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“You must be Tess,” she said, coming around the desk and extending her hand. “I’m Donal’s legal secretary, Debra.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” I shook her hand and plucked a wrapped sandwich from the plastic bag I was holding. “I brought you a sandwich.”
Her smile widened in surprise. “Aren’t you thoughtful?”
“Donal said you’d like the veggie sandwich. I hope he was right.”
“He was right. Thank you.” Her eyebrows lifted slightly as her gaze shifted to Donal. “I’ll get out of your hair now and let you two enjoy your lunch.”
“You’ve made an ally for life,” he said after she’d pulled the door closed behind her, leaving us alone.
“I imagine a sandwich is the least she deserves for putting up with you.”
“Don’t I know it. Here, let me take these.” He relieved me of the plastic bag and my purse, setting them on a low table in front of a beige minimalist-style couch. All the furniture had a vaguely mid-century modern feel to it, as if the designer had been inspired by the sets onMad Men.
“Very impressive office,” I commented, gazing at the floor-to-ceiling windows behind his desk looking out on downtown. The two side walls were wood paneled, while the wall facing the interior hallway was made of frosted privacy glass. “You ever grab a little nap on that couch? Tell the truth.”
“I wish I had time to nap during the day. Although I did catch a few hours on it once when I had to work through the night. Hey, come here.” Grabbing my hand, he tugged me into his arms.
My hands slipped around his waist as our bodies came together. One of his hands pressed into the small of my back while the other curled around the nape of my neck. His nose gently brushed my forehead, then my cheek, before bumping against my nose. I wasn’t sure if he’d actually kiss me here in his office until he did.
His lips pressed against mine, sweet and chaste and tender. A perfect kiss, followed by another, equally as sweet. But then the tip of his tongue touched my lower lip in a teasing invitation. My mouth opened as he angled his head, and I forgot where we were for a moment as his tongue swept into my mouth.
He made a growly noise and pulled back, gently pushing my hips away from his. “Yeah, we definitely need to stop before things get out of hand.”
“Good idea,” I agreed, running my fingertips over my tingling lips.
For a moment, he just stared at me. Then he smiled and dropped onto the couch, patting the cushion beside him. “Come on, sit. Let’s eat so you don’t get me in trouble.”
I joined him on the couch and doled out the sandwiches and drinks I’d brought. We ate leaning over the coffee table as we chatted about our days so far. I listened to him complain about one of the other attorneys at the firm who was a source of frequent frustration, then told him about a phone call I’d had with a prospective client I’d been trying to land. After that, we lapsed into a companionable silence as we finished our sandwiches.
“Hey,” he said eventually, bumping his knee against mine. “You all right?”
“Yeah.” I looked at him and smiled as I wadded up my sandwich wrapper. “Why?”
“You seemed lost in thought. Care to share with the class?”
Not particularly.I’d been turning over an idea I’d had last night. Something I’d planned to bring up with him at lunch today—but now I wasn’t sure I wanted to.
“It’s nothing,” I said, gathering up all our trash.
“You’re a terrible liar.”
“No, I’m not.” I shot him an indignant glare. “I’m an excellent liar.”
His eyebrows twitched upward. “Then you must not be trying very hard, which means you want to tell me.”
I sighed. “It’s about my dad. I was considering trying to take him to a Cubs game sometime.”
“Can you do that?”
“I’m allowed to take him out of the facility under my supervision. The question is whether it’s a good idea.”
Donal ran his knuckles over his lower lip as he thought about it. “Based on what I saw yesterday, it seems like a pretty great idea. If just hearing me talk about the Cubs can get through to him, imagine what actually being at Wrigley will do—seeing the sights, smelling the smells, hearing the sounds. That’s gotta be a hell of a sense memory.”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking. It’s something I’ve been wanting to do for him for a while. Wrigley has wheelchair-accessible seats, but I don’t think I can manage him on my own. I’d need help getting him out of the car and into his wheelchair, and if he were to get upset while we were there—”
“I get it.” Donal took my hand and squeezed it. “But you’ve got me now. You don’t have to manage it alone. I can help you with all that.”
