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I shake my head. “Nothing's up, Pete. Just tired.”
“Bullshit. Something is definitely up.”
“I don't know what to tell you.”
He sits back and scrutinizes me a little more, obviously not buying what I'm selling. Pete is too smart for my own damn good. I can see his brain working. It's only a matter of time before he figures out what's going on in my head. Which means, I should probably get the hell out of here. I drain the last of my scotch and move to stand up when I see his eyes widen and an expression of surprise cross his face.
“You're kidding me,” he declares – statement, not even a question. “You and Emily –”
“I don't want to talk about it,” I cut him off.
Of course, Pete is as undeterred as ever. “You do realize that you may have just stepped in a big pile of shit.”
“The thought occurred to me.”
“Christ, Aaron. If she wanted to file a sexual harassment suit, there is nothing I could do to protect you.”
“She wouldn’t,” I explain. “Look, it was mutual and consensual. She wanted it just as much as I did.”
“Everyone says that in this situation, Aaron. You willing to bet your entire company on that?”
I sit back in my seat again, knowing I'm not getting out of here until Pete has his say. I know it's his job, but it's times like these I wish he wasn't so ruthlessly efficient about it.
“Actually, I am,” I tell him. “I think I know Emily pretty well –”
“What, because you dated for like a minute back in college?”
A wry chuckle bubbles up and out of my throat and I shake my head. I've told Pete the whole sad saga of the one who got away over too many glasses of scotch over the years. Shortly after I hired her to be my PA, Pete came to me, advising against the hire because of the potential issues that could arise.
I blew off the advice. Obviously. After everything I've told him about Emily, he should probably know her as well as I do. Which means, he should know that she's not the kind of person to pull that sort of a stunt to rake in a big payday. She's not the type to take advantage of a situation like this.
“It's been a while, man. Her circumstances have changed – you told me that yourself,” he goes on, irritation and something akin to panic in his voice. “Do you really know how she’s feeling? Are you a hundred percent certain, without a doubt, that she didn’t feel pressured by you or forced in any way to have sex with you? This is serious, Aaron. If she presses charges, we’re done. No jury in the world would believe you just ‘happened’ to hire your ex-girlfriend and then just ‘happened’ to have sex with her.”
“You know I would never do that. Everything was mutual and I asked her several times if she was okay with it. And I can already tell that she doesn’t regret it and isn’t like, plotting against me. I'm a pretty fucking good judge of character,” I snap back.
He eyes me evenly. “And you're so certain of that, huh? That she won’t file a lawsuit to take you and this whole company down?”
I nod. “Without a doubt. One hundred percent.”
Honestly, it's more like ninety-nine-point-nine-nine-nine percent sure. Time and circumstance does change people, and although I've not seen anything from Emily this morning to make me doubt that she shares my view of how everything went down last night, Pete isn't wrong in that I should have retained a bit of healthy skepticism – and kept my dick in my pants.
I know I'm risking a hell of a lot on what is still ultimately a mystery. And although I'm virtually certain I've assessed her correctly, you can never really be one hundred percent about anybody.
Pete sighs and runs his hand across his face. “Look, I'm sorry I jumped down your throat,” he starts, “but you pay me to protect this company. And you make it hard for me to do that when you do stupid shit like this, Aaron.”
“I know, man. I've been kicking my own ass about it since this morning,” I growl. “I don't need you piling on. Believe me, nobody is harder on me than I am.”
“That much I believe.”
There's a long moment of silence as we both absorb the shock of it and what it means. Knowing Pete, he's also already formulating a way to combat the problem should it ever actually become the problem he fears it will.
As he looks at me from across my desk, I see his face soften somewhat. He tilts his head and narrows his eyes, as if he's seeing right through me. His direct, piercing gaze is usually pretty unsettling as it is, but when he's laser-focused on me like this, it becomes even more so. Although he can usually seem to pull the thoughts out of you before you say a word, he is usually fairly unreadable himself.
I chalk it up to him being a lawyer and the necessity of keeping a strict poker face in court, but it's annoying and disturbing as hell sometimes. Which only reminds me of Emily. She’s always been good at that, too, and I know it’s a quality that will make her an incredible lawyer.
“What?” I sigh.
“You care for her.”
