Page 38 of Take the Bait

Who’d have guessed the humiliation tying her stomach in knots would be this sharp or painful? She’d been so freaking naïve. Stupid. She’d walked headfirst into a terrible job at a terrible law firm and hadn’t seen what had been right in front of her face about WMP the whole time.

No women attorneys had spoken with her or even been introduced to her when she’d interviewed at WMP. A couple of the partners who’d interacted with her during the hiring process had definitely checked out her chest, legs, and/or ass. She’d brushed it off at the time because it never even occurred to her the bastards might try to take advantage of her in that way.

Zoey had even told her outright that she was expected to wear sexy lingerie and do it in a way that the partners could catch glimpses of it. How much clearer could her friend have been in letting her know what the culture at WMP was like for women attorneys?

She’d heard the words but had totally missed the real message beneath what Zoey had been telling her.

“Well?” Cam prompted. “What’s going on with you at WMP?”

The frosting on the cupcake of her idiocy would be to air her firm’s dirty laundry outside the office. Trashing one’s employer was bad form for any worker, but especially so for law firms whose good reputations were absolutely necessary to their survival, not to mention their profitability. Particularly when she was secretly gathering evidence for a potential lawsuit against said firm that Cam might be called to testify in.

It didn’t help that she had no reason to believe he would testify on her behalf. WMP was clearly on the verge of offering him a gigantic salary and benefits package to come to work for them.

Having spent the past few hours debating law with him, she could see why WMP wanted him so bad. He was a quick thinker, an eloquent speaker, had encyclopedic knowledge of the law, and was extremely likable. All of which added up to him being a fantastic lawyer?—

He interrupted her turbulent train of thought by stepping back from her. As his comforting arms fell away, the little voice in the back of her head wailed in disappointment.

She groused at it, Oh, now you’re egging me on and encouraging me to throw myself at this guy? Where were you that night in the ladies’ room when I was fully prepared to have sex on the counter with him?

Cam gestured politely for her to sit on the sofa and he sat down next to her. He faced her, their knees almost touching, frowning. Then he surprised her by pivoting to face the television mounted above the fireplace. He grabbed the remote lying on the coffee table and pointed it at the TV.

Without looking at her, threw his arm across her shoulder in an almost brotherly gesture. He was clearly offering no-strings-attached comfort as opposed to anything romantic or sexual. He tucked her against his big, warm, safe side as the screen flickered to life.

Its sound was apparently muted, for deep silence enveloped the room. Only the dull, pattering thud of rain pounding against the tall, floor to ceiling windows broke the silence.

Without warning, Cam asked, “Have you got a dollar in your purse?”

“As in cash?” she replied, confused.

“Yes.”

“Umm, I think so. Why?”

“At some point tonight, you need to dig it out and give it to me.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re hiring me to be your lawyer. One dollar is my retainer fee.”

“I’m…what?”

“I’m letting you hire me to be your personal legal counsel. Which means this is now a privileged conversation.”

“Why?” Color her confused. What was he doing?

“Will you talk to me now? Not one word you say can or will go beyond the walls of this room.”

“And why do I need privilege with you?”

“Because you’re about to tell me what the hell’s going on at your firm.”

12

Dani frowned. “I don’t think I can discuss what’s going on with you. Particularly since you might end up being a witness for me—or for WMP, for that matter. You haven’t told me whose side you’d take if it came to a lawsuit between me and my employer.”

He didn’t answer immediately, and she risked lifting her head from his shoulder to peek up at him. His blue eyes looked black in the flickering light of the fireplace. But she thought it might be because he was angry and not because the dim light hid the bright color of his blue eyes.

He asked grimly, “Do you seriously need to ask me that? Do you think so little of my ethics and moral fiber?”

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