Page 34 of The Liar in Room 5

“Oops. Sorry.”

Drew pulled away just enough for me to see his grin.

He was too cute not to kiss.

“As I was saying,” I continued after stealing one, “I was working at the firm when a buddy from law school, who’d gone into criminal defense, asked me to look over a contract his sibling had signed with their agent and a studio. They were worried something wasn’t right and suspected their regular attorney might’ve been part of the problem.”

“Oh man, that sucks. Were they right or just paranoid?”

“Right. Like…seriously fucking right. The agent and the studio were screwing them every way imaginable.”

“So what did you do?”

Drew turned to face me completely.

Immediately, I missed having him tucked against me. Before he could protest, I steered us toward the lounge chairs so I could at least have him sitting beside me while I finished the story.

“They hired me, and I went in guns blazing. Once everyone realized I didn’t know enough to understand I was supposed to be intimidated, we got the whole thing sorted out. Missed royalties. Future royalties. Better contract terms. And the studio avoided a very public fight that would’ve made them look like complete assholes.”

“And Halo House?”

“The only reason I won that case was that a clerk did his job and gave me every relevant file. The studio never intended for me to see them.”

“What happened to him?”

“He got fired.”

Drew frowned.

“One of the associates at my firm knew someone who knew Phoenix. Phoenix took him in because he didn’t have anywhere else to go.”

“Is he okay now?”

“Yeah. He’s doing great. Lives near Seattle now, has a kid, and works for another attorney.”

Drew shivered as the evening breeze picked up.

Well…guess I had no choice. I slipped an arm around his shoulders. He immediately snuggled closer, tucking himself against my side.

“Phoenix told me you’ve taken over my tab.”

“It’s not a tab. A tab means you owe somebody something. I’m just directing part of my donation toward your upkeep instead of the general fund. You don’t owe me anything.”

“Have you done it before?”

“A few times. That clerk was the first, and there’ve been a couple of others since.”

“Were you involved with”—he made one-handed air quotes—“‘them?’ Not that it’s any of my business.”

“First of all, I’m more than happy to make it your business.” His cheeks pinked. “Second, no. There may have been reasons I helped them, but I wasn’t romantically interested in any of them.”

Drew knitted his eyebrows together. His face was practically a whiteboard while he tried to piece everything together.

“You said that one case brought you to Phoenix, but I didn’t realize associate attorneys made that kind of money.”

“My buddy’s sibling?” I laughed. “They were…well, are…big. Huge. They kept me as their attorney, recommended me to a bunch of other A-listers, and basically shoved me to the front of the line.”

“I’m sure it’s because you’re good.”