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“So, um, how exactly did this happen?”
Oh, jeez, I wasn’t expecting her to ask for details. “Well, we were staying at the same hotel and I got locked out of my room. He, um…” Just the memory had me squirming in the seat and squeezing my thighs together. “Well, we kind of had an argument, and I followed him to his room. He gave me an ultimatum to get out or he would…”
“You gotta finish that sentence.”
I cleared my throat, shifting on the worn leather bench. “He would rail me so hard I’d forget my own name.”
“Oh. Wow.”
“Yeah.”
“And did he?”
More squirming. “He did.” Cassidy’s eyes widened, and then she made this face—a little twist of her lips, a crinkle in her forehead. It was weird. She was a very private, reserved person and I knew I shouldn’t, but I couldn’t stop myself. “What’s that face for?”
She shrugged, letting her gaze drop to the table. “I just can’t imagine sex being like... that.” Her words hung in the air between us, and for a moment, I was speechless.
“But you were married for how many years?” I blurted out.
Cassidy shrugged again, a small, almost sad smile playing on her lips. “Yeah,” she said softly, “well, it’s not all sunshine and roses for everyone, I guess.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. Twice now, in a really short space of time, she’d volunteered personal details about her ex. I hadn’t really seen this side of her that much. She’d kept it all so well hidden, but maybe she didn’t want that anymore. “Do you want to talk about it?”
For half a nanosecond, I thought she was going to say yes. But then her composure returned, and she shook her head. “It’s in the past now, where it belongs. Thanks anyway.”
“You’re sure?”
“I’m sure.”
There was definitely a note ofJust leave it,so I did. “Okay then. How about we get to the real reason I asked you out to lunch today?”
“Alright. What do you need?”
I could have kissed her for that - just her readiness to give me whatever I needed. “I’m gonna have to recuse myself from the Alliance of Susceptible Species case.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, exactly. And I can’t even pass it to you, since you’re just as compromised through our partnership.”
“Fuck.”
I let out a sigh. Fuck, indeed.
Brayden appeared with our meals and we waited for him to go before continuing the very embarrassing conversation.
“The problem is that I can’t think of a single law firm in the state that would take on this case. Frogs against a billionaire developer.”
“I know.” I swiped a fry, chewing on it meditatively for a minute. “Rhett thinks that so long I can be sure I’ll do everything I possibly can to win, there wouldn’t be a conflict of interest.”
“Does he now?” Her tone was light and teasing, making me smile.
“Don’t say it like that.”
Taking a bite of salad, Cassidy took a few moments to gather thoughts, then said, “I think he’s right, for what it’s worth.”
“Sure, he probably is. I really believe in this cause and I wouldn’t let one hot weekend stop me from doing what’s right. But it’s the optics of it. What if it ever came out? There were five hundred people at that wedding. And we weren’t exactly discreet.”
We fell into silence for a little while as we ate our lunch. “If you really wanted to, you could register the conflict of interest and go for informed consent from all affected parties.”