Page 26 of Just for Her
Chapter Ten: Paulie
Ihung up the phone, pleased and surprised that I’d accomplished everything I’d wanted to and then some. I’d almost forgotten how productive a few hours of uninterrupted work time could be.
I stood and stretched, and then I went in search of Allison. It had been hours since I’d last seen her, and I was craving a fix. I told myself that it meant nothing. That I was in need of a break and simply sought her out because she was there.
Yeah, I wasn’t buying it either.
I found her exactly where I’d left her.
“Hey.”
She was sitting on the floor, sorting through a bankers box, when she looked up and smiled at me. I felt it right in the center of my chest.
“Hey yourself.”
I took in the neat stacks of paper covering every available surface, now paper-clipped and color-coded and perfectly aligned in a precise geometric pattern. “Wow. You’ve been busy.”
She beamed. “I think I’ve got just about everything sorted out, but there are some items I couldn’t associate with a specific case.”
She got to her feet and handed me a file, much smaller than I would have expected. I’d go through them later.
I picked up one of the case files and scanned the sheet she’d paper-clipped to the top. Each folder had one.
“What’s this?”
“A checklist of what each file contains for quick reference. For current cases, I also made a to-do list of things pending or still outstanding. I hope that’s okay.”
Okay? It wasfantastic.
“You did all this just this afternoon?”
She shrugged. “Yes.”
“How?”
She laughed and averted her gaze, as if embarrassed. “Like Miriam said, I’m anal when it comes to organizing, although I prefer the termfastidious.”
I skimmed over the list with blatant approval. The woman knew her stuff. She’d accomplished more in one day than Stella had done in an entire year and with practically no direction from me. I could only imagine what it would be like to have someone so capable working with me full-time.
And imagine I did. My mind was suddenly filled with images of having Allison here every day. Helping with cases. Offering insight. Sharing coffee and meals. Engaging in some in-office canoodling before I took her home and—
I shut those thoughts down when I felt myself beginning to harden. I had no business thinkinganyof that. I was a lawyer, for God’s sake. One who understood that those thoughts I was having werewayout of line.
I wasnotgoing to be that guy. I should thank her for her time, cut her a check, wish her well, and be done with her.
What I actually said was, “Can you come back tomorrow?”
“I’d love to,” she said without hesitation, as if she’d been hoping I’d ask. “It’ll give me something to do. I’m not very good at being idle.”
“Are you sure your sister won’t mind? You’re only in town a couple of more days, right?”
