“No.”
She laughed, the sound somehow unpleasant. “Jaxson,” she purred. “I would make it worth your while.”
I tried not to roll my eyes. She had attempted on numerous occasions to invite me to dinner, to meet after hours, even blatantly offering a hotel room for a night. No matter how often I said no, it didn’t seem to matter. She made no secret of her desire to sleep with me.
“No strings, no personal feelings,” she had assured me.
“Not interested, thank you. Have you read the nonfraternization policy?”
She shook her head, speaking to me as if I were a child. “No one has to know, Jaxson. I’m not looking for a relationship. Just a good fuck on occasion.” She arched her eyebrow. “I’m always up for that.”
I regarded her disdainfully. I didn’t find her attractive, and I wasn’t interested. I also didn’t dip my pen in the company inkwell. That never ended well. After seeing a colleague lose his entire life because of a bad decision, I had been quite happy to read the rather dated and long nonfraternization document. Not, apparently, that Sabrina cared about it. But the bottom line was that I was not, in any way, attracted to her.
“No, Sabrina. Send me the details. I’ll look it over.”
A flash of anger emanated from her brown eyes. “You’re making a mistake.”
My own anger piqued. “I have said no, and I mean it. I’m not into sneaking around and risking my career over a piece of ass. I’m not going to change my mind, so drop it. I have a busy day. Send the file particulars, and I will look it over for you and send my advice. Good day.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Too good for me, are you?”
“Yes, frankly, I am. I have no desire to bed a snake,” I snapped, my patience reaching its limit. I was tired of every interaction with her coming down to this point. I didn’t care if she made trouble for me; I was weary of these encounters. “I’m a busy man, Sabrina, with little time for games. You’ve taken up enough of my time.”
She stood, obviously furious. Rejection didn’t sit well with her. Her eyes shot daggers at me. “You’ll regret it.”
“I’m sure I will.”
She left, leaving my door open in her wake. I rubbed a hand over my eyes, already exhausted. I glanced up to see Grace watching me, her expression worried. I lifted one shoulder in a silent dismissive gesture and rolled my eyes. She grinned before dropping her focus back to the file she’d been looking over.
Michael appeared in the doorway, blocking my view. “Should I have the office fumigated?”
I chuckled. “Might not be a bad idea.”
“Your first meeting is in the boardroom. You’re booked solid all day, including a meeting in the judge’s chambers at three about the Dorset trademark.”
I stood. “Right.” I grabbed the first file of the day and headed to the door, stopping before I left the office. “Grace.”
She looked up. “Yes?”
“I have a meeting at three you should attend. The Dorset case. The judge is granting us a chance to argue in his chambers—perhaps prevent a trial. I want you to sit in. Great experience.”
“All right.”
“All right. I’ll touch base later.”
Grace
Later that afternoon, I watched Jaxson argue, his words and thoughts clear. The other lawyer wasn’t as well prepared, and the judge agreed that Jaxson’s client had proven his claim superseded the other one and advised the other party not to proceed with a trial. It had been interesting and inspiring to watch Jaxson in his element. He was articulate, calm, and nothing short of brilliant, and I sat, my rapt attention focused on him. I didn’t take notes, knowing I would never forget a word he had said.
He had been kind today, meeting me at his car, not questioning the stairs. He was cool and distant—the very epitome of a boss. When the meeting was over, he stopped to talk to a colleague in the hall, and the lawyer for the other side approached me.
“You’re new,” he stated, eyeing me up and down, his leer making me want to cringe.
“Can I help you?” I asked, keeping my voice polite but cool.
“Yeah, you can. I want to buy you a drink.”
“No thank you.”
He stepped closer—far too close for my liking. He had struck me as sleazy earlier, and up close, even more so. He was decent-looking but had an unpleasant scowl on his face. I’d had the feeling he was the sort of lawyer that liked to coast along in his career—taking the easy cases, ones he could make a lot of money on, without really caring about the outcome.
“Come on. One drink.”
“I said no.”
“I’ll make it worth your while.”
I was about to tell him where to go, when Jaxson was beside me. “Grace. We need to head back to the office.”
I felt relief. “Of course.”
The jerk-off didn’t take the hint. In fact, he edged closer, his hand hovering in the air as if he was going to touch me.
“I was asking your girl out for a drink, Richards. Give me a minute.”
Jaxson glanced at me, his eyes cold. “You interested?”
“No,” I stated for both their benefits.
Jaxson took my elbow. “My girl said no, Franklin. So, fuck off.”
We left Mr. Franklin gaping after us. I tried not to giggle at his shocked expression as I hurried to keep up with Jaxson. He pushed open the stairway door and began to descend to the parking lot. I shook off his grip. “Slow down—I’m going to fall!”
He snarled out a reply. “Keep up.”
At the bottom, I stopped. “What is your problem?”
He whirled around in the semidarkness of the stairwell, his face like thunder.
“You need to keep your personal life outside office hours.”
“What?” I gasped.
“You can’t date other lawyers—especially those on the opposing side.”
“I wasn’t planning to!”
The sound of footsteps heading our way made me realize how close we were standing.
“We’ll continue this at the office.”
“Yes, we will,” I snapped.
I stewed the rest of the afternoon. I couldn’t keep up with him. One minute, he was fine. The next, he was breathing fire. I hadn’t done anything wrong, yet it seemed I made him angry. Even though I wanted to learn from him, perhaps it wasn’t going to work. We were like chalk and cheese.
Finally, Michael left, waving goodbye. “Have a great weekend, Grace.”
“You too.”
“Don’t stay too late.”
“Wasn’t planning on it.”
After he left, I locked Jaxson’s outer door and approached his private office. I rolled my shoulders, knowing what was going to happen would determine my future.
I knocked and went in after he bellowed for me to enter. He was obviously still angry.
I sat down across from him, each of us eyeing the other irately.
“What is your problem?” I repeated my earlier question.
He didn’t waste any time getting to the point. “Did you want to go for a drink with him, Grace?”
“No!”