AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Thanks.”
“No problem, and I’m so sorry I freaked you out, Lily didn’t get out by herself. I went to get her. She woke up screaming, and you were so heavily asleep.”
“Was she okay?”
“Oh, yeah, after some warm milk, anyway.”
“It’s what we usually do, but at night. She might be sleepy by nap time.”
“Not an entirely bad thing,” Emilie said with a wink.
“Fair enough.”
Leaving the girls in Emilie’s capable hands, I retired to the room where I’d set up a make-shift office, it technically being a working vacation and all. Despite the lovely location and good company.
I didn’t actually have any case work at the moment. The flow was slowing to a trickle anyway, most would be opposition settling as soon as they heard as I would be working the case. Freeing up the overstretched court system, while also putting a dent in my income.
Not that I was hurting for money. If there was one thing my Scottish grandfather instilled in me from an early age, it was the value of money and how to make it last as long as possible, so I had a pretty handsome cushion of savings.
As far as sidelines went, writer wasn’t the worst on I could think of. Particularly with the overlap on the diagram of skills required in writing and law. Which went a ways in explaining the number of lawyers who either became writers or wrote in their free time, John Grisham one of the first examples of the species.
If anything, it could be seen as the next logical step in my career. Fiction didn’t seem like it would work too well, facts being more my forte, but there was always non-fiction. The blessing and curse of which was the amount of research involved. At least if you wanted it to come out well.
Embracing the time given by both the partners and circumstance, I set about a beginning, I hoped would turn into an engaging instance of literature with the application of some creativity and perspiration. Otherwise known as the Hunter Thompson approach.
Facts scrolled behind my eyes like an old-school e-reader, my mind churning like a waterwheel to try and make sense of it all. I did have a habit of diving in headfirst when excited. Often to my detriment.
“Come in?” I asked, not expecting the knocks in any way.
“Hey.”
“Hi,” I acknowledge, leaping to her aid, opening the door the rest of the way to make room for the sizable silver tea tray she carried.
“How are the little ones?”
“Sleeping soundly, hopefully for a while.”
The tray dominated the desk, my computer moved to a safer locale, away from hot liquid. Emilie lowered herself into an extra chair, the temptation to take even a glance at her delicious ass resisted with every ounce of strength. Alluring as she was, I didn’t want to risk what was developing between us before it really had a chance.
“How’s the work going?” Emilie asked casually.
“Not as well as I would have hoped but can’t complain.”
“Is it a case?’
“No,” I confessed, “I don’t have much going really, I think they might be afraid of me.”
“Who, the partners?”
“Oh, no, the opposition. The partners at the firm seem to really like me. I was even offered the chance to become one of them.”
“You were going to be a senior partner?”
“That’s going a bit far, really. They offered but I really couldn’t. Not when Lily was so young. I want as much time as I can get with her. Especially before things get complicated. She is almost too clever for her own good. Mine too really, why do you think I’m prematurely gray?”
“Never really thought about it honestly, though I suppose that makes sense.”
A cloud of concern hung low over her head, darkening the aspect. There was something she wanted to ask me, I could tell.
“What’s up?”
“It’s a little embarrassing.”
“For me or you?” I joked.
“Both probably.”
“Oh, dear, that bad, hey?”
The nod was so small I was scarcely sure I actually saw it. A short list scrolled through, but there was really only one item I could think of that could cause her good heart such oppression.
“I’ve heard some things. Things about you. I don’t usually go in for gossip but -”
“You wanted to know if it was true?”
“Yeah.”
“Assuming you are talking about my history with relationships, such as it is, I have to say it is. I’m a player, at least I was. I wasn’t afraid to settle down. I already had once, so I knew it was technically possible. It just never really happened before.”
“Before what?”
“Before now.”
The pause held like suspended animation. A desperate need to break the silence pulling me toward the edge foolishness.
“You mean me, right?” she asked finally, timidly.
“Right.”
The kiss was sudden as it was mutual. Our bodies drawn together as though driven by unseen forces, fiery heat flooded through me.
