Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 51131 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 256(@200wpm)___ 205(@250wpm)___ 170(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51131 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 256(@200wpm)___ 205(@250wpm)___ 170(@300wpm)
“No husband, huh?” I murmur, watching her. “Boyfriend?”
“Um, no. There’s no man available to speak with him. I actually think that’s part of why he keeps picking on me. My neighbor strikes me as quite sexist, and he thinks he can pick on me because…”
“There’s no one to stop him. He probably wants to fuck you.”
Her eyes widen at the audacity of my suggestion. “He’s married.”
“And…?”
She frowns, but then it eases. “Well, he is an asshole, so I suppose that doesn’t necessarily rule out his wanting to… Regardless, I don’t care what he wants. I want the harassment to stop.”
I’ve heard all I need to hear. As soon as she told me there was no husband or boyfriend in the way, I made up my mind that I’m going to fuck her—and the sooner, the better, so it’s time to close this deal so we can move on.
“All right, Gemma Cane. I would be happy to help you with your neighbor problem.”
She’s so pretty when she smiles. Gazing at me like I’m the answer to all her prayers, she says, “You will?”
I nod, already hating my next words since I know they’ll wipe that smile off her face. “Absolutely. Before we go any further, though, I should tell you I charge $1,400 an hour, and we bill in fifteen-minute chunks. So, as soon as you stormed into my office in your jingly little outfit, you owed me $350.”
As I predicted, her smile falls. “Uh, fourteen… wow. Per hour. That’s, um, that seems like quite a lot of money.”
“It is.”
“You must be really good.”
I smile. “I am.”
“I don’t… So—so you don’t do like a free consultation or anything?”
I lean back in my chair and shake my head. “They say if you’re good at something, never do it for free, and we just covered that, didn’t we?”
“Yeah, I guess we did.” She looks down, tucking a chunk of ginger hair behind her ear. “Unfortunately, it seems my daughter was right. That’s definitely outside our budget.”
I knew it would be, so I don’t feign surprise. I let her be uncomfortable for a few seconds to see what she does.
I’ve made my interest in her pretty clear. Some part of me is curious if she’ll “joke” about paying another way to see if I bite.
Another part hopes she doesn’t.
It’s where we’re heading, but I don’t want it to be her idea.
“I guess there’s no point in discussing this any further, then,” she says, clearly disappointed. “I should probably go figure out billing with your receptionist before the bill gets even bigger. Do you take payments? Or I have a credit card. I suppose I can just…”
“You still have a few minutes left,” I tell her. “You can at least give me your neighbor’s information so I can start looking into him.”
“Why? I can barely pay for the consultation. I certainly can’t afford to hire you.”
“What if you could?”
“I can’t.”
“I’ll make you a deal,” I say, watching her closely. “We can finish up your consultation—however long it takes—and I’ll scrap the bill altogether if you agree to meet me later for a drink.”
Her wide eyes shoot to my face. “A drink?”
I nod. “Cold things, come in a glass, often with ice cubes.”
She rolls her eyes lightly but appears a bit nervous. “I know what a drink is. I just don’t think I should have one with you.”
My brow furrows. “Why not?”
Her gaze drops. I can tell she’s thinking about it, but she’s reluctant. “I just don’t think it’s a good idea. And it’s pointless—I can’t hire you.”
“But you can save yourself $350,” I counter. “Plus, once you’ve consulted with me, should it come to that, he won’t be able to hire me to represent him. Conflict of interest; I’m already privy to too many details about your side of the case. Whether you hire me or not, I guarantee you don’t want me on his side of the courtroom.”
This should be a no-brainer. I’ve never had to bribe a woman to have a drink with me before, and the deal is even sweeter for her. She can literally save hundreds of dollars just by agreeing to have one drink with me.
Well, I’m sure it won’t be one drink, but who cares? I’m paying.
Just in case, by some slim chance, that’s why she isn’t jumping at my offer, I tell her with feigned solemnity, “I’ll even pay for the drinks.”
She smiles but doesn’t look at me. “It isn’t that. I just… I can’t have a drink with you. I’m sorry.”
“Not even if it saves you $350?”
She shakes her head, almost regretfully.
I frown, confused.
That’s fucking insane.
“Why?” I demand.
Rather than answer me, she says, “I’ve wasted enough of your time. I think I’ll just look into filing a restraining order instead.”
“Do you not drink? We can do dinner instead.”