Her skin flushed further with a bright shade of red. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“No, you’re not. If you were sorry, you wouldn’t have raided my liquor cabinet.”
“Am I fired?” she asked.
Ainsley met my gaze once more and bit her bottom lip. Her shirt was disheveled. It was what she had worn the day before, and the first few buttons were open. The top of her breasts barely crested the material, but it was enough to send a thrill of erotic thoughts through my mind.
How had I not seen Ainsley like this before? Yes, she was a woman, but I’d never seen her as anything but an employee. She had just taken her bar exam, and I guessed a part of me had looked at her as someone green, someone who knew nothing about nothing, and I liked my women smart. I wanted someone who understood their body and knew how to use it, not someone new to sex who had no idea what it meant to be sexy.
Was this the real Ainsley? Was I only now seeing her for the first time?
“We will see, Ms. Speire,” I finally answered. “We will see. But I promise you I am intrigued by this little note of yours.”
“I’m so sorry,” she mumbled. “Oh, shit.” She quickly held her hand over her mouth.
I chuckled. “Do I need to read this to you again?” I held it up, and her skin flushed crimson once more. If she didn’t watch herself, she would have no blood left throughout the rest of her body. “It’s quite eye-opening, you know?”
“Mr. Newstrom, I didn’t mean… What I mean to say is… I’m sorry. I just…well? My friends—”
“I could give a rat’s ass about your friends. You are here to work for me and earn your stripes. You want to be a part of a successful law firm? This is how you get shit done. You stay the extra hours. You do the research. You expect the unexpected, and you prepare for it.” I held the letter up once more. “However, I didn’t expect this from you.”
She held her face in her hands and remained seated in my chair. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” She wiped at her face, and her makeup from yesterday smeared across her cheeks.
Ahh hell, she was crying. I hated it when women cried. I was a hard-ass, but I did have a soft spot for women I may have made cry. Unless they deserved it, but that was a totally different topic.
“Ainsley, look,” I said and stepped behind my desk. I crouched down in front of her to try again. “I do not apologize for making you stay late. However, I am sorry you missed your friend’s wedding. That was a jackhole thing for me to do. If you had told me, reminded me, I would have understood and let you go.”
“What?” she asked. “You would have let me go if I had reminded you?” She sat back in the chair and shook her head. “I think I’m pretty much fired here, so I’m just going to say what’s on my mind.”
“I haven’t said that,” I reminded her.
“I reminded you all week about my best friend’s wedding. I had reminders on your calendar and mine. I even mentioned something about it during the court case this week. I’m a bridesmaid, and I didn’t even show up for the rehearsal. I canceled my hair and nail appointments with her, and if I’m lucky, she’ll still let me stand for her. But I can’t expect to be there if I’m here. I was here working for you while you decided to go out on a date. So yes, Mr. Newstrom, I drank your Scotch.”
She stood from the chair and paced the room.
I stood to full height and set the letter on the table. I felt like the worst boss ever. With a sigh, I motioned to the paperwork. “Why don’t we do a quick review of what you found last night?”
She rubbed her head and stood in the middle of the room. “I need a shower, to brush my teeth, and maybe throw up. Not all in that order.”
I opened my desk drawer and then pulled out a bottle of Tylenol and walked over to my liquor cabinet and took out a bottle of water. “Here.” I handed the pills and water to her. “Take a moment, and then go to my bathroom. There’s an extra toothbrush there you can have.”
She nodded and popped the top to painkillers, took two pills, and then swallowed. “Thank you,” she whispered.
“You’re welcome. Now go clean up. I’ll go through what you’ve found. And Ainsley?”
“Yeah?”
“You said you still might be able to stand for your friend. What time is the wedding today?”
“Two p.m.”
I nodded. “Call your friends. I’ll have my driver take you home and then take you to the wedding.” I smirked at my next set of words. “I’ll send along some of my best Scotch with you as well.”
She groaned. “I am never touching Scotch again for the rest of my life.” Ainsley turned toward the bathroom, and I chuckled in her wake. She paused by the door and turned to face me. “Thank you.”
I looked up and met her gaze. “For what? I can’t imagine why you’d be thanking me. From what I recall, you’re furious at me. The words, ‘that ship has fucking sailed’?”
She covered her face again. “I wish I could have destroyed that before you found it.” She looked at me with a shrug. “The ‘thanks’ is for letting me go to the wedding. And sending something as a gift. I’m sure they’ll appreciate it.”
She pulled her phone from her pocket, dialed a number, and brought the phone to her ear as she closed the door behind her.
Walking into my office today, I hadn’t expected to find the note from Ainsley—nor Ainsley, for that matter—but it had opened my eyes to something I hadn’t realized before.
Ainsley was a woman with needs. She wanted me, and I never saw it. Hell, I never saw her. She’d called me out on that in her letter.
I was an asshole, and yet she still wanted me. Why? I thought women wanted the theoretical knight to rescue them from the theoretical tower where the theoretical dragon held them hostage.
Fuck… Am I the dragon?
With a groan, I folded the note and placed it in my desk drawer. I needed to focus on my case and getting Lance free. Ainsley and her fucking lust note would have to wait. I pulled my phone out and sent a text to my driver to have the limo ready in ten minutes.
I reviewed the notes she left for me and was happy to discover this new witness was nowhere to be seen during the party. Ainsley also had the social media giant, Facebook, open to our apparent witness’s page.
Lo and behold, he was lip-locked with the accuser, Miss Miranda Cooper.
“Well, if that isn’t a bunch of shit. How the hell did the prosecutor not get this information? Or were they just grasping at straws?”
Many times, lawyers tried to take down giants for the exposure. If this court-appointed attorney had gone up against my firm and won, it would have gotten him reputable points. However, looking like an ass clown would only sink his reputation even further.
Ainsley stepped out of the bathroom, and she appeared freshened. Her hair was smoothed back into a ponytail, the smeared makeup was washed away, and her face was no longer red with blush.
“Thank you for the toothbrush,” she offered in a soft voice. “I appreciate it.”
“No problem,” I said and stood from my seat. “You did good finding all this information on our guy. I guess my problem now is, why did the prosecutor not discover this as well? Seems it was a waste of time, honestly.”