Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 98398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98398 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 492(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 328(@300wpm)
Actually, I didn’t get a temp because I couldn’t stand them. Each of them were not only incompetent but just as chipper as the paralegal I’d just had removed from Eddie’s desk. But she didn’t need to know that.
She stood staring at me for a few moments, not saying anything, her brow furrowed like she was confused by something.
“It’s not a coincidence, Ms. Carmichael. I asked for the best of the best. I saw your work in the other case, and when I saw your name listed as Eddie, I thought you were a man. Not because I needed a man to do this work but because I thought a man would be safer. Turned out I was wrong, and I was not about to dismiss you because of your gender. I’m still not, because you are one of the brightest minds on the paralegal team. That is what I need for this case. But the fact is that this case does put you in a position where you could be in danger. And I think last night I proved exactly how easy it would be to get to you in that filthy, cheap apartment.”
“I…”
“I’m still not finished, Ms. Carmichael.” I stood, forcing her to look up at me.
I didn’t move closer to her, but I didn’t have to. “Here is what’s going to happen. You are going to accept the driver and come to work every single morning. You are going to use my black American Express to order lunch for you and me every single day because it is not safe for you right now to randomly roam the streets of New York City. The same will happen with dinner. You clearly don’t have any self-preservation instincts, so precautions must be taken. At the end of the day, you will take the car that I have assigned to you and head back to the apartment, where you will be safe. You will double-lock the doors, you will not tell anyone where you are, and —let me make this last part completely clear, Ms. Carmichael—you will never, ever insinuate that I was doing this out of anything other than concern in a professional capacity.”
“But–”
“You don’t want to continue our sexual relationship, that is fine.”
The last thing it was… was fine.
I also had no intention of stopping my pursuit of her. I would just have to be more strategic about it.
By the time I had finished my argument, I was out of breath. I’d talked to her like a witness or opposing counsel.
She looked at me and straightened her spine, then nodded. “I understand, and I think what you just said is the best action moving forward. I will be at my desk continuing my work until noon, when I will come in to get your lunch order. Is there anything else?” she said.
I took a deep breath through my nose and shook my head, dismissing her.
She turned on her heel, unlocked the door, and marched to her desk, leaving my door open. True to her word, she pulled the files from her file cabinet and got to work.
What just happened was unfortunate, but it was the best professional move.
If she had reacted in any other way, if she had smiled or cried or shown any type of emotion other than cold understanding and professionalism, then what I felt for her would have died.
Fuck, I loved not only the fight in her but how she carried herself with dignity.
It made our private moments where I broke both down and forced her to submit to the demands of my cock that much more intense.
There was absolutely no way I could possibly keep my vow never to touch her again. Even now, while sitting at my desk staring at the computer screen, my cock was rock hard for her.
I only had two choices: keep my distance or make her beg.
She was going to look so pretty on her knees begging me.
CHAPTER 26
EDDIE
“Can you explain something to me?” I asked, moving the files from my desk to the coffee table in Harrison’s office.
The other paralegals left at five. A few of the more ambitious prosecutors and paralegals stayed on until seven but now it was eight, and I was fairly certain that Harrison and I were the only ones left in the building other than the janitors.
The janitors preferred being able to clean the bullpens uninterrupted, so for the past few days this week, Harrison and I had started working together in his office, first grabbing dinner, and then going over the files from a little after 7:00 until we gave in for the night, usually sometime between eleven and midnight. Even then, it was only when the driver sent him a message saying his on-call shift was ending soon.
After our little “talk,” I had worried things would be tense and awkward. They were for the first few hours. Then we both fell into a rhythm with the work, and the personal no longer mattered. At least, not while we were in the office.