them, my mom says, “I’m proud of you.”
“For…” I trail off, not willing to say out loud to my mother that I had sex with Nick, no matter how chill she seems to be right now.
“For going after what you want. It’s been a long time since either of us did that,” she murmurs. “But watching you, I find myself inspired.”
“Me too,” Sarah says. “I’ve been feeling sorry for myself for the last few days, but I’m done with that. I mean, I may not be able to go out and find myself a guy as awesome as Nick—at least not yet—but that doesn’t mean I can’t get the rest of my life in order… Starting now.”
“There’s no time like the present,” my mother agrees. “Especially with inspiration like Mallory around.”
I have no idea what that means, but I want to know—just not when I really do have to get ready for work. Making a mental note to ask her later, I give her and Sarah my first real smile of the day.
“Thanks, Mom.”
And then I race up the stairs and dive straight into the shower. As I rinse the shampoo from my hair, I can’t help wondering if anyone at work will be able to tell I just had the best sex of my life with the boss or not. I feel like it’s tattooed on my forehead. Or vagina, at least.
Chapter Forty-Five
I totally regret the thong—especially since it keeps crawling way too far north as I walk a potential client down the plant-lined hall at Holloway and Murphy to Gina’s office. I grit my teeth to deal with the pinch between my cheeks.
“As you can see,” I say, gesturing toward the conference room where several of the paralegals are meeting, “while we’re a boutique firm, we have the ability to meet all of your needs.”
“I just want someone who will fight for me,” she says, her grip tight on the strap of her black handbag.
“Well then, you are most assuredly in the right place.” I knock on Gina’s door, wait for three full Mississippis, and then open it. “Ms. Washington, this is Gina Murphy. Now, can I get you coffee or a sandwich? I know you had to use your lunch hour for this appointment.”
She smiles, her short, natural-styled hair perfectly framing her face. “I couldn’t bother you.”
“It’s really not,” I say. “How about a turkey and Swiss from the deli down the block?”
After she agrees and Gina puts in her own order, I walk back to the break room, where Tessa is dancing along to whatever is playing in her AirPods while compiling the staff’s lunch order. Turns out Gina’s niece isn’t a bad kid, she just got thrown into the deep end with absolutely no training when Viola went out on maternity leave. Now she’s working as the office intern, and I’m showing her the ropes of office management.
“Can you add another turkey and Swiss for Ms. Washington? She’s Gina’s noon. And Gina would like a turkey on wheat, hold the mayo.”
“You got it.” Tessa snaps her gum and gives me a thumbs-up. “Do you mind getting Nick’s?” she asks. “I have to go ask Steve if he wants onions or no onions.”
I nod, trying my best to ignore the buzz of anticipation skimming across my skin. I haven’t seen him all day. In fact, I haven’t seen him since I did the walk of shame this morning.
“Sure, I can do that.” I can. Really. Maybe.
Suck it up, Mallory.
I stop in the bathroom for a quick thong adjustment and lipstick refresh while I’m there—it means nothing—and then walk down to Nick’s office at the end of the hallway and knock. After his muffled “come in,” I let out a nervous breath and walk inside.
His gaze only flicks up to me for a minute before going back to his computer screen. “Hi, Ms. Martin.”
Ouch. That stings. Okay, that’s how we’re doing it. Fair enough. It isn’t like we were planning on a repeat or a relationship or anything.
“Tessa is leaving in a minute to get the lunch order from the deli,” I say. “Do you want her to get anything for you?”
“You’re a godsend. I’ve been fighting for the past thirty minutes with this ridiculous spreadsheet for payroll to send to the accountants and haven’t even gotten to think about lunch.”
Spreadsheet? Payroll? Does he not realize why I was hired?
“Here, let me.” I walk around to his side of the desk. My hands are halfway to the