Total pages in book: 38
Estimated words: 34295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 171(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 171(@200wpm)___ 137(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
"Stanley Maynard."
"What the fuck does your dick of a boss have to do with this?" Corey growls. He's a lawyer at the firm where I work, except he works in criminal law instead of contracts. He can't stand my boss. Honestly, no one likes Stanley. He thinks he's a big deal because he works with billionaires, but he's just a big jerk.
"Micah's our new client."
"Oh." Corey's eyes widen. "Oh, shit. I forgot about that." He gapes at me. "You're the lead paralegal assigned to him, aren't you?"
I nod miserably, my bottom lip quivering. "And I slept with him anyway."
"Fuck me." Corey sits back on the couch, shocked silent for once in his life. "Stanley will blow a gasket if he finds out."
"I'm going to ask to be transferred off his project." He hired us to negotiate millions of dollars in contracts for his company—everything from new client contracts to contractor payments. It's going to be a massive undertaking. We're supposed to work from his office all week.
"What are you going to say?"
I wrap a loose string around my finger, shrugging. "The truth?"
"You're going to tell your asshole boss that you fucked his new client in a BDSM club?"
"Okay, maybe not the whole truth," I say, blushing all the way to my roots. Trust Corey to put it bluntly. "He'd probably use it against me since he hates me."
Stanley hates everyone, but I seem to have a special place in his hateful little heart. I don't know what I did to land there, but he goes out of his way to make my life as difficult as possible. Honestly, I think it's simply because I refuse to let him break me. He makes everyone cry, but I just smile and nod pleasantly, refusing to let him win.
I may not be very brave, but I won't be bullied. Not by a jerk like Stanley Maynard.
"I hate to tell you, sweetheart, but that fucker is going to use anything you tell him against you," Corey growls. "He's got a stick up his ass the size of Texas."
My stomach sinks because he's right. No matter what I say, Stanley is going to flip out about it. "I have to tell him something."
"So tell him to fuck off and mind his own business. You don't owe him an explanation." Corey eyes me sideways, a hint of rebellion lurking in his gaze. I swear, there's a reason he's a criminal defense attorney. He hasn't met a rule he doesn't want to bend. It's precisely why he needs a partner who can handle him. He may be submissive, but he's feisty about it.
"Um, yes I do. He's my boss."
"Pfft." He waves away my response with a flick of his hand. "There is no law that says a paralegal can't have a relationship with a client, Davina. You aren't violating some ethical code here. You're breaking Stanley's rules. And you hate working for that miserable son of a bitch, so if he fires you, is it really that big a loss for you? You can come be my paralegal." He grins savagely. "You showing up every day and waltzing off the elevator one floor above him would really piss him off."
I crack a smile at the image he paints. It doesn't suck. But my smile fades quickly when I remember what I did this morning. While Micah slept soundly, I gathered my clothes and slipped out of the apartment, fleeing like the hounds of hell were chasing me.
"I snuck out," I whisper, fighting the urge to cry again at the reminder.
"No," Corey gasps as if I just personally insulted him. "Tell me you did not leave that gorgeous specimen of a man in bed with no note and no explanation."
"I did." I squirm at the reminder, feeling about two inches tall. "I panicked!"
"Girl." Corey shakes his head, tsking at me. "You are a hot damn mess."
"I know!" I cry, covering my face with my hands. "He's going to be so mad at me when I show up at his office tomorrow. I may get myself fired for nothing." I groan miserably. "I wouldn't blame him if he never speaks to me again. I'm a terrible person."
"You aren't a terrible person. You couldn't be terrible if you tried."
"I feel pretty terrible," I mutter. All night, I tried to find the courage to tell Micah the truth, but every time, I'd find some excuse to swallow it back like a total coward, promising myself that I'd do it in a little while. A little while never came. Instead, I laid there while he slept and convinced myself that telling him would only make him hate me.
I don't know even know what I was thinking. But I laid there in his arms, watching him sleep, and I just…panicked, feeling like the worst kind of person. I took what I wanted without even telling him the truth or giving him a chance to decide if he wanted to sleep with his lawyer's paralegal.