I kept her gaze for a beat, then another one. I could tell she didn’t want to look away first, but eventually she did, shaking her head and chuckling.

“Do you always employ such dangerous tactics to lift someone’s mood?”

“I’d categorize this as ballsy, but I’m happy to show you my dangerous side too.”

Val swallowed. “Well, I’d love to find out exactly how you distinguish ballsy from dangerous. I have a hunch that our definitions differ, but duty calls. I must do some things for the charity event too. At this rate, it’s feeling more like work than fun.”

“We’ll enjoy ourselves too.”

“Define enjoy,” she challenged with a smile while pulling her hair into a ponytail. The movement of her hands made her chest rise and push forward. She bared her neck. That skin looked so kissable, so touchable that I was barely fighting the urge to find an excuse—any excuse—to touch her. I looked at her mouth long enough for her to notice. Her eyes widened. She felt the chemistry between us too.

“Nah, and spoil all the anticipation? I’ll show you when we’re there.”

I rose from my chair at the same time as her.

“I’ve been to enough events to know they’re not my kind of fun.”

“But you didn’t have me to keep you company.”

Her lips parted slightly. Then she narrowed her eyes.

“Well, then... I could use some fun. I look forward to seeing you in action. I’ll hold you to it.”

“I’ll make sure you do.”

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

Val

I was a little light-headed as I sat behind my desk. The first thing I did when I opened my laptop was to look up Carter online. I felt giddy, as if I was doing something I wasn’t supposed to. His law firm was three-years-young, but that was still impressive, considering he was thirty-five. The lawyers I knew who’d set up their own practices had done so later in their career.

I googled him a bit, and it was apparent he was a very successful litigation lawyer.

I was dying to know more about him, but I reluctantly went back to the to-do list I’d written yesterday evening, cross-checking it with some of the more urgent emails in my inbox. I usually didn’t have trouble concentrating in the morning, but I caught my thoughts wandering more than once and had to make a conscious effort to whip them back into line. When the screen of my phone lit up with an incoming message, I reached for it, even though I avoided answering messages during the day. Too distracting.

Carter: Are you free for lunch?

I’d given him my phone number during our first lunch, right before we parted ways.

Val: Nope. We have some deadlines coming up, and I’m eating in my office.

Carter: Any restaurant recommendations?

I smiled as I typed the names of a few restaurants.