Page 100

“Not your cup of tea?” I asked after we sat down, nodding my head at the baby blue vinyl bar stools.

Valentina shook her head, propping her elbows up on the table.

“It’s just that when you said coffee shop, I assumed it would be…something a little more...” She left the rest of her sentence unfinished, but I was assuming she meant something from this century.

“Well, Sue’s is the only place in town. And we’ve got a lot of coffee drinkers here in Shady Grove.”

“Yeah, I can see that,” she said, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. The place was pretty busy—it was a Sunday morning, after all—and as usual, the locals weren’t doing a great job of not staring at the out-of-towner.

“Don’t worry about them, just sniffing out the new meat. Speaking of, have you eaten yet?”

“I haven’t, actually. Took that redeye from LA, remember?”

“Lucky for you, Sue’s has the best breakfast in town. But don’t tell anyone I said that.”

Valentina nodded, stretching her full lips into a straight line and miming like she was locking them up.

“Well, I’ll be damned. Duke Wilder, based on how you were drinking last night, I would have put money on it that you would have been dead to the world until at least next Tuesday.”

Our waitress appeared next to the table and gave me a playful punch on the arm.

“Oh, come on, Jenny, you know me better than that. No amount of drinking could keep me from seeing that face of yours the next morning.”

Jenny giggled, and Valentina rolled her eyes, muttering something in Spanish under her breath.

“What can I get you two today?” Jenny asked, smiling broadly at us both.

“Just the usual for me, Jen,” I replied, handing her my menu.

Valentina clicked her tongue as she scanned the small list of breakfast foods and drinks.

“If you don’t see what you’re looking for, just let me know. We’ll make just about anything for a friend of the Wilders.” Jenny leaned an elbow on the back of Valentina’s side of the booth.

“Oh, that won’t be necessary,” Valentina said without looking up, clearly struggling to find something she wanted on the menu. I’d watched Charlotte try to order food in Shady Grove enough times to know that she’d have a hard time finding the low-calorie, low-carb, fat-free, practically cardboard option she was looking for.

“Are you sure? You look like a woman who knows what she wants,” I said, cocking my head to the side.

Valentina arched a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at me before turning to Jenny.

“I’ll have an egg white omelet with spinach and tomato, and a non-fat latte with a dash of cinnamon, please.”

“I think we can do that. I’ll go put your orders in, and then I’ll be right back with your coffees.”

As soon as Jenny walked away, Valentina pulled a folder out of her bag, opening it to show me some forms she’d filled out.

“So, Luke and Charlotte explained your situation to me over the phone last night, and I think I figured out your best option moving forward. I’ve put together a countersuit.”

She slid a form in front of me, but I didn’t look it at. Didn’t even touch it.

“I don’t want to countersue. I just want them to drop the lawsuit.”

Valentina shook her head. “They’re not going to do that. I did some digging on these guys, and they are nasty. The only way we’ll get them to drop it in a reasonable amount of time is if we countersue for a lot more money.”

I sighed, leaning back into the blue vinyl and running my hands through my hair. Figures that the one time I think I made something good, something I could be proud of, a couple of fucking assholes with a trademark decide to make my life hell.

What those assholes didn’t realize? I had one badass lawyer on my side.

And she was sexy as hell when she talked business.