AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“That was a melancholy sigh.” A low man’s voice came from behind and my whole body tensed. Somehow, Andrew had snuck up on me while I was mulling over my options. I pictured his his annoyingly square jaw and gritted my teeth.
I knew without looking that his dark hair would be laying in soft feathers against his head, thanks to his expensive haircuts. It would probably be slightly mussed since his gel tended to wear off and he shoved his hands through it a lot. I had catalogued his face a thousand times, mostly while fantasizing about roundhouse kicking him in that perfect jaw.
“Come to tempt me into the sweet embrace of caffeine, Andrew? I know you guzzle it day and night. Having no soul means you don’t need to sleep.”
“I switch to decaf at 1 pm. My secretary had the firm special-order it for me.” I could practically hear the smugness in his voice. If I turned, his green eyes would be laughing at me. He loved nothing better than having the upper hand.
“I just bet you did, you self-serving jerk,” I muttered as I stabbed at the coffee machine.
“What was that? You want me to share some of it with you?” He moved closer. I could smell his expensive cologne and feel the heat of his body, but I refused to turn around and dignify him with a glance.
“I’ll keep my soul, thanks so much,” I said sweetly, as the mild coffee began filling my cup.Not turning around, not turning around.He was probably wearing that stupidly soft sweater he wore on the coldest days. I could practically feel the fire and brimstone coming off of him.
“More for me then. Hey, by the way, Brad can’t work with you on the Langford deal anymore.”
I whirled. He leaned casually against the kitchen island, dressed all in black. Black turtleneck, black dress pants, black dress boots. They set off his green eyes and his broad shoulders. Andrew Markman was a tool. A grade A douchebag. He was my arch nemesis, the reason I stayed late when I didn’t have to, and the only person to ever make me cry at work. But the very worst part about him was that he was ridiculously hot.
“Why? What did you do?” Brad was the single junior associate staffed on the Langford deal with me, and he was the reason I was able to get six hours of sleep every night. Without him, this would be a repeat of last Christmas.
He shrugged. “I needed him on Aggregate Shipping.” As if that were enough reason. We each had our own junior associates, each of which we had handpicked and trained from day one. Brad was mine and he was very good, which made this deliberate poaching on Andrew’s part.
“What the hell?” I hissed. “You have three juniors on that already. You don’t need Brad. Don’t mess with me, Andrew. Today is not the day for it.” I shook my coffee stirrer at him menacingly.
Andrew raised his hands placatingly. “Relax. I just got off the phone with Gerald and he approved the restaffing. Seemed to think you could handle Langford on your own.”
My jaw dropped. Andrew was screwing me over, acting like a partner when he wasn’t. Associates didn’t get involved in staffing decisions, and going above my head to the managing partner on the matter was a major asshole move. I couldn’t do this deal alone, not with all my other work. I felt panic clawing at my throat. This was going to be a repeat of last year. Gerald had yelled at me when the client had found typos in the final drafts. Of course there had been typos. I’d finalized the drafts at six am after 24 hours without any sleep. All because of Andrew. And now, with partner decisions hanging over us, a typo in my drafts felt like enough to mean I wouldn’t make it. The Langford deal was the jewel in my crown after a long year and Andrew was trying to tank it. Of course.
“Andrew.” I stepped closer. “You wouldn’t presume to decide staffing on my deal because that would be be literallyinsane.” My voice was rising, but I didn’t care who heard. I stalked toward him. “You don’t look nearly frightened enough. I will gut you with this blunt coffee stirrer, so help me god.”
He raised a brow. “Insane would be how you stole this deal fromme.You know what your problem is?”
“No. But I’m sure you’ll tell me.”
“You can dish it out but you can’t take.” He smirked at me triumphantly. “You weaseled your way in to the best matter of the year. Conveniently in December. I helped Gerald pitch that client six months ago. And thenyouwere staffed, without so much as a nod to me. I can only assume you sabotaged me, because otherwise he would have no reason to staff you.”
Fury boiled through me. Gerald had staffed me on that matter because I was good at my job.
I advanced on him, expecting him to move. He simply gave me an insulting brown raise. I stopped a few inches away, his long legs between my feet in their pumps. He glanced down at where my legs straddled his and raised an eyebrow. I met his green eyes. The color of money. The color of poison.
“Surprised you are willing to get this close to the devil himself, MC.” He mocked. I grimaced, remembering when I had called him that during a particularly tense closing last year. His eyes bored into mine, lips quirked slightly as if he were enjoying baiting me. He probably was. He was annoyingly handsome under the soft kitchen lighting, with his luscious hair glinting under the kitchen lights, broad shoulders pulling at his sweater.
“Andrew,” I said slowly as I stared him down. “Staffing on my deals is not your call to make. Or have you forgotten you’re still an associate like me? God, you’re such an ass.”
His green eyes hardened at my words. “So I’ve heard many times from you, country girl.” He knew I hated that nickname, hated being reminded of my past and how he fit in here so much better than I did.
“You did not pull my only junior associate off the biggest deal of the year. No one does a deal of this magnitude alone. And now there’s no one else to bring on before the holiday.” I was anxiously spiraling and he smirked at me. He knew all of this. It’s why he’d stolen Brad in the first place. I glared. He shrugged like the fact that I was going to pull several all-nighters in a row didn’t bother him.
“The real question is, what are you going to do about it now?” The cocky look on his face made me want to punch him. “I’m sure you can pull it off. You wanted to show them that you’re partner material, right? This is how you do it.”
He had the gall to frame this as a favor to me. I leaned in. His lips parted slightly and I sensed him go tense. Good. He should be nervous.
“YouknowI stand no chance. You single-handedly brought the Watersons on as a client. Even Gerald calls you “partner material.” You did thisjustto torture me. I punctuated my words with a stab of the coffee stirrer on chest. I was so angry I could barely see straight. “I will make you pay for this. I don’t care what it takes. As soon as this deal closes, you are dead meat.”
His lips pulled back in an infuriating smile and I saw red. He leaned in toward me, the coffee stirrer pushing against my hand as he straightened. I could feel his breath ruffling my hair.
“Bring it on. Things were getting boring around here.”
2
