Page 29 of Dial L for Lawyer (Curves & Capital #2)
"Maybe." He doesn't sound convinced. "Listen, I have to stay here a bit longer. Bennett's got me reviewing contracts that apparently can't wait. But I should be done in a couple hours."
"It's fine. I'm comfortable here."
"Good. Because I meant what I said about liking you in my apartment. And just so we're clear, the key card is yours to keep."
"Caleb—"
"No arguments. I want you to have it. I want you to use it. I want to come home and find you in my bathtub, on my couch, in my bed..."
"I'm surprised you didn't lead with the bed."
"In my imagination, you're naked on my couch too." I can hear his smile. "What are you going to do while I'm gone?"
"Probably text Layla and Audrey. They're going to lose their minds when I tell them where I am."
"Make sure you tell them I'm excellent in bed."
"I'll tell them you're adequate."
"Harsh."
"I'll tell them you made me see God. Multiple times."
"Better." Someone says something in the background. "I have to go. Bennett's glaring at me."
"Go. Be a lawyer."
"Stay. Be in my apartment when I get back."
"Bossy."
"You love it."
He hangs up before I can respond, which is probably good because he's right. I do love it. I might love a lot of things about him.
Fuck.
I finally send the text to our group chat:
Me:
So...You’ll both be proud because I spent the night with Caleb and actually stayed long enough to have breakfast this morning.
The response is instantaneous.
Layla:
FINALLY
Audrey:
Details. Now. All of them.
Me:
I let him see me.
Layla:
AND?
Me:
It was... intense.
Layla:
That's not details. That's a fortune cookie.
Audrey:
Scale of 1-10?
Me:
47
Layla:
FORTY-SEVEN???
Me:
Also he told me he loves me.
Radio silence for a full thirty seconds.
Audrey:
WHAT
Layla:
HE WHAT
Audrey:
That's... fast
Layla:
When? How? What did you say???
Me:
This morning. In his kitchen. After we had a big talk about my body issues.
Layla:
Wait. You told him about your mom? That's HUGE!!!
Me:
Right? I'm surprised at myself. I never open up like that.
Audrey:
And he said he LOVED you after that?
Me:
Yeah.
Layla:
What did you say back?
Me:
Nothing. I panicked.
Audrey:
Classic Serena.
Layla:
Where are you now?
Me:
Still at his place. And get this: he gave me a key.
Layla:
A KEY????
Audrey:
This man is not playing around.
Layla:
Are you freaking out?
Me:
Completely.
Audrey:
But you're still there.
Me:
Yeah.
Layla:
That's growth, babe.
Audrey:
Do you love him?
I stare at the question for a long time. Do I love him? Or am I just overwhelmed by being seen, being wanted, being chosen despite everything?
Me:
I don't know. Maybe. Probably. Fuck. I don't know.
Layla:
That's a yes.
Audrey:
That's definitely a yes.
Layla:
When do we get to see you together properly? Like not at a club where you disappear to bang in bathrooms?
Me:
LAYLA
Layla:
You weren't exactly subtle.
My face burns, but I'm laughing.
Me:
I was living in the moment.
Layla:
Is that what they're calling public indecency these days?
Me:
Whatever. Let's talk about Audrey. How'd your 'technical meeting' go with Logan? Is he any good? I bet he likes to spank...
Audrey:
OMG. Stop! It's not like that. And there was NO spanking of any kind!
We literally reviewed data. ALL NIGHT.
Me:
Wait, what?
Layla:
You were together—ALONE—all night? And nothing happened?
Audrey:
He got so excited about the neural mapping applications that we went to the lab. We worked until 4 AM on predictive modeling for addiction recovery.
Me:
That's... awful. I'm sorry, Audrey.
Audrey:
It's fine. I'm just annoyed that I wore my best dress just so he could compliment my understanding of quantum processing. QUANTUM PROCESSING.
Me:
Oh honey.
Audrey:
I think he's just not interested. He only sees me as a fellow nerd.
Layla:
Or he's so nervous he's defaulting to what he knows.
Audrey:
He drew diagrams, Serena. DIAGRAMS. On a cocktail napkin. Then when we got to the lab, he pulled out the whiteboard. He talked NON-STOP. For FIVE HOURS. I couldn't stop yawning by the end of it.
Me:
If YOU were bored, then we're in real trouble here.
Audrey:
I know! At one point I literally said "it's getting late" and he said "you're right, we should switch to decaf."
Layla:
Me:
Oh my god.
Audrey:
It's not funny! It's frustrating! How do I get a man to stop talking about dopamine pathways and start noticing I'm trying to seduce him?
Me:
Have you tried being direct?
Audrey:
I touched his arm while he was explaining synaptic responses and told him how impressive his work is. He handed me a marker and asked me to draw my interpretation.
Layla:
I'm DYING. This is amazing.
Audrey:
It's not amazing! He clearly only wants my brain.
Layla:
That's actually kind of romantic?
Audrey:
It would be if I didn't also want him to want my body!
Me:
Maybe he's just really respectful?
Audrey:
Or maybe I'm not his type.
Me:
You're everyone's type.
Layla:
Facts.
Audrey:
Not Logan's apparently. His type is probably a supercomputer with nice RAM.
Me:
Give him time. Some guys need really obvious signals.
Audrey:
What do I need to do? Tackle him and sit on his face?
Layla:
Hey, if it works...
Audrey:
I hate this. I'm a neuroscientist. I should be able to figure out one man's brain.
Me:
Hearts are different than brains.
Layla:
Look at you being all wise and shit.
Me:
I learned from the best. Both of you.
Audrey:
Ugh. Can we go back to talking about Caleb declaring his love? That was less depressing.
Me:
Your situation isn't depressing! Logan's just... special.
Audrey:
That's one word for it.
Layla:
The word is "oblivious."
Audrey:
Should I text him?
Me:
What would you say?
Audrey:
"Thanks for the all-night science party, next time let's make out?"
Layla:
Perfect. Send it.
Audrey:
I'm not sending that!
Me:
Then what?
Audrey:
Maybe just "I had fun last night."
Layla:
Boring.
Me:
Safe.
Audrey:
I'm going with safe.
A moment later:
Audrey:
He replied!
Me:
Already? What did he say?
Audrey:
"Me too! I've had a breakthrough on the neural noise problem. Want to see my calculations?"
Layla:
This man is hopeless.
Me:
Adorably hopeless.
Audrey:
I'm going to die alone.
Me:
No you're not. You're going to crack the Logan code. It just might take more than a short dress.
Audrey:
What if I just show up naked to our next meeting?
Layla:
He'd probably hand you a lab coat and ask about thermal regulation.
Audrey:
You're probably right. FML.
I'm still laughing when I hear Caleb open the front door.
"Honey, I'm home!" he calls out. My chest squeezes.
Me:
Caleb's back. Got to go.
Layla:
Tell him you love him!
Audrey:
Tell him to tell Logan that dirty things are OK!
I set my phone down as Caleb walks in, looking tired but smiling when he sees me curled up on his couch.
"Not naked," he observes. "But still the perfect thing to come home to."
He kisses me, easy as breathing.
“You look good here,” he says. “In my apartment. In my life.”
Something inside me twists. Layla would probably call it love. Maybe it is. But the word feels too sharp, too heavy, too dangerous to touch.
What I do know is I’ve never felt like this before.
Not with anyone. Not even close. And that thought alone terrifies me.
Because the people who were supposed to love me?
They left. Or hurt me. Or taught me that love was something you had to earn, something fragile enough to vanish the second you relaxed.
So maybe this is love. Or maybe it’s just me falling headfirst into another kind of heartbreak.
Either way, I can’t stop.
And that might be the scariest part of all.