Page 34 of Counterfeit Connection

“Yes, yes I was.” I motion down the hall. “Right this way.”

Griffin heads down ahead of me, but I’m stopped with a hand on my arm before I can follow.

“Don’t fuck this up,” Mr. Wilder grumbles in my ear.

“Why would I do that?” I respond before yanking my arm away.

I can feel Griffin side-eying this exchange. I don’t want to give too many of the dynamics away. That’s not what it seems he wants for today. After I create a little distance from Wilder, I motion with my hand to the office at the end of the hall on the left. Mika’s curiosity is following us until I’m in my doorway. “Put me back on do not disturb while I’m in this meeting.”

She nods with a knowing smile before she busies herself with potential work at her desk. When I turn my focus back to Griffin, he’s set the wrapped bouquet on my desk and is wandering my modest space. When the door is finally closed, he slides his hands slowly into his pockets, greeting me with a soft growl. “I don’t like how he speaks to you.”

“Please don’t threaten to punch him. I need this job.”

“What you need is someone who treats you with the respect you deserve, Kaitlyn.”

“I agree with you, but I don’t plan on working under him forever, and regardless of how he speaks to me, he’s one of the most respected attorneys in the city. His approval will carry tremendous weight in my career moving forward, and this is a stepping stone to get there.”

“It doesn’t make it right.”

“No, it doesn’t.” I lean back against my closed door and smile. “Thank you for the flowers.”

He drops his hands to his sides. “You’re welcome.” He turns away from me and begins to look around my office. He eyeballs the photos I have on a bookshelf and my framed degrees on the wall. He stops and points to a photo of Gillian, Jason, and Joseph. “Is this your nephew?”

“Mmmhmm. That’s my little chunk, Joey.”

“He’s a handsome lad. Is he a handful?”

I laugh. “With Gilly and Jason as his parents, without a doubt.” I think about rolling right into a million questions, but I only really need answers immediately to one. “What are you doing here? I didn’t think I’d see you again, if I’m honest.”

Griffin’s head cocks a little to the left. “Why would you think that?”

“Oh, I don’t know. You said you’d call, then you didn’t.”

“To be fair, Kaitlyn, I was giving you time to think. You came to your conclusion quite quickly. Sometimes, impulsivity can lead to regret.”

“True. Other times though, it can mean you’re instantly certain. I haven’t changed my mind, Griffin.”

I can see a subtle tension in his face release with my words. He’d been worried I’d be saying no, just like I was concerned he’d regretted our agreement. We aren’t too different after all, are we? “I’m happy to hear that, but now comes the true work. The real conversations and the nitty-gritty, as I’ve heard it called.”

“Did you just say nitty-gritty?”

“I did.” He smirks, then pulls out my desk chair. “Have a seat. We have a lot to work through.”

I round my desk to sink into my chair and laugh when he pushes it in for me. “I could get used to this kind of treatment.”

I feel him lean down, then his breath is on my ear. “This relationship may be fake, but I’ll treat you the way you deserve in front of the cameras and behind closed doors.”

Griffin

I’m a possessive man by nature. That’s not a quality I try to deny about myself, but I’m somewhat surprised by my desire to beat my chest like an ape and lay claim to Kaitlyn in front of her boss.

“All right,” she says, laying her hands flat on her desktop. “Tell me about this nitty-gritty.”

I sink to sit in the chair across from her and pull my phone from my pocket, firing off a quick email to her. “I’ve sent thedraft we composed together to your inbox. It covers the basics, of course, but if we are going to do this, we need to talk through quite a bit.”

I watch her eyes as she scans the words on her computer screen. “And you mean…?”

A smile plays on my lips. “I mean public displays of affection.”

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