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Everything about dating was so utilitarian. So transactional. Like an endless comparing of pros and cons until she convinced her heart to stir.
And then there was Lola. A woman who ignited all the wrong parts of her. Who made her heart race and her skin overheat and a primal scream thunder in her throat. She never had to convince herself tofeelaround Lola. Quite the opposite, she had to fortify her foundation to endure the seismic wave of her tsunami presence. Or was it the other way around? Was she the unseen rumble on the sea floor?
In a clamor of people standing and chairs scraping the tile floor, the staff meeting ended. Carmen was still half trapped in her own musings when a paralegal handed her a single piece of paper.
“Judge denied your motion to dismiss,” he said before pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Sorry.”
At that sight of her name next to Lola’s in the case’s caption, Carmen’s brain roared to life. Electrified like she’d pounded an energy drink, Carmen stomped toward her office, weaving around a pair blocking her hallway to finish their conversation.
Giving a little more of a shoulder check than was strictly necessary, Carmen didn’t slow down until she got to her desk. She reached for her cellphone and didn’t stop to think before she pulled up Dominion’s website and called.
“Why are you calling me here?” Lola answered after the receptionist transferred the call.
Just the sound of Lola’s voice was adrenaline in Carmen’s veins. A psychedelic dose making the muted colors in her office come alive.
“Because I don’t have your cell phone number,” Carmen said, like it was obvious. Pathetic, but obvious. “But if I’m bothering you with news of our mutual lawsuit—”
“Well, what are you waiting for? Tell me.”
Rolling her eyes without having to disguise her grin, Carmen leaned against the front of her desk with her phone to her ear. “If you’d stop wasting time with unnecessary questions, I’d tell you that the motion to dismiss got denied.”
There was a beat before Lola replied, “Well, it was a Hail Mary anyway, right?”
Carmen would’ve fallen over if she weren’t half sitting on her desk. She’d expected a meltdown. Accusations that she didn’t have her best interest at heart. Threats to call the bar and have Carmen thrown in prison for incompetence. She hadn’t expected Lola to understand. Hadn’t expected her to have been listening when she explained their small chance of success.
“If this thing isn’t going away so easily,” Carmen said when she recovered, “we should figure out what we’re going to do next.”
“I thought we weren’t speaking anymore,” Lola said after a beat. “Didn’t we say goodbye forever the other night?”
Thoughts of kissing Lola against her car door and in her office came flooding into Carmen’s mind, but she pushed them aside. The pulse racing in her neck she could do nothing about.
“We called an end to open hostilities. Do you think you can be within a foot of me without trying to frame me for a felony?” Carmen held her breath and waited for Lola’s response.
Another beat. “I’m nothing if not my self-control,” she replied in what Carmen could almost believe was a joke.
CHAPTER28
This timewhen Lola showed up in Carmen’s office after-hours, Carmen was waiting for her by the elevator. The sight of her in loose trousers worn high and cinched with a silky tank top shouldn’t have made her body stir — she’d seen her mostly naked for shit’s sake — but when the doors parted and Carmen tossed her long, light brown hair and looked at her with bright hazel eyes, Lola felt it like being plunged in a hot tub.
“Hey,” Carmen greeted, her glossy pink lips twitching like she couldn’t decide whether to smile.
Lola nearly smiled before she caught herself and clenched her teeth instead. The office appeared mostly empty as they navigated to the back. To where Carmen’s office was. To the place where Lola had made a fool of herself and kissed Carmen too gently. With too much of something other than rage.
“Do you want coffee? Water?” Carmen overshot her office and stopped in front of the kitchen. “We even have supermarket champagne for when we win big verdicts.” Carmen smiled at her like they’d never accosted each other in confined dark spaces. Like she’d forgotten that they were there to discuss an insane, life-ruining lawsuit.
Narrowing her eyes, Lola scanned Carmen the way Natalia might. Searching for the truth hidden in follicles or micro-movements, or wherever Natalia always found them. She wanted to ask Carmen what the fuck she was so happy about, but her jaw was stuck in the off position, so she made a grunting sound in her throat and invited herself into Carmen’s office.
Inside, surrounded by the scent of Carmen’s perfume, Lola’s nerves only replicated. She shouldn’t be there. It was too close. Too confusing. She was debating how to leave without admitting weakness. How to tell Carmen that she was the lawyer and should figure out what the hell to do with her legal case on her own. If they had a talent management crisis, it’s not like Lola would expect Carmen’s help in solving it. She was the one who’d passed the bar. She should know—
“I brought you water just in case,” Carmen said from behind her.
Lola turned like she’d been caught robbing a jewelry store, instinct telling her to leave. To run. That she was vulnerable here. Distracted. Weak. Open to making mistakes. To being unable to see all the pitfalls. All the lines of attack.
When Lola didn’t immediately accept the bottle, Carmen set the two down on her desk. There weren’t many seating options, but instead of sitting behind the desk in a position of power, Carmen sat in one of the two small chairs in front of her desk and cracked open one of the water bottles.
Eyeing her with every ounce of suspicion in her body, Lola narrowed her gaze. Was she lulling her into a sense of security? Giving her the illusion of equal footing on her home turf to catch her off guard?
“Are you going to sit, or do you want me to explain motions for summary judgment while you stand there?” Carmen’s lips curled in amusement.
