window over Saint’s shoulder. “Hey now. That’s not entirely fair.” I stopped before my temper got the better of me, and took a breath in. “How many relationships have you had?”
He shuffled his ass like he was looking for a more comfortable spot in the cushion. “When did we start talking about me? Last I heard, we were talking about my brothers and my friends.” His pointed stare locked onto me again, and I understood why so many of his cases went his way.
I wandered to the window. It really was great for gathering my thoughts when I had subjects I didn’t actually want to think about. I tapped my fingertips gently against the glass, deciding how much to tell Saint. His sudden involvement in my feelings for Jamie made everything much more real.
Sucking in a breath, I turned to face Saint and met his cool blue-eyed gaze. I saw so much of Jamie there, but Saint had the edge of a jaded divorce lawyer that Jamie hadn’t developed yet, and I wasn’t sure I ever wanted him to.
“I have no intention of hurting Jamie.” I grimaced. “And yes, I’ve probably been kind of a manwhore since…since forever, but you’ve seen how long it’s taken my mom to get her life back together after Dad died on us. I’ve just chosen never to put myself in that position where anyone can leave me for any reason.”
Saint opened his mouth, but I lifted my hand. I wasn’t finished and wasn’t ready for him to protest.
“There are no guarantees in life, you know? And I can’t commit to someone I’m not even allowed to date, right?” I thought about Jamie, picturing him at his desk. “But Jamie is a lot like me. And he understands the pressures of our job, he shares the passion, and I really like him. I mean, I really like him. I have no intention of hurting him.” I finished, hopeful I’d been persuasive, but Saint said nothing. “C’mon, man. I can’t promise forever, but who can?”
Eventually, Saint responded. “So now what?”
I chuckled. “I’d kind of like to ask your brother out without you chopping my balls off.”
I waited for him to laugh, but he didn’t. He just fiddled with the button at his cuff and began to roll up his sleeve.
Eventually, he sighed a long slow expulsion of air. “Fine. If you still think you need permission to date my brother, you have it. Even though we’ve just spent the last however long since Jamie left the building discussing how he’s an actual adult able to make his own choices.” He pinched his lower lip. “But If you ever hurt him—best friend or not, business partner or not—I will beat your ass.”
I opened my mouth to agree that he could, but he wasn’t done.
“My only other caveat is that if Jamie says no, you can’t punish me for that.” He walked to my desk and began straightening the pens lying on the top.
My fingers itched to reorder them, but I stayed still. It felt as if we were thrashing out a deal. “The conference room might be a better setting for this.” I wasn’t even joking, but this time, Saint laughed.
“Yeah, I get that, but we still need some rules.”
I glared at him. “In what world would I punish you for something someone else did?”
“I know.” He held up his hands in surrender. “Look, I do know.” He sat in my desk chair. “I know you aren’t that petty. But I had to at least say it. We have our whole business. We have all our years of friendship. I don’t want those chewed up and spat out by a relationship—shit, a one-night stand—that might not work any more than I want a hurt brother.”
I sat forward. I could live with that. “Okay. My final demand…”
Saint raised an eyebrow.
“Hey, if you get to make a bunch of demands and conditions, I’m allowed to have one, right?” The couch creaked as I sat back again. For fuck’s sake. I needed to buy better quality stuff. A moment of doubt flickered through my mind, but I opened my mouth and ploughed on anyway. “If you’re actually okay with this, you need to be the one to tell Jamie you changed the rule.”
Saint scoffed and leaned back, and my damn office chair squeaked too.
“I mean it.” I pointed my finger at him. “If you don’t, he won’t know it’s okay, and he’ll say no because he doesn’t want to betray