Page 19 of Ache
He nods. She swipes. Declined again.
“Shit.” She flips over the blue card in her hand as if it’s going to tell her something.
“Here. Let me,” I interject, swiping my card through the machine.
Approved.
“Alec,” Everly tries to protest, but it’s too late.
“Not a big deal,” I interrupt her. “Large coffee with a pump of hazelnut and almond milk, please.”
Swipe again. Approved.
“You didn’t have to do that.” She pushes her glasses up her cute little nose.
“Not a big deal,” I repeat. “I know how dependent on caffeine you are.”
“This is true.” We wait for our morning cup of crack. “But I don’t get it. There is plenty of money on my card. It shouldn’t have declined.”
“It has a chip?” I ask.
“Yes.” She bats her eyelashes.Stop it.
Sexy.
“They can be temperamental. I would just check your account to make sure everything is copacetic.”
“Everything better be copacetic,” she gripes. “Stupid credit cards.”
The barista calls out her name as she places her coffee cup on the counter.
“Cool name,” the young girl comments as Ever claims her cup.
“Thanks.” She’s always so sweet. Almost sugary. She gives me a fucking toothache.
As we walk to the elevator, worry is evident on Ever’s pretty face.
“Don’t stress.” I touch the crease between her brows. “That’s what credit protection is for.” She returns a weak smile, but I hate that worry is weighing so heavily on her. The last few days have brought Everly and I closer than I think either of us expected. Once she put me in my place — which was a total fucking turn-on — our working relationship solidified. She may look like a bookworm, but she’s anything but. Her tongue is as sharp as her eyes, and her sense of humor is as dark as her hair. She’s like a gift you just get to keep unwrapping. Each day, I learn something new, and each day, I’m drawn farther and farther into the magnetizing cosmos that is Everly Paige. “If you want, we can check together, and if anything is off, I’ll help you fix it.”
“That’s very amicable of you, counselor. Would this be pro bono, or am I going to be billed for the hours?” She makes light, even though she’s clearly concerned. Do you want to know how you can detect a strong person? It’s someone who doesn’t fall apart at the first sign of trouble. Someone who keeps their wits, and cool, and sense of humor about them even if there is an impending problem. I learned that quickly about Everly. As soft as she is, she is equally as strong.
She took on every task I threw at her this week and didn’t bat an eyelash doing it. She never got flustered, she just endured. I didn’t go easy on her, either. We had a job to do, and I made it clear. She made it clear she knew it. She rose to the occasion. On every single front.
“Pro bono,” I specify, hoping that will convince her to come to my office. Sneaky. So sneaky.
She considers as the elevator doors ding open. “Well, how can I refuse free legal help?” She cutely takes a sip of her coffee. If I was a betting man, I’d say she’s flirting with me with just her eyes.
“You can’t.” I walk off the elevator all high and mighty. ’Cause, well, let’s face it, I am.
Lara spies Everly and me as we walk past the front desk and into the back where the offices are.
“Be back in a bit. Just have to check something out,” Everly offers as we disappear through the glass doorway. I don't have to look at Lara to know she speculates something. I overheard her giving Everly an earful about me the other day. They were whispering, and they had no idea I was turning the corner. I stopped short when I heard my name behind the women's room door. Luckily, too. Three more steps, and they would have smacked me right in the face with it. She’s convinced something is going on between us. And although nothing is now, her suspicions have merit. Because somehow, some way, I am going to get Everly Paige naked, in my bed, moaning my name. Just you wait. I’m a man of very many talents. And what I want, I get.
I plop down in my office chair and boot up my computer with Everly right next to me. She navigates to her bank’s website, and I turn my head when she types in her password. She gasps when her profile pops up.
“Holy shit.”
I turn to see her available credit at zero. “Shit is right.”
