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“I don’t know.”
The delicate gold pendant around her neck glints from the swell of her chest. The placement calls to me, scratching at a hunger I’ve barely managed to tamp down.
“You don’t know?” Her voice is disbelieving.
Did she do her nails too? They’re black. Pitch black. Like the color of my heart before she came back into my orbit.
“Cody?”
“What?”
“How did you guys pick Joel for this gig?”
“Vargas said he saw Joel on a news report. The hospital did a feature on kids with ailments. They mentioned Joel’s family situation. Vargas knows the details better than I do. But I think his mom passed. His dad was around for a bit and then disappeared.”
“Poor thing.”
Right. I mean, yeah. Joel’s circumstances are tragic.
And if Clarissa didn’t send mating signals careening through my body with every sweep of her lashes, I could probably find some more sympathy.
“He didn’t look so well this morning,” Ris notes. “You shouldn’t have told him about tonight. He shouldn’t be getting agitated.”
“He’s a big boy. He’ll get over it.”
“Yes, doctor,” she teases.
My blood spikes. Even her innocent jabs make me bite my tongue in anticipation.
Come and kiss it better, doctor.
My eyes dart to her lips before surging back to the road.
The fact that we haven’t gotten there, that we haven’t evenkissedyet,is frustrating. Every night, I fall asleep to dreams of her supple lips all over me. It’s so torturous that even her little cheek kiss felt as sensual as a make-out session in the back of my car.
Clarissa doesn’t trust me yet, and I don’t want to push too hard.
I left her alone at the altar.
I ruined us.
That’s not something any smart woman would forget. Based on our conversation this morning about making the same mistake twice, I get why she’s being cautious.
But I’m wearing her down.
I know what I want, and no matter how hard she fights me, I’m not giving up.
She’s worth it.
“Cody?”
“Mm?”
“When we get there, you don’t have to bring me around with you. I’ll just hang out with the ladies from the farmhouse.”
I hear her nervous tone and swivel my head. “This is the City Law Guild award ceremony. The ladies won’t be there.”
“What?”