if you could somehow manage to walk out of here with your buns still in your skirt, that probably would be best.”
Payton laughed. With a quick wave good-bye, Irma turned and headed out the door.
Once alone in her office, Payton picked up the box and pulled out the small envelope that had been tucked inside with the shoes. She opened the card and smiled when she read it.
You already know who they’re from.
PAYTON WAITED UNTIL the secretarial staff had left for the evening before she made her way to the office across from hers.
She knocked on J.D.’s door and was surprised to find him packing up his briefcase for the evening.
“You’re leaving?” she asked.
J.D. nodded. “I’m done. For once, I want to leave this place while it’s still light outside.”
Payton pulled the door shut behind her. “I got the shoes. I can’t accept them, J.D.”
He grabbed his briefcase. “Of course you can.” He peered down at her on his way out the door. “Besides, they were my favorites.”
“J.D.—”
“There’s nothing you need to say. Really.” He reached around, and at first Payton thought he was going to kiss her, but instead he opened the door. He stepped out into the hallway.
“Good luck tomorrow, Payton.” His eyes met hers, then he turned and left.
Payton stood in J.D.’s office, alone. Message received. Loud and clear. It brought to mind another time, not all that long ago, when he had left her apartment on a similar note. She hadn’t gone after him then.
But this time she would.
Among other things, she’d be damned if she was going to let J. D. Jameson get in the last word.
AS J.D. REACHED for the handle on the driver’s door of the Bentley, he heard a slightly pissed-off voice call out from behind him.
“You’re a real pain in the ass, you know that?”
He turned and saw Payton striding across the parking garage, coming from the direction of the elevators and heading straight for him. She carried her purse and jacket over one arm.
“Is that what you came down here to say?” he called back.
“Yes, that is one of the things I came down here to say.” Payton stopped before him and folded her arms across her chest. “I also came here to say that, contrary to your belief, I don’t need to be chased.”
“Oh?”
“Don’t give me that look—in fact, it’s probably better if you don’t say or do anything. I need to get through this.”
J.D. watched as Payton took a deep breath.
“This situation between us is totally messed up,” she began. “Frankly, I haven’t changed my mind in thinking that whatever decision the firm makes tomorrow is going be a problem for us. A big problem.”
She took a step closer to him. “But here’s the thing—the alternative means not being with you. And I’ve been not with you for years, J.D. I don’t want that anymore.” Payton peered up at him, her blue eyes dark and expressive. “I think we can get past this partnership thing if we go into it together.” She paused, then blushed and laughed nervously. “Now would be a really good time for you to say something.”
J.D.’s mind raced with the thousand things he wanted to say to her. Was it time? He thought maybe, finally, it was.
“Payton, I—”
But he stopped when he saw something—or someone, rather—over her shoulder. “Shit.”
Payton cocked her head. “ ‘Payton, I shit,’ ” she repeated. “That’s good to know. I’m glad we cleared that up.”
J.D. had to bite his tongue not to laugh. “No, it’s Ben,” he told her under his breath. “He just got off the elevator.”
Payton’s smile turned into a frown. “Crap. I don’t want to deal with him right now.”
“He’s walking straight for us.”
“You know what? Since you two are such good buddies, you deal with him. Just figure out some way to get rid of him. Quickly.”
J.D. watched as Payton hurried off, careful to never look in Ben’s direction, and headed over to a stairwell just a few feet away.
“Jameson!” Ben called out to him from across the parking garage.
As J.D. waited while Ben approached, he was struck by a sudden fear: What if Ben—either purposefully or accidentally—said something about the one of them the firm had decided to make partner? And in that moment, whether J.D. wanted to admit it or not, he began to wonder if Payton was right in thinking the two of them could get past the firm’s decision.
Pushing this aside, J.D. smiled as Ben walked up to him, hoping to play