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I have never seen eyes that blue.
Deep blue. Like the depths of the ocean. Bottomless. I shouldn’t be swooning at a time like this, but Lord.
I need to stop staring, but I can’t pull my gaze away.
“Hi,” I say nervously. “I’m here for the reading.”
He doesn’t answer me. Just continues to stare from where he’s perched.
“I’m here before my sister, I guess? I’m so nervous. I don’t know why I’m here. I—he never told me”—I shuffle my weight between my feet nervously—“about them. About . . . you?”
The air feels heavy with Mr. Baker’s silence. Uncomfortably, I look around the office and take a seat in a chair as far away from the desk as I can.
This lawyer is much more intimidating than I thought he would be.
“You’re not who I pictured,” I say before I can stop myself. I can feel my cheeks turning a shade of red I’m sure makes me match a tomato.
“And what did you picture?” When he finally speaks, I am not at all prepared for how gravelly his voice is.
Heat sweeps across the exposed skin by my collarbone, melting me into a puddle.
What is wrong with me?
Drooling over a man is not why I’m here.
“You’re younger than I thought—from your voice on the phone.” His lips tip up, and he smirks at me.
If I thought he was handsome before, he is downright deadly with that smirk.
Not why you’re here, Payton.
“Anything else?” he probes.
“Um . . .”
By now, I’m sure I could pass out. I want to fan myself. It’s like I have never met a man this handsome, which is ridiculous. But not really.
I’m used to college boys. He is definitely not that.
Nope.
He’s all man. An attorney. And apparently, Ronald’s attorney.
I shake my head to right myself.
“I can’t believe I’m here. I told my sister we shouldn’t come. That we should honor him privately, but she insisted. I can’t imagine his family will be happy to see us.” I bury my face in my hands at the thought of more private proximity to them. It was easier for some people to be civil in public. “Do you think they know about us? I don’t think I can face them. Imagine finding out your dad has another family.”
When Mr. Baker doesn’t respond, I move my palms away from my eyes and look at him.
The playful look is gone. In its place is a look I can only describe as pure hate.
A look I don’t understand at all.
A fine line appears between his brows, and his lips are no longer turned up. A scowl wears them down.
But that’s not what makes my back go ramrod straight.
What makes my body shiver are his fists, I can now see, balled by his sides with white knuckles showing.
