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The server came back to the table and took everyone’s orders. The conversation then switched gears to easier topics.
“I’m ready to get my feet wet. I feel like I’ve been waiting forever to get my results back,” Lena said, cutting into her thick steak. There was something satisfying about seeing a woman eat well. Lena clearly didn’t care about watching what she ate.
Sheila poked at her salad beside me. “The waiting is the worst,” Sheila agreed, taking a bite of lettuce.
“So, I take it you passed, otherwise we wouldn’t be having this dinner.” I cut off a chunk of my own steak.
“Yes, Jeremy, I passed,” Lena said, eyeing me over her fork. She said my name with every ounce of condescension she could muster.
“I barely passed,” Sheila laughed self-consciously. “I remember studying for so long and then scraping by. It was pretty humiliating.”
“You’ve done alright for yourself though,” Rob said, giving her a sympathetic smile.
“I suppose so. Or maybe the Southport DA’s office wasn’t very choosy.” Sheila shrugged self-deprecatingly.
I patted her shoulder, more of a friendly gesture than anything else. “You’re the best one over there, and you know it.”
Lena looked from Sheila to me. She didn’t seem very happy with what she saw. I took a big bite of steak and smiled patronizingly in her direction.
“Yeah, it’s a tough exam. I had a mini panic attack when I sat down that first day. I looked at the essay question and the words all seemed to swim in front of my face. It’s like my mind blanked,” Lena went on, pretending I wasn’t there.
Good luck with that, baby.
“I guess not everyone can score a 310 on raw points like I did,” I boasted. I sounded like a jackass, but it seemed I couldn’t help it. There was something about Lena that made my jerk dial go to eleven.
Sheila looked at me, her eyes wide. “You got a 310 on raw points? Are you serious?”
“Like a heart attack, unfortunately. And he never lets us forget how incredibly smart he is,” Rob joked good-naturedly. He and Adam would never be threatened by my bar exam score, considering they both tested off the charts as well. It’s why the three of us worked so well together. Combined, we were smarter than 99% of the other lawyers out there. They didn’t have a chance.
“Yeah, that’s a really good score.” Lena sounded entirely too smug. She sipped on her wine innocently.
“What did you get then?” I asked her.
“A girl never kisses and tells.” Lena batted her eyelashes and Meg snorted. Clearly, they were enjoying the moment.
Adam grinned at his sister. “Come on, tell him.”
Lena shook her head. “Why would I want to burst his balloon?”
“Spit it out already. You know you want to,” I urged Lena. “Burst my bubble.” I said it with so much innuendo that everyone shifted uncomfortably. I didn’t care though. Maybe I should have. After all, I had another woman beside me as my date. But Lena got under my skin in a way no other woman ever had. I wanted to push her. I wanted to get a reaction. And I was sure she felt the same about me. It was a constant tug of war for dominance and I sure as hell wouldn’t concede an inch.
Lena drank some more of her wine. “I got a 330,” she said quietly, smiling into her glass.
“You did not,” I huffed incredulously.
Sheila let out a low whistle. “Damn girl, that’s impressive.”
“She sure did, Wyatt. I saw the letter myself. Lena even beat Rob’s score,” Adam exclaimed, clinking his glass with his sister’s in congratulations.
Rob inclined his head. “I happily relinquish the crown of smartest smarty-pants to Lena Ducate.” He mimed lifting a crown from the top of his head and setting it on Lena’s.
Even though the wind had been decisively knocked out of my sails, I wasn’t surprised by the news that Lena was more of a genius than I had originally thought. And there was a pretty large part of me that was incredibly proud of her. I knew how hard she had worked and how much she put into everything she did. If anyone deserved to knock the bar exam out of the park, it was her.
So instead I gave her a slow, sarcastic clap. “We all have our lucky days, I suppose.”
“Dude, don’t be a dick,” Rob chastised.
“It’s all right, Rob. Some men can’t help but be threatened by powerful women.” Lena’s dark blue irises were going to burn me alive.
I crossed my arms and leaned over the table. “I’m all for being dominated, Marlena.”
“If you call me Marlena again, I’ll show you what being dominated really feels like, Jeremy.” She spat my name out of her mouth, but I could see the way her chest rose and fell with each intake of breath. I was sure she got off on our sparring as much as I did.
