“Yeah, it is,” he agreed and hung up.
As I placed my phone on the table, I had a different thought to the one he’d just expressed. This might not have changed anything on his end, but it had proven to me that the Bond family wasn’t as untouchable as they liked to think they were. If need be in the future, I had the knowledge and tools to stand my ground with them. And I was pretty fucking sure that if the trial went ahead, I’d need every available weapon I could find to go up against them.
I took another long swallow of my drink and assessed the bar tonight. Not too busy, but it was Boxing Day. As I looked around, a woman across the room smiled at me and raised her glass. She looked to be either my age or a little older, with blonde hair that was a shade just a little too white for my liking. Her clothing was all tight and skimpy in a way that did nothing for me. I shifted my attention from her and kept eyeing the room, however a minute or so later, she joined me.
Sliding into the seat across from me, she purred, “Hello, sexy. I couldn’t not come and say hi after we just had that moment.”
Raising my brows, I asked, “Is that what you call a moment?”
“Yeah, isn’t it what you would call a moment?”
Fuck. I wasn’t even sure what the hell a moment was. “I’ve never had a moment to know what I’d call one.”
She couldn’t hide her surprise. “Well, hell, I’d be more than happy to give you a few moments.”
All this fucking talk of moments was making me irritable. “I’m right, thanks.”
“How about I buy us a drink and we can get to know each other?”
“I’m not interested in getting to know anyone.” I hated to be a prick like this, but some women didn’t know how to take no for an answer so I’d learnt the best way was to piss them off.
She gave me a huge smile, and I knew this was going to be drawn out. This woman was the kind who never got the message. “Never met a man who I couldn’t make mine for the night, and I’m not starting tonight. I’ll get us a drink and you’ll see how good I can make it for you.”
I stood. “No need. I was just leaving,” I announced and made a move to leave.
“Really? You’re not even gonna give me a chance?”
“It’s not you, babe. I’ve got a woman who I can’t get off my mind, so I’m going to say no and let you find a man who is right for you. That man isn’t me.”
She smiled. “They don’t make men like you very often anymore. Go and tell that woman how you feel. And I’ll find me a man, don’t you worry.”
I had no doubt she would. Leaving her, I headed outside to hail a cab. Five minutes later, I was on my way to Sophia’s house. It was the last place I wanted to go, but, fuck, it was the one place I was beginning to think I needed to be.
* * *
Her wary eyes narrowed on me. “What are you doing here, Griff? It’s late and I thought we covered everything yesterday.”
“I thought we’d covered everything, too. Turns out I’m not done. It seems you’re the only thing I can think of at the moment, and at a time of year I usually reserve for other thoughts, it’s confused the fuck out of me that you can so easily steal their place.”
She didn’t say anything straight away, and I began to think she was going to turn me away. But then she said softly, “How do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Every now and then you bare a piece of your soul to me and it makes me want to know more about you. It makes me want to know everything.”
I sucked in a breath. Don’t say that. “Can I come in?” I placed one foot inside her house, willing her to say yes.
She made my fucking night when she took a step back and ushered me in. I didn’t give her a chance to change her mind, and strode in towards her kitchen. When I reached my destination, I turned to look at her. Jesus, she was something else. Dressed in a pair of those denim shorts that killed me every-fucking-time and a white almost see-through t-shirt, with her hair pulled up in a ponytail and her face free of makeup, she was easily the most beautiful woman I had ever met.
Moving past me into the kitchen, she grabbed a glass out of a cupboard and poured herself a drink of water. Resting her back against the kitchen counter and one foot on the other, she sipped her drink and said, “So, you came to talk or to screw me?”
Fuck.
Straight to the point.
I rubbed the back of my neck and frowned. “I don’t really know.”