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More like shameless. I’ll be home by six. See you then.
Before he could respond, she walked by his office with her bag but didn’t say a word to anyone. Fighting the urge to shut down his computer, instead he opened up his files on the Admiral Maddox case. His trip to Virginia Beach was a bit of a wild goose chase, but he wanted to cover all his bases. His plan was to knock on the doors of the maternal grandmother’s neighbors’ houses and visit the senior care center where she spent her final days. He’d considered trying to bribe someone at the center to give him the name of the next of kin or a copy of the file. A huge inheritance was waiting in the wings for some poor kid who’d had a bad run of luck. But he couldn’t risk his bar license over it.
Packing up his notes and his laptop, he managed to kill another twenty minutes, and decided to get flowers for Hailey on his way there.
With a bouquet of pink daisies and roses in hand, Finn buzzed the intercom outside Hailey’s building.
“Come on up.” Her voice cracked through the small metal box, and the door clicked to let him up.
With eager strides, he took the steps two at a time. She met him at the top step with her door open. He held up the flowers, and she rewarded him with a grin that made her eyes sparkle like stars in a deep blue sky. He dropped his bag and enveloped her with his free hand and placed several kisses on her neck before finding her lips.
“Mmm. Yep. You taste amazing,” Finn said.
“You’re in a good mood. Still riding the high on our big win?” she asked.
“No, I’m excited for a few days off with you.”
She accepted the flowers, and he set his bag by the door, kicked off his shoes, and took in her tidy, cozy apartment.
The parquet wood floors shined. A large white couch commanded the open space with a geometric gray-and-white rug under a simple ottoman. One wall was painted a soothing shade of blue. Another wall held colorful prints, and there was a fat orange tabby cat curled in a ball in a pet bed that looked like a smaller version of her couch.
Bookshelves filled to the brim lined the wall behind the couch. Beyond that was a small alcove with a table and an open kitchen. At the back of the apartment was a patio big enough for two chairs and it looked out over the alleyway and a park behind her building. Hailey stood watching him.
“I should have known your home would be cozy and inviting, just like you behind your tough exterior,” Finn said, wrapping one arm around her and kissing her neck again.
“I don’t think anyone else would describe me that way,” Hailey said.
“Good, I don’t need any competition for your attention.” Nodding toward the cat, he said, “I didn’t peg you for a cat person.”
Hailey shrugged, and her cheeks were flushed, highlighting more cracks in her facade.
“So you come home after a long day to your cozy home, snuggle your cat, and think to yourself,I wonder what Finn is doing?” he teased.
A burst of laughter escaped her lips, but her blush grew even brighter red and her eyes twinkled.
“I guess I did wonder about you sometimes,” she admitted. “Why were you so serious and never as childish as the other junior lawyers in the bullpen? You never seemed to let them tempt you to go out.”
“I went out for a drink once or twice, but only long enough to determine I’m too old for their idea of fun.”
“Old souls.” She stood in the open kitchen, putting the flowers in a water pitcher to serve as a vase.
The cat woke up and tilted his head to study Finn before stretching from his bed. Crouching down, Finn waited for the cat to smell him and decide if it would let him pet him. The blue collar had a tag with the name Tiger stamped on it.
Scooping the cat up, he gave it a good scratch, and it purred before licking his chin. Moving farther into the room, he scanned the old law books and decorative knickknacks. There were no photos, and the idea of Hailey having zero family or fond memories of childhood was like a punch to his gut. He couldn’t imagine how lonely that would feel.
“How did you decide on law school?” he asked when she joined him in the living room.
She placed the flowers on the end table next to the couch and smiled.
“Oh, you know, a scrappy kid neglected by the system picks herself up by her bootstraps and goes to law school with a plan to right all the wrongs.”
He let Tiger go and accepted the beer she offered him. The tang of a smooth local IPA gave him more insights into her tastes.
“Once I made it through my first year of law school and accepted some serious student loans, I decided I didn’t want to be a broke public defender. So I set my sights on corporate law. I did a few pro bono internships and worked as a legal assistant at the local DA’s office. My mentor was a law instructor and working lawyer who went to school with Inez Stewart. She said if I wanted to go private practice, I should work for Inez where I wouldn’t have to sell my soul.”
He sat in one corner of her couch enjoying the intimacy of being with her in her space and hearing her background.
“So Inez hired you?”
