Legally Addicted - By Lena Dowling Page 0,31

remember ever having deliberated on moving further than the ‘friends with benefits’ arrangements that a few of her flings had morphed into.

‘It’s irrelevant anyway, because getting into anything with Brad is impossible.’

‘It doesn’t have to be. Tell him to leave the partnership. The ink is barely dry on the agreement. He could probably get Dayton and Llewellyn to release him if he crossed their palms with the requisite amount of gold.’

‘And have Dayton and Llewellyn blame me for losing Brad’s celebrity client list? I don’t think so.’

‘They’re big boys. They’d get over it. It’s time you put yourself first, Georgia.’

‘I’ll give it some consideration,’ she said, and she meant it, because whether she liked it or not, ever since she had left the beach house, Brad Spencer was the only thing she could think about.

Back at the office on Monday morning, Brad opened the office calendar on the firm’s computer network and searched through Georgia’s diary.

At the strategy weekend, things had gone well with Georgia to begin with. The sex had been as good as, if not better than, the first time, but then once again she had done a disappearing act.

Lovely, my arse.

She had been as in to it as he was.

He had no idea why, but when a woman talked dirty, he really worked up a head of steam. Assuming she didn’t routinely dredge the basement of the English language in normal speech, something about it was a turn-on, and with Georgia it was incredible — as if she had shown him a glimpse of something no-one else got to see. Pushing past her sexual defences had left him hopeful that he might break down some of her emotional barriers as well — like why, yet again, she had taken off, leaving the beach house before they even sat down to breakfast.

After an agonising twenty-four hours trying to figure out how to approach the situation, no neat answers had presented themselves, and he had come to the conclusion that he needed to get a better handle on how to approach Georgia.

In his experience, no-one knew a lawyer better than their secretary, but with Georgia and Miriam almost sitting on top of each other in the open-plan, he needed to catch Miriam when her boss was out of the office.

He scanned Georgia’s appointments.

Good. She would be in court most of the day.

Keeping his office door open and one eye on the thoroughfare outside it, he hailed Georgia’s secretary the moment she strolled past.

‘Miriam, can I speak to you for a moment?’

‘Is this about Georgia?’

Miriam had doubled back from where she was headed and was standing in the doorway.

‘How did you know?’

‘Let’s just say you’re not the first potential suitor who has tried to use me to solve the puzzle that is Georgia Murray — not that anyone has succeeded, yet.’

Miriam walked over to his desk and took a seat, in the chair opposite, crossing her legs at the knee so that her short skirt hiked up to her thigh.

That much skin exposure by an attractive young woman would usually send his mind wandering, but today nothing could divert his attention.

‘No-one’s ever gotten through to her?’

‘Nope. Not so far.’

‘Got any advice, Miriam? From what I’ve seen, you seem to have a pretty good working relationship with her.’

He closed the file he had been working on and leaned back in his chair, giving her his full concentration.

‘It’s taken me three years to break through that tough exterior of hers.’

‘Three years.’ He whistled. ‘Could it be achieved sooner?’

‘Possibly, but it depends on your stamina, and how much emotional torture you think you can take.’

‘That tough?’

Miriam nodded.

‘It was twelve months before I could get Georgia to talk about anything other than work. She had almost bitten my head down to a stub by the time I got her to so much as grab a coffee with me.’

‘So what do I need to do?’

‘Look, I’ve been down this road before, and so far no man has had what it takes. I’m not wasting my breath again unless you really mean it.’

‘I mean it.’

‘And?’

‘Georgia is worth it.’

‘And?’

He was trying to work out what more he could say to emphasise the strength of his conviction when Miriam ran a thumb across her adjacent fingertips, several times in quick succession. He frowned, but the plucky secretary stared him down.

‘If you’re going to be like that, then forget it. I don’t respond well to extortion attempts — never have.’

He wasn’t about to be played, not even to get