Page 8 of Danny Hall Gets a Lawyer (Goose Run #1)

“Cal, Miller here is being an awful meanie and won’t let me leave Alexander Hamilton in protective custody at the office while I go on a little trip,” she said, pouting.

Callahan scratched his head and hummed, and Missy watched him expectantly. Finally, he said, “Miller ain’t wrong, Missy. An office is no place for a dog.”

“But you have a dog here,” she said.

“True, but I take him home at night,” Callahan said.

Missy’s expression sharpened, and I knew what was coming next even before she opened her mouth. “Well, maybe you can take Alexander Hamilton too.”

Callahan gave a sad smile. “I’d take him in a heartbeat, except my Duke’s getting on, and he ain’t so fond of other dogs. I’m afraid you’ll need to make other arrangements.” And then Callahan did what I should have done after the first time Missy refused to listen to me.

He ignored her completely.

Turning his attention to me, he said, “Don’t you have that appointment in Goose Run to get to?”

Callahan and I both knew I didn’t have an appointment in Goose Run, but I grabbed at that life preserver he was throwing me with both hands. “Yes, sir. I’m leaving now.”

“But—” Missy started.

“You’ll have to excuse Miller,” Callahan said smoothly. “He needs to get going if he wants to make it on time. Very important case.”

Missy pursed her lips like she was about to argue, but then Callahan said, “Y’know, I’ve got some dog treats in my office for your cute little fella.

Would you like a liver treat, boy?” he asked, scritching the dog under the chin.

Alexander Hamilton panted happily. Then Callahan scooped him out of Missy’s lap and walked off, leaving her with no choice but to follow.

It was the smoothest eviction I’d ever witnessed, and I watched in admiration as he led Missy away.

Shit like that right there was why I was cutting my legal teeth in a small-town firm—so I could learn the skills they didn’t teach you at law school.

Although maybe How to Let Down a Southern Lady Without Offending Her should be a core course requirement in Virginia—possibly with Callahan running it.

I grabbed my satchel and hustled it out of there while I could.

Just being out of Missy’s presence had my impending headache easing, and I made a mental note to thank Callahan for saving my sanity once I got back to the office from whatever pointless errand I was running.

Although now I thought about it, I hadn’t heard back from Danny about his POA, so maybe it wasn’t pointless after all.

I’d need to see the paperwork and talk to his grandma before proceeding with the case, but Marty had been right.

It looked like Danny might have a solid shot at a hefty check—as long as he was right about those property lines.

But we couldn’t really start proceedings to check until I had his paperwork.

I slipped my phone out and scrolled down until I found his number.

Hey. It’s Miller. Are you free for a meeting?

My phone pinged just as I was fastening my seat belt.

I’m working at the gas station, but you can stop in and we can talk. It’s not busy.

It might be busy by the time I get there.

Trust me. It won’t be. This is Goose Run.

I snorted and set my phone down before pulling out onto the highway. The traffic was light, which meant I got to chill out on the drive while I listened to a podcast about the human remains in Pompeii, and it wasn’t even an hour later when I pulled into Goose Run Gas.

I stepped out of the car, and the heat of the day slapped me in the face with all the force of a scorned lover. Sweat beaded on my forehead almost immediately, and I hurried toward the glass doors and the promise of AC. The doors opened, rattling and squealing as they did so.

I’d only been outside for the time it took to walk across the oil-stained parking lot, but it was hot enough that I still shivered as cool air washed over my already heated skin. I stepped farther into the building and spotted Danny standing behind the counter, smothering a yawn. “Hey.”

Danny looked up and gave me a pleased smile. “Oh, hey. You found it.” He came out and stood in front of me. I didn’t miss the way his gaze traveled over me.

“I was hoping you had a few minutes to go over what we’ll need to proceed with the case,” I said.

“I mean, I dunno. I’m pretty busy,” he drawled.

I looked around slowly. The place was deserted.

Danny snorted out a laugh.

I grinned back. “I think I can fight my way through the crowds. Is there somewhere we can sit down?”

“Sure,” Danny said. “Follow me.”

I followed him toward the rear of the store, past the racks of chips and snacks and CDs—did people still buy those?—past the coffee stand, and through a small door marked EMPLOYEES ONLY.

It led to a small room with a battered Formica table and three chairs and not much else. One of the twins was sitting at the table, legs stretched out in front of him, scrolling through his phone.

“Hey, Chase, are you good to watch out front for a bit? Miller and me need to talk about the tree,” Danny said.

Chase looked up from his screen and gave me a nod. “Sure.” He stood, stretching his arms over his head and yawning before shoving his phone in his pocket. He turned to Danny. “Bobby texted. He’s coming in to see about the raccoon in the back room.”

“You have a raccoon?” I asked.

Danny screwed up his nose. “We have something in the back room, and Chase is choosing to believe it’s a raccoon because he’s scared of what it actually is.”

“What do you think it is?”

Danny gave me one of those easy grins of his. “I can’t say because Chase will slap me.”

Chase glared at him. “Hey, fuck you, okay?”

“I’m just teasing, man,” Danny said softly, gentling Chase’s sudden prickliness with his words. “Go watch the counter for me, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Chase said, his brow creasing. “It’s just, dumpsters, y’know?”

It was a random comment, but Danny nodded like he got it.

Once Chase had gone back front, Danny pulled out one of the old wooden chairs and sat down, and I took the chair opposite.

He must have sensed my curiosity, even though I was too polite to ask.

“Chase and Cash hit a rough patch a while back,” he said unprompted.

“I found them picking through the dumpster out back one night, and it turned out they had nowhere to go. I took them home for the night, and now they live with me and Wilder.”

His statement conjured up so many questions, but the one I asked was, “Wait, you took two strangers home with you? What if they’d been dangerous?”

“They were just a couple of skinny kids. Wilder would have kicked their ass if they’d been trouble.” He shrugged like it was no big deal. Maybe to him it wasn’t.

“Was your grandma still living there?” I tried to imagine cramming five adults into the tiny house.

“It was kinda good timing because she’d just moved out the week before. And she was cool with it. She was the one who helped Cash get the job at Sunny Fields.” He set his elbows on the table and said firmly, “So, what’s the deal with the tree?”

I took his tone to mean that he was done answering any more questions about the twins.

“So like I said, we need evidence of your power of attorney. Have you found it yet?”

Danny squirmed in his seat like a kid who hasn’t done his homework and has just been called up to the chalkboard. “I haven’t exactly looked. Honestly, I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

I suppressed a sigh and reminded myself that just because I had all my important documents in a fireproof lockbox, that didn’t mean other people did.

“Okay, so we really need that in order to go ahead,” I said.

“Maybe we can go see your grandma and see if she has a copy and fill her in on what’s happening at the same time. ”

“I guess. I just don’t want to worry her, you know?”

“I understand, but really, you’re doing her a favor if we win this. The settlement could be sizable. But we do have a limited window. We need to notify Mr. Whittaker within thirty days that we’re taking action.”

Danny worried at his bottom lip with his teeth, and I did my best not to stare. He had a really nice mouth. Finally, he said, “Yeah, okay. I’ll call her and set up a time. It’ll have to be next week, though. I’m working every day through till Wednesday.”

“That’s fine,” I said, giving him a reassuring smile. “And I get it. I know legal stuff’s not everyone’s idea of a good time.”

“Lucky for me it’s yours then,” he said, giving me a smile.

There was something teasing in his tone but not in the same way he’d teased Chase.

There was an unasked question hanging in the air now, or maybe an invitation, as though he was baiting a hook and casting a line, just to see if he’d catch anything.

And it turned out that hey, I maybe wanted to check out that bait. I smiled back. “I mean, yeah. I enjoy what I do.”

“What else do you enjoy doing, Miller?” he asked, his voice all low and syrupy, and there was no mistaking the intent behind it.

As a seduction technique, it was one hundred percent successful. The sound of his voice went straight to my dick, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out he wasn’t talking about crossword puzzles or hiking.

It was hot as hell, and I was so fucking tempted—but the downside of being a lawyer was that clients were off limits.

The upside of being a lawyer, though? I was really good at finding loopholes.

A distant corner of my professional brain activated just long enough to remind me that technically, Danny wasn’t a client—yet—so flirting was probably okay.

Hell, even a little fooling around wasn’t breaking any rules.

And honestly, it had been a while, so some fooling around sounded pretty fucking good.

And did I mention that Danny was cute? With scruffy light brown hair with a hint of curls, hazel eyes and a lush pink mouth, and broad shoulders and thick thighs that his jeans clung to just right, he was a snack.

And I’d always had a sweet tooth.

Fuck it.

“I’ll tell you what I like,” I said, giving him what I hoped was a sultry smile. “I like pretty boys in trucker caps who give me their number.”

Danny grinned. “And I like cute guys in suits.” He licked his lips and I leaned forward, eager to hear what he’d say next. “Sooo, wanna maybe?—”

“Danny!” an unfamiliar voice bellowed as the door swung open. A tall, burly man with an impressive mustache barreled into the room—followed by an honest-to-god goose.

“ Fuck ,” Danny muttered, and then, unbelievably, he jumped up from his chair and climbed up on the table.

I stared at him as he stood there with his hands covering his junk. “Danny?”

“Don’t mind him, he’s scared of Lucille,” the man said, thrusting his broad palm at me. “I’m Bobby Merritt.”

“Uh,” I said. What was happening? I’d been this close to arranging a hookup, and now Danny was standing on the table and glaring at a goose.

The goose honked loudly, flapping its wings and bearing down on me.

I barely had time to clock the determined gleam in its eye before it flapped harder and launched into the air, and the next thing I knew my lap was filled with an angry, hissing, goose-shaped demon that I was pretty sure was trying to peck my eyes out.

My heart thundered in my chest and a primal wave of fear washed over me as I batted at the ball of feathery rage with both hands, pushing it away frantically.

The goose hissed and gave one last vicious peck before dropping to the ground as I managed to shove it off my lap.

It honked again, louder, and strutted over to the door, still hissing.

“What the fuck ?” I blurted out, rubbing my biceps where the goose had pecked me. That shit hurt . I clambered to my feet and wondered if there was room for two on that table.

Bobby laughed. “She’s just saying hello.” His tone was indulgent, like having an attack goose was somehow cute and not a public menace.

He thrust out his hand again and I took it warily, still slightly dazed. “Miller Clarke.”

“You’re Cal’s young lawyer,” he said, looking me up and down.

I took the chance to do the same. Bobby Merritt was the literal embodiment of larger than life.

He was well over six feet tall and his white T-shirt was a size too small and strained over his biceps.

There was a picture of a badly drawn goose on the front of the shirt giving a thumbs-up, only it was using its wings.

Bobby was wearing a pair of denim cutoff shorts and, unaccountably, red and white striped suspenders.

A cowboy hat and a pair of boots completed his look.

He regarded me with bright blue eyes and a confident air that left me in no doubt that any minute now he was going to sell me my very own goose, which was the one at the top of a pyramid of geese, and if I could just find seven friends to all sign up for a goose, I’d end up with a lifetime supply of, I dunno, feather pillows maybe? You get the idea.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw the goose move, and I stiffened and stepped back so I was plastered against the wall. “Uh…”

Bobby chuckled and fished in the pocket of his shorts, pulling out a leash.

He clicked his tongue, and the goose trotted over to him and sat down at his feet, all innocence.

Bobby bent and clipped the leash to a harness that the goose was wearing.

I hadn’t noticed it before, what with the violent, unprovoked attack and all.

“Anyway, I’ve put some traps and bait in the storeroom for whatever the hell is in there,” Bobby said, “so I thought I’d say hey. But we’re going now. Good to meetcha, though.” He tipped his hat in my direction, and then he and his demon bird were gone.

I slumped against the wall in relief, and a moment later Danny hopped down off the table, glaring at the spot where the goose had been. “I fucking hate that thing,” he muttered. “It always goes for my nuts.”

Well, that explained why he’d been protecting his junk.

“It’s kind of terrifying,” I agreed. “How is it even allowed in public?”

“Bobby’s the mayor, and he owns half of Goose Run,” Danny said. “He has all these plans to make it our signature bird and turn the town into a tourist attraction.”

“It’s more likely to turn into a lawsuit,” I said.

Danny snorted. Then he took two steps forward and when he was in front of me, he reached up slowly and plucked a loose feather from my hair and held it up with a soft smile.

The mood shifted suddenly. My heart started thundering in my chest, and not from fear this time. The air between us crackled with anticipation for a few seconds—right before Danny leaned in and kissed me.