Baz’s head jerked back.Sad?Which part of this made him sad?The best view of Lake Michigan the city had to offer?The Brazilian ceramic tile in the bathroom—okay, Sami hadn’t seen that yet either, but the point still stood!Nothing about his apartment wassad.
“No, it’s not.”
“I mean, where is all your stuff?Your furniture?”Sami carried on, gesturing around the sufficiently filled space.“And all the blank white walls?It’s giving ‘heartless exhibition piece set up for a house viewing.’My dorm room had more character than this.”
Baz had plenty of furniture, thank you very much.Just in here, he had a couch and a small table in front of it.Not to mention the two lounge chairs on the living room balcony.He even had a rug in his office nook.What could be more homely than that?He was barely here anyway and—why on earth should he listen to criticism from Sami-fucking-Adam?The man wore suits so cheap, Baz felt itchy just looking at them.Probably got them from thrift stores too since that was his go-to place for business attire.Allegedly.
“It’s called minimalism,” Baz said.
“Where I’m from, it’s called ‘being broke.’I bet you’re massively overpaying for this place, right?”
“Are you here to talk settlement or to judge my apartment?”
“Actually, I came here to get that drink you owe me, but I don’t see why I can’t do that and judge your apartment.”
“I oweyou?You spilled coffee all over me!”
“That was a seven-dollar coffee.”
“It was a seventy-dollar shirt!”
“Which I replaced with a fifteen-dollar one, which is exactly what you deserved after not buying me a drink at the bar, so you’re welcome.”
So hehadput Baz into a bad shirt on purpose!What a sadistic sense of humor.How could anyone be this annoying?
“I didn’t realize I was meant to buy you a drink after you stole half of mine.”
But still, he walked to the kitchen and produced two whiskey tumblers out of the top cabinet.With Sami, his body seemed to have developed a mind of its own.
Sami hopped onto the white marble top of the kitchen island and crossed his legs.“You’re cute when you’re clueless.”
Baz was neither cute nor clueless.An idiot, maybe, given that he grabbed his best bottle of bourbon, a move-in gift from Joel.Baz hadn’t had an occasion to open it yet; getting Sami to shut up seemed like a good one.
The golden liquid splashed when he picked the tumblers up.Sami stole one out of his grip before Baz could hand it to him.Impatient.
Sami lifted it for a toast.“Thanks.Took you long enough.”
Obnoxious.
Sami’s lips left a perfect imprint on the glass.The star in his eyes was glowing with something Baz didn’t dare to find a name for.
“You are by far the most obtrusive, impertinent person I have ever met.”
Sami smiled like that was an honor.“And you’re into it, so what does that say about you?”
His foot traced Baz’s leg, hooked around his thigh.Baz’s knees turned to jello.He braced himself on the counter, a safe distance away from Sami’s hips.“I don’t like you.”
“Is that gonna be a deal-breaker?”
Well.
Feelings had never played a role in his sex life.If they had met under different circumstances, fucking Sami’s brains out would have been a no-brainer.But he couldn’t forget that they’d be sitting opposite each other at the negotiation table tomorrow.
“This is a bad idea.”
On a case with this much attention from their bosses and the media alike, being caught in an affair with opposing counsel, getting accused of foul play, could nuke both of their careers.
“That’s half the fun.”Sami glided off his perch, squeezing between Baz and the counter.A fiery heat coursed through Baz where their bodies touched.
