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“That’s what Paul said she was going to do, and he said you would tell her you would think about it,” she mused. “He also said you wouldn’t really think about it.”
“Of course I won’t think about it.” He hadn’t considered it in the moment, and after this play of his brother’s, he wouldn’t think about helping him in the future. How dare he bring Jayna into his plans.
Her arms crossed over her chest, a sure sign she was about to get stubborn on him. “Did she also try to talk you out of seeing me?”
He wasn’t getting into this. “None of that matters. What she says doesn’t mean a thing to me. She lives in her own world, so don’t worry about it. Give me the contracts so I can give them back to my brother and you can be out of this.”
Her hand tightened on the strap. “Why should I do that? He’s my client. If I hand over his contracts to you without his permission, I’m violating attorney-client privilege.”
“There’s no privilege because he didn’t give you any money. In fact, he stuck you with the bill for lunch,” he pointed out. “And that’s what’s going to happen when you deal with my brother.”
“There is the assumption of privilege,” she argued, and then sighed, relaxing a bit. “Quaid, I’m not sure what’s going on, but I don’t think this is about hurting you. I think Paul needs some help, and he doesn’t think he has the right to ask it of you.”
Paul had worked his magic on her. “Jayna, I’m askingyou to give me that bag and walk away from this. Don’t ask me any more questions. I need you to believe that I know what I’m talking about.”
She frowned, looking more confused than he’d ever seen her. She glanced around, and that was the moment he realized everyone in the courthouse was watching them. There were a bunch of people who’d been milling about and now they’d stopped to watch the drama playing out.
“Is it because you think I can’t do it?” The question came out as a whisper.
“It’s because I don’t want you involved with my family.” It would be a disaster if she worked for Paul, and he had no idea what his mother was up to, but he knew what she wanted. She wanted Jayna gone, and he wasn’t going to allow her to chase off the only woman he’d truly wanted in years.
Her face flushed, and she drew in a shaky breath. “All right. I’ll give the contracts back to your brother, but I’m not turning them over to you. I’m not going to open myself up to another ethics complaint I can’t afford to defend. Now, we have a court case to deal with, and I hope that you can handle it with the professionalism I expect from you, Mr. Havery.”
“Jayna, baby,” he began. She didn’t understand what he was trying to do.
She turned away from him. “It’s Ms. Cardet when we’re in this courthouse. And keep your voice down because everyone is listening to us right now.”
“What’s wrong?” He wasn’t sure why she’d turned so cold on him. “I’m doing this to spare you trouble. I’m not trying to take something from you. If it’s about having more work, I can find that for you.”
He wasn’t sure why she needed the work. It wasn’t like she had any bills to pay, and he was handling the ethics complaint. They’d even talked to the attorney together, andshe was incredibly certain this would all be cleared up in a matter of weeks.
“No need to find anything for me.” She started toward the courtroom. “I can get my own work. If there’s anyone else in this town who’s off limits, you should give me a list.”
Maybe he hadn’t handled this as well as he could have. He was making a scene. The whole town was already talking about them. He shouldn’t give them more to discuss.
He hurried to keep up with her. “Baby, this is a family thing. It has nothing to do with you and me.”
“I told you what I was willing to do. I’ll turn the contracts back over to Paul, grape jelly still intact.” Her heels clicked against the marble floors, the sound seeming as irritated as the woman herself. “I’ll leave your family alone. No one will think for a second that I have any connection to you outside of work. No one will misconstrue our relationship in any way.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means people will draw the proper conclusions,” she explained. “Look, it’s fine. I thought I was helping you out. I thought if I handled Paul’s trouble you wouldn’t have any pressure to do it yourself. I also thought I was potentially making some money so I can find a place of my own. You don’t want me around your family, so I’ll give the contracts back and find the money some other way. I’m sending out CVs as fast as I can, and I’m going to look into a prep course so I can get licensed in Texas.”
He stopped in the middle of the hall, her words shocking him. “Hey, I was not asking you to leave. I don’t want you to leave. I was actually going to ask you to go out with me tonight.”
“To where? You want to head into New Orleans where no one in Papillon can see us together?”
“No, I was going to see if you wanted to go out with some friends of mine.”
“Sure you were.” She stopped, her hand on the door. “It’s fine. I knew when we started that this wasn’t some hearts-and-flowers relationship. We’re both lonely, and the sex is good. We have similar interests. I thought we were friends, but if you can’t even stand the thought of me being around your family, then we’re just two people in close proximity with nothing better to do. I can handle that. Honestly, I’ll probably still sleep with you because I am lonely and you’re good in bed, but let’s not pretend we’re anything more.”
“That’s not true.” This was exactly what he was trying to avoid.
She stared at him for a moment. “I’m a realist, Quaid. I take a look at the evidence and I come to a conclusion. You refuse to talk to me about anything truly important, but you demand I bare my soul to you every night. You want to know everything about my family and my relationship with my mother, but I can’t even read over your brother’s contracts to see if I can help him. You don’t think much of me.”
“I know you’re good enough to help him. He’s not good enough to deserve your help. That is what I’m trying to tell you. This isn’t about you not being good enough for them. They aren’t good enough for you,” he insisted.
She sent him the saddest look. “We should get inside.”
