“Right,” she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “Until you get pulled away to talk business, and then where am I left?”
“I won’t leave your side the whole night. I promise.”
She sighed, but nodded. “Alright. I’ll be there.”
I pulled her into my arms and kissed her. “Thank you.”
She wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me back. “You’re going to pay big time for this.”
I grinned and palmed her breast in my hand. “Oh, I intend on paying up.”
She chuckled and pulled my hands away from her. “Oh, I know you will, but not like that.”
Anna
I was just about out the office door when Eric walked in, papers in hand. “Any chance you can take care of these before you take off?”
I glanced at my watch and nodded. “Yeah, I have a few minutes.”
I really didn’t, but I also didn’t really care if I was on time to my dress-up session with whoever Robert hired to make me look the part for tonight.
“Why are you taking off so early tonight?”
“Robert has a company Christmas party that he wants me to go to.”
His eyebrows shot up. “And you agreed to go?”
“He didn’t really give me much of a choice.”
He crossed his arms over his chest and watched me shuffle the papers and start entering the data into the computer. “Anna, you’re not someone that can be pushed around. So, why are you doing this?”
“His boss is going to be there.”
“Yeah, and you hate his boss.”
“I know.”
“Have you told him yet about his boss threatening you?”
“No, and I’m not sure I want to tell him.”
“Anna, you can’t let him keep working for that asshole without knowing what he’s in for. If it happened on this job, how many more times is his boss going to manipulate him to get what he wants?”
I sighed and finished up what I was doing, then I picked up my keys and purse. “Look, I can’t say anything yet. He’s so close to making senior partner. When he finishes this case-“
“There’ll be another case,” Eric insisted.
“You don’t know that. Besides, my part in all of this is over. I did what he wanted, and now Robert just has to finish up the divorce.”
“Anna, guys like that take what they want. Just because he can’t use you anymore doesn’t mean he won’t try in another way.”
I ignored him and walked to the door, pulling it open, but Eric shut it. “Anna, think about this. You have to tell him.”
“Not yet.”
“Then I will. I can’t let my brother work for someone like this.”
“Just stay out of this, Eric,” I snapped. “I didn’t ask you to get involved.”
“You did when you came to me with your problem. And I went along with it, but now that your part is over and he’s closing the case, you need to let Robert in on what’s happening.”
“I will, but not until the case is over. Once he’s done, I’ll tell him and he can decide what to do from there. I won’t risk him losing his license.”
Eric gritted his teeth. He knew I was right, but I also knew that he didn’t like it. “You promise me that you’ll tell him when this is all over.”
“I promise.”
He nodded and stepped away from the door, allowing me to walk out. I hurried out to my car and headed for the city. I really didn’t want to go to this party, but I also wanted to be there to keep an eye on Robert’s boss. If he did anything to try and pull Robert’s strings again, I wouldn’t hesitate to tell Robert. But I had to be smart about all this. Robert’s career was on the line.
By the time I got to Robert’s place, I was a nervous wreck. I didn’t know what the hell he was thinking, bringing me along to a Christmas party with people that I didn’t know or want to know. There were two women waiting for me when I arrived at his apartment. They shuffled me into the bathroom and started getting my hair and makeup ready. By the time they were done, I felt caked on and completely out of my element. I hated makeup.
My eye itched and I went to scratch it when the lady slapped my hand away. “You can’t touch your makeup. You’ll mess it up.”
“My eye itches,” I snapped.
“We just spent an hour making you look good. If you mess it up, I won’t be