Page 14 of The Interns

“I’d be pissed off if I’d been let go from my job, too,” Maya mumbled out the side of her mouth.

“You don’t say.”

She should have been offended, but involuntarily snorted with laughter instead. Reed remained focused on the screen, but she noticed him biting down on his lip to keep from grinning at her reaction. He’d known her for all of forty-eight hours, but she’d earned that with the serious side she’d shown him so far.

“Well, it’s not okay to lay hands on someone,” he reminded her, shifting the focus back to their client and the case. “He’s lucky they didn’t get him for trespassing on private property, too,” he added as he hit replay again.

“You do know we’re supposed to be on his side, right?” she shot back. If he was gonna dish it out, so was she.

“And you do know it’s probably in all of our interests to be aware of any and all potential charges against our client. The courtroom is the last place you want to be surprised.”

Maya stared at him and coughed out a laugh. He had a legitimate point, but she wasn’t going to let him know that. “Of course I do. Just making sure you’re awake since you look like you just rolled out of bed.”

He glanced at her with questioning eyes, and she ran her hand over her chin to demonstrate his lazy scruff. He huffed a laugh and returned his attention to the monitor. “Damn, Hendricks. And here I was thinking you had blinders on—wait a minute.” He straightened up in his seat and leaned forward, reaching for the mouse to trace back a few frames. “Look right there.”

“Where am I looking?” She stared at the same scene they had watched at least a dozen times by now.

“The dark spot on the counter.” He tapped the spot on the computer screen.

“Okay.” She leaned in closer to focus on the screen as Reed played it, slowed down to frame by frame.

“Johnson moves his hand over it,” Reed pointed out, “and then it’s gone. Right?”

“Right. What do you think it is?”

“I don’t know.” He leaned back in his chair again. “Keys maybe?”

“Trespassing, assault, and theft? Yeah, I think you’ve looked at this enough.” She reached for the mouse to exit from the video player. “You need to remember you’re not a cop anymore. You’re his lawyer who’s supposed to be defending him.”

“I can’t help it,” he said with a grin.

When she realized she was full out grinning back at him, she bit down on the inside of her lip to rein it in. No. No, no, no. She was not going to indulge his southern charm and let him distract her so easily. She said it herself, they were here to work, and that’s what they were going to do.

She cleared her throat and straightened in her chair. “So plea bargain?”

“Yep,” he agreed.

“Have you ever done one?” she asked.

“Nope. You?”

“Not technically.”

“Well, I am shocked, Hendricks.”

“Shut up, Stanton.”

“Looks like you two are having fun!”

They looked up from their spots side-by-side at his desk to find Lauren standing in the open door to their office, leaned against the frame with her arms folded across her chest and a curious smile. She was really going for it, huh? While Maya stupidly inserted herself into this situation yesterday, she was starting over and backing off today. Whether something developed between them or not, she was going to give her best effort to her assigned case with hopes of closing it and joining the arts case within a few weeks.

“We’re just working on our case,” Maya explained, resuming her all-business demeanor as she used her feet to push her chair away from him and create an opening for Lauren.

“Must be more interesting than mine.” Lauren pushed herself away from the doorframe and started walking towards Reed’s desk where all the action seemed to be happening. “What do you have?”

“Not sure yet,” he answered.

Maya’s eyes narrowed on him. They knew exactly what they had, so it was interesting that he chose not to share. What was more interesting, though, was how he kept his eyes level with Lauren’s as he spoke to her, not letting them linger over other parts of her body that were at eye level considering how she was perched on the corner of his desk.

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