everything I had to create a sense of security for myself. Working harder than I’d thought possible to get back on track in college, to graduate on time with the rest of my classmates. I’d gotten a good job. One that was steady and would always give me enough money to live on. I didn’t take risks—or I hadn’t until this thing with Crosby. I’d done everything I could to give myself the life I didn’t have growing up. But it was Harriet and this place that had given me the most. And now, all that could be taken away.
Crosby’s thumbs stroked over my cheeks as he kept hold of my face. The pads of those thumbs were rough with calluses, likely from all of his many adrenaline-fueled hobbies. But the feel of them was hypnotic, calming in a way that shouldn’t be possible, not from this man. “You might think I’m a slacker, but I’m a damn good lawyer. I’m not going to let Clark and his family take your home.”
Crosby’s words startled a laugh out of me. “I know you’re a good lawyer. Probably the best in the islands.” I’d heard people talking about Crosby before, how he’d won them what they thought was a hopeless case. I’d also heard that he helped in cases where the client couldn’t pay his normal rates. God, I’d held so tightly to my view of this man, even when the evidence laid before me clearly pointed to a different picture, a more complex one. “I trust you.”
The words surprised even me. But as I searched inside myself, I found that they were true. I may not have completely let down my guard, but I trusted Crosby to give his all to save my home, my safe place. “I do.”
Crosby rose, grabbing my hands and lifting me with him. “Let’s get inside. I’ll make you some tea.”
“You hate tea.”
“I didn’t say I was going to drink the stuff.” He moved around my space as if he belonged there, opening cabinets, pulling out a mug and my kettle, going in search of tea bags.
I slipped onto one of the three stools at the counter and watched the man move. He was tending. And something about that knowledge caused warmth to spread through my chest. “You know your way around a kettle.”
His lips tipped. “One of my nannies, the one who was there longest, she loved tea. I’d always watch her make it.”
“Were your parents not around much?”
Crosby chuckled but it had a hint of bitterness to it. “Rarely. I mostly spent time with them when they needed a child as an accessory.”
The knowledge burned something inside me. Crosby and I had more in common than I’d thought. It didn’t matter if a child had every toy in the world or just three. It didn’t change the pain of being ignored. “I’m sorry, Crosby.”
He shrugged, moving the kettle off the stove just as it began to whistle. “I was safe, warm, cared for. There are so many children out there who would kill for that.”
He was right, of course, and it was good…healthy to have that perspective. But it didn’t change the fact that the absence of parents hurt, no matter the circumstances. “That’s why you volunteer with the Alliance. It puts things in perspective for you.”
Crosby poured the water into the cup with ease, dunking the tea bag three times before it fully submerged in the water. “It’s a good reminder, sure. But I also wanted to use my skills for good for once.”
I took the mug from Crosby, placing it down on the counter. “What do you mean?”
He continued to move about my kitchen with some uncanny knowledge of where everything was placed, grabbing a sugar bowl, a small spoon, then moving to the refrigerator for the milk. “For so long after law school, after meeting Alicia, I had this insatiable hunger for more. More money. More power. Nothing was ever enough. I blamed Alicia, and sure her need to be at the top of the food chain—for me to be at the top—didn’t help, but it triggered something in me. Nothing was ever enough. And the cases I worked…I was rarely making a positive difference in the world.”
Crosby set the sugar and milk in front of me. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I’m some bleeding heart now. I take all kinds of cases. But I like that some of them change people’s lives for the better.”