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He nodded. “I’ll walk you to your door.”
“Not necessary, Prince Charming. I’ve lived here for four years, and it’s been fine.”
She opened the door and accepted the bag of leftovers from him.
“See you tomorrow,” he said with a half-smile.
A wave of sadness hit her. Their impromptu night was over, which was absurd because she wasn’t going to spend any more time with Finn once this case wrapped up. In fact, if she didn’t make partner, she would have to quit the firm. She wasn’t going to stay where she wasn’t wanted, but more importantly, she couldn’t stay at a firm that would use nepotism and the old boys club tactics to select partners. If the partners thought she would just continue to work twice as hard as all the other lawyers for no gain, they were mistaken.
“I can stay if you want, I mean, we can go over the case or whatever,” he said.
She realized she was standing in the open doorway but not moving.
“No, it’s late. Thanks for dinner. It was really nice to meet your family.”
The words were out before she could think, and she did an about-face to stride up the stairs two at a time. She didn’t hear the door close, which meant Finn was standing there watching her. Fumbling with the keys, she unlocked her apartment door and scurried inside like a scaredy cat. Her heart raced as she leaned against the inside of her apartment door. She heard the exterior door finally close with a thud. The mellow rumble of his car starting coaxed her to the window, and she found him looking up at her through his windshield. He waved before pulling his car away.
Finn Maguire had gotten into her head and under her skin. He’d been kind and had distracted her. She’d lost sight of her goal tonight and got too comfortable spending time with Finn, wondering if his full lips were soft or firm. But she’d set her sights higher than a hot guy with a nice family. She was going to make partner, and not even Finn’s kindness or hypnotizing green eyes were going to stand in her way.
Chapter Six
Finn
Monday morning, Finnwas in a terrible mood after what could only be described as a great night. He liked Hailey, and something about having her by his side at his parents’ house felt perfect, like she belonged with him. But he didn’t want her to just be his colleague. When she almost fainted and his sister-in-law helped her with her insulin, every instinct to take care of her went into overdrive. Even after she recovered, he’d been tempted to ask her to let him sleep on her couch in case she had another spell, but he knew she’d shoot him down.
Now he needed to figure out how to act normal around her, win their case, and then convince her to let him take her out on a real date. This was new territory for him. Not that he was used to getting any woman he wanted, but it had never been so complicated. He also hadn’t ever met someone that compelled him to think about wanting more. Until now, Hailey was someone to admire from afar, but up close and personal, he found her even more beguiling. Holding her hand yesterday, it took every ounce of his power not to pull her into his lap to comfort her. Throughout the evening, he’d caught her watching him with what could only be described as need, and he wanted to give her everything she wanted. He had never wanted more.
As a SEAL, he traveled too much to maintain any kind of a real relationship so he never dated anyone seriously. In law school, he didn’t like the distraction or complication of a girlfriend. Since being at the firm, he’d dated a few women, but nothing stuck. No one challenged or intrigued him until Hailey.
“Can you meet in the conference room to go over our case?” The message popped up in a chat box on his computer.
“Ready when you are,” he fired back, but the box closed, signaling she’d logged off.
Hailey walked past his office without a word, and he resisted the urge to reach for her. She wasn’t looking for a man to chase her. She needed to be wooed, but how was he going to do that and remain professional?
The first step was to win their case. He gathered his notes and laptop before taking the stairs up to their conference room, then grabbed two fresh bottles of water from the well-stocked kitchenette before he popped into the conference room. He may not be able to give her flowers and fancy dinners, but he could be considerate and show up in other little ways to get her attention.
“I didn’t find anything yesterday linking the large deposit of cash that started the Pleasure Inc business,” Hailey said as soon as he walked in. “We need to look at Mr. Tovar’s accounts to see if we can find any links that would prove money was moved from a joint account.” She was staring down at several files and had her laptop already open.
“Good morning to you too,” he said, causing her head to pop up. Her eyes squinted at him as if to say this wasn’t a social hour.
Even her squints were sexy. He was going to have a hard time remaining focused for the next five weeks.
Sitting down, he took a deep breath. They were back to business mode. The relaxed and more open Hailey from the night before was shuttered behind her legal persona.
“Do you think there is anything to find?” he asked.
“No, Mrs. Tovar was clear that she kept everything separate from the start, and it wouldn’t have made sense for her to withdraw a large sum then deposit it in her new account and lie about it.”
“So we’ll scrub the transactions to be safe, and maybe any large withdrawals the year leading up to her business starting. I think we better confirm there is no reference to her husband or Tovar Enterprises on her small-business loan application too,” Finn suggested.
She nodded. “Good call.”
“I reached out this morning, asking her for any additional family names that could verify the inheritance from her aunt. Apparently, there were only a few living relatives at the time, but she said she would send over the list, which had me thinking.”
She stood to walk along the bank of windows while formulating her thoughts. He was gifted the opportunity to watch her long strides in another pantsuit that flowed over her feminine form to accentuate each curve and slope in a way he wasn’t sure she intended.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but Mr. Tovar’s attorneys have to prove the money came from a joint account. It’s their responsibility to find the evidence to prove their clients’ claim. We don’t have to prove a negative to win, right?” She stopped to face him.
