Chapter 13
Max
It’s seven a.m., and I’m excited to head to the office, which is absolutely crazy.
I love my job, and I love my office—my work is my life—but it isn't that I particularly enjoy going there. But today feels different. Today, there’s a pep in my step that I haven't felt for a really long time, and I don't want to analyze why that is.
"Morning, Max," Kingston says as I exit the elevator and head toward my office.
"Morning," I say, looking at him in surprise. "You’re here early."
"I had some paperwork I needed to take care of before I go to court this morning." He looks at me. "But that doesn't explain why you are here this early."
"I wanted to get ahead on a couple of cases because Marie is actually going to join me in a couple of weeks."
"She’s joining you?" Kingston says in surprise. "What do you mean joining you?"
"She called me last night and asked if she could come and stay. Turns out, my dad is still a douchebag and is cheating on her mom, and I don't want her to have any sort of emotional issues."
"Marie?" He looks at me and shakes his head. "Your sister is the last person I would ever expect to have emotional issues."
"Yeah, because she has a big brother like me taking care of her," I say with a chuckle. "But anyway, even though she knows I have to work, I want to ensure that I've got some time for her when she first gets to town."
"You're a good big brother," Kingston says. "She's lucky to have you."
"Don't be getting all sentimental on me, Kingston."
"I'm not, trust me. Just make sure you're getting your shit done."
"You're talking to me like you think you're my boss instead of my partner."
"Hey," he says, "what can I say? Am I not really the big boss around here?"
I laugh. "You wish."
"So, how's it going with your new assistant?" he asks, grinning at me.
"Fabulously," I say, my heart racing as I think of Lila. "She's going to be a real asset to the firm."
"Yeah, right," Kingston says. "Does she even know what a brief is?"
I just shake my head. "No comment."
"Well, let's just hope she lasts a month," he says, grinning.
"She will be here a lot longer than a month. I can assure you of that."
"I just hope that doesn't mean your work is going to suffer."
"You know what, Kingston? Not funny."
"Well, what can I say?" He pauses. "Oh, yeah, you will never believe what happened to me last night."
"What happened?"
"Do you remember that girl, Ashley?"
"No, Kingston. I do not remember Ashley."
"You know. Big boobs, long blond hair, brown eyes."
"That could be any number of women you've slept with in the last decade."
"Whatever. You know who I'm talking about. Remember, she said she wanted to be my 'maid'?" He holds out his fingers and does quotes.
"No, I don't really remember this."
"Remember, she had a thing for role play? She used to like to be a maid, and she wanted me to act like I was her boss."
"Okay. Well, what about her?"
"Dude, she came over last night in a trench coat."
"Okay, and?"
"And she opened it, and she had nothing on underneath."
"You dirty dog!" I laugh. "You did not fulfill one of every man's fantasies."
He chuckles. "I will neither confirm nor deny what happened at my apartment around eleven twenty-two last night, but I will say that the Trojan manufacturing plant thanks me for my service."
"Dude."
"What? It was Ashley's idea, not mine."
"I'm going to my office now."
I turn to do just that but turn back to him before I’ve taken two steps.
"Oh, did you hire your new assistant yet?"
"Actually, I hired that girl, Skye. She had a good résumé." He shrugs. "And she doesn't really know Lila very well. They just met that morning on the way to the office."
"You know they met on the way to an audition to be actresses, right?"
He cocks his head to the side and frowns. "No, she didn't tell me that part."
"I'm just saying." I shrug. "But good luck to you."
"Hmm, I will have to speak to her when she gets in. Anyway, I'll talk to you later?"
"Sounds good. Is Remy in the office yet?"
He shakes his head. "I don't think so, but I did hear from Gabe. He will be back on Monday."
"Great. We'll have a partners' meeting Monday morning?"
"Sounds good. I'll let everyone know," Kingston says.
"Great. Thanks."
I head to my office, and I'm surprised to see that there's a light on.
Has someone been in here? I hurry toward my desk, and my jaw drops when I see a brown bag and a white Styrofoam cup on the desk.
I open the bag and sniff. It's a freshly made bagel.
I open the top of the cup, and there's coffee.
Is Lila here already? I look around for a couple of seconds, frowning, and she walks in with a big smile on her face.
"Good morning, Mr. Spector. How are you today?" she says in an almost robotic fashion, and I freeze for a couple of moments.
I am slightly disappointed to realize that she's wearing a much more appropriate suit today. A long skirt and an almost Victorian-looking white shirt with buttons all the way up her neck. Maybe she’s trying to let me know that she is no longer interested in flirting.
"Did you poison this?" I hold up the coffee cup and sniff.
"No, I would never do that to you, Mr. Spector,” she says demurely, and my eyes narrow as she steps forward, a serene smile on her face.
"I just want to let you know that I want to be the best, most professional assistant you've ever seen.
" She holds her hands together. "Is there anything that I can do for you, Mr. Spector? Do you need any sugar for your coffee?"
I take a sip of the coffee. Surprisingly, it's not that bad, so I shake my head.
"Why are you here so early?"
"Well, when I got your email last night, I decided I could let this go one of two ways. I can appreciate that my boss wants a bagel for breakfast and get it, or I can email him and tell him to stuff the bagel up his ass. I decided to go with the former."
I can't stop myself from chuckling. "I'd like to see you try and stuff a bagel up my ass."
"Would you?" She breaks the demure smile off her face, her eyes sparkling as she smirks. "Because I can pull that bagel out of the bag and have you bend over if you want."
"Really, Lila?"
She blushes. "But I would never do such a thing," she says in her Stepford wife voice again.
"What is up with your outfit and the way you're talking to me?"
"I have no idea what you mean, Mr. Spector. I am the epitome of a perfect legal assistant, and while I may not have the experience, I will do my very best to be the sort of assistant you deserve and need."
"Are you like an AI robot? Did the world change overnight and create AI robots that look like real people, and I didn't know it?"
"No, Mr. Spector." She giggles. "It's me, Lila Haversham, and I—"
"Lila." I hold my hand up. "You were annoying as fuck yesterday, but this shit is even more annoying."
She bites down on her lower lip. "But I thought you wanted me to be the perfect assistant."
"The perfect assistant doesn't talk like a robot and act like a Stepford wife. I hired you because I think you can eventually learn to do a good job and…"
"Because you want to…" She grins as I glare at her.
"Go ahead. I want to what?"
"You want to do a good job at your firm," she says quickly.
"Okay, because if you were going to say I want to sleep with you one more time…"
"No, sir. You are a professional. You would never sleep with your assistant, would you?"
"No, I would not," I confirm.
"And I'm a professional, too. I would never sleep with my boss. Especially not one that looks like you."
"Excuse me?"
"You're handsome in an obvious way, but I like men who are distinguished-looking and have a bit of uniqueness to them. You're like a carbon copy frat guy."
"I'll have you know I was never in a frat."
"Well, you're just like a carbon copy of a generic, good-looking guy.
Yeah, you could go to Hollywood and make it as an A-list star, and yeah, a lot of women probably want you, but that's not what I'm attracted to.
Sure, you may have a six-pack, but ew. Who really wants to be with a guy with a six-pack?
All six-packs do is make you feel self-conscious about your own body. "
"Is that your way of telling me you don't have a six-pack, or is that your way of telling me you want to see my six-pack?"
"No," she says, shaking her head. "I don't want to see your six-pack."
"Good," I say as I step around my desk and come to her. I take another sip of the coffee and swallow slowly. "Because there's one thing you should know, Lila."
"Yes?" she says, her eyes fluttering as I take another step toward her.
"I don't have a six-pack."
"You don't?" Her eyes widen, and she looks down at my stomach in disbelief.
"I have an eight-pack," I say as I bring my lips close to her ear and blow lightly before pulling back.
Her face is red, and I watch as she swallows hard. "An eight-pack?" She rolls her eyes. "Of course, you would have an eight-pack."
"I'm a perfectionist." I shrug. "What can I say?"
"Nothing," she says.
"Well, good for you, but of course, you wouldn't want to see my eight-pack, would you?"
"No, of course not," she says. "Why would I?"
"I don't know. Maybe because you were thinking about it all night."
"No, I was not," she says. "Why would you say that?"
"Why are you acting like I read your mind? Were you thinking about me last night?" I ask, looking her up and down.
I realize that even though the white shirt she's wearing is Victorian in style, the material is also quite thin, and I can see the outline of her bra.
Dirty thoughts run through my mind as I picture undoing one button at a time and ripping that shirt off her.
I bet she has a beautiful chest. I bet her breasts are perky and…
"Sorry, what did you say, Mr. Spector?" she says, and I realize that I have completely spaced out.
"I said that I think you should do some research on Mrs. Whittington this morning and give me a bullet list of everything you find out around one o'clock."
"Okay," she says, nodding. "Is there anything else you'd like me to do?"
"No. I think that is good for now," I tell her. "And do see your office desk right outside there?"
"Yes," she says. "Should I go there now?"
"I think that would be best," I say. "Thank you for the bagel and coffee."
"You're welcome," she says, turning to me with a small smile. "Let me know if there's anything else you want me to do, or you know, paperwork to file."
"Don't forget you're meeting with HR again later today. I do not want to get in trouble for having you miss a second day."
"I know," she says. "I won't forget."
There's a warm smile on her face as she runs her fingers through her hair.
"And Lila?" I ask her as she heads toward the door.
"Yes, Mr. Spector?" She turns and looks back at me.
"I'm glad to see you this morning."
"Thank you," she says, looking surprised. "Just don't think you can text me or email me every evening and demand a bagel."
"Well, I don't need to do that now, do I? You already know."
"I guess I do," she says, shaking her head. "Okay. I'll do the research now."
"Sounds good."
I watch as she goes to her desk, then I head back to mine and sit down. My phone rings, and I groan when I see it's my father.
"Hi, Dad," I say, answering quickly. "Can't talk long. I'm busy doing work."
"It's not even eight o'clock in the morning yet."
"I know, but as an attorney, that's when I’m at the top of my game—"
"Marie says that she is going to be living with you?" My father cuts me off.
I had wanted to speak to him before Marie. "Dad, she seems like she's having a hard time there and—"
"I mean, if you think you can deal with her and her attitude, go right ahead."
"What?" I say in surprise. "You and—"
"If you want to deal with Marie, let her go to New York. She'll realize very quickly that the life she has here is amazing and cannot be beaten."
"Dad…"
"What? You're her big brother, and you know best, right? Just like you knew that I—"
"Dad, we're not getting into this right now," I say, cutting him off.
"Whatever. Just know that I'm going to be putting her on a plane next week."
"Fine. You know I love her, and she can stay with me as long as she needs to."
"Good. I suppose she told you that her mother and I are having some issues."
"Yes, Dad," I say snidely. "That's part of the reason why she wants to leave the house."
He sighs. "Well, that's none of her business, is it? She shouldn't involve herself in grown people's issues."
"Dad, I'm going to go now. Okay?"
I hang up before he can answer, put my face in my hands, and squeeze my temples. "Oh, Marie," I think out loud. "Oh, Marie."