“You got court at eight tonight?” Luke asked mildly.
“No.”
“Fundraiser?”
“No.”
Luke leaned against the wall.
“Hot date?”
“It’s dinner.”
“With…?”
Reid picked up his keys but didn’t answer.
Luke’s grin spread slowly.
“Oh.”
“Don’t,” Reid repeated.
“That picture made the rounds pretty fast,” Luke said casually. “Sky Bar. Y’all looked close.”
“It was a photo.”
“Mmm.”
Luke studied him.
“You know half the county thinks you’ve been secretly dating for months.”
“They think a lot of things.”
“True.”
A beat.
“She’s easy to look at,” Luke added.
Reid’s eyes lifted sharply.
“Careful.”
Luke smirked. “I’m not wrong.”
Reid didn’t smile.
Luke watched him for a long second.
“You sure you want to walk into that right now?” he asked more evenly. “Podcast’s been circling the courthouse all day. And Reid… reelection’s six months out. Gentry’s looking for any reason to hang a ‘soft on crime’ label on you. Walking into a restaurant with the defense attorney who just dismantled a State witness?” He shook his head. “That’s a campaign ad waiting to happen.”
Reid paused, his hand on the door handle.
He knew the math. In a town this size, his career lived and died on perception—and right now, perception was a liability.
“Yeah,” Reid said, his voice dropping. “I’m sure.”
