I found myself staring at some old photos of Harrison I had kept in a digital photo album. There were only a few. One was a picture of us in our caps and gowns right after graduation. He looked so happy smiling down at me. I was smiling up at him adoringly. My roommate Faith had taken that one. I remembered keeping my family and him apart that day. I hadn’t thought I was ready for that stage yet. After all, we were going our separate ways. I had sneaked off to congratulate him.

The other two pictures were taken by me at the World of Coca-Cola museum. They had a tasting room where you could sample drinks from around the world. I dared him to try one called Thums Up. It was a spicy drink with a lot of bite, or so I was told. I wasn’t crazy enough to try it myself. The first picture showed his bulging eyes that said, what did I get myself into? The last photo was a perfect shot of him with soda spraying out of his mouth. The combination of the taste and kick of it made him cough and he couldn’t help it. I was lucky I had backed up. We laughed about it for days. It was probably one of the best dates I had ever been on.

I touched my screen and outlined his handsome face. I could almost feel his sexy stubble. I lay back on my bed and sighed. I needed to stop or I was doomed to give myself a life sentence of second guessing my decision. What other choice did I have? Mason made sure to caution me about revisiting any old feelings I may have for Harrison. “Tread carefully,” he warned on the way back to the office after the accident today.

I couldn’t entertain the thought, regardless of how much I wanted to. As far as I knew, he was in a serious relationship, even though my lawyer senses were telling me he wasn’t. I reviewed the day in my head, and the Harrison I knew wouldn’t have touched me the way he had if he was involved with someone. He wouldn’t have cared why I walked away without a word.

I sat up and blew out a long breath. It didn’t matter. I grabbed my laptop and answered the twenty emails that had come in since I left the office earlier this evening. They were each marked urgent by my clients, though none of them were. They were stressed and I could understand that, but there wasn’t much I could do at nine o’clock at night to alleviate that, as much as I wanted to. I responded to each one and then began writing a brief to Judge Lowell in regards to one of my paying clients. Her scumbag husband was trying to get the judge to toss out their pre-nuptial, claiming she was unfaithful. I had seen the pictures and even I could have done a better job photoshopping them. He wasn’t going to touch her money or get custody of their children when I was through with him. The opposing side didn’t know yet, but I had pictures too, and they weren’t doctored. All I could say was the guy was a narcissistic pig.

While writing my brief, I was reminded maybe love and marriage wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Unless you were Mason and Clara Porter. Married forever and still in love. Grady and my sister-in-law Alison also gave me some hope, and the cutest nephew ever. My little Hank was the smartest, most handsome four-year-old in existence.

I worked on my brief well past midnight. There’s this perception that attorneys live a glamorous life. Think again. The hours can be grueling. It didn’t help that I was feeling a little sore from the accident, and that I couldn’t get Harrison off my mind. I wish he would have been a jerk to me like I had been to him. But that wasn’t his style. I wished I could make him understand why I did what I did, but it wasn’t my place to ask him to change his mind and I knew he couldn’t have changed mine.

You don’t forget the crushing weight of losing a parent, especially under the circumstances. The days and weeks of everyone trying to console you. The articles and news pieces about the bravery of my father. Yes, he was brave and good and kind, but it was a traffic stop. He died because of a selfish act. A woman high on meth and out of her mind. She didn’t care that she stole a husband and father. She wasn’t the one who had to watch my mother lose herself in grief. My mother, who I had always wanted to be like. She had been a lawyer, too, though you wouldn’t know it now. Now she was a shell of who she used to be. She ran off with one of her clients and now lived a surreal life in New York. Grady and I were hardly a thought for her anymore. She’d never even met Hank.

I could never allow that to happen to me or my children.

I turned off my light a little after one in the morning. Too bad I couldn’t shut off my brain. I wondered what my life could have looked like if Harrison had gone to law school instead. Would I be lying alone?

I managed a few hours of sleep. My day had to start early. I was headed to the courthouse to file a motion with the clerk to revise child support payments for one of my clients. I figured I might as well pay my ticket while I was there, since city hall and the courthouse were right next to each other. I hoped I didn’t run into Harrison. But just in case, I wore a form-fitting dress and did my hair sexier than I normally would have. And I ditched my flats for heels. After all, I had looked like a drowned rat yesterday.

Getting into my rental car was another glaring reminder of the embarrassment of the previous day. I felt like I would never be able to look any policer officer in this town in the eye again, except for Harrison. Who I didn’t want to see. At least I was trying to convince myself of that.

It was a beautiful, sunny day. A stark contrast from yesterday. It was a good thing. I think, for a while at least, every time it rained I would be a little edgy behind the wheel. Mason had made me drive back to the office for that very reason. Claimed it was like getting back up on a horse after it bucked you off. I didn’t protest. Mason was the best lawyer in the family and I hadn’t won an argument with him yet.

I drove carefully down to the courthouse in the morning traffic. Traffic was just as bad living outside of Atlanta as it was in the heart of it. But I wouldn’t choose to live anywhere else.

I found a spot near the courthouse and paid the meter. I scooted myself and my documents over to the courthouse. I prayed the judge favored my client. Her louse ex-husband paid next to nothing in child support while she worked three jobs and took care of the kids on her own.

Before I knew it, I was making my way to city hall. I swore it felt like each officer was staring at me like they knew it was me that had caused an accident with one of their own. I had to hold myself back from saying sorry to each and every one of them. Instead, I hustled it to the cashier to pay the massive fee.

As luck would have it, I ran into Officer Jackson, the one who wrote my citation. “Are you here to see Harrison?”

I stopped, shocked. “I’m here to pay my fine.”

He grinned. “You can do both.”

Did that mean Harrison was here? And why did this man think I would be there to see him? Did Harrison tell him about us? “I’m in a hurry.”

“Maybe next time.”

Next time? I wasn’t planning on any more car accidents that involved police officers, or anyone else for that matter. “Have a nice day.” I double-timed it to my destination. My adrenaline was flowing. Harrison was nearby. I knew it.

I walked into the office where the cashier was. She sat behind bullet-proof glass. That wasn’t comforting. Her nameplate read Nadine. She eyed me like she knew my crime already. I wondered if the embarrassment would ever fade. She chewed and snapped her gum before asking, “What can I help you with?”

I placed my citation in the double-sided drawer so she could retrieve it on her side. “I’m here to pay my fine for the ticket I received.”

She reached for the piece of paper and read over the contents, smirking as she went. Yep. I had been talked about. I was the lady that hit a police car. Or, technically, made him hit me. “I just need you to mark you’re pleading guilty. And we only take credit cards or cash.”

The words pleading guilty didn’t sit well with me. I knew I was guilty, but for some reason I didn’t want to admit it. “I was told I could take a driving class and have the ticket forgiven.”

She kept on smirking. “You still have to pay the fine and the fee for the class.”

“When is the class and how long does it last?”

She begrudgingly pulled up the calendar on her screen. “Looks like next Wednesday at six in the evening. The class usually lasts three to four hours.”

I weighed out the pros and cons in my mind. I was sure the class would be lame. But did I really want my insurance rates to go up and the points on my license?

“What will it be?” she interrupted my thought process.

My pride kicked in. Well, not so much. Mason was adamant that I take it to court and fight it. “Please sign me up for the class.”

Her grin said she knew I didn’t want to admit guilt. “That will be four hundred eighty-two dollars.”

I tried not to choke when I slid my credit card in the drawer. That’s another thing people get wrong about lawyers. They think we are all rolling in money. Maybe someday, but not today.

I think big-haired Nadine got too much pleasure running my credit card through the machine. Almost like she got a percentage. She handed me my receipt and paperwork to take with me to the driving class. “Try not to hit any more of our own.” She gave me a fake smile. So, she did know what I had done. She let out a dreamy sigh. “But I do have to say, I wouldn’t mind running into Officer Monroe.”

I did my best to keep my emotions in check. I could feel the heat in my embarrassed cheeks, and maybe some jealousy. Nadine wasn’t bad looking, and she was around our age, late twenties, early thirties. I wondered if she had already “run” into my Harrison, I mean Harrison. “Thank you.” I snatched the documents before turning around. My red cheeks turned into a full-on red body.

Harrison had opened the door like he was in a rush. He kind of fell in, but straightened up and brushed off his uniform. Wow. Blue did suit him. “I caught you in time.”

“At least she can’t assault you with her vehicle,” Nadine said through her microphone from the other side of the bulletproof glass.

Harrison and I both looked her way. She was playing her hand and her heart. I felt bad for her. Well almost—she had just further humiliated me. But Harrison was the kind of guy that could make you say and do things you wouldn’t normally say or do to catch his attention.

Nadine stared coldly at me. I smiled at her before turning back toward Harrison. What else could I do? I had no claim on him.

Harrison grimaced at Nadine’s slight, but he also turned to her and gave her a grin. “I think I came out as the winner in yesterday’s run in.”

I tilted my head. Was he talking about the state of our cars or was it because of me?

Harrison flashed his award-winning smile at me. “Can I buy you some water?”

I walked toward him. I wanted to get away from Nadine after that invite. I was afraid she may test if that glass was really bulletproof. “I need to get back to the office, but thank you.” I walked past him toward the door.

He was quick and made it to the door to open it for me. “Why do I feel like you’re always trying to run away from me?”

I ran my fingers through my curled hair. “I’m sorry.” It was the best I could do. I walked through the door and kept on walking, though every part of me wanted to run—run right into him.

He kept up by my side. “I felt like I chased you all semester and when you finally said yes, I still felt like you did your best to keep me away while we dated, at least until the end. I thought, for a moment, you were going to let me in. But then you vanished.”

I stopped and met his cool baby blues. “What do you mean you chased me all semester? And I said yes the first time you asked me out.”

He pressed his lips together in a closed-lipped smile. “Is that how you saw it?”

“That’s how it was.”

“Kallie, I asked you out at least a dozen times before you agreed to go out with me.”

“That’s not true.”

“Let me refresh your memory, counselor. After every study group, I asked if you would like to get a drink or coffee, before I knew you didn’t like the stuff.”

“You asked the group, not me personally.”

“For someone so smart, you’re dense.”

My jaw fell open. “Are you insulting me?”

“Just laying out the facts in my case against you.”

I thought back to that semester. I could picture him asking, “do you want to get some coffee?” He was talking to the group . . . but he was looking at me. Did I read him all wrong? I bit my lip and watched his smile turn cocky as dawning crept over my face. “I need to go.” I marched toward the exit.

“So we’re going to play it like we did our senior year.” He followed after me.

“I didn’t realize you were chasing me. I thought we were flirty friends.”

“I enjoyed that part. I’ve missed you, Kallie.”

My heart and feet stopped. In my heels, I was almost as tall as him. We locked eyes. His eyes oozed sincerity. Mine probably screamed danger. “I really am sorry, for everything.”

“Quit telling me you’re sorry, just tell me why.”

I wanted to reach up and run my hand across his cheek, but I kept it firmly by my side. “It’s complicated, but it wasn’t you.”

“Then what?”

“I really need to go.”

“Have lunch with me.”

I hesitated, giving him an in.

“No strings attached. Just two old friends catching up.”

His eyes got to me, and maybe his body, as close as it was. Okay, everything about him. Before I knew it I was accepting his invitation. “I’m free tomorrow, but it will have to be quick and by my office.”

“I’ll take it. I’ll call you later to firm up details.”

Giving him my number was a dangerous proposition. “My number . . .”

“I already got it off the accident report.” He winked.

“I think that’s against the law.”

“Not if I was calling to check to see if you were okay.”

I rolled my eyes. “Goodbye, Harrison.”

“See you tomorrow.” He walked off, grinning.

I was going to need a permanent injunction against him.