Designer stubble covered his square, chiseled jaw. It was distinct from a five o’clock shadow because it was longer and must have been neatly trimmed to look that way.
“Yes?” he asked with a small smirk touching his lips, as if he knew the direction in which my thoughts had just drifted.
I scowled at the arrogant asshole who also happened to be a danger to society when behind the wheel. “You’re blocking everyone’s way out. If you want to talk on your phone, the least you can do is pull into one of the parking spots. Not everyone can sit around and wait for what’s convenient for you.”
He flicked his gaze to his rearview mirror, probably realizing for the first time that there were actually other people waiting behind him, before bringing it back to mine. When he looked at me, I felt like I was being assessed, having my measure taken, and coming up short.
“I apologize. It wasn’t my intention to inconvenience anyone, but you don’t have to be so rude about it. I just didn’t realize.”
Of course, even his damn voice was attractive. It had that smooth, melodic quality to it that made me want to pull up a chair and listen to him read out even a grocery list.
I swallowed hard, forcing my head to take over from my stupid body while crossing my arms tighter around myself. “Oh, I’m the rude one? That’s really rich coming from you.”
Both of his elegantly curved brows swept up, but I got the feeling it was in amusement rather than shock or actual interest in what I was saying. “Really? How so? I haven’t done a thing other than take a phone call and not pulling off fast enough for you.”
As hot as he was, I despised pompous men like him. He was so full of himself that he was completely clueless about everyone else around him.
“Don’t pretend like you’re the innocent victim here.” My arm shot up at my side, and I pointed at where we’d come from. “You also cut me off back there. What were you thinking? Both of us had children in our cars.”
The douche actually smiled, which only infuriated me more because it was a really nice smile, but also because it simply served to confirm the kind of person he was. He thought this was funny.
Yep. Total asshole.
“I wouldn’t have had to cut you off if you didn’t drive like a ninety-six-year-old out on a Sunday afternoon. I didn’t know you had a child in your car, but there was nothing dangerous about what I did. There was more than enough space for me to pass.”
My head nearly exploded, and my blood boiled to steam. At least a dozen retorts sat on the tip of my tongue.
Before I had a chance to utter a single one, he pulled away and waved out his window at me, leaving me standing in front of my car with everyone else in line honking at me now. Narrowing my eyes, I seriously considered flipping him off.
But then I remembered where I was. Inevitably, I would be the one reported for improper behavior, and other parents would blame me.
Katie loved this school, and they had been extremely supportive of us through everything. I would hate to embarrass her and get in trouble with the administration at the same time.
It was a real pity, but he was gone, and I was now the one holding everyone up. With no other choices, I simply yelled a few more curses at him in my head and went back to my car.
Smiling apologetically at the driver behind me before climbing in, I held my hand up in a gesture to say sorry. I had half a mind to chase the asshole down to give him a real piece of my mind without any prying eyes, but that would make me look completely unhinged.
If I didn’t have places to be, I might have considered doing it. I didn’t give a hoot what he thought about my mental state anyway. Unfortunately, I couldn’t spend the rest of the day exacting some kind of revenge on the pompous prick.
Even that would have been more fun than what I had to go do, but that didn’t mean I didn’t have to go do it. If I ever wanted to get my mojo back and stand a chance of getting back to work for real, I needed to get things sorted out.
A rock that had nothing to do with the morning’s events formed in the pit of my stomach. My day had started out terribly, but it would only get worse from here. Every time I went to go see the illustrious Mr. Eric Starkey, my lawyer, I hated him just a little bit more.
Eventually though, the royalties I earned from the books I had published before wouldn’t be enough to sustain us. I needed to get my muse back, and I needed him to help me get justice before I could do that.
As I pulled away from the school, I wondered if there were still any lawyers in the whole damn world who actually wanted justice for their clients. In my experience, the only thing the bottom-feeding leeches wanted was to be paid their fees, even if they hadn’t done anything to earn that money.
Maybe it was just me, but the only lawyer I’d encountered recently was a lazy, complacent, greedy man who didn’t come cheap. And I had the pleasure of spending the next few hours in his company.
Lucky me!
Flashing back on the expensive suit and watch the hot, yet dangerous, dad had been wearing, it made sense that he could be a lawyer too. Now that would explain a lot.
Chapter 4
Jacob
I watched the angry woman disappear in my rearview mirror with a smirk. Some people really aren’t morning people.
Shaking my head as she vanished from sight, I wondered what had crawled up her ass and died. She was way too pretty to be so wound up so early in the morning.
Really pretty. Beautiful actually.
After Shannon, Allie’s mom, and I had split up, I’d found myself attracted to different kinds of women than would’ve caught my eye before. Shannon personified the very definition of blonde bombshell. Tall, tanned, with sparkling brown eyes, masses of makeup, and with the cheekbones and body of a supermodel.
My tastes hadn’t changed that radically. I still liked blondes, for instance. I just preferred women who looked a little more real. Like the angry lady.
With her curvy body, vibrantly green eyes, and her light hair in a messy bun on top of her head, she was the exact type I dreamed about getting underneath me now. Even with her reddened cheeks and comfortable clothing, there was no denying that she’d gotten my blood flowing.
Feisty personality too, which is definitely hot.
Even so, I hadn’t dated much since the divorce. Allie was my top priority, and I usually only went out with women while she visited her mother in New York. Considering that was only for a month or two a year in the summer, it didn’t leave much of a chance to start and build a relationship.
Between my daughter and my job, there just hadn’t been much time for dating, and I wasn’t particularly interested either. I hadn’t written off the possibility of getting involved with someone again in the future. It simply wasn’t on my radar at the moment.
Ignoring the gutter my mind was begging to climb into with thoughts of the angry mom, I focused on the work I needed to get done today instead. By the time I pulled into the parking lot at the office, my brain was back on track and no longer on a mission to torture itself and my body.
The firm was situated in a building in downtown Savannah. Watkins Incorporated was small but prestigious. We had a great reputation and a solid enough lineup of clients that we could afford to take on as many pro bono cases as we could make time for, and that was one of the big reasons why I stayed there despite having been headhunted by firms all over the country.