Reclaim - Aly Martinez Page 0,82
just flown all the way from New York to save my ass, and now, he was developing a “game plan” for how he was going to save it even further. Being a gorgeous, powerful, sometimes cranky attorney had to be exhausting. Maybe he just needed his own space to clear his mind and relax.
Yes. That was it. It had nothing to do with me or us or, well, us just being friends. It was a work thing. I color-coded crayons when I was stressed. I guessed it wasn't completely crazy if he wanted to pace and talk in a roach motel.
“Okay,” I whispered.
He grinned. “Okay.”
I forced a smile. “How long are you in town?”
The answer would no doubt be some variation of “How long do you need me to stay?” Historically, it was how Camden and I worked, and with as weird as things felt inside that SUV, I really needed the reminder of something normal.
He swayed his head from side to side. “Assuming the prosecutor has half a brain, it shouldn’t take more than a week. I shifted some of my cases at home and can work on the rest remotely, but I’ll need to get back sooner rather than later.”
A sinkhole could have opened up and swallowed the car and I would have been less surprised than hearing Camden Cole say, “Sooner rather than later.”
I mean, I got it. He had a job and a career. I felt guilty that he was there for me. But damn, it still stung.
“Totally understand,” I muttered, grabbing the door handle and swinging it open before he had the chance to see the hurt in my eyes. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
I sprinted across my yard, right through the flowerbed I’d spent months planting and pruning. But who cared about gardenias when you were running away from the only man you’d ever loved?
"Goodnight, Nora!” he yelled out the passenger-side window.
I had no clue where my keys had ended up that day, so I dug my hide-a-key out from the flowerpot next to my door. With my heart in my throat, I opted for a wave over my shoulder before going inside.
I beelined straight to my shower, ready to wash away not only the filth from the cell, but the entire day, hopefully to cleanse away the awkwardness I’d never felt with Camden Cole before too. Being a trained professional who had put entirely too many tubes of chapstick into the washing machine over the years, I checked all of my pockets before throwing my pants into the hamper.
They should have been empty. Everything I’d had on me when I’d been arrested was in a plastic baggy now.
But in my front right pocket, there was a folded up ten-dollar bill.
A wave of emotions crashed into me. I had no idea how or when he’d snuck it in there without me feeling it. It was definitely our ten though, complete with the faded words This is yours. Fair and square. scrawled across the back.
And just like that, something felt normal again.
Calling the Clovert Inn a hotel was generous at best. I couldn’t be sure, but I thought I saw a piece of paper behind the check-in counter stating hourly rates.
After taking off my jacket and my vest and hanging them in the dingy closet across from the even dingier bathroom, I peeled back the threadbare comforter on the bed, thankfully finding what appeared to be clean sheets. Finally, I sank down on the edge.
What a fucking day.
When I’d gotten the phone call from Joe, I’d been in the middle of a meeting with a client. I’d almost fallen out of my chair snatching it off the table. Back when Nora had been younger, after she’d tried to end her life, Joe had called me periodically to check in and give me updates. We didn’t talk long or often, but I always smiled when his number popped up on the screen of my phone.
Not that day though. It had been too long since we’d last spoken for him to be calling for anything other than bad news.
My blood boiled as Joe filled me in on what Jonathan had done. Within an hour, I paid a small fortune for a ticket on the first flight out. There was never a question of whether I would drop everything and go to her. It was Nora; there was nothing I wouldn’t do for her.
Though staying at her house would have seriously tested the limits.
Even fresh out of