Page 65 of The Charmer's Gambit
“We agreed the other night that this isn’t short term. When we return, we return together. We fight, remember?” Will’s stern tone reminded me of that day in the boardroom with the partners. Charming, but in charge in every way that mattered with no room for negotiation. I had no intention of arguing with him, but there were things we hadn’t discussed yet.
“I’ll need to be reassigned to a new project, and I doubt my management team is going to take kindly to my hooking up with a client.” I winced at that last part. So much for my professional reputation.
He cleared his throat. “About that . . . Remember when Garrett came to Chicago and we met with the partners?”
I eyed him sideways. As if I could forget the morning I woke up in Will’s bed and met one of the South’s best attorneys not thirty minutes later. “Yes.”
“Part of our negotiations revolved around adding a conflict of interest clause regarding my preexisting relationship with you. An agreement I agreed to and signed before starting work with you on the project.”
My blood ran hot as a myriad of emotions battled for purpose. “I . . . You . . . Fuck!” I couldn’t decide if I wanted to be furious or relieved. Anger seemed to be winning, as my fists clenched tightly and my eyes narrowed.
“Before you blow up at me, keep in mind that my intentions regarding you have never been a secret. I wasn’t about to hire your firm without protecting you. Your career means the world to you, and rightly so. I would never jeopardize that, Rachel. Ever. So you can be mad at me all you want, but I did the right thing, even if I did lie a little and say we were already dating.”
“You did the cocky thing,” I corrected. “Expecting me to date you? And saying we were already dating from the beginning?” Fury won against relief. His words and assessment were one hundred percent sound and accurate, but his gall grated on my last nerve.
“Oh, fuck . . .” That conversation I had with the partners the day after he signed the agreement took on a whole new meaning and made a hell of a lot more sense now. I’d thought they were talking about Evan’s relationship with Sarah, but no. They were referring to the conflict of interest between Will and me. Because he told them we were already dating. “You’re un-fucking-believable, Mershano.”
His chuckle only infuriated me more. I reacted without thinking and lunged at him, only to find myself on my back beneath him on the couch.
“Okay, first? I knew it was an inevitability. And second, the agreement was worded in a way that implied my preexisting tie to you, not your commitment to me. You admitted months ago that you admired Garrett’s gift for words. Trust me when I say he applied that to my agreement with Baker Brown.”
“It doesn’t matter. The partners inferred it the way you intended.” God, I was such an idiot. They’d even offered to let me read it, but I’d naively said no.
And what would you have done? Great fucking question.
“Of course they did, but have they treated you any differently over the last few weeks for it? Because I recall Janet singing your praises on that call Friday. They respect the hell out of you, Dawson. And if you think a relationship with me is going to affect your career, then we need to work on your confidence.”
I glowered up at him. “This is not so much about myconfidenceas your making assumptions.”
“It was never an assumption. Our attraction to each other has always been mutual, and you know it.”
I scoffed at that. “You believe what you want.” I only said it because he had pissed me off, and seeing his expression change from amused to disappointment had me regretting it in an instant.
“Denying it does nothing to move us forward.” His soft tone hit me right in the gut, but it was his next words that nailed my heart. “If anything, belittling our connection pushes us backward, and that’s the opposite of fighting, Dawson. And not what we agreed to.” He pushed off of me and left the living area.
My mouth opened and closed. I didn’t know what to say. What started as a tentative conversation about our future blew up into a disagreement over his presumptuousness.
Discussing the nature of our relationship with my firm behind my back grated on my nerves, yet his reasons were genuine. He meant to save me from an even more embarrassing situation of having to talk with the partners about a sexual relationship with Will during the project.
By mentioning it up front, he kept our interactions honest and also saved my reputation. The partners probably thought Will selected the firm because of our relationship, which was essentially true. We weren’t intimate until recently, but we already had a connection. One I’d just denied outright.
I palmed my forehead and blew out a breath. Controlling any aspect of my career reminded me too much of Ryan, except unlike my ex, Will did it with my best intentions in mind. The partners did treat me differently, but in a positive way. They knew my name and were directly involved in my work, and my career had never been in a better position. I always had the skills, but never the opportunity to shine, and Will had given that to me.
His overzealousness often irritated me, but it also floored me. The man bent over backward to break down my barriers and convince me to take a chance on him. Adding the conflictof interest clause also showed that he cared about protecting me from the ramifications of sleeping with my client. And it implied that he considered the long-term implications, not the short-term.
He fought for us at every turn, and I’d thrown a fit at our first hiccup. Granted, it was a big one, but not unforgivable. Will was a man who knew what he wanted and went after it, and he would never apologize for doing whatever it took to achieve it. Even if that included admitting our relationship to others before confirming it with me. Because at the end of the day, he was right. The attraction was always there from the second he stepped into my office all those months ago. It served as my primary reason for turning down his employment offers and the reason I should have requested the firm not assign me to his project.
I ran my hand over my face and stood up. His final words reverberated in my chest as I traced his path to the kitchen of the suite. He stood braced over the counter, his focus on the cabinet. A glass of amber liquid stood off to the side, surprising me. Will always drank wine. Always. The tense line of his shoulders was even more prominent in his crisp white dress shirt. He’d rolled the sleeves to his elbows, exposing his flexed forearms as he gripped the marble surface.
“I never meant to force your hand,” he said in that same soft voice from a few minutes ago. “But I knew you would see it that way. I only wanted to avoid complicating your career.” He picked up the glass and finished the alcohol before setting it in the sink.
I grabbed his arm as he tried to pass. “Will . . .”
“It’s been a long day, and I need a minute before I go meet with the security team. You can berate me more when I get back.” He sounded so defeated, and when he left the kitchen without even looking at me, my heart ached. The confident manI’d come to adore was nowhere to be seen. Did he think this would push me over the edge to end things between us?
The snick of the door as it closed echoed through the now-empty suite. It seemed to answer my unspoken question.
For the first time since we’d met, Will walked away.
