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“And when you’re ready, I’m going to walk into that ball tonight, knowing I’ve got the most beautiful woman in the world on my arm—inside and out.”
“One day, motherfluffers, this book club is gonna read a motherfluffing rom-com,” Thatch says as he tucks his sniffling face behind his arm.
“For the love of God,” Wes says, sighing heavily as he shoves back in his chair.
“Is it just me, or is he getting weepier with age?” Harrison stage-whispers, and everyone else laughs.
I smooth a hand through my hair and shake my head. “He’s always been a sensitive bastard. Two years ago, I negotiated a contract for him with two of the biggest players on the stock exchange, and he sent me Edible Arrangements for a month.”
“No flowers from your dick for Cap?” Wes teases, and Thatch gives him the finger.
“The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, asshole.”
“That’s great. Really helpful information, guys. But I’m pursuing a woman. Do you think we can focus on that for a minute and a half? Maybe even two?”
Trent sighs and leans back in his chair. “Well, in this, he’s making her feel special before taking her to the firefighter’s ball. What have you got that you can take—” He pauses for a second, purses his lips, and then shakes his head slightly. “You know, I don’t even know that I know her name.”
Kline smirks. “It’s Ruby.”
My eyebrows come together so fast, I’d imagine they’re shaped somewhat like an inchworm, with a hump in the center.
“How do you know that?”
Thatch lowers his voice to a serious whisper. “Kline has a way of knowing things.”
I frown.
“It’s like he’s got some sort of powers. Like a wizard,” Thatch continues.
I’m shaking my head before he can finish, while Kline smiles behind his drink as he puts it to his mouth.
“I don’t think that’s it, Thatch,” I refute. “But, really…how do you know?”
“I talked to her, remember?”
What the fuck is this guy talking about?
“I called your office and spoke to her on the phone.”
I roll my eyes. This fucker. “About business. She’s filling in for Liz while she’s on maternity leave.”
“I know,” Kline remarks with a smile.
“No,” I say. “There’s no way you gathered some kind of voodoo intel on that call. It was just a phone call about your contract. You talked to her for practically no time at all.”
He shrugs. “Think what you want. But I’m not hearing you say Ruby isn’t the one. Anyone else hear him say that?”
The motherfuckers all shake their heads, but Trent and Theo do it with big, shit-eating grins.
I roll my eyes. “Fine. Her name is Ruby. Can we fucking continue, please?”
“Take Ruby to something. Some kind of event. Set up some real special shit for her beforehand like the dude does in the book,” Trent finally says, presumably finishing his original thought.
“You really think that’ll work?”
Trent shrugs. “It worked in—” He turns the book to face him so he can read the title he’s obviously forgotten. “Hanging on a Hero.”
I nod. If it worked for some other schmuck, surely I can make it work for me.
Ruby
I’m in the middle of poring over my fifth application for a secondary assistant at Caplin Hawkins Law and at the tail end of my third dose of caffeine.
Now that I’m well into my second week of working for Cap in addition to my normal schedule, my caffeine intake has doubled. I’m downing cans of Monster Energy like I have a goddamn sponsorship. But I’m also feeling surprisingly invigorated by the challenge.
I wake up in the morning ready to jump out of bed, even if my head only hit the pillow a few short hours before. I think about what I might learn or what major case I might get an inside peek into, and my stomach flutters.
In addition to being one of the most ridiculous humans alive, Cap is astonishingly smart. He’s on top of what feels like one million things at once, and he never bobbles when something unexpected gets thrown his way.
He’s also always in a good mood, which I find both alarming and enjoyable. I try to be a positive person, but to be as happy as he is one hundred percent of the time seems like some kind of witchcraft.
With the way all four of my professors seemingly went along with this internship plan without any hesitancy only raises more questions about Cap’s effect on other people. At this point, if I found a book of spells lying around the office, I wouldn’t be surprised.
All in all, though, it feels like I’m settling into this new aspect of my life in a way that I know I won’t regret taking a chance on it.
I move the resume I was looking at to the “definite no” pile—she seems entirely too eager to climb some sort of ladder that doesn’t exist in this position—and start reading through a new one as the door to Cap’s office opens with a soft whoosh behind me.
