Novel Ships
27
“And you fell in love.” His eyes revealed so much. “I can tell.”
“It wasn’t necessarily the job I fell for; it was the type of law. The three of us focus on our own fields-that was the deal we set before joining the firm.” He took a drink. “Ford works in estate planning, and that’s a fucking snore to me. Jenner concentrates on real estate and mergers, and I have no interest in that either. I like the thrill or large-scale contracts, the negotiation and banter that goes back and forth, winning massive paydays for my clients.”
I traced my thumb across the condensation on the juice glass. “At least your parents recognized that you were all so different and allowed you to find your specialty and bring those to their company. What type of law are your parents into?”
“Family law. They’re surrounded by divorce all goddamn day.” He huffed. “Once I passed the bar, I began building my team, and each of my brothers did the same.”
“Have you always worked with Brett?”
“We went to law school together.”
My brows rose, as I was surprised to hear this. “He’s an attorney?”
“That’s what makes him such a good agent. He understands the legal parameters, which most agents don’t. You combine that with his fearlessness, and he’s unstoppable. That man isn’t afraid of a fucking thing.”
“Are you?”
He laughed again, the sound completely different this time. “Not when it comes to work. I blast right through every boundary in my way, and I believe everything should test me, so challenges are more like games.” A small smile was now on his lips. “Most would probably say I fear personal commitments.”
My heart clutched, as I knew this was about to get interesting.
“Because you’ve been hurt?”
“Do you think I’d let that happen?” He paused to take another drink. “When I was growing up, my parents didn’t chat about the weather at the dinner table; they talked about the nastiness brewing between the husbands or wives and their clients, the kids who were going to get shuttled between homes, the assets that were getting divided. I came out of the womb with armor on.”
Dominick hadn’t shown signs that he wanted anything other than sex, no hints that there would be a relationship on the horizon.
He would give me his body, but his heart was off-limits.
I couldn’t help but feel terribly disappointed by this news. That what had been building between us was all in my head and it would never amount to anything more.
“A forever bachelor, without kids of your own, sleeping with random women so you never get hurt.” I swallowed, and it stung. “That’s an interesting way to spend the rest of your life, Dominick.”
He was thirty-three years old-an age Google had given to me during one of the times I searched him-and we were in very different places in our lives.
The realization of that gutted me even more.
“Kendall-”
“Have you decided what you’d like to eat?” the waitress asked, now at our table, saving him from having to respond to me.
I handed her my menu. “Blueberry and lemon curd pancakes with a side of extra-crispy hash browns.”
“My favorite.” She finished writing. “With plain or blueberry whipped butter?”
My stomach growled. “Blueberry whipped, of course.”
“And for you?” she said to Dominick.
“I was going to get the eggs Benedict”-he glanced at me, winking-“but you’ve sold me on the pancakes.”
“Same kind?” the waitress asked.
Dominick’s gaze returned to his menu. “I’ll take the banana and brown sugar.”
“Now, that’s my son’s favorite.” She smiled at us. “Cinnamon whipped butter to go with it?”
“Why not?”Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org
“Shouldn’t take too long. Let me know if you need any refills,” she said and left.
“If you’d ordered the eggs Benedict-which I’m sure is excellent, by the way-I would have felt like I’d failed at describing how amazing these pancakes are. You’d have done yourself a disservice by not trying them.”
“I’m not big on sweets.”
My eyes widened. “You mean … at all?”
He chuckled. “At all-for breakfast or dessert.”
“I don’t know if I can finish this brunch now that this information is in my possession.”
His smile didn’t fade. “Don’t hold it against me.” He held his coffee mug to his lips, keeping it there after he swallowed, his eyes really taking me in. “Tell me, what do you think of LA so far?”
“It’s nothing like Boston-that’s for sure. The Northeast moves at a fast pace, but everyone does their own thing. Here, the competition starts the moment you open your eyes in the morning-what you wear, how much money you make, what kind of job you have, the car you drive, where you live.” I glanced at my coffee. “I cut a Starbucks line, at least twenty people deep, by dropping my sister’s name. Bostonians would have let me cut for an emergency, not because I was related to a reality star.”
“Different worlds.”
“No,” I said, finally looking up. “Different planets.”
“But it’s one you need to get used to. With the path you’re on, you’re going to be here for a long time.”
I didn’t know why he had so much confidence in me. But something inside me didn’t want to disappoint him and Brett. I wanted to exceed every expectation they had set.
“We’ll see,” I responded. “I certainly have a lot to prove.”
“I was born out here, so I think I’m immune to all the bullshit.” He adjusted his hat, lowering the visor, and then leaned his arms on the table. “The best advice I can give you is, don’t listen to the noise. They’re going to try to one-up you in every category. Let them talk-they’re just words. Keep looking straight ahead. Focus on your goals, your passion. Kendall, it’s your heart that’s going to take you the farthest.”
“And they’re certainly going to see it,” I admitted, my chest pounding as I thought about the first day of filming. “I’ll essentially be baring my soul to the world.”