“Jenner didn’t tell me, no. I’m just not surprised. He’d be stupid not to want you. You’re a fucking shark, Sophie. Any firm would be honored to have you on theirteam.” I felt his foot when he stretched his leg out under the table. “Let me guess—Jenner made you one hell of an offer?”
“He doubled my salary.”
“Fuck yes.”
“And he raised my hourly rate.”
He looked at me in awe. “You have no idea how happy this makes me.”
The warmth in my chest was overwhelming. “So, instead of walking into the meeting with my partners to hear my fate, I handed them a resignation letter—something they had not seen coming. In two weeks, I’ll be starting at The Dalton Group.” My eyes closed for a second, the emotion making an appearance. “I can’t believe I’m even saying those words.”
“Did your firm try to sway you to stay?”
“They did, and that tells me they weren’t planning on firing me, which is a relief since that was something I’d worried about.” I traced the ends of the ceramic chopsticks. “The whole thing is a little bittersweet. I wasn’t unhappy there, and I had a wonderful mentor. The firm took a chance on me, directly out of law school, as green as I could possibly be. I’ll always be grateful for that. But I also feel it’s my moment to move on. And the opportunity at The Dalton Group—I never expected that.”
“Something tells me you came out kicking. You were never green, Sophie.”
I laughed.
He reached across the table and held my hand. “When the best in the industry is still so fucking humble, it’s a beautiful thing to see.”
My head tilted, and I grinned from his compliment. “I don’t take any of this for granted, Colson. I’m not proud of the way I handled some things, but I can’t fix that now. All I can do is move on and learn from those lessons.”
He stroked the back of my hand. “Does that mean you’re going to be joining Troy and Jenner on the Weston team?”
“No.”
He huffed. “No? I don’t like that answer.”
“It would be a conflict of interest at this point. Besides, Troy and Jenner are more than capable. They’re two of the best attorneys I know.”
“They are, for sure, but I still don’t like your answer.”
“I get it, but listen, I know too much about the Gordons—not in terms of their future goals, but their past. I can’t let that cross over into your world. Now, if the Gordons were out of the picture and Troy asked me to consult on something entirely different, I’d be able to step in. But that’s only if Troy asked me. I would never step on his toes or Jenner’s.” I emphasized my last statement to make a point.
He moaned. “Alothas transpired that you don’t know.”
“Like—”
My voice cut off when the door to the private room opened, our server walking in with two plates that he set in the center of the table. “Please let me know if I can get you anything else, Mr. Weston.”
“Thank you,” Colson replied.
Once we were alone, I asked, “Is this the way it always works when you come into one of your restaurants? They just bring food? You never have to order anything? Because the hostess didn’t even give us a menu.”
“Yes, sometimes.” He chuckled. “Other times, I’m specific about what I want. But the LA locations of Toro and Charred see a lot of me. They know my palate probably better than I do, so they bring, and I eat, and it works out perfectly. One of the many perks of owning a restaurant group.” He paused. “A few more dates, and they’ll know yours too.” He winked.
That cute gesture made me blush. “This tuna looks amazing.”
“Wait until you taste it. That dish is one of my favorites.” He pointed at the one beside it. “And that eggplant—you’ve never had anything like it, I promise.”
I didn’t reach for my chopsticks even though I was dying to dig in. We’d already been distracted, and I wanted to get back to our conversation before it drifted away and was forgotten.
“You were about to tell me what’s transpired …”
He swallowed the bite in his mouth, and I could tell he was making a serious effort to hide his smile. “I’ve been hesitant in discussing this with you. Not because I don’t trust you—that’s not the case at all. But because your firm still reps the Gordons, and that makes you attached in a roundabout way, even if that attachment is complicated.”
“You don’t have to say a word.” I held up my hand. “I completely understand this and?—”
