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“My T-shirt you’re wearing is fresh.”
“Very funny.”
“I can grab us some breakfast while you get dressed, and we can go to the office together.”
Hesitating, she squirmed in her seat but felt the shift in the air.
“Oh, I get it. You don’t want to risk anyone seeing us roll into the office together on a Sunday.”
Before she could respond, his phone rang, interrupting the awkward silence, but he let the call go to voicemail when he didn’t recognize the number.
“I explained this could only work outside the office. That hasn’t changed. It’s different for you. Men don’t get the same scrutiny women do when they sleep with someone at work.”
He nodded. “You’re right. You did tell me how it was going to be. I don’t like it, but I understand.”
But the question on what happened when one of them made partner hung in the air. They had one hot, amazing weekend, and everything was jumbled in her mind. She didn’t want to think about what would happen next with them.
She needed to focus on winning their case.
Chapter Thirteen
Finn
Hailey’s need tocompartmentalize their personal relationship from their professional one was smart. Finn understood and agreed, but he still hated it and couldn’t help but be disappointed. Knowing it was only temporary while the partnership at work was finalized helped.
Once he dropped her off, he listened to the voicemail he’d gotten on the drive, from the private investigator for the Admiral Maddox case. The PI wanted to discuss the details he’d gathered, so Finn called him right back.
It was clear the investigator had hit a brick wall after tracking down the grandmother’s previous addresses. The trail on the child had gone cold, and the Department of Children Services wasn’t helpful due to poor records and privacy claims. Except the child in question was an adult now, so the privacy laws didn’t apply so much anymore. He was hoping he could get a local judge in the small beach town to agree to let him have access to the records. Maybe a name or another kid in foster care would remember her.
“Send me everything you’ve got, and I’ll figure out if I can file a request with the court for more. Also, if you have the grandmother’s previous address before she ended up in the nursing home, maybe a neighbor remembers her.”
The investigator agreed and said he was sending Finn everything he had on the case. Finn bypassed going home and went straight into the office, eager to draft the inheritance documents Maddox requested and then review the files from the PI. An hour later, he heard the elevator doors open.
Hailey! He tried to school his instant excitement. She wouldn’t welcome a big display of attention. She wore simple black slacks and a gray blouse that set off her aquamarine eyes. Her pert pink lips spread in a huge smile, and she stopped just inside his office. He stood.
“Oh, hey, I didn’t expect anyone else to be here today,” he said with exaggerated surprise and looked around as if someone might overhear them.
“Very funny. There’s no one else here to see your terrible acting.”
“Bummer.”
She pulled a muffin from her purse and set it on his desk.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
“Did you get your other casework done?”
“No, but I can put it off if you want to work on our joint case now.” He itched to reach out and touch her, but it would be a mistake. He had to respect her need for boundaries.
She looked at her watch. “I need to get my bearings and review everything. Let’s meet in about an hour in the conference room.”
“See you there.” He turned away and sat back down at his desk before he grabbed her and kissed her.
The next hour was a struggle to concentrate, knowing Hailey’s gorgeous body was only ten feet away. He completed the paperwork he needed to request the old documents and then read through every file the investigator had sent over. Virginia Beach was only two hours away from the city. He could go there and back in a day once this big case was done. He was familiar with that drive after having been posted to Virginia Beach as a SEAL.
Before he could delve into it, Hailey appeared in his doorway.
“Ready?” She glanced down to see the books he’d pulled from the law library.
