Charity Case - The Complete Series - Piper Rayne Page 0,30

your life.” I shake my head with a smile.

He stands upright. “You can deny me, but don’t do it so politely. Tell me the real reason you won’t go to dinner with me.”

I glance to the side finding Darcie and Georgia watching on with narrowed eyes. What do they care? They each have diamond rings on their fingers worth more than my annual salary.

“You’re a smart guy, Reed. I’m sure you can figure out why this won’t work.” I motion with my finger between us.

“I’m not friends with Pete anymore. Maybe an acquaintance, but—”

“It’s not just Pete. I mean that’s a huge part, yes. You have two strikes against you though. You’re a lawyer like my ex and you were the best man at my wedding.”

A deep intake of breath followed by a murmur has me glancing across the small courtyard.

The MM’s—Mean Moms—are gathered together, Georgia’s mouth ajar.

“Now we’re the scuttlebutt.”

He follows my gaze and then steps forward.

“I’m nothing like Pete.” His voice is lowered so we can’t be overheard. When I don’t answer, he lets out a sigh and says, “Come on, let me give you a ride. I’m due in court this morning and it’s right near your building.”

“How do you know where I work?” I cross my arms over my chest.

“I’m the ADA for the county, I know almost everything.”

I stare at him and he finally smirks.

“I may have Google’d.”

My heart does a leap in my chest that it shouldn’t. What I should be thinking is that his behavior is borderline stalkerish, but instead I’m finding it worthy of a TV rom com.

“I’m just getting on my feet again after our move. Trust me when I say that I have so much shit you don’t need to deal with.”

He nods to the waiting Uber. “It’s just a ride to work, Victoria.”

“I’m sorry. I can’t.” I place my hand on his arm and he looks down at it. Is he feeling the surge of energy between us, too? I quickly retract my hand and turn away to head to the train station.

I don’t have the guts to turn around. Instead, I keep my eyes forward and thankfully my cell phone rings in my purse. Happy for the distraction from the magnetic pull drawing me back to him, I answer on the first ring.

“Hi, Hannah.”

“Victoria, how far away are you from the office?”

I can tell from her voice that she’s flustered.

I glance in front of me at the houses on either side of the road as I walk. “I’m just about to hit the train station,” I fib.

“This new dog I got has gone into heat and I have to drop her off at the veterinarian. I told myself not to book an appointment for a Monday morning. NO!” she screeches. “My new Persian rug. God, how much blood can come out of one dog?”

“I’ll get there, Hannah, you take care of Lucy.”

“Thanks. Can you pick up a pastry plate or something? My meeting is at ten and I was going to stop, but now…”

“Yep. I’ll handle everything.” I sling the strap of my purse further up on my shoulder and quicken my pace.

“Come on,” she pleas, to the dog I assume. “The dog won’t walk on a leash. How do you get a dog to walk on a damn leash?”

I stifle a laugh. “I have no idea. I’m a cat person.”

“I should be a cat person. Thanks, Victoria, you’re a lifesaver.”

Click, the line dies and I’m about to climb the stairs to the L train when I realize there are people standing everywhere. It’s even more crowded than usual and taxis are arriving in droves and driving away just as fast.

“What’s going on?” I ask a woman who is about to climb into a taxi.

“Not sure, but it’s delayed by like an hour I heard.”

I cringe. “Seriously? Can I share the taxi with you?”

She smiles. “Where are you going?”

“City. Downtown.”

That smile turns down immediately. “Sorry, I’m not going that way. I’m going Southside and if I go through downtown, I’ll be late.” The woman honestly looks like she feels bad and I’m not about to make someone else late.

“Go,” I wave her off. “I’ll grab another one.”

She slides into the back seat. “Good luck.”

The taxi pulls away and you’d think the world is about to end the way people are cutting in front of one another for the taxis.

I walk a block down figuring if I can get away from here, I’ll be able to catch one before