the wedding night. I can tell it’s going to be quite interesting.”
“I hope your third eye didn’t tell you that,” I mutter. I don’t like the way she’s looking at me, like she can see the dirty thoughts that have been pinging around in my head.
Josie gives us a mysterious smile as she gets up and beats her retreat, Eden lowering into her chair after she vacates it. The bell rings as Josie steps through the door, and it nearly bangs her in the ass on her way out because she pauses to give us a significant glance over her shoulder. She’s probably hoping to add an extra layer of mystery to whether or not Shane and I are going to fuck tonight.
We’re not, obviously, and I feel another surge of relief—both because she’s leaving and because I never took her up on her offer of a reading. If I’m this fazed by a prediction that’s obviously wrong, how would I feel if she got something else right?
A hand lands on my arm, big and broad and hot, and a shiver runs the full length of my spine, from my neck down to my ass. I turn to look at Shane, my whole body rigid with shock, because I’ve always been reluctantly attracted to him, but that kiss made it ten times worse. No, not just the kiss. It was hearing him ask if I wanted to see him on his knees before me.
I do.
“She’s full of shit, Ruthie,” Shane says.
I flinch but don’t move his arm. I can’t bring myself to, not when I’d prefer for it to stroke up and down my body like I’m a cat he’s petting.
“But you’re going to represent her?” I ask, lifting my eyebrows.
“She didn’t leave me much of a choice,” he says, his voice thick with annoyance. “Besides, it’s a frivolous lawsuit. The plaintiff deserves to lose and reimburse her for her legal fees.”
“So he’s the one who’ll be paying your salary while his best friend fucks his wife. That’s a hard pill to swallow.” I don’t know why I’m being antagonistic—everything Josie said suggests this guy’s a real piece of work—but I feel off-kilter. Bickering with Shane is familiar, and familiar things are soothing when your world has been upended.
“Want to spoon-feed that pill to him, Ruthie?” he asks, his eyes on mine, his hand still splayed over my arm as if he wants to pin it. That thought’s all it takes to make me squirm uncomfortably on the booth seat.
So, naturally, I claim one of the slices of cake from the tray and take a bite, slowly licking the frosting off the fork. The way Shane’s pupils dilate makes satisfaction pump through my veins—just like when his eyes dipped to my bare shoulder the other night. This game we’re playing may only exist in my head, but I enjoy dominating in it.
“You’ll be paying my girl monthly?” Eden interjects.
Shane, still watching me instead of her, nods.
“She’ll need half upfront,” Eden continues. “That’ll be enough to help her get Vanny off to a real start.”
“It would help more if you didn’t fire her,” he says pointedly as he raps his fingers on the side of the table.
“She’s not,” I say, just as Eden gives him a look that would wither a succulent.
“Our landlord hiked the rent by thirty percent, hotshot,” Eden says. “We were barely coming out even as it was.”
“Let me take a look at your lease agreement.” He says this with the officiousness of a man who’s used to getting his way.
Eden snorts and shoves his cake toward him. “Not every problem needs to be solved, let alone by you. It was another sign telling us what we already knew. When it’s your time, there’s no point fighting it.”
Josie would probably say it was a message from the universe, but Shane flinches at her words. The look in his eyes, almost as if he’d seen a ghost, is unexpected.
Then I flinch, because my phone is buzzing in my pocket. My first thought is that it’s Danny—that Josie the Great lasted all of five minutes before calling him and confessing everything. But it’s Izzy’s school.
Chapter Fifteen
Shane
