Dreamless. Darlene Graham
to Ms. McClean alone.” The rich timber of Jake’s voice stopped the discussion.
Cassie and the lawyers turned to face him.
“Uh, Jake, maybe it would be better if I were present—” Edward Hughes started.
“Nope.” Jake’s dark gaze was fixed firmly on Cassie. “The judge told us to work it out between ourselves. I’m good for my word. How about you, Ms. McClean?”
“I am absolutely a woman of my word.” Cassie had no trouble asserting that. It was her lifelong code.
“Good. Then, we don’t need the lawyers.”
The two lawyers stood looking from Jake to Cassie, dumbstruck.
“I’m hungry.” Jake put a palm on his flat middle. “How about some lunch?”
Cassie wondered what the heck this was all about. One minute they were sparring in court and the next he was inviting her to lunch. Was this a trick?
“The judge said to sit down at a table.” He gave her a wicked grin. “There might as well be food on it.”
Cassie frowned.
“Seriously.” Jake tilted his head. “We only have until tomorrow morning, and in the meantime, we’ve got to eat.”
This was true. Cassie always managed to find time to eat. Her appetite was as healthy as any man’s. But most of her lunches were fast food, eaten in the cab of her truck while she studied a materials list. It was not often that she was dressed nicely enough to go to a real restaurant and sit down and have a decent lunch. Suddenly it seemed like a shame to waste her snazzy outfit.
“I guess we might as well eat while we talk this over, but it needs to be on this side of town. I’ve got to go by the hospital.”
“Oh? The injured man?”
“Yes.”
“Is Legend’s okay?”
Legend’s! A gourmet restaurant that had been hosting special events for Jordan residents for over thirty years. Cassie had loved that place ever since her aunt Rosemarie had first taken her there as a child. Her fluttery aunt always called the atmosphere…romantic. Cassie preferred to think of it as tasteful, classy.
“Uh, sure. Legend’s will work.”
“Great.” Jake gave the lawyers a little salute and put a light hand at Cassie’s back, steering her toward the stairs.
Cassie glanced at the two older men, who were staring like stunned referees that had been told by the players to get off the field.
“How about if I drive,” Jake said as he opened the stairwell door. “Once we’ve reached an…equitable position—” there was an unmistakable hint of humor in his voice “—I’ll bring you back to your car.”
As they descended the stairs, Cassie started to feel something. Something akin to magnetism. She didn’t know if it was the synchronized physical movement—they stayed side by side, right in step the whole way—or the man’s very nearness as he held her elbow on the way down. Cassie didn’t even know if she had the right to feel this…this magnetism or whatever it was. For all she knew, he might be involved with a woman. The good-looking ones were never available.
All she knew for certain about Jake Coffey was that, right now, she was going to lunch at Legend’s with him. And that prospect seemed at once frightening and thrilling.
CHAPTER FOUR
LEGEND’S NEVER CHANGED MUCH, and Cassie liked that. She liked the permanence of the quiet, sophisticated atmosphere. Layer upon layer of antiques, timeless art, and black-and-white photographs of patrons graced its shelves and walls. They’d never even removed the old private liquor storage lockers from Oklahoma’s “bottle club” laws of earlier decades. The quaint, old-fashioned wooden bins were used to hold house wines now.
The owner recognized both Jake and Cassie, and stepped around the small maître d’ podium to greet them by name. He seemed mildly curious to see them together.
Walking past the gleaming brass-and-glass case with the famous Legend’s desserts on display at shoulder level, Cassie remembered how her aunt had always stopped to let Cassie choose a favorite. Sometimes it took the child a long time, as if her future depended on whether she ate strawberry genoise or Kahlúa pecan pie after brunch.
The lunch patrons—gussied-up older ladies, the local chamber crowd, professors from the university—were in high chatter. As they mounted the short steps to a balcony area and then threaded past the tables to a secluded corner, Jake smiled and nodded at a couple of folks. Cassie didn’t recognize anyone, but she didn’t really expect to since she seldom socialized outside of construction circles. The owner seated them at a cozy table by large windows that looked out on the patio garden.
A waiter came and took their drink orders. When he left, Jake smiled. “The food here is great. And at lunchtime they’re pretty fast.” He tapped his fingers lightly on the table as if considering something. “Maybe I should have taken you by to check on the young man in the hospital first.”
Cassie thought that was nice, considerate. “That’s okay. I’ll want to stay awhile. You know, sit with his family.”
Their eyes met, as if they were suddenly reliving the event and again feeling the bonding that had happened as a result of it.
“I should have asked before now. Is he doing okay?”
“He’s still unconscious. I’m afraid we don’t know much about his long-term prognosis yet.”
Jake frowned and again Cassie noticed what a sensuous mouth he had. “I hope he recovers all right. Have you figured out what went wrong?”
“Somebody switched the main and temporary wiring.” Cassie squinted at the menu, not really reading it. That mix-up was most disturbing.
“How could that happen?”
“It shouldn’t. Ever. The electrician swears none of his men could have done it.” Cassie shook her head. “I can’t figure it out, but I’ll get to the bottom of it. There may be liability issues.” Cassie bit her lip. Maybe she shouldn’t talk about liability. This man put her so at ease that she’d almost forgotten they were suing each other. “But Darrell carries full workmen’s comp.”
“That’s good.”
After the waiter brought water for Cassie and tea for Jake, Jake said, “I happen to agree with you, you know.”
Cassie frowned. “About what?”
“That was a crock of crap back there at the courthouse.”
Cassie felt her cheeks turning pink. “I should watch my tongue. I probably hurt poor old Miles’s feelings.”
“You were being honest. The judge didn’t want to bother with our dispute, and the attorneys let him put us off. I admire your honesty. It’s what made me decide to take you to lunch.” His brown eyes twinkled again, the way they had when he’d been watching her in the judge’s chambers. “Well, that was part of it, anyway.”
Cassie’s cheeks grew hotter as she wondered exactly what the other part was. The way he was smiling at her, it should have been obvious. But she didn’t dare imagine that this man was interested in her. She took a sip of water to cover her discomfort.
“Nevertheless, I should watch my temper. I just get so impatient when it comes to business.”
He smiled. “I like your style. Like I said, at least you’re honest. Honesty is a big deal to me.”
When she didn’t respond to that, only sipped her water again, he stopped grinning. “Anyway, I figure we could have done better for ourselves.”
“I agree.”
An