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Look away,she told herself.Move away. But those smoldering brown eyes paralyzed her, and goosebumps rushed over her arms, sending unexpected jolts of desire cartwheeling through her, and her lungs faltered—all from a look.
A look which haunted her the rest of the morning.
Wasit too late to un-cancel her vacation?
Massaging her temples with her index and middle fingers, Emma leaned back in her office chair. A deranged drum line was beating out a fast, pounding rhythm on her skull. If she had to deal with one more crisis today, she was certain she’d lose her tenuous grip on reality. How did David deal with all this every day?
Including herself, the firm had three equity partners, ten non-equity partners, and close to fifty associate attorneys—and that didn’t include the paralegals, legal secretaries, and other support staff—and for the time being, she oversaw them all. Her new workload and sudden appreciation of everything David juggled was the only reason for her headache. The discomfort most certainly had nothing to do with the fact she couldn’t stop thinking about how a certain sexy billionaire had looked at her.
For a moment in his office, she’d have sworn he’d been about to lean in and kiss her. She’d have put money on the fact his lips were about to land on hers, but then he’d pulled back, confirming she shouldn’t gamble. It also showed how out of touch she was with men.
Her experience with the male species could best be described as awkward. Things usually went fine with male clients or co-workers, where there was no sort of mutual intimacy. Her relationship with her brother was the closest thing she had to a stable male relationship, but these days, thinking of her big brother was too sad.
What she wouldn’t give to have just one of Preston’s bear hugs right about now.
She pushed to her feet and stepped to the window along the far wall. She missed her brother every single day. He’d kept her sane and as safe as he could manage during a childhood she wished she could forget, but her damn past wasalwayswith her, no matter how much she’d tried to forget it. Oh, she no longer believed the lies she’d been force fed; she wasn’t hideous or worthless or useless, and by god, shewasn’tstupid.
Nostupid girlgraduated high school at sixteen, college at nineteen, or finished at the top of her law class at twenty-two. Noworthless girllanded a job at a place like Reynolds & Clark only a few years out of law school. Nouseless girlwas promoted to equity partner of said prestigious law firm at twenty-seven. But despite all she accomplished, her past still haunted her.
“Not helping your headache,” she mumbled to herself. “Focus. People are counting on you.” She returned to her desk, popped two ibuprofens, washed it down with the last of her latte, and hit the intercom button. “Gwen?”
“Yes, Oh Sarcastic One?”
“Come in here for a minute. We need to synchronize our schedules. Also, what’s with ‘Oh Sarcastic One?’”
“Just figured you needed a shiny new title now that you’ve been promoted,” Gwen answered. “Thought I’d have plenty of time to come up with the perfect one while you were on vacation, but alas, guess I’ll just have to try them out as they come to me.” A few moments later, Gwen strode into Emma’s office, an iPad in one hand and her Apple pencil in the other. “Ready when you are, boss.”
“Ugh, not that either.”
“The Almighty Legal Mind?”
Emma shook her head.
“Boss lady?”
“Definitelynot.”
“Oh,oh. How about Lady Boss?”
Emma considered the title. “I’ll allow it.”
“Yea!” A triumphant smile curled Gwen’s purple-painted lips.
Emma rifled through the bazillion papers littering her desk. “Okay, first, I’m gonna need the rest of today and tomorrow to become an expert on running a law firm and on every aspect of the Lone-Star Tech file. I’m also gonna need that time to familiarize myself with all David and Mary’s cases so that I can reassign them where they’ll best fit. Then, on Wednesday, I’ll draft a response to the newest Franklin Bishop lawsuit. Keep Thursday clear for now. That way, I’ll have a day open just to deal with whatever matters I still need to deal with. Then, Friday, you can start filling my schedule.”
Gwen cocked her head. “You sure you don’t want to take the entire week? That’s gotta be pushing it.”
“Who needs sleep?”
“Pretty much everyone, but that’s just according to the scientists. And what do they know?”
“I’ll find time to catch up on sleep soon. Until then, just keep the lattes flowing.”
“Sure thing, Lady Boss.”
Emma chuckled. “I know David likes to schedule his client meetings and whatnot in the morning, but I still want to keep my current schedule, if possible.” Emma preferred to research and draft pleadings in the morning when she was still fresh, and then save phone calls and client meetings for the afternoon. “Also, get with David and Mary’s secretaries today. I want the three of y’all to prioritize their cases. If y’all can do that, it’ll give me a headstart.”
“Got it, got it, andgotit.”
