I sighed. “There are a few. I really want to dopro bonowork, though, and those are harder to get if you come from a big firm. You know the lawyers who started doing public interest on day one out of law school look down on those of us who took fancy jobs.” It was stupid, but it meant I had an uphill battle to prove myself in any interview.
“Yeah, I know,” she said derisively. “Most of the people I know who work for near free have a big, fat trust fund to fall back on. Screw them for judging you.”
“Yeah. Screw them. I bet Brett has a big trust fund.” I gulped my coffee too quickly and started coughing. “I just really wanted to help people. My parents could have used a lawyer like me when they came to the United States. Hell, they could have used any lawyer.”
“They really struggled initially, didn’t they?” Margo asked, her dark eyes serious and sad.
I nodded. “When my mom was pregnant with me, she was working three jobs, each under the table. They finally got health insurance right before I was born. I remember my mom telling me she was so scared of being fired from those shitty jobs. She hid herpregnancy until the very end.” Irrational guilt made my insides twist. I couldn’t protect my family, but I could protect others.
Margo was nodding. She understood. Her parents had struggled too.
“So, now what?” she asked. “You’re going to some small town in flyover country?”
I shuddered. “Yeah. Gerald’s deal. Remember that grocery store acquisition we pitched for a few months back? It’s moving forward. But the target has been cagey about providing materials to our client, so we’re going on site. Gerald thinks we need to pressure them in person. Lucky me.”
Margo frowned. “That’s annoying. I can’t remember the last time I went on site. Who’s opposing counsel?”
Opposing counsel would represent the seller. They were my number one opponent, and sometimes we faced complete idiots. But not this time. H Brands had real counsel.
“Covingly,” I responded.
“Wait, is it the Closer?” Margo’s eyes were wide as she used the nickname we’d come up with for Jason years ago. Partly because he was ruthless, but partly because we’d joked that he could close the deal with either of us any time.
“I hope not. I mean, that would be pretty awkward. I’m still tired from all the, um, rather athletic sex we had.” My face heated.
“I still can’t believe you slept with him.” She sighed wistfully. “What was it like?”
I’d already told Margo about our night together, but Andrew had rudely interrupted before we could get to the dirty details.
“Hot.” I leaned forward. “Really hot. He knows what he’s doing in bed, and he loves consent.” I shivered. “But he likes it rough.”On your knees like a good girl.
“Damn,” Margo whispered, her eyes wide. “Maybe he’ll be staffed against you on this deal.” She looked excited and I grimaced.
“That would be very, very bad. I have to win this, and I think we both know he represents real competition. I don’t actually know if I can negotiate successfully against him. Much as I hate to admit it.” Igrimaced. I was a fierce negotiator but Jason was sneaky and dogged. During the deal over Christmas, he’d been annoyingly persistent about not giving up points of contention. And he’d definitely come out the winner in the end. I frowned at the memory.
“No way,” Margo protested.
“You know he’s really fucking smart. And diligent. It better not be him. Plus, if I have to be trapped in a conference room with him every day…”
“Things could get heated.” Margo giggled.
“Stop.” I groaned.
“You would so sleep with him again,” she crowed. “That look says it all. Tell me you haven’t been thinking about him naked all day.”
I ignored her question and sipped my coffee. Yeah, I’d been thinking about him. The ridges and valleys of his back muscles, the way his weight had pressed me into the mattress, the sharp jut of his hip bones against my thighs. I shivered.
“Not happening,” I said weakly. Desire made my insides fuzzy and warm.
“Well, he’s your competition so I guess that would be a conflict of interest. Not to mention counterproductive. Since you’re supposed to be absolutely destroying him,” Margo said and rolled her eyes.Yeah. That was why. Fucking opposing counsel was a really bad idea.“In any case, I’m sure it’s not him. That firm has a ton of good senior associates and counsel around our level. And Jason mostly does financial services, not retail acquisitions.”
“Yeah, it’s definitely not him. That would be the worst possible outcome.”
7
CYNTHIA
Iwas lost. My phone was dead, I was on a deserted road in the middle of nowhere, and I was lost. I passed a boarded-up gas station that I swore I had seen not ten minutes ago and pulled over to check my phone. I tapped the screen. Nothing. I pressed the “on” button. Still black. Was my phonedead? I scrambled for a charger in my purse and then in my suitcase, tossing my belongings onto the backseat. Ah-ha! Got it. Now to find a plug… I poked around in the front of the car. Nothing under the dash, nothing in the console, nothing in the back. Was there seriously no USB port in here?Gah.The stupid, tiny rental car had no charger, and I had foolishly used my phone battery up while answering Gerald’s emails on the plane.