“There’s no one I want to purposefully infuriate more than you, Dani.”

It’s a ridiculous statement, but I feel my cheeks heat all the same. I shove another forkful of eggs into my mouth to save me from answering, pointedly looking away from him.

“Do you have to go in today?”

I shake my head. “No. Although I’m sure Nate and Vera will be tracking me down at some point.”

“Sounds like we have plenty of time to shower then.”

“We?”

“Oh, yeah. It’s another tick off my top-ten list.” He gestures to my plate. “If you hurry, I’ll let you wash my back.”

I wrinkle my nose. “I am not washing your back.”

He grabs his plate from the counter, slipping from his seat and moving around me as if to take it to the sink. He pauses on the other side of me, leaning in close to let his lips hover against my jaw.

“Mm, but I’d be happy to wash yours,” he murmurs. His mouth presses a chaste kiss to my skin. “And something tells me it won’t take much convincing for you to return the favor.”

I say nothing as he saunters off with his plate, not trusting myself to answer.

Especially since he’s probably right.

OceanofPDF.com

Twenty-Three

I’ve had more than twenty-four hours to prepare myself for what will surely be a full-on onslaught when I arrive at the firm on Monday, but I should have known it wouldn’t be enough. Something that is made evident to me within five seconds of stepping down the hall.

“Danica Joan Pierce!”

I wince at the use of my middle name. My mother has been and always will be a die-hard fan of the Runaways. I suppose there are worse things to be named after than the queen of rock and roll.

“Lots of work to do,” I call over my shoulder as I start an awkward maneuver toward my office that is somewhere between skipping and trotting.

I can hear twin sets of footprints hot on my tail. “Dani!”

I actually try to slam the door on the pair of them, but Nate shoves his foot in the space to stop me. “Ow! Really? What are we, seven?”

“Seven would be a step up for you,” Vera snarks.

Nate’s hand grips the edge of the door. “You’ve been ignoring our texts. Do you have no respect for our group chat?”

“I haven’t been ignoring you,” I lie weakly.

Vera shoves her shoulder against Nate’s hand and peeks around the door. “We haven’t heard from you since you abandoned us in the less-fun version of the Boddy Estate.”

“Are you implying that murder makes a place more fun?” I ask with an arched brow, finally easing the door open wider.

“Well,” Vera huffs, following Nate into my office. “A murder investigation would have been a hell of a lot more fun than the string quartet.”

Nate scowls, pointing a finger at Vera. “Stop making references I don’t understand.” He turns to aim that finger at me. “Tell us what happened between you and Ezra or else.”

“Or else?” I cross my arms. “Really?”

“I’ll make Vera rough you up,” he warns.

Vera rounds on him. “I’m not your muscle.”

“She listens to you!” he huffs, throwing up his arms.

“Guys,” I sigh, sinking down to the edge of my desk, resting my hands on the edge. “Shut up.”

“Come on,” Nate practically whines, like he isn’t a thirty-five-year-old man. “You know how I get when nobody will let me in on the gossip. Do you want that for us? Do you want to subject all of us to that?”

“Because it would be my fault,” I muse.

Nate throws up his hands. “Well, obviously.”

“He’s not wrong,” Vera chimes in.

I tilt my head back, puffing out a long breath between my lips. “You two are the worst gossips I have ever met.”

“Don’t lump me in with him,” Vera tuts.

“Oh shut up,” Nate says with a cluck of his tongue. “You’ve been champing at the bit just as much as I have.”

“Fine,” I sigh. “I went home with him.”

“Obviously,” Nate snorts. “Did you…?”

“I think that much is also obvious,” I respond dryly.

“You’re being infuriatingly vague,” he quips.

I roll my eyes. “How dare I be vague with my own business.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, you tease,” Vera scoffs. “Are you guys a thing or not?”

My eyes go round at her cross tone, and I realize she is definitely just as invested in this as Nate is. They really are more alike than they give themselves credit for.

“We’re not…not a thing,” I offer. “Maybe.” I tilt forward, slipping off my desk just to start pacing. “I don’t know. I don’t know what the fuck we are.”

“Oh God,” Nate groans. “She’s going to marry him. We’re all going to end up working for Ezra Hart. They’ll call her the Heartbreak Princess. Or will it be queen? What happens when you marry a prince?”

“Shut up, Nate,” Vera and I both say in unison.

Vera tilts her head at me. “Seriously, are you okay?”

“Of course I’m okay,” I say too quickly.

Vera’s look is imperious, and I cave.

“Okay,” I try again. “I’m freaking out a little.”

Vera nods. “There it is.”

“I just…” I stop pacing, running my fingers through my hair. “I hated him, you know? Or at least, I thought I did. I mean, the sex was always good, but spending time with him was never at the top of my to-do list.”

Nate leans in like I’m telling his favorite bedtime story. “But…?”

“But, I…I don’t know. He’s…I just…” I shake my head. “I’ve realized I haven’t been fair to him.”

“A duchess,” Vera says.

I cock an eyebrow. “What?”

“That’s what happens when you marry a prince,” she clarifies. “You become a duchess.”

“Duchess Dani,” Nate croons.

“I hate both of you,” I grumble.

“You hated Ezra too,” Nate teases. “Does that mean we’ll all be a…would it be a quadruple?”

“Okay.” I nod heavily. “Out. Both of you. I have work to do.”

“You have court this afternoon,” Vera points out.

“I’m well aware.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to do what I always do.”

Nate makes a face. “But…you’re up against your boyfriend now.”

“He’s not my—” I close my eyes, taking a breath. “Listen, when I know something, you guys will be the first to know.”

“Somehow I doubt that,” Nate tuts, turning on his heel and muttering the whole way out of my office. “No respect for the group chat, I swear.”

“Go on now,” I urge.

“Just be careful,” Vera says before she steps out. “I don’t want to see this blow up in your face.”

“I’m always careful,” I assure her.

Her lips curl in a grin. “I know.”

Her words stay with me even as she shuts the door behind her; the truth is, my head is full of worry. There are a thousand things that could go wrong, a million ways that pursuing anything deeper with Ezra could blow up in my face. But after last night…I’m just not sure I have it in me to pretend anymore that I don’t want him anyway.

•   •   •

I would like to say that I did exactly as I told Vera I would, that I was perfectly normal and on my game during court today. But I hadn’t expected to be so much more…aware of Ezra than I already was. Before, his authoritative confidence in the courtroom was a point of annoyance for me, and maybe it still is, to a degree, but also…now it also sort of turns me on. Something I definitely didn’t expect. More than once today, there were moments when I didn’t respond as succinctly as I should have, that I caught myself watching him work with an intensity that had me forgetting myself.