Page 10 of Resisting the Lawyer (Dirty Hot Resistance 3)

I sink into my own chair and go through the contents of the envelope.

Oliver’s eyes are on me as he sips the beer while mine stands untouched.

“Seems pretty straightforward to me,” I say, finally, and grabbing a pen, I make some amendments.

He raises a brow.

I shrug. “Just protecting your interests.”

He goes through the contract that I’ve fixed and notes the additional terms I’ve added. Then, the corner of his lips tugs up. “Caleb’s going to kill you for this.”

Grinning, I lean back in my chair and grab my beer. “I’m surprised that you’ve suddenly decided to become an official consultant. Did Lana put you up to this?”

Oliver just grimaces. “She won’t get off my back about this. I’ve never met a more persistent woman in my life.”

I scoff. “And you married her. By choice, might I add.”

He sneers at me. “I’ll be sure to tell her you said that.”

I blanch at the thought and then am dragged from my thoughts when Oliver says, all too casually, “I heard you drove Elise home today.”

Lana can act self-righteous all she wants, but she’s a gossipmonger to the bone.

“I asked her on a date,” I finally say.

Oliver manages to look surprised. Then he gives me a considering look, saying slowly, “You’re not crying so I assume she said yes.”

I raise my hand towards him for a high five as I grin. “Yeah, she did.”

Oliver stares at my hand which is in the air for a moment and then says in a disinterested voice, “Yeah, no. I don’t do high fives. Put your hand down.”

“Buzzkill,” I complain, not offended in the least by his lackluster response.

Oliver completely ignores this, asking instead, “So, you’re going to take her on a date? I’m surprised she said yes.”

Now I feel a tad bit insulted. “What is that supposed to mean?”

He scours the document again, saying idly, “The impression I got from Lana was that whatever happened with her ex has left her distrusting of any guys.” When he looks up, there is thinly veiled rage in his blue eyes. “Apparently, this guy got her tipsy enough to convince her to sleep with him on the second or third date. Something which she doesn’t normally do.”

My insides feel cold when I hear this and my hands tighten on the bottle. This raw fury coursing inside of me needs an outlet and I calmly contemplate throwing the bottle against the pristine wall of my study. “He forced her?”

Oliver looks angry as well. It’s no secret that he has a soft spot for the bubbly receptionist. However, he shakes his head. “No. Elise was pretty firm about that. She told Lana her judgment was impaired but it wasn’t rape. However, she was pretty upset in the morning and the guy told her to get over it and kicked her out of his apartment.”

“I’m going to kill that bastard,” I growl out the words.

Oliver stares at me, not in the least fazed by my menacing tone. Instead, he deigns to point out, “You don’t even know who that ‘bastard’ is.”

I give him a sharp look, “She hasn’t even told Lana?”

Oliver is wearing a thoughtful expression on his face. “No. This just leads me to believe that it is somebody in the office. Although why she would go to the lengths of protecting him, I don’t understand.”

I force down my boiling temper. “And she brought Sophie to work today. Why would she do that if the guy works there?”

We both sit in uneasy silence, the topic of my date forgotten, this troubling information eating at us both.

Just why was Elise adamant on hiding the identity of Sophie’s father?

4

---