Take the Chance (Top Shelf Romance #9) - Brittainy Cherry Page 0,124

a ray of sun I basked in for a moment. “Elena came by. She said Hector did break a bone but it was a clean break, no surgery needed.”

“Good, good,” I said. “Glad to hear it.”

“How was your meeting?”

Catastrophic.

“Fine.”

I leaned over Olivia’s high chair from behind. “Hey, baby. Having a snack?” I plucked a piece of Jack cheese from her tray and ate it.

“Cheece, cheece,” she said, and I watched her tiny fingers pick up the white cube and bring it to her mouth.

I looked up to see Darlene watching me. She quickly averted her eyes.

“She’s got a great vocab,” she said, brushing a curl of Olivia’s hair out of her eyes. “She’s a smarty, aren’t you, sweet pea?”

“Would you mind hanging out for one more minute?” I asked. “I want to change out of this suit.”

“Knock yourself out.”

In my bedroom, I changed into my evening uniform of flannel sleep pants and a white, V-neck undershirt. I grabbed my wallet from my suit on the bed, and pulled out a twenty dollar bill. In the kitchen, Darlene was wiping Olivia’s face with a cloth, and saying something to make my daughter laugh.

Jackson’s words from this morning came back to haunt me. Darlene was beautiful, fun, and great with Olivia.

Why not ask her out?

It seemed like such a simple thing, but I was on the verge of losing my clerkship. Aside from studying and classes, I was going to have to devote even more time to Judge Miller’s final assignment to ensure I gave him what he wanted.

The tiredness fell over me like a heavy coat.

I have nothing to offer her.

Darlene removed the tray from Olivia’s highchair, and set her down on the floor where my daughter made a bee-line for the wooden blocks scattered on the carpet by my desk.

“We were making towers,” Darlene said. “I’ll clean those up.”

“No, it’s fine. Here.” I held out the twenty. “I don’t know what your going rate is but…”

She was already shaking her head. “Nope. I owe you from the other night. I was so pushy, and I still feel bad about it.”

“What? No. Take it.”

Darlene ignored my money and knelt beside Olivia. “Bye-bye, sweet pea.”

“Bye-bye,” Olivia said. She stacked a wooden block with letters on each side on top of another that was covered in numbers.

“So smart, this girl.” Darlene popped back up with a breathy exhilaration. Her eyes were impossibly blue. “I should go.”

“Darlene…”

Her phone chimed a text. She fished it out of her bag. “Oh, that’s Max. He’s a friend. I told him I’d meet him later, so yeah.” She shouldered her bag and headed for the door.

Max. Okay.

I followed Darlene to the door to open it.

Max is the guy who’s going to ask her out if he hasn’t already because you won’t.

“Such a gentleman,” Darlene said as I held the door for her.

“You should take the money,” I said stiffly. Almost harshly. “You saved my ass today so…”

I held out the cash again but Darlene pushed my hand away and held on for a moment. Her fingers were soft and warm on mine.

“Your money’s no good here. We’re even.”

A short silence fell, and my mind—so full of every goddamn thing I’d ever seen and read—had no words.

“Goodbye, Sawyer the Lawyer.”

She let go of my hand, her smile softer now, and turned to go. Half a second later, she stopped and spun back around.

“I changed my mind. I know how you can pay me for today.”

A small laugh erupted out of me, despite myself. God, this girl.

“How?”

“Last Friday, at the grocery store? You said that I was a…” She held her hands out.

I blinked. “A what?”

“That’s just it. I don’t know. You never finished your sentence.”

I thought back to that night, that moment. “Oh, yeah.”

“You remember, right? Your mega-mind has it?”

“Yeah, I have it but I’m not sure you want to hear it.”

“Try me.”

“Well, I was going to say you’re like a human tornado.”

“Oh,” Darlene said. Her face fell, the light in her eyes dimmed slightly. “I’m like a twisty windstorm that destroys everything I touch?”

“No, not at all.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “I didn’t say it then because I thought you’d take it as an insult. And saying it now, it sounds like an insult. But it’s actually—”

“A compliment?”

Her light was back and she was standing so close to me.

“Yes. I meant, you’re like this whirling ball of energy that sweeps people up so they…can’t help getting caught up in you.”

“Oh,” she breathed. “They can’t?”

I can’t.

I