Her business offers the very best in team-building activities. I’m being an awkward dick and he knows it.
I make an excuse to cover my ass. “I swear she’d been smoking pot or sniffing something,” I recall the first time we met. “Dinner was loud.” Every encounter is unexpected and throws me off balance.
Paige clears her throat, then asks, “Is that Sapphire Feelgood?”
I nod, my brows dipping, intrigued as to how Paige knows Sapphire. “Yeah. Do you know her?” I ask.
“Yeah. And she’s not high, that’s just the way she is.” Paige smiles, shaking her head slowly before she shares more information I wasn’t privy to. “Her mom and dad met at Slab City, and I believe she grew up there for a while until they moved to San Francisco once Sapphire got a little older.”
Slab City?
I never knew that about her. Slab City is the only place in California that self-polices, and while the idea of living off-grid sounds quiet and serene, just thinking about it gives me hives. Sand between my toes might have the capability of making me feel at one with nature, but I don’t need it between my ass cheeks or anywhere else to remind me.
Paige becomes animated, her voice light and joyful, awed by her. “Sapphire is amazing.”
I can’t deny that and want to agree with Paige, but instead I say, “She never shuts up.” I throw Max a quick glance to discover he’s grinning at me.
He can see right through me, and he knows she’s got me rattled.
That’s exactly how I’ve felt since that first night we met: shook.
When I debate with my brothers, I win every time. In a courtroom, I’m the one who always comes out on top, but with Sapphire, she takes the lead every time.
I may have met my match. Although if there was a competition for who was the most talkative, she would win hands down every time.
“She sure does like to talk,” Paige confirms, almost swooning. She’s clearly a big fan. “She hosted our staff conference last year, and it was the best one we ever had. Her keynote speech was”—Paige places her fingers on her mouth and kisses them—“Chef’s kiss. She made me want to open my own law practice.”
Max and Paige exchange words, and I zone out of their mundane chitchat, my mind wandering to places I find solace in now: Sapphire.
Soft lips.
Wide smile.
Happy. So fucking happy.
It’s almost too much.
And yet, I want some of her to rub off on me.
“Anyway, I need to talk to you about something regarding the Young versus Young case.” Paige addresses Max. “I was in the area and thought it would be easier to discuss it with you than over email.”
Max gives me a silent wave goodbye, and I head quickly toward my office, eager to fill in the gaps of Sapphire Feelgood’s life.
The irony of Paige’s words isn’t lost on me. When I first met Sapphire, I told her: email only.
In a way, it was meant to protect both of us, a way to keep her big personality out of my quiet life. It was also a way to shield her from me. The last thing she needs is my shadow dimming her brilliance.
Every day since then, I’ve fought the urge to go see her at her office or invite her for another coffee to break that stupid email-only boundary I set. Then yesterday, seeing her from across the street, I almost ran to her. She’s that breathtaking.
I’m still kicking myself over the way she caught me yesterday drinking a matcha fucking latte in her favorite coffee shop like some love-struck puppy because after she said it was better for me than coffee, I thought I would give it a try. But nope. It’s not for me. It tasted vile. Like grass, dirt, and it’s far too bitter for my taste buds.
I gag remembering the flavor and have to stop the bile from rising in my throat as I walk through the top floor of the office.
God, it was awful.
My lie was worse. I blatantly lied to her, telling her I was too busy to reply to her emails, when in fact I find the whole staff event asinine, pointless, and a waste of money. I have been in court this week, though, so I wasn’t lying about that, and I am busy.
Sort of.