11. Reed
“…and one of the elevators in my building was broken, so we hit every single floor on the way down. It was torture,” Lauren said from the seat at Maya’s vacant desk.
Reed smiled and nodded, trying to signal that he was following along even though she’d lost him somewhere around the expired Greek yogurt portion of her worst-morning-ever story.
“And to make it worse, I’m stuck next to my neighbor, who I really can’t stand, because we got into it over her dog barking incessantly every night when she goes out.”
Reed’s gaze shifted to the window in his office and caught something flying by. A bird, most likely, but it was too late to say. Now that he thought about it, he wasn’t sure if he’d ever seen a bird fly by their office before. Then he started wondering just how high birds could fly. He hoped it would fly by again so that he could see what kind it was, which was funny since he knew next to nothing about birds and probably wouldn’t be able to tell anyway. Maya would probably know, though, because she knew everything about everything. She’d probably be a killer person to have on a trivia team, actually. One of the local bars had to have a trivia night, maybe they could go one night after work. Speaking of bars, he wondered where she was, how happy hour went, how hungover she’d be this morning—
“Hey.”
And there she was, standing in the entrance to their office.
“Hey!” It probably came out a little strong, but he was really happy to see her. For so many reasons.
“Ooh, you are late, late, late!” Lauren chirped as she stood from Maya’s chair.
She was late. Forty-three minutes late to be exact, and she did not look like she was in the mood to talk about it.
“She was picking up files from the opposing counsel,” he said quickly.
Lauren made a disapproving sound and moved to exit the office, stopping to glance back at him on her way out. “Thai today?” she asked.
“You know what? We can’t,” he said, shaking his head. “We’ve got a thing.”
“You two are so boring.” Lauren sighed. “I thought having two summer associates would be more fun, but it’s even less fun than one. Back to work for me, I guess. See y’all later.”
“Later,” Reed called after her before looking up to find Maya standing in front of her desk staring at him with one hand on her hip.
“We have a thing? I don’t have anything in my planner.”
“Uh, no.”
Maya shook her head at him. “How many times are you gonna put her off?”
“I’m gonna go,” he defended before realizing he should qualify that in the interest of honesty. “One day.”
He watched as she put her coffee and a white paper bag down on the desk, then rid herself of her jacket and purse. She looked put-together, as always, in a little black dress. Not at all like you’d expect someone who had hit up three bars on a Monday night.
“You’re looking well this morning.”
“I’m trying,” she confessed.
When she finally met his eyes, he could only then make out the faintest bags under them, but the perfect and always-in-control Maya Hendricks was human after all, and it was a beautiful sight to behold.
“It’s here if you need it.” He tapped his hand against the desk drawer where he kept a bottle of Tylenol.
“Thanks, but unless you have a pillow and a sleep mask in there, I’m good. I’m exhausted.” She yawned as she collapsed into her chair. “Adam kept wanting to stay out just a little bit longer,” she explained as she imitated him pleading with her.
“Those two really hit it off, huh?”
“You have no idea. It’s nauseating, actually, how into each other they are. I was totally the third wheel. I’m not even sure why they wanted me there.”
“Sorry I left you hanging last night. I just needed to get—”
“It’s fine,” she interrupted. “Trust me. I shouldn’t have asked you anyway. It was out of line.”
“That wasn’t it at all. I wanted to go. Next time, I’m in.”
Her brow scrunched and head tilted, questioning his sincerity.
“I am,” he promised.
“Sure. One day?” she teased.
She was totally blowing him off, but he’d hold her to it. “Someday. Soon.”
“Riiight. So how was your night?” she asked.
“Not very eventful. I stopped by my brother’s place to visit for a bit, then I went home, caught up with laundry, did some reading for the case, and fell asleep early. That makes me sound about eighty, huh?”
She entertained his lame joke with a chuckle. “Only seventy,” she said, her voice low and husky, with a late breaking little smile that showed how pleased she was with herself at her quip.
He stilled. His sense of professionalism and visceral reaction to her undeniable sexiness at that moment clashed. He basically short-circuited just like he had last night when she all but purred Go for a triple header? He was almost positive it wasn’t personal, and it was for the best that he kept on thinking that way. They had just gotten to a good place with their working relationship, and he couldn’t risk fucking that up. He was grateful he’d decided to drop in to visit Emmett on his first night in his new place without the girls, otherwise he probably wouldn’t have been able to decline her invitation last night and who knows what may have happened.
“You have a brother?” she asked.
“Yeah, two of them actually, but only one still lives here.”
“Any sisters?”
“No, but I do have two nieces so it’s not a total boys’ club.”
She nearly choked on the sip of coffee she’d just taken. He stood to see if she was okay and she waved him off as she coughed.
“Wrong pipe. God, it’s already ten,” she said, quickly changing the subject as she glanced at the clock above his desk. “Okay, just let me finish my coffee and eat some breakfast, then I promise we’ll get to work.”
“No rush.”
She took a foil wrapped sandwich out of the white paper bag, then folded the top over and tossed it to him.
“Bacon, egg, and cheese. Don’t make me be bad alone,” she begged.
He bit down on the inside of his lip. Good God, Hendricks. He kept his eyes on the bag, opened it, and inhaled the scent of the greasy breakfast that was a departure from her usual yogurt or oatmeal, then threw a grin her way.
“Only for you.”
* * *
After putting in a good day’s work, Reed rewarded himself with a late afternoon ball game at Turner Field with his best friend since grade school.
“You know this is the first night I haven’t been at the bar in over a year,” Dev said.
Reed was surprised to hear such a thing, but on second thought, he hadn’t been around as much as he would have liked to for the past two years to even notice.
Dev Reddy was the son of doctors who had moved to the States from India a few years before he was born. His parents took positions at an underserved hospital near Clayville and quickly became beloved fixtures in the community. Though Dev didn’t share their love of medicine, he did inherit their strong work ethic and position as a beloved member of their small town.
“Well, thanks for spending it with me,” he said, raising his Coke to toast the occasion.
“Of course, buddy.” Dev tapped his plastic souvenir cup against Reed’s. “Only person I’d rather spend it with is my wife.” He cringed as soon as the words came out of his mouth. “No offense.”
“None taken when it comes to Willa.”
Reed put his feet on the back of the empty seat in front of him, and leaned back as he returned his attention to the Braves game down on the field.
“I’m looking forward to the day when we can both take a night off.”
“That’s gotta be soon,” Reed said as he seamlessly shifted his focus back to his friend. “You two have done wonders with the restaurant. It’s more crowded than I’ve seen it in years.”
“Yeah, it’s going well.”
The crack of the bat momentarily derailed their conversation as they both tracked a long fly ball soaring over center field.
“Get, get, get!” Reed urged, trying to will the ball over the wall for a home run, but it fell short landing in the center fielder’s glove for the third out of the inning. “Damn it. Sorry, you were sayin’?”
“We’re close to being able to hire a part-time cook and bar manager. That will change everything for us,” Dev continued as the Braves took the field to start the second inning.
“Well, in the meantime, I’m happy to help if you ever need a night off. I can’t cook like you, but I am more than capable of cracking open a beer.” He started to laugh at the thought of actually running the bar for a night, but was as sincere as could be. For Willa and Dev? He’d do it. Or try at least.
“That could be great for business, actually.” A mischievous smile formed on Dev’s lips. “Start a Ladies’ Night and have the most eligible bachelor in Clayville guest bartend?”
“Let’s not get carried away now.” Reed’s cheeks flushed as he backpedaled. “Anyway, you know Willa would have no part in that.” She’d never go for a gimmick like that, even if she was the one who was always trying to set him up on dates with the handful of eligible women left in Clayville.
“I know, but it’d be something if she did. How are things going with the internship?”
“Much better, actually. The case we’re working on turned out to be an interesting one. It hits close to home.”
“I’d ask, but I know you probably can’t talk about it.” The confidential nature of Reed’s work was something Dev was accustomed to at this point, so he’d learned not to probe. “And the people?”
“Also better.” Reed smiled to himself. “My partner’s sharp. Fun to work with.”
“Partner?”
“Sorry, old habit. My fellow associate. She turned out to be alright.”
“She?” Taking a page straight out of his wife’s book, Dev’s interest was piqued by the revelation. “You never mentioned that.”
“There’s nothing to mention, trust me,” Reed said, holding up a hand to tell him to settle down. Dev didn’t even know the half of it when it came to the strict boundaries Maya had put in place, and he certainly wasn’t going to tell him about the effect she’d been having on him lately. “We’re not even friends. Just co-workers. Totally professional.”
“Fair enough,” Dev allowed, dropping the subject easily, and returning his attention to the game.