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Six days had passed since Teague had become her lover, and she felt irrevocably changed. Not that it was surprising, given that her friend had transformed himself into a boyfriend with a capital B.
Not only had he assigned himself the task of gassing up her car, but believed any filter in the house was now under his purview, along with the pipes and strange creaking noises that she had no interest in investigating. He also felt a shared calendar was paramount, something that struck her as curious until he’d shown up at the courthouse with ice cream. A favorite after-trial treat that he somehow remembered.
The man could easily be cast as the hero in any Netflix romantic escapade. He was not only too handsome for words but incredibly adept at all things romantic. How had he hidden his romantic partner potential so well? It was like a magic trick. One minute he’d been grumpy and growly. And the next, he turned into Prince Fricking Charming, dialing his charisma to ten. Had she not seen it with her own eyes, she would’ve sworn it impossible.
She leaned back in her chair and stared at the ceiling, admitting that his competency in all things love-related made her question her own capabilities. Was she doing all she could to show him she was fully invested?
Not confident that the answer was yes, she thought about the best way to show him that she appreciated everything he’d done. Sitting up straight, she tapped her pen against her desk and began brainstorming ideas that would knock his socks off. Or better yet, his pants. Snickering, she wrote several down.
The office door swung open, and she startled. Spinning around in her chair, she watched Faith stroll in. “I’m trying to come up with great date ideas. What do you think about hot air balloon rides?”
“Wouldn’t be my first choice, but that’s because I have a height thing.”
“Definitely something to consider, but given Teague’s long history of jumping out of planes, he might not mind.”
“You could suggest an afternoon at the laundromat, and he’d happily take you and make it seem like it was the finest idea in the world.”
“I doubt that.” She pushed herself to her feet and took Faith’s outstretched hand. “How are you?”
“Who cares? I’m here to get the update on lover boy.” Faith twirled her in a circle. “Do I even need to ask if the man has lived up to your fantasies?”
“All that growling wasn’t false advertising.” She pressed her hands together. “Under that layer of grump is a well of ooey gooey kindness.”
“So the smoldering beast thing has an upside?”
“Absolutely.”
Faith leaned against the desk. “Yeah, the one word answer isn’t going to cut it.”
Tancy collapsed into her chair and slid her glasses up. “His perma-scowl had been replaced with a sexy smirk filled with promises of debauchery. The thundercloud of irritation has been transformed into a storm of lustful desire that can only be satisfied one way. And his growling isn’t as bothersome as it used to be.”
“Good, Lord. Who are you, and why are you using so many adverbs? Are you going to begin writing sonnets instead of requests for orders and briefs?”
“I might.” She restacked several folders. “And that’s despite my debilitating fear of vulnerability and general distrust of anything that involves hacking away at my emotional walls.”
“At least you know what you’re getting yourself into. You’re well acquainted with Teague’s habits and quirks, so there are no unsettling surprises on the horizon.” Faith dropped into a chair and leaned forward. “What are those pandas doing? I thought the species suffered from a low sex drive.”
She shook her head and laughed. “Teague likes to rearrange my ceramic animals.” She moved the animals around and made sure it was a more suitable PG situation. “You should’ve seen what he did with my camel collection.”
“Glad I missed it.” Faith rolled her hand. “Tell me how it’s going. Just leave out all the kinky animal stuff.”
She bit her bottom lip. “We’ve fallen into this relationship thing so easily. It’s weird and completely disconcerting. The past week has been amazing. I want so badly to hold on to it with an iron-fisted grip but know that’s exactly what I shouldn’t do.”
“I doubt you could derail the love train if you tried. Some people will run a finger down the index of who you are and jump straight to the parts that pique their interest. Others will take their time and read through every one of your chapters and fold corners of the ones they were inspired by.”
“Are you saying that he’s one of those?”
Faith shook her head. “No. He’s the one you don’t see coming. Teague Moriarty will not only finish all your sentences but keep the book.”
“Really?”
“Without a doubt.”
Before she could consider what that would mean, her cell phone rang, and she checked the display. “Not today,” she muttered.
“Who are you ignoring?”
She flipped over her phone and let out a sigh. “They want me back. Gretchen is lead on a new case that involves the same company I went against.”
