Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 95421 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95421 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
“That was even better than I could’ve done. You must’ve been kick-ass on cross examination.”
I’d been feeling all revved up about getting to interrogate someone again, but his comment took the wind out of my sails.
Dawson must’ve noticed my crestfallen face. “Did I upset you by putting you on the spot like that?”
I lifted my hand and forced a smile. “No, it just…felt good. And now it hit me that I’ll never be able to do that again—interrogate a witness—unless I’m playing pretend like I just did.”
“Sorry.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“I complain about this business a lot, but I can’t imagine not being able to do it anymore. So I get it. I really do.”
I smiled sadly. “Thanks.”
“How about I buy you some lunch? I’m pretty sure you just scared Mr. Fanning into taking a deal. It’s the least I can do.”
I took a deep breath and nodded. “Sure, why not?”
Dawson and I walked two blocks, and he stopped in front of a small restaurant. “This is the place.”
“Vegan Palace? We don’t have to go here. I can get a salad almost anywhere.”
He opened the door and gestured for me to walk in ahead of him. “I’ll find something. The menu is pretty big.”
“You’ve been here before?”
Dawson shook his head. “I looked it up online.”
“When?”
He shrugged. “The other day.”
Interesting. The man who poked fun at me for eating rabbit food had done research on good local vegan places.
The waitress sat us at a table. I opened the menu and started perusing, but Dawson just sat there. “Do you already know what you want?” I asked.
“No, but I’ll just get whatever you get. Unlike you, I’m not picky.”
“I’m not picky.”
He sipped the water. “Right.”
“I’m not. I just don’t eat meat.”
“Or eggs.”
“Right.”
“Or dairy.”
“Well, that’s part of being vegan. I don’t eat animals or foods that come from animals.”
He grinned. “Like I said, one of us isn’t picky. I’ll have whatever you’re having.”
I ordered us two different dishes. A chicken parm and a sunchoke risotto, and the waitress left us with a basket of sourdough gluten-free bread and garlic butter.
Dawson grabbed a piece of bread. “So let me get this straight, the chicken parm isn’t actually chicken and the garlic butter doesn’t actually have butter in it?”
I smiled. “That’s right.”
“Is the garlic garlic?”
I chuckled. “I think so.”
Dawson bit into his bread. He made a face but didn’t say anything. “So tell me about your date?”
“I told you, it wasn’t a date.”
“Did you eat together?”
“Yes.”
“Drink wine?”
“Yes.”
“And what restaurant did you go to?”
I sighed. “We didn’t. We had takeout at his place.”
Dawson frowned. “He wants in your pants.”
“He was tired. It took him twenty-six hours to get home from Mumbai the day before. Not everyone has an agenda. Haven’t you ever picked up a friend and shared a meal with some drinks?”
“Sure, Ben.”
“I meant a woman.”
“Nope.”
“So you don’t have any female friends?”
“Not good-looking ones I’d share a meal with alone in my apartment.”
“Well, that’s just sad. Because women and men can be friends.”
Dawson folded his arms across his chest. “No, they can’t. Not when you’re attracted to each other.”
“I seem to remember you told me you think I’m beautiful not too long ago. Yet we’re sitting here, aren’t we?”
“And we’d be back at my place with me eating something a hell of a lot better than the shit we’re going to eat here, if you were good with that.”
My jaw fell open. “I can’t believe you just said that.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s crass.”
“Did I ever give you the impression I was anything else?”
“Actually, yes.”
“When?”
It was my turn to fold my arms across my chest. “When you took the time to look up local vegan restaurants and read reviews. That wasn’t crass. It was thoughtful.”
He bit off another piece of bread. “Or…I’m trying to butter you up.”
I narrowed my eyes. “They don’t serve butter here.”
He smiled. “It’s a good thing you aren’t a DA. Arguing with you turns me on. I wouldn’t be able to focus across the aisle from you with a hard-on.”
I acted appalled, but also…the man made me a little insane. Because the thought of him hard while in court sort of turned me on.
I took a deep breath and attempted to shake it off, then rounded our conversation back to business and had Dawson fill me in on the other charges Mr. Fanning had been indicted on. It was nice to talk shop again. When our food came, Dawson asked if he could run his defense for another case by me. Before I knew it, our plates were clean, and two hours had gone by.
“Are you going back to the office?” I asked on the way out.
“For a little while. I need to tie up a few loose ends, but then I’m going to head home and crash for a few hours. I didn’t sleep last night.”