Not Your Match (30 page)

Ben paused, his fork hovering over a piece of orange chicken. “Yeah, I think we should.”

Andi swallowed hard. Her heart pounded in her chest until it drown out all other sound. “Was that what I think it was?”

“If Elle had showed up a minute later, we would’ve been kissing.” Ben ran a hand down her arm, linking his fingers through hers. “I can’t get you out of my head.”

Andi couldn’t stop smiling. “I feel the same way. So where do we go from here?”

“Well, you should probably break up with your boyfriend.”

Andi laughed. “Already done.”

Ben’s eyes widened. “When?”

“Tonight.” Andi put a hand on his cheek. “Anything you saw in the papers, anything you read—it was for show. Luke and I never felt anything for each other but friendship. Tonight, I think he’s getting the girl he loves. And I’m hoping to figure things out with the guy I’m falling for.”

Ben growled, cupping her face in his hands. Andi let her eyes flutter closed as his lips lowered toward hers.

Her phone rang, a shotgun in the quiet moment. “Oh my heavens,” Andi said, yanking her phone out of her pocket. She cursed when she saw the number. “It’s my dad,” she said. He was calling her from work, not home, which meant it was probably job related. “I’d better answer it.”

Ben leaned his head on her shoulder with a groan. “I am going to lock you in a room with no technology and throw away the key.”

Andi laughed, flicking her phone on. She liked the sound of that. “This is Andi.”

“I need you at the office immediately,” her dad said. “Someone broke into your office. He’s been apprehended by the police, but I need you to come down and see if anything’s missing or stolen. We’re still trying to identify his motive.”

Andi gasped. “Oh my gosh. I’ll be right down.” She clicked off her phone and stood, grabbing her purse.

“Is everything okay?” Ben asked, rising as well.

“Someone broke into my office. The police need me to come down and see what’s been taken.”

Ben grabbed his keys. “I’m coming with you.”

Andi nodded, grateful for his comforting presence.

Ben locked his door and they hurried to the elevators. “Do they know who did it?” he asked.

“He said they caught the guy, but don’t know what his motive is yet.”

“Do you have any ideas who it could be?”

Andi shrugged. “I’m a lawyer—someone is usually angry at me. But no one comes to mind that would be angry enough or violent enough to ransack my office.”

Ben pushed the speed limit all the way to the office. Andi instructed him where to park, and then they raced inside the building. It was nearly nine o’clock, but the front foyer was crowded with people. She quickly picked out her father, standing in a corner with a police office. His face was drawn, the lines around his eyes creased with stress.

Andi ran over to him. “Dad. What happened?”

The police officer pointed to Andi. A shiny silver name tag identified him as Officer Hardy. “Is this your daughter?”

“Yes, this is Andi,” her dad said. “The one whose office he ransacked.”

Officer Hardy nodded, flipping open his notebook. “We’ve been questioning the perpetrator and it appears you may have a connection to him through Footsteps for Change. He was upset about some legal advice you gave the organization and thought he’d give you a bit of a scare.”

Andi gasped, and Ben’s arm wrapped around her. She leaned against him for support. “Oh my gosh.”

“Did you ever meet the guy?” the officer asked.

“No, but I know of him.” Andi quickly explained about her work with Footsteps for Change, and the case Elle had asked her to consult on. She found Ben’s hand, holding onto it tight while she talked. Her dad glanced at their clasped hands and folded his arms, but didn’t interrupt.

When Andi finished speaking, Officer Hardy motioned another police officer over. “I need you to go down to Footsteps for Change and talk to Miss Elle Stevens,” he said.

The officer nodded and left, taking a woman in uniform with him.

“Miss Harmon, we need you to go through your office and confirm if anything is missing,” Officer Hardy said.

“And make a list of damaged items for insurance purposes,” her dad added.

Andi was already nodding. “Of course. I’ll get to work on that right now.”

“Thank you,” Officer Hardy said, handing her a business card. “If anything is missing, please call us immediately.”

Andi nodded, pulling Ben toward the elevator. “Let’s go.”

“Wait a moment.” Her dad’s hand grabbed her arm, pulling her to a stop. He gave Ben a pointed glare, then pulled Andi out of hearing distance. Ben stood back, giving them privacy.

“What is Footsteps for Change?” her dad asked.

Andi shifted, uncomfortable under his searing stare. “Mom didn’t show you the news spot?”

“If she had, would I be asking you about it?”

Andi glanced over at Ben. He leaned against the reception desk and gave her an encouraging smile. “I ran into one of my friends from college a while ago,” Andi said. “She works for a non-profit that provides dance lessons for underprivileged kids. She asked me to teach a class. I’ve been spending an hour every Tuesday teaching kids ballroom dance.”

He frowned, rubbing his chin. “I didn’t realize you were dancing again.” He nodded toward Ben. “I recognize Rachel’s brother. Are the two of you dating?”

“I’m not sure.”

His jaw clenched, but he nodded. “What about Luke?”

“We broke up.”

“You broke up?” He rubbed a hand over his jaw. “Is this about what you told me at Christmas? How you aren’t enjoying family law?”

“I love family law.” Andi put a hand on his arm. “Working that case for Elle was the most I’ve loved law since graduation.”

“So it’s not all law you hate. Just the kind we practice at this firm.”

“It’s not like that, Dad.”

He cleared his throat, looking away. “I’ve always dreamed about making you partner at this firm.”

“I know.”

“But all I want is for you to be happy, Andi. If working in the nonprofit sector makes you happy—if dating that boy makes you happy—then your mother and I will be happy for you.”

Tears welled in Andi’s eyes, and she gave her dad a quick hug. “I love you,” she said.

He swallowed hard. “I love you, too. Now go figure out what kind of an insurance claim we’re going to have to make.”

Andi nodded and headed toward Ben. He met her halfway and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “Everything okay?”

She nodded, pushing the up button on the elevator. “Everything is perfect.”

When the elevator doors reopened, they stepped out into the room of cubicles on Andi’s floor. “Nothing looks disturbed here,” Ben said.

“That’s because he was targeting me.” Andi slid to a stop in front of her office and gasped. The door stood ajar, giving a clear view of the disaster. Papers were strewn everywhere and the contents of the shredder had been dumped across the room. Her computer monitor had a giant crack in it.

“Holy crap,” Ben said.

Andi picked her way across the room, slowly righting her office chair. Deep slashes dug into the leather, like it had been attacked with a knife.

Ben slowly picked up a book. The cover hung off it by a thread. Pages from other volumes littered the floor.

“At least I have an excuse to go through my bookcase,” Andi said, trying to laugh. “It’s been on my to-do list for a while.”

“This is awful,” Ben said.

Andi blinked back the tears. “It’s just stuff. I’m glad he didn’t hurt anyone.”

Ben’s hands landed on her neck and gently massaged. She buried her face in his chest as sobs shook her body. “Shhh,” he said. “It’s okay. I’m going to stay here all night and help you get this cleaned up.”

“This is so stupid,” she whispered. “I’m not attached to anything in here. I just can’t believe someone would hate me this much.”

“He’s obviously got a lot of issues. But he’s with the police now, and you’re safe.”

Andi nodded and pulled away. She grabbed the trash can from under her desk. “Let’s start by throwing all the shredded paper away.”

They worked in companionable silence for the next hour. Ben threw away anything shredded while Andi went through the books, making a pile of those she could salvage and those that were destroyed.

A soft knock sounded on the door. Andi looked up. Elle stood in the doorway, her eyes brimming with tears. “I am so sorry.”

Andi strode across the room, wrapping Elle in a hug. “Don’t even apologize.”

“I had no idea he’d do something like this,” Elle said.

“How could you know?”

Ben rose. “I’m going to go find us some water and leave you two alone for a moment,” he said.

Andi nodded, watching as he left the room.

Elle waved a hand in front of Andi’s face. “Hello? Anyone home?”

Andi blushed, blinking. “Sorry.”

“Are you two . . . ?”

“I think so.”

Elle squealed, pulling Andi into her arms. “I’m so happy for you.”

“Thanks.”

“This is probably really bad timing, but I want to ask you something.”

“It’s not another case, is it?” Andi looked around her destroyed office and laughed.

“Not exactly.”

Andi raised an eyebrow. She’d thought Elle wanted her to teach another section of dance. “Okay, you’ve got my attention.”

“I’ve just got off the phone with the board for Footsteps for Change. I’ve been trying to convince them for months that we need to hire an in-house lawyer, but they’ve been telling me we don’t have the money. Mr. Ryder’s generous donation changed that, and the incident here finally convinced the board this is a need, not a want. Things could’ve gone so much worse.” Elle clasped her hands together, her eyes shining. “We want you to come work for us at the charity, Andi. You’d take care of any and all legal issues—running the foundation, making sure we’re retaining our nonprofit status, protecting our employees and the kids from potentially dangerous situations like what we’ve dealt with here. We would offer pro bono work to families that meet our income requirements for domestic issues.” Elle reached into her purse and pulled out a folder. “Here’s the official offer. I know it’s not as glamorous a position as what you have here, and I’m sure our financial compensation isn’t the same. But you’d be helping people who really need it.”

Andi’s heart pounded in her chest, and she took the paperwork, carefully leafing through it. She would be taking a pay cut. But all she could see were the faces of her students. All she could think about was the joy she felt when at Footsteps for Change. This was the type of lawyer she wanted to be. And after the conversation with her dad, she had a feeling that in the end, he’d be okay with her decision.

“I’d love to come work for you,” Andi said.

Elle let out a squeal and threw her arms around Andi’s neck. “You have no idea how excited I am.”

“I’m going to have to talk to my dad. And I might have to stick around here for a month or so while I wrap up a few final cases.”

“We can work out all the details later,” Elle said. “We’ll talk Tuesday after class, okay?”

“Okay.”

“I’ve got to go down to the police station and make a statement. But I wanted to talk to you first.” Elle hugged Andi again. “Thank you.”

Andi watched Elle leave, her heart swelling with joy. She couldn’t wait to leave divorce law behind and make a difference in people’s lives.

Ben found a vending machine in what looked like a break room. He fished a few crumpled dollar bills out of his wallet and spent a few minutes convincing the vending machine to take them, then selected two bottles of water.

He sank into a chair and twisted the lid open on his, taking a sip. He’d give Elle and Andi a few minutes to talk before returning.

His mind wandered back to earlier that evening.
Where do we go from here?
Andi had asked.

Well, he didn’t know where Andi was at. But what he had in mind included riding off into the sunset and living happily ever after. He wasn’t about to let her go.