Gone with the Wolf - By Kristin Miller Page 0,50
to you that way.” He snaked an arm around Emelia’s waist and tugged her against him. His belt ground into her stomach, then seemed to disappear as something harder swelled between them. “I’ve missed you.”
“Is that what you came back to tell me?”
“That’d be sweet, but no.” He smiled. “I came back to tell you that I found a lawyer who’ll take your case against Mr. Branch.”
“Really?” Emelia nearly jumped out of her skin, then steeled herself. “Thank you for setting that up, but I don’t think I can afford a lawyer just yet.”
He brushed his hands up and down her arms. “I’m taking care of it.”
“No, no, that’s not what I want.” The last thing Emelia wanted was for Drake to think she was using him, or getting closer to him because of what he could do for her and this place. “When I can afford it, I’ll hire a lawyer myself.”
“I figured you’d say that,” he said, stroking his hands over the small of her back, “so I found a lawyer who’ll work the case pro bono. He’s done a few cases with Wilder Financial, but he works for a separate legal corporation so you won’t have to go through me or my company, if you don’t want to. He said the case sounds clear-cut, but he’ll take a deeper look once you give him the go-ahead. I put his business card on the bar.”
“Thank you.” Emelia couldn’t believe Drake had gone out of his way to make her feel more comfortable with the situation. He’d made her next move clear…and convenient. “I’ll give him a call this afternoon.”
“I also came back for something else.”
“Yeah?”
“I’d like to take you on our first date.”
“Our first…date?”
“You know, where you get dressed up and I pick you up at your place and we go out to dinner and a movie like normal people?”
She smacked him. He didn’t flinch, damn him and his brute strength. “I know what a date is, Captain Obvious. It’s just that…aren’t we past that? I mean, the dog has already buried the bone. What good would it do to dig it back up and show it to me?”
Deep hoots of laughter erupted out of him. “Yes, Emelia, I’ve already buried the bone, but if you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to show you what it would be like to go out with me under normal circumstances. I’d like to show you what your life could be like if you stayed with me.”
“Tempting offer,” she said, plinking her fingers across her desk. “But I’m not sure.”
“Damn it, woman, are you sure about anything?”
Her gaze drifted over Drake’s shoulder, to the dartboard on the far wall. “Tell you what. We’ll play a game of darts over it. If you win, I go out with you, wherever and whenever you want. If I win, you have to jump into Lake Washington.”
“What? Why the hell would you want me to do that? The water’s freezing!”
“Exactly the point,” she said, smiling. “Jumping in defies logic.”
He needed a lot more feeling and a lot less thinking in his life. If she had to be the person to show him what a little spontaneity was like, so be it. Besides, she’d jumped into Lake Washington dozens of times. The water wasn’t that cold.
“It’ll take an act of God to get me in there,” he said.
“Or a losing game of darts.”
“Yeah, that’s not happening,” he chuckled. “I’ve had hundreds of years to perfect my shot.”
“Then you have nothing to worry about,” Emelia said.
She held out her hand to seal the deal. Drake took it and shook, enveloping her hand in warmth.
“I tried to warn you, but if you insist on making this easy on me, lead the way.” He swept his arm aside so she could pass through to the bar. “I’m thinking a steak and lobster dinner. Maybe a late-night jaunt to Victoria Island.”
Emelia yanked six darts—three flagged blue, three flagged red—out of the cork board and turned. Drake stood on the throw line, gearing up to throw an invisible dart. Watching him lose was going to be the highlight of the night.
“You know, Drake,” Emelia said, handing him the blue darts. “I just realized that I am sure about one thing.”
“What’s that?”
Smiling ear to ear, Emelia took her spot on the line and fired the first dart straight into the bull’s-eye. “I’m gonna kick your ass.”
Chapter Fifteen
“Tell me again what this proves?” Drake stood at the end of his pier that jutted into Lake