Will you be having another weekly meeting next Monday?”
“Yes. But won’t that fall outside the week you’ve earmarked for shadowing me? Are you sure you want to keep following me around after your obligatory week is up?”
Reed’s tone is flirty and fun, so I throw back more of the same.
“Hey, whatever it takes to write the best possible article about you, I’m willing to make the sacrifice. Although, to be clear, an extra day of following you around will be a huge sacrifice.”
I can hear his smile across the phone line. “The Intrepid Reporter strikes again.”
My stomach somersaults. I look around the clerk’s office, feeling guilty as hell. But why? I’m not doing anything wrong. I’m only doing exactly what I was hired to do: dig a little deeper. Exactly what Reed knows I was hired to do. I mean, come on, as fun as this surprising romance with Reed is, it’s not like it will lead to anything serious. It’s fun, yes. So fun, it should be illegal. But I can’t let it sidetrack me from my higher purpose, which is writing the most kickass article I can, and getting myself my dream job.
“I think I’ll catch the weekly meeting next week,” I say. “And meet you back at your house later, after I’m done with my work.”
“Okay. Work hard. Play hard. And I’ll do the same.” He chuckles. “Although, I must admit, I’m gonna have a bitch of a time trying to get you off my mind during my weekly meeting. I could barely do it during my meeting with Leonard and the expert witness.”
My heart skips a beat. He’s so freaking yummy, I can barely stand it. “Yeah, I can honestly say I’ve been thinking about you, pretty much nonstop, since I left Leonard’s office. How was the meeting with the expert, by the way?”
“Couldn’t have gone better. She agrees the infringement lawsuit is total and complete bullshit—nothing but a meritless money-grab by an unscrupulous plaintiffs’ lawyer.”
“Oh, that’s great news.”
“It is. I already knew the lawsuit is bullshit. But the legal system is such a crap shoot sometimes. It’s nice to hear an expert confirm what I already know.”
“I bet. You’ve been sued a lot, huh?”
“Oh, God, Georgie. So many times, I’ve lost count. It would boggle your mind if you saw an actual list of all the times one of my companies has been sued for one thing or another over the years.”
I look down at the printout of lawsuits that’s coincidentally sitting on my lap at this very moment, and my stomach tightens again. Why do I feel like I’m doing something terribly wrong by having this printout? Why do I feel like I’m doing something disloyal by being here at all, and not telling Reed about it? Truly, I need to take a chill pill, keep my eye on the prize, and my mouth shut—at least, for now, until I know what’s in the documents I’ve ordered. For all I know, I’ll read the entire stack and think, Yeah, so what?
“Hey, maybe I should come to the coffee place and meet this other reporter,” Reed says. “I could reschedule my team meeting...”
“No!” I take a deep breath. “Don’t do that. Just go about your normal life. I don’t want to be a disruption.”
He chuckles. “Well, it’s too late for that. You’ve already knocked my world off its axis, Georgina.”
My breathing halts. “You’ve knocked my world off its axis too,” I whisper. I cup my hand to the phone, so nobody else waiting in the clerk’s office will overhear me. “I feel addicted to you, Reed. So horny for you, I think I might be losing my mind.”
He lets out a slow exhale. “Amalia’s leaving at five today. Be at my house at five-oh-one.”
“I’ll be there. I can’t wait to be alone with you again. Now that I’m hearing your voice again, I’m physically craving you.”
His breathing has become audible. “I can’t wait to make you scream again. I can’t stop thinking about the way it felt to fuck you in my swing.”
“Georgina?” a male voice says, and I abruptly swivel my head toward the counter, bug-eyed, like a thief caught with two bags of money. Charles, the clerk, is approaching the counter.
“I’ve got to go,” I blurt to Reed. “The... barista just called my name for my coffee order. I’ll see you at five-oh-one.”
“Don’t be late.”
“I won’t.”
My heart racing, I hang up, feeling like an asshole, a liar, a scumbag for lying to