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Chest heaving, she nodded, unable to form any coherent response.
Steadying her against the wall, he ran a hand over his suit, which had been crumpled in their haste. Then he released the stop button on the elevator, handed her the bag she’d discarded, and pulled her blazer together as they continued their descent to the lobby. The phone stopped ringing.
“Snap out of it. One walk across the lobby, and we can take my car to the courthouse.”
How was he so focused and unaffected by what had just passed between them? Seconds before, he had been just as desperate to touch her as she’d been to feel his warm, muscular body.
“Yep, okay.” She nodded and kept her eyes down, running her fingers over what felt like swollen recently kissed lips.
“You look fine,” he breathed. “Gorgeous and sexy but still like a professional lawyer.”
She looked up and recognized the desire that shone bright in his eyes just before the elevator doors opened.
She practically ran off the elevator and nearly plowed into several rookies coming back from lunch.
“Slow down, Hailey. We all get it. You’re dedicated,” Smith sneered.
She stopped in her tracks and turned. He was always making rude comments and trying to use his broad shoulders to intimidate people, as if it made up for his poor skills as a lawyer. He was a condescending bully.
“And we all know that as soon as I make partner, you’re toast. So you should spend more time on your resumé and less time being rude.” Then she stalked off toward the garage. But she could hear a few of the rookies snickering at her truthful comments.
Finn caught up to her in the dimly lit concrete stairwell where she’d paused to catch her breath. What was getting into her? First she jumped Finn, then she told her nemesis how much he sucked.
“That was epic. Who are you, and what have you done with Hailey Adams?” Finn said before placing his hand on the small of her back and ushering her to his car in the second row.
“I guess I just hit my wall.”
He didn’t say anything about their kiss, and she couldn’t decide if she was disappointed or relieved.
She resisted the urge to kiss him again as he opened the car door for her. They drove to the courthouse in silence through the busy afternoon traffic. After filing the documents, they made their way back to his car, and he headed out of the city. Although she was curious where they were going, she didn’t want to have to ask. The truth was, she’d go anywhere with him. A thought that excited and terrified her. But she didn’t want to have to ask him—she wanted him to figure it out.
Finally, about twenty minutes outside the city, he pulled over next to a quaint old diner in a small town.
“Are you hungry?”
“Starved.”
His smile quirked up on one side. “Good. We can eat and talk. I don’t want you making any rash decisions on an empty stomach. We both know you’ll just get hangry.”
She smiled. He was right. Not only would her blood sugar spike dangerously low, but she also got testy when she didn’t eat regularly.
The diner was busy with what appeared to be a school field trip. She and Finn looked like D.C. castaways in their suits, but no one paid them any attention. Finn asked for a booth, but this time he was forced to sit across from her at a narrow table for two.
“They have great burgers and corn dogs.”
“I’ve never had a corn dog, but a burger sounds good,” she said, looking at the menu.
“Never?”
“I didn’t grow up like you. There were no trips to restaurants or quaint diners.”
“Okay, so tell me about how you grew up.”
She lifted her gaze, unsure what to say. She now understood what a deer in the headlights felt like. There was nowhere to run or hide as Finn’s cool green eyes watched her.
“You don’t really want to hear about my messed-up childhood, and I don’t want to talk about it.”
He reached across the table and gripped her hand, and she didn’t fight him. The warm, smooth touch of his skin was welcomed and sent a ripple of need through her. She’d been blissfully unaware that her body was lonely until Finn touched her.
