“I just wanted to buy you a drink.”
Only a lifetime of Southern hospitality stopped her jaw from dropping to the table. “ You want to buy me a drink?”
He looked a little sheepish and quickly turned to signal the waitress.
“Thanks, Barry, really, but this is going to be my last one.”
“Look, I don’t blame you for being ticked at me. I’ve been a jerk.”
“I hadn’t noticed.”
With his caramel-colored eyes and dark hair he was good-looking when he smiled, but that didn’t happen often. “Dakota told me about the screwup you caught on the Clarkson brief. I was pissed at first.”
“Me being a temp and all.”
“Well, yeah,” he said unabashedly. “Then I heard you caught a mistake Margot made, too. Bottom line, you saved my ass.”
Sara shrugged a shoulder. “Not a problem. I had to type it, so of course I noticed.”
He shook his head. “You had to understand the content to notice. Most of the secretaries have been with the firm for years but couldn’t have caught it on a dare. You’re wasting your time. You should be in law school.”
Sara just smiled. Been there. Done that. Yale. Second in her class. But none of these people needed to know that.
Barry studied her for a moment. “You have plans for dinner?”
“I have to pack. Early flight tomorrow.”
“Where are you going again?”
“Atlanta,” Cody answered for her.
Sara and Barry both stared as he pulled out a chair and joined them.
His knee brushed hers and the slight touch sent her pulse skittering. “Hope I’m not interrupting.”
Barry looked from him to Sara and then back to Cody. “I didn’t know you hung out here, boss.”
“I don’t.”
After an awkward silence, Barry noisily cleared his throat. “Right.” He pushed his chair back. “Okay, well, I guess I’ll be going.”
Cody didn’t say anything, simply sipped from the glass he’d brought with him.
Barry stood. “Good luck to you, Sara. Travel safely.”
She smiled, and then waited until Barry was out of earshot. “You were rude to him.”
“Was I?” Cody’s gaze narrowed and he seemed genuinely surprised.
“If you hadn’t noticed, we’re at a party. My party.”
“That’s why I’m here.”
She watched him stop a passing waitress and order another scotch, shaking her head when he added a margarita. After the woman left, Sara asked, “Why do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Treat people that way.”
He frowned. “The waitress?”
“No, Barry. Other people in the office.”
He leaned back in the burgundy leather club chair, studying her, amusement in his eyes. “You make it sound like I’m an ogre.”
Sara leaned forward, staying locked on his gaze. He didn’t show surprise at her boldness, but she knew it was there. She’d purposely played the stereotypical Southern belle for the past ten months, sweet and accommodating. But she didn’t have to play a part any longer.
Maintaining eye contact, she said, “Number one, you’re aloof, which makes you inaccessible to your employees, and if you have a sense of humor, you hide it well. Does everything have to be all business all the time?”
It occurred to her in a flash of belated insight that she wasn’t angry about how Cody treated Barry. She was pissed at how he’d treated her. Oh, he hadn’t been mean or anything, but he had to have felt the sparks that ignited every time they were together. His being here was proof that she hadn’t been the only one who’d been smitten. So why now? Why not months ago, when she could have done something about it?
The margarita beckoned as the truth hit her once again. He hadn’t pursued her because he thought she was a secretary. A temporary one, at that.
She sipped her drink, her gaze turned away from his, wishing she had left ten minutes ago. Oh, hell. Who was she to judge Cody for being an arrogant snob? That he had sized her up by her appearance? She certainly wanted him based on his.
“That’s it? That’s the whole lecture?” The right corner of his mouth slowly lifted.
“Yep. That’s the whole thing.” She looked away, planning her exit strategy.
Instead of reaching for her purse, however, she made the mistake of looking at him. Dammit. He was doing it again. Staring at her with a hungry intensity that made her want to throw herself at him. It was that very look that had made the last few months such hell for her. That hunger had met her every time he’d come by her desk to drop off a motion or brief for Dakota. He’d lingered, never talking about anything but work and the weather, but the current had run between them, hotter than a live wire.
His secretary had done everything else for him, including getting his coffee and lunch and dry cleaning. So yes, every trip by her desk had been designed to torment and tease. Yet, he’d never taken the next step.
At first, she’d thought it was because they worked together, but the company had no policy about that. She’d found out that a couple of years ago, Cody had dated an attorney who’d since gone on to another firm. So the precedent had existed.
She simply hadn’t met his standards.
The waitress brought his scotch, and he slipped her some money and told her to keep the change. The tip was a large one judging by the younger woman’s eyes, but she didn’t get a smile with it. Had he ever smiled in his life? Not the kind you gave the camera, or what was expected by a client, but a real spontaneous smile?
He adjusted his red silk tie and for a crazy second she thought he might loosen the knot. “You’re a strange one, Sara Wells.”
She blinked at him, confused. “Me? Why am I strange?”
“I can’t put my finger on it, but something’s…off.”
“Pardon me?”
He chuckled, and at the odd sound coming from his mouth she almost slid off her chair. “I’ve known a lot of legal secretaries in my day, and none of them were like you.”
“What were you expecting?”
He shook his head. “So illusive…” he said, but more to himself than her.
“Is that why you came tonight? For one last chance to get your answers?” she asked.
“Maybe. But mostly I came to say goodbye.”
Her heart skidded at the quietness of his voice. “That happy to be rid of me, huh?”
His expression tightened. “No.”
Uncomfortable, Sara glanced around. Dakota and Tony had sat at another table and they, along with everyone else from the office, seemed to be staring in Sara’s direction.
This was nuts. None of this mattered. Not his voice, not his eyes, not even the reason that she dreamt about him night after night. Tomorrow she’d be gone.
She checked her watch, but it didn’t matter what time it was. “I really need to get going. I have so much packing to do yet.”
He didn’t hide his surprise. “It’s early.”
“So