When It Hooks You (It #1) by Nicki Elson Read Free Book Online

that.”
    They moved together toward the elevator and got in. “Do you have a long flight ahead of you?” Trish asked.
    “Yes, but not until the wee hours. I’ve got a room booked at the O’Hare Hilton so I can catch a few hours of decent sleep first.”
    “What about dinner?”
    “Room service, I suppose.”
    “No,” Trish said when the door opened to the ground floor. They stepped out of the elevator, and she wrapped her fingers around the firm muscles at back of his thin arm. “I’m kidnapping you for an hour. After the hard day you’ve obviously had, I can’t in good conscience surrender you to crappy room service at an airport hotel. You like martinis?”
    “Yes.” He let her pull him along, but his tone held a note of caution.
    “Are you adventurous with appetizers?”
    “I suppose.”
    “Then I’ve got the perfect place.” She took a decisive right turn on the sidewalk. “It’s even close to the Blue Line so you can catch the train to your hotel.”
    After a brief pause, Adam nodded.
    “Oh. You probably don’t take the train like us common folk, right?”
    He let out a soft chuckle. “I happen to be a big fan of public transportation.”
    She smiled and let her arm drop from his since he wasn’t putting up a fight. They passed the next two blocks in silence, soaking up the warmth of the late spring day while people rushed past them in both directions. Trish stopped in front of a set of revolving doors. “This is it.”
    He gestured her through and followed her up the short escalator to the martini bar. It was set in a large, open space painted in pale shades of yellow and white. Upholstered chairs sat in sets of two at small, round tables. The bar was only about half occupied. She asked Adam’s martini preferences and ordered the extra-dry house specialty for both of them along with a few small plates of cheeses and spicy seafood creations.
    The drinks arrived, and Adam took a long, slow sip. When he finished, he leaned back and let his eyes droop closed. “That was heaven.”
    Trish pressed her lips together in a satisfied smile, not disturbing his quiet moment. The taut line of his mouth softened. She couldn’t quite hear it, but she swore he was humming along with the instrumental melody that floated in the background. To her, he looked elegantly aristocratic. Despite Adam Helms being a major client at her law firm, she knew very little about him. Unless one of the paralegals ever needed help drafting a letter or organizing his files, Trish wouldn’t be privy to any information except for the time of his appointments.
    Her study of him ended when the waitress clinked their plates onto the table and he opened his eyes. While Trish busied herself with moving shrimp and a mussel to her plate, he lifted a palm to his forehead and wiped it all the way down his face.
    “That bad, huh?” Trish asked.
    “Isn’t it always?” He loosened the knot of his tie further, pulling it down another inch.
    “Did whatever it was at least get straightened out by the end of the day?”
    He ran his fingertips up and down the spine of his fork and sighed. “This gesture, this place, is lovely, so I hope it won’t come off as rude for me to say that I don’t want to talk about it. Not only have I been advised by legal counsel to keep quiet about certain aspects, I’ve spent all day dealing with it and am desperate for a mental break.”
    Trish nodded. “That’s fine by me. To be honest, I find legalese pretty boring.”
    “Yet you work at a law firm.”
    “Getting to do the fun stuff, like making people feel welcome, keeping schedules straight and files organized.”
    “That’s fun?” He looked over the cheeses and spread one onto a slice of gingered pear.
    “I guess. But you know what? I don’t really feel like talking about my job, either.”
    “What are we going to talk about, then?”
    “Your suits.” She arched an eyebrow in challenge.
    “You approve of the new color?”
    “I do.