Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 108531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 543(@200wpm)___ 434(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 543(@200wpm)___ 434(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
“Jayna, baby,” he began. She didn’t understand what he was trying to do.
She turned away from him. “It’s Ms. Cardet when we’re in this courthouse. And keep your voice down because everyone is listening to us right now.”
“What’s wrong?” He wasn’t sure why she’d turned so cold on him. “I’m doing this to spare you trouble. I’m not trying to take something from you. If it’s about having more work, I can find that for you.”
He wasn’t sure why she needed the work. It wasn’t like she had any bills to pay, and he was handling the ethics complaint. They’d even talked to the attorney together, and she was incredibly certain this would all be cleared up in a matter of weeks.
“No need to find anything for me.” She started toward the courtroom. “I can get my own work. If there’s anyone else in this town who’s off limits, you should give me a list.”
Maybe he hadn’t handled this as well as he could have. He was making a scene. The whole town was already talking about them. He shouldn’t give them more to discuss.
He hurried to keep up with her. “Baby, this is a family thing. It has nothing to do with you and me.”
“I told you what I was willing to do. I’ll turn the contracts back over to Paul, grape jelly still intact.” Her heels clicked against the marble floors, the sound seeming as irritated as the woman herself. “I’ll leave your family alone. No one will think for a second that I have any connection to you outside of work. No one will misconstrue our relationship in any way.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means people will draw the proper conclusions,” she explained. “Look, it’s fine. I thought I was helping you out. I thought if I handled Paul’s trouble you wouldn’t have any pressure to do it yourself. I also thought I was potentially making some money so I can find a place of my own. You don’t want me around your family, so I’ll give the contracts back and find the money some other way. I’m sending out CVs as fast as I can, and I’m going to look into a prep course so I can get licensed in Texas.”
He stopped in the middle of the hall, her words shocking him. “Hey, I was not asking you to leave. I don’t want you to leave. I was actually going to ask you to go out with me tonight.”
“To where? You want to head into New Orleans where no one in Papillon can see us together?”
“No, I was going to see if you wanted to go out with some friends of mine.”
“Sure you were.” She stopped, her hand on the door. “It’s fine. I knew when we started that this wasn’t some hearts-and-flowers relationship. We’re both lonely, and the sex is good. We have similar interests. I thought we were friends, but if you can’t even stand the thought of me being around your family, then we’re just two people in close proximity with nothing better to do. I can handle that. Honestly, I’ll probably still sleep with you because I am lonely and you’re good in bed, but let’s not pretend we’re anything more.”
“That’s not true.” This was exactly what he was trying to avoid.
She stared at him for a moment. “I’m a realist, Quaid. I take a look at the evidence and I come to a conclusion. You refuse to talk to me about anything truly important, but you demand I bare my soul to you every night. You want to know everything about my family and my relationship with my mother, but I can’t even read over your brother’s contracts to see if I can help him. You don’t think much of me.”
“I know you’re good enough to help him. He’s not good enough to deserve your help. That is what I’m trying to tell you. This isn’t about you not being good enough for them. They aren’t good enough for you,” he insisted.
She sent him the saddest look. “We should get inside.”
She pushed through the doorway, where everyone was already waiting for them. The crowd had grown again. It had started with a few curious onlookers, and now half the town was in there, eager to watch the proceedings.
What had happened? How had he gone from getting ready to ask her to go out with him to the door slamming in his face?
His brother had happened. Naturally.
Of course, he could have handled it with more finesse. He certainly hadn’t meant to make her feel like he was trying to hide their relationship.
Quaid took a deep breath because he couldn’t do what he wanted to do. He couldn’t walk in, throw her over his shoulder, and take her back to their room so he could show her exactly how serious they were.