The look he gave her made it more than obvious that she was the focus of his menu. Her stomach jumped again.
“My only plans tonight are to begin going over some paperwork,” Tyler said before turning back to whatever he had cooking on the stove.
“It would be very helpful if I could study up on the paperwork before we go over it.”
“I prefer going over things together. Get used to it.”
She sat in silence for several moments, irritated that his personality could so easily turn on a dime. One moment he was almost pleasant. The next he was acting like a Neanderthal.
Several moments passed and Elena began to grow restless. She wasn’t the kind of person who sat around doing nothing. It wasn’t in her personality.
“Do you need any help?” She was in no way obligated to offer help, but doing something had to be better than sitting there twiddling her thumbs.
“I’d love help. Want to cut up the salad vegetables? They’re all in the produce drawer in the fridge.”
Elena got up, moved over to the refrigerator, and, pulling out the veggies, went back to the island. There was no way she was going to stand right beside him as he worked at the stove. She thought about moving back to the sitting side, but that would make it too obvious how much being near him affected her, and that was something she couldn’t allow.
Tyler pulled out a cutting board and knife and reached around her to place it on the island, his body brushing against hers as he paused there for a few seconds too long.
“I’ve got it,” she finally whispered, hating the huskiness in her tone.
“Thanks,” he replied, and he stroked along her side with one hand before he withdrew.
Elena’s fingers were a bit shaky as she began tearing lettuce. It was safer than cutting at the moment. Anything that required expert knife skills wouldn’t be wise at this point. She’d get the trembling under control first.
Tyler finished cooking right as she got done putting the salad together, and then she insisted on helping to set out the plates and silverware at his kitchen table. It was at that point that she realized how domestic the scene appeared.
“You realize this isn’t a date, right?” she said as the two of them began eating their meal.
Tyler looked up, finished chewing, and then smiled. “What makes you say that?”
“This is work, Mr. Knight.” She stressed his name to get the point across. “And I am billing you for every minute I’m here.”
“We’ll see,” he said before looking down at his plate and picking up another forkful.
“I want to be very clear. You are being billed for my time. So if you want to waste an hour cooking and eating, you should be aware of that.” He needed to get this. She needed to say it to remind herself.
“I’m not worried about it, Elena.”
Elena wanted to shake the man. She had no idea what he was thinking, but she knew the way he expected the evening to end — with her in his bed. She would do everything in her power to prevent that from happening.
She barely tasted the food she hadn’t wanted in the first place, and she gulped down her wine a little too quickly in her desperation to do something to occupy her hands.
“When would you like to go over the papers?” she said about fifteen minutes into the meal. She just couldn’t eat any more of it. Her nerves were fried.
“As soon as we’re finished with dinner,” he told her, and he was taking his sweet time.
“I don’t want to be out too late. I have a case I need to work on tomorrow,” she said, hoping he’d respect that.
“What are you working on besides this project with me?”
“It’s nothing you’d be interested in,” she told him.
“You’d be surprised by what I’m interested in,” he said, and he put down his fork.
She thought for a moment about refusing to answer his question, but he obviously was going to keep pushing her, so she leaned back with her glass of wine and found herself opening up.
“The work I’m doing tomorrow is pro bono. The case involves a little girl — only five years old. Her stepfather was beating her, and that apparently went on for six months. Her mother worked two jobs and didn’t realize what was happening. The girl has been in foster care for almost a year now, and the mom has jumped through a lot of hoops to get her back. She divorced her husband, has taken parenting classes, and has more than proved that she loves her daughter.”
“Then will she get the girl back?”
“I think so. It depends on the judge. I hope so. I’ve only been an attorney for three years but I volunteered for a children’s advocacy agency all through college, and I think I can usually tell when the parents are lying. I honestly don’t think this mother is. I hope she gets to reunite permanently with her daughter. Despite all the child has been through, she’s such a ray of sunshine. She’s a sweet, smart little girl.”
“It sounds as if you’ve gone through a lot of emotional cases,” he said, and she was surprised to hear something like sympathy in his tone.
“Yes. But it’s been worth it. I think I really do make a difference.”
“There are several sides to you, aren’t there, Elena?” he said before making sure he had her full attention. “Just like there are many sides to me.”
His comment derailed what she’d been about to say. Who was this man, really? She knew she couldn’t be wrong about him. She knew the old saying about a man being born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and that was Tyler Knight. He was the complete opposite of her.