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“Oh, wow. I didn’t realize that.” The Drummonds were one of the poorest families in the area. They worked as shrimpers and fished, and the newest generation sometimes got into trouble running drugs. “I guess I thought all of the Haverys came from money.”
“Like I said, it can be different in a small town. My grandfather married her after she got pregnant. At least I don’t think my father was two months premature. He weighed nine pounds,” Quaid said with a chuckle. “He saw my grandmother struggle and didn’t want that for his kids.So he married a woman who did, in fact, make sure Paul and I could easily move through even the wealthiest circles, and my father taught me not to think that made me better than anyone else. Just luckier.”
She was fairly certain Quaid didn’t realize she had a connection to his dad. “Your father is the reason I wanted to be a lawyer.”
He sat up a little straighter. “Really?”
“Yeah. My cousin got in trouble when I was in junior high, and it looked like she was going to jail for a long time. Cassie was my favorite cousin. She was our babysitter when I was a kid, and I couldn’t stand the thought of her being in jail. I heard them talking about how bad public defenders were, so I marched into your dad’s office. I had saved up five dollars and fifty-two cents.”
Quaid gasped. “You were that girl? I remember this. I couldn’t remember who he ended up defending, but I remember him telling my mother it was some of the best money he ever made. She couldn’t understand because it was next to nothing, but he said money was relative. What meant nothing to him meant the world to the young lady who’d hired him, and he would honor that by doing his best.”
She was so emotional this evening. She could remember the moment so clearly. She could feel the way the air had changed from the heat outside to the air-conditioned office, hear the slight rattle of the ceiling fan, taste the sweet tea the secretary had offered her. “Your dad and his secretary didn’t treat me like a dumb kid. He talked to me like I was smart. And he dealt with the situation. He negotiated a deal so she only got probation. The public defender had told my aunt she better be prepared for Cassie to serve at least three years. And that was when I knew I wanted to be a lawyer.”
“I’m glad he was able to do that for you. How is Cassie today?”
“She’s married with three kids. She moved to Houston and works for an insurance company, and she has a good life that I don’t think she would’ve had if it wasn’t for your father.” She wiped away another stupid tear. “I thought I was going to go into criminal law. That was my plan when I started. Sometimes I think about how far I’ve drifted from where I thought I would be.”
“And I think about how I never even once drifted, and that means I never got to figure out if there’s anything beyond right where I am.” He set down his glass and leaned toward her. “I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you.”
“I’ve changed a lot since I was that kid. It’s okay.”
“I promise I’ll never make that mistake again.”
The silky sound of his voice did odd things to her libido. She was surprised she still had a libido. She’d kind of thought she wasn’t that woman, but Quaid Havery was reminding her that she had all the right parts and hormones. He made her understand she’d been fooling herself all these years, shoving her physical needs aside.
It was a bad idea.
It would be so much easier on her if she hadn’t stopped at the office. She had enough money for a couple of days at a motel. Especially if the motel needed some legal representation, because then she could barter for a room. She could sell the last of her handbags and find a job. Any job that didn’t keep her in the same space as the most tempting man she’d ever known. She couldn’t go down this road again. Quaid wasn’t Todd, but their families were similar.
“I should go to bed.” If she stayed up any longer, she worried she might end up in the man’s arms. Arms would lead to lots of other mingling body parts. “I’ll answer the phones tomorrow if I can’t convince Sienna to come in, but if I can’t find a place to stay soon, I’ll have to move on. I’ve got afriend in Dallas I might be able to stay with until I can deal with the bar situation.”
“Jayna, you can stay here for as long as you need. And I’ve got the bar situation handled. I was going to talk to you about this tomorrow. I found an attorney who specializes in bar complaints. We can call her tomorrow but she’s going to be at a conference I’m attending in New Orleans in a couple of weeks. I was hoping you would come with me and meet her.”
More and more temptation. “You want me to go to New Orleans with you?”
“That’s where she’ll be,” he replied as though it was a very simple situation and not one fraught with a never-ending minefield of sexual tension. “I suppose we could drive separately, but it’s a networking conference so you might get something out of it, too.”
She knew that conference well. She’d signed up for it before the divorce. “I’ve got tickets. I go every year. Todd and I split up those conferences so we didn’t have to do them all. And so that he wasn’t uncomfortable banging every blonde in sight.”
He completely ignored her quip, nodding her way. “Excellent. I’ve got a suite.”
A suite in one of the most romantic cities in the world with a man who made her mouth water. “I don’t know if it’s such a good idea that I stay with you.”
“I would try to get you your own room, but I believe the hotel is full. You’d have your own room in the suite.” He studied her for a moment. “You do realize I was planning on staying here tonight, don’t you? That’s why I was here so late.”
“I thought you were working.” How she’d gone from being thoroughly annoyed by the man to kind of wanting to be around him... a lot... she didn’t understand. Kind of? Sheneeded to stop lying to herself. She still had a thing for him, and it wasn’t merely sexual. She liked him.
“I’m avoiding my brother and his problems,” he replied in a manner that let her know he did not want to talk about it.
He could keep his secrets. She’d met Paul Havery a couple of times and he’d seemed like an okay guy, but she didn’t know him well. She would trust that Quaid had good reasons for wanting to stay away.
The problem was she couldn’t trust herself. Jayna stood. “I should go, then.”
Luna’s head came up but her big body didn’t move, as though she was totally comfortable and her mom’s worries about making a fool of herself weren’t going to change her situation. She gave Jayna a nice side-eye that told her, “Don’t screw this up.”
Quaid stood as well, getting into her space. He put a gentle hand on her shoulder, a friendly gesture. “Jayna, I can go home. The last thing I want to do is make you uncomfortable. Well, maybe not the last thing. The last thing would be sending you out into the night without a place to stay.”
“I don’t want to kick you out of your own apartment.” She had to tip her head back to look at him, at his strong jawline and lush lips. Men shouldn’t have lips like that. He might mean that hand on her shoulder as an indicator of a simple, friendly connection between the two of them, but she felt heat where he touched her. “But I don’t think this is a good idea.”
