8. Owen

Chapter eight

Owen

I got to work early the following day and immediately remembered I'd promised Shadow, the woman I'd met at the bar, that I'd send her my information and my company's introductory email. Knowing she wasn't much for convention, I explained I had to attach the policy because it was required.

My bosses dragged in late to the office, a little after nine, and Cary greeted them as usual with a cup of coffee, drip, of course, just as they liked it. He was such a suck-up. He was also a very sweet man and had gone out of his way to make me feel at home, so suck-up or not, I considered him a friend.

I knocked on Mr. Harrison's door because he was the one who hired me and was a lot more approachable than Mr. Stages.

"Hi, um, sir. I wanted to ask you more about the will I distributed assets for yesterday."

"Aah, yes, Elias Ericson's will. How did that go?" he asked .

"Strangely," I admitted, and Mr. Harrison laughed.

"Yes, I'm sure it was. Mr. Ericson was an eccentric old fella but a good man. Died just a week ago. I believe he was a hundred and fifteen. Before he died, he was still moving around like a man half that age."

I cleared my throat to return Mr. Harrison's attention to me and off the road to memory lane. The firm's partner tended to get lost on a tangent. "Well, the gentleman who inherited the estate, Damian Richards, wanted more information than I could give him. I expect he'll be showing up this morning."

He smiled and nodded. "I'm sure he does want more information. Unfortunately, I'm not sure we can help."

Just then, Mr. Stages came into the hallway. "I forgot to put this in the folder. Mr. Ericson brought it in week before last. You say the heir intends to come in today?" he asked.

I nodded and backed away so Mr. Stages could enter Mr. Harrison's office. "Yes, sir. He said he'd be by first thing this morning."

"Good, good, let me know when he comes in."

Mr. Stages closed the door to Mr. Harrison's office, dismissing me. I would've been offended, but when I was hired, Mr. Harrison had made it clear his law partner wasn't good with social convention. He was one of the city's top tax attorneys though. I guess if you aren't good with people, tax law is the best option .

I returned to my office to push the piles of paper around a little more, when Cary came to my office door. "He's here," he said breathlessly.

I chuckled. "Stop perving on the clients," I said. Cary quickly looked around to ensure it was just us, then flipped me off.

I laughed like I usually did at Cary's shenanigans. "Show him into the conference room. I'll get the partners."

"No worries, I already let the partners know Damian was here," he said, disappearing out the door. When I walked into the conference room, I smiled because now that all this business wasn't on my shoulders, I felt more relaxed. "How are you? Feeling better this morning?" I asked.

Damian shook his head. "No, I had weird dreams all night. That butler ghost scared me more than I thought."

"It was scary. Oh, one of the partners has more information for you. Hopefully that'll help."

Just then, Mr. Harrison entered with Mr. Stages behind him. "Mr. Richards," they both said as they took his hand in turn before gesturing for us all to sit.

"I'm afraid we can't give you much more information," Mr. Harrison said immediately, "than what you received yesterday. All we can share is that Elias Ericson made it clear how his estate was to be distributed. When you appeared with the ring, the process was set into motion."

"So this isn't a joke? "

The older men chuckled. "No, this is certainly not a joke. However, I was told to give you this when you collect the keys from us," Mr. Stages said. "Mr. Ericson made it clear you were to open that on your own. Now, I was instructed to help ensure the Internal Revenue Service doesn't come knocking. Shall we dive into that?" Mr. Stages said, handing Damian the manila envelope.

I didn't stick around for the tax conversation. I had too much to do, but I was intensely intrigued by the envelope's contents. Would that explain why the old man had given everything to a stranger? Or the haunting in the attic?

I didn't know, but it was intriguing enough that I had difficulty focusing on the paperwork from hell. By noon, I was so dug in I'd all but forgotten about Damian and the partners discussing legal stuff in the conference room down the hall.

Luckily, when Cary poked his head in to say Damian had requested to see me before he left, I'd cleared about two-thirds of the paperwork off my desk—not that all of it wouldn't be replaced with another pile by the end of the day.

Secretly, I hoped Shadow would get back to me and that her contract would be lucrative enough for me to graduate from doing legal assistant stuff to actually doing attorney work. I'd checked my email less than an hour ago, though, and she hadn't responded. Who knew, maybe she wouldn't. Our meeting was bizarre, after all.

I went out to meet Damian standing in the lobby talking to Cary. "Hey, you wanted to see me?" I asked .

"Um, yeah, are you going to take a lunch break?"

I looked at my watch and smiled. "Yeah, I can do lunch. Cary, I'll be back in an hour," I said, and the receptionist just smiled and waved me off. He was so going to give me so much shit when I got back.

This time, I chose the little deli down the street from the office. I'd eaten there often enough since I'd gotten my job. I loved their Italian meatball sandwich, but I always made a mess eating it, so I decided to go with something less embarrassing. Damian was ridiculously handsome, after all. If there was a chance…

"So, my treat, now I know this is real. Like, really real," he said, causing me to chuckle.

"What're you going to do? I mean, this is a lot to take in on such short notice."

"Probably figure out how to deal with the ghost first, but then, you know, maybe school?"

"Really? That's cool. What do you want to study?" I asked.

Damian shrugged. "I don't know. I was thinking about being a teacher before my father got sick. Then, I don't know. I talked to some teachers, and they shared how horrible it was, so I'm not sure now. What made you wanna be an attorney?" he asked.

I smiled. "I grew up in a law office, not much different than the one I work in now. My mother is an attorney. Then, she became our circuit judge. I guess it's always just been who I am. "

"Wow, your mom is a judge?" he asked.

" Was . She's semi-retired now."

"Why don't you work for her?" Damian asked.

I moved the chips around my plate and sighed. "I… I dated a guy. Football player, small-town hero type. Eric Strange was his name. He got his law degree a few years before me, and Mom hired him. He basically took over her firm. Long story short, I found out he was playing me to get a way in. He screwed most of the gay guys in Central Illinois before I finally figured out what was going on."

I stared at my plate for a few moments before I looked up. "I was humiliated, and the saddest part was so was my mother. She threatened to fire him, but to do that would've cost her so much money. The son of a bitch was bringing in so much cash I decided it was best to move on and leave him to it."

"Wow, what did your mother say?" he asked.

I laughed, the bitterness coating the humor, before I could pull it back. "My mother is a pragmatist. When I left, she accepted that as my defeat. I have to admit, though, I got the better end of it. I left the small town on the prairie and now live in one of America's most amazing cities. I don't have to deal with homophobia. In fact, I could lean over the table and kiss you right now, and I doubt anyone would look twice."

When I looked up, Damian was smiling. "Do you want to kiss me?" he asked, and my face instantly flushed bright red.

"I-I didn't mean that. "

"I know, but the question still begs to be answered: Do you want to kiss me?"

I swallowed hard but nodded. "I-I wouldn't pass up the chance if you're offering."

Damian leaned his tall body toward me, not even needing to stand to reach. I didn't hesitate. Instead, I leaned forward and took his incredible mouth with mine. He tasted of lunch and something darker, more masculine. I wanted more…wanted so much more, but I suddenly remembered we were in the middle of a public restaurant during the lunch hour.

I pulled back, blushing even deeper. My instinct was to look around to see if anyone had seen us, but with Damian's piercing blue eyes focused on me, I couldn't look away. "So, that was nice," he said.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Why don't you have dinner with me tonight? I'd like to do more of the kissing thing, but my friend Molly has already texted me eleven times about going to the house this evening. Wanna join us?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I mean, yes, I'd like to do both, um, you know, the kissing and the ghost hunting."

Damian laughed out loud. "That's totally what they want to do."

I glanced at my watch and swore when I saw it was already past my lunch hour. "I have to go, but you know, text me about where you want to meet for dinner," I said, then stopped when I realized I hadn't given him my number.

"Here, open your phone," I said, and Damian, still smiling, did as asked. I sent my information to him and then, without thinking, leaned down and kissed him again. I blushed when I realized I'd initiated a kiss this time and ran off before I did or said anything else embarrassing.

I ran back to the office, hoping my bosses wouldn't notice I was late. If I were lucky, Cary was taking his lunch break too; otherwise, there would be an interrogation there as well. I crossed the street and accidentally ran into a man at least the same height and build as Damian.

The man went to grab my arms as if to stop me from falling, but he gripped me so tight it hurt. "What… Stop!" I said and pulled back, almost falling into the traffic behind me. "What the hell?" I asked, about to lay into the man who'd all but attacked me.

No one was there. I rubbed my arms where he'd gripped me and looked around to see if anyone had noticed. No one was looking my way, so I rushed toward the office. If my arms didn't hurt, I'd say it'd been all my imagination.

The other part of my body that still tingled was my lips, where I'd kissed Damian only a few minutes before. I decided to ignore the weird attack and focus on the feel of those lips instead. I honestly couldn't wait until I got another chance to kiss him.