The Intern (The Dalton Family #4)(4)

I moved in next to her, needing to place my order, the closeness causing my arm to graze her shoulder.

Goddamn it.

Even in here, a bar older than me, with an overwhelming stench of spilled beer and mildew and college-aged sweat, I could still smell her.

She tucked a chunk of her dark hair behind her ear, forcing me to notice her black polish and thin fingers, several decorated with gold rings—an edgy style that I really liked.

“Today was one of the best days I’ve had in law school.” She paused to take the martini from the bartender and turned partially toward me. “We’d done mock trials in the past, but they were nothing like this one. This one made me realize I had been doing it all wrong. Addressing the wrong audience, focusing on the wrong elements.” She moved the glass to her lips, where they slowly parted to take a drink. Her tongue swiped away the wetness the moment she was done. “Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I’m going to be a stronger lawyer because of you.”

Fuck, this girl was sexy.

I looked at the bartender and said, “Scotch. Neat. Give me a double.” When my gaze returned to Hannah, my dick started to harden.

I just wanted to keep her talking, so I could see her lips moving. I wanted to envision them spread wide, wrapped around my cock.

Sucking the cum out of my tip.

“How are you going to do things differently now?”

She pushed her back against the edge of the bar, holding the drink near her chest. “Well, for starters, I’m going to give the jury a lot more attention, and I’m going to gauge my questioning based on their facial reactions, and trickle those questions in lightly.” She chewed the corner of her lip. It was brief, and if I hadn’t been staring, I would have missed it. “I’ll slowly build their interest, laying the foundation, before I leave them desperate for more.”

I took the glass from the bartender’s hand and positioned it in front of Hannah’s, clinking them together. “Excellent. I’ll cheers to that.”

“It’s funny; I’m used to performing in front of an audience but—” She stopped abruptly, her cheeks instantly reddening. “I just mean, law school has prepped me for situations like today,” she clarified. “But to present in front of you, the top litigator in the state”—she swallowed, shaking her head—“was far more intense than I’d anticipated.”

If she was going to stroke anything, I wished it were my cock, not my ego.

“That’s what you need to be prepared for every time you walk into the courtroom, Hannah.” I pulled at my tie, loosening the knot. “That someone cutthroat and merciless is going to be on the opposition, someone who’s going to sink their claws into you. If you’re prepared for that, then no one, not even myself, will bring you down.”

“I don’t know if I’ll ever be experienced enough to face you … in the courtroom.”

My stare must have been too much because she glanced away, giving me a view of her profile.

One that was as beautiful as her full face.

Freckles peppered the skin near her hairline, and her long, thick lashes fluttered. Lips that pursed without pouting.

This girl was a fucking vision.

She wrapped an arm over her stomach, the movement causing the top of her shirt to fold between her tits, giving me a line of cleavage to enjoy.

“I want you to know that I read the transcripts of the Garland case.” She was referencing one of my high-profile cases, where I’d won my client so much in damages that he purchased a fucking castle in Ireland. “No one else would have won that trial. No one but you.” Her tongue folded over her upper lip. “The transcripts were certainly impressive, but now that I’ve met you and experienced your personality, it all makes sense.”

“Experienced?”

“Yes.”

I let her response settle.

The one word ticked between us.

My lack of a reaction caused her to get slightly nervous, and she lifted her glass to take a sip but kept it between her lips long after she swallowed.

“How exactly have you experienced me, Hannah? Because this”—I glanced around the bar, seeing the students now sitting at a table nearby, waiting for their turn with me, and as I returned to her, my eyes took in her towering heels before gradually working their way up her body—“is hardly what I would define as experiencing me.”

It took her several seconds to reply.

“There’s something …” Her voice trailed off. “Something unique about the way you look at a person, the way you speak to them. I can see how that would translate in the courtroom, the advantage it gives you over your opponent.”

Interesting.

“You’ve read up on me …”

She laughed.

She didn’t find that funny.

She just didn’t know how to react when my stare was so fiercely connected to hers.

“Of course I have. I’ve followed your career since I started law school—even before that, if I’m being honest. You’ve built quite a name for yourself, Mr. Shaw.”

“Declan.”

“Declan,” she repeated.

A voice that wasn’t light.

That wasn’t raspy.

More like … breathless.

“What else did you learn from your research?”