Legally Addicted - By Lena Dowling Page 0,7

eye. Then his eyes narrowed.

‘Actually, I think I do. My parents might have paid my way through law school, so I didn’t have to take out a loan like most students, and granted it was easier for me, not having to worry about money, but they don’t give coursework credits for upfront payment. I studied my arse off, same as you. And my parents never gave up trying to entice me into the family firm.’

‘Poor little rich boy encountered resistance from mummy and daddy. My heart bleeds.’

Brad shook his head, but otherwise didn’t rise to the jibe.

‘Believe me, I had no idea Roger and John planned to give me your office. You stay where you are. I’ll take one of the others — problem solved.’

He said it like he was Mr Reasonable and she was a toddler, kicking her legs in the air, having a tantrum. All that magnanimity in the face of her best efforts at provocation, fully justified provocation in her opinion, did nothing to improve Georgia’s humour. He could be Mr Reasonable all he liked; it wasn’t going to help.

‘There are no other offices. Well, nothing bigger than a stationery cupboard that is, and if I don’t give this office up to you, Dayton and Llewellyn will accuse me of being unco-operative.’

‘I am sorry about that, Georgia, but I’d be happy to take up the issue of renting more space at the next partner’s meeting, so it should only be temporary.’

Brad yanked at his tie, pulling it loose, and Georgia took some satisfaction in noting that playing the cool and composed better man was taking its toll. The friction at his neck, however, had the effect of releasing a whiff of his woody aftershave that sent her mind rattling backwards in time.

Woody.

Crass, Georgia, real crass.

But for goodness sake, why did this man have to send her mind to places it had no business going in a professional setting, which reminded her…

‘Why the hell didn’t you mention this merger last night?’

‘I didn’t want to steal your thunder. That party was for you. You earned it. Dayton, Llewellyn and I all agreed we should hold off announcing the merger until after the party. If news of it had gotten out, well, you know how it is.’

Georgia knew only too well how it was. A small boutique firm like Dayton Llewellyn merging practices with a celebrity divorce lawyer, and a Spencer to boot, would have completely usurped her own partnership celebration, but she wasn’t letting him off with that. That was only half the story, and he knew it.

‘You didn’t have to tell the whole world, but you sure as hell could have told me.’

Brad’s mouth curled at the corners, spreading out into a grin.

‘And where would we have ended up then?’

She glared at him, speechless. He knew precisely where it would have ended up, and there wouldn’t have been a super-king size bed involved.

‘Exactly my point,’ he continued, not even waiting for her to reply. ‘And it was spectacular, wasn’t it? I wouldn’t have missed it. Would you?’

She could hardly refute his logic. It was difficult to have any regrets about what had happened. They were both consenting adults, they’d been responsible with protection, and the sex had been so hot it was a wonder they hadn’t left singe marks on the sheets. Still, she wasn’t going to let him off the hook entirely.

She stared at him.

‘You should have told me.’

‘I did plan to tell you, this morning, so that at least you heard it from me first before you got in to work, except when I woke up you were already gone.’

Trying to deflect away from his own bad behaviour by bringing up her slightly shabby conduct in doing a dawn-flit was a good try, but she wasn’t about to be diverted. However, good the sex might have been, at best it had occurred with her labouring under a misapprehension and at worst, under false pretences.

‘Well, don’t think I’m going to apologise for that now. And lucky for you you’re not a lousy lay, or this could have been a very different conversation.’

‘Fair enough.’ He laughed, a warm hearty chuckle. ‘I guess I had that coming.’

It had been obvious when they were talking at the cocktail party that they shared a similar sense of humour. It was one of several things, along with his looks and the professional, rather than sleazy, compliments men usually paid her, which had attracted her to him in the first place. Now she