Page 29 of The Interns

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“I’m never gonna let you hear the end of it if Prescott finds you in the city,” Reed teased.

“Do not say that.”

“You’re the one who put it out in the world.”

She took a sip from the glass of wine she’d finally been able to procure at the bar around the corner from their office, chuckling to herself as she pictured Freddy fucking Prescott leering at her thinking he had the upper hand when in all actuality, he had handed it to her on a silver platter.

“That guy’s so sleazy.”

“That’s the thing about guys like him,” Reed said. “They’re corrupt as all get out and overly confident, but they’re not smart about it. The only reason they get away with this shit is because nobody questions it.”

“Not this time.”

Reed smiled and raised his glass. “Not this time.”

Maya clinked her glass against his. This was shaping up to be a great summer. Solving cases, helping someone out, and having a little fun while doing it? Cheers to that, indeed.

“Seriously, though, I don’t want to say we have it in the bag, but…”

“We have it in the bag,” he said without hesitation. “This guy is gonna scare easily. I can feel it. We may not even make it to trial.”

“Shame.” She leaned back in her chair and slowly twirled her glass in hand. “I love a good challenge.”

She looked up to find him staring back at her, lips slightly parted like someone had hit the pause button on their conversation. And that someone would be her because she now realized how suggestive that must have sounded. He moved to take another sip and now she looked away as heat rolled under her skin. When she noticed the time on her watch, she realized she had completely lost track of time.

“Shit. I need to get going. I promised Adam I would meet up with him to go to this happy hour that Evan and his friends are having.”

“So the date went well?”

“The dates,” she corrected. “There was another one Sunday night.”

“Wow. Good for them.”

He looked quite satisfied to hear that. In fact, he looked almost proud in a way which she found pretty cute. He was technically there when they met, and she knew for a fact that he had been a topic of discussion on their first date, though she’d never let him know that considering the discussion also involved her.

“Any chance you wanna come with? Go for a triple header?”

Her heart started to beat just a little faster as he looked at her, tilting his head with a faint look of surprise on his face. It was a totally understandable reaction because what was she thinking? That was definitely not work-related. Yes, they were having a nice time and she easily could have stayed longer if she didn’t have somewhere else to be, but this was Reed, not some guy she was on a date with.

“Three bars in one day?”

“Yeah,” she choked out, her mouth suddenly dry.

“As tempting as that sounds, I probably shouldn’t. I’ve got a long drive home.”

“Right. Of course.”

She stood from her chair and grabbed her purse, avoiding eye contact as she busied herself gathering her things. It was impossible not to feel embarrassed after putting herself out there like that. She’d get the hell out of here and everything would just go back to normal tomorrow. She felt a tug on her purse strap, though, and found him standing right beside her with a grin.

“But you have fun,” he finished now that he had her attention. “I keep a bottle of Tylenol in my desk drawer. You know, just in case you need it.”

She put her hand on her hip and quirked an eyebrow at him. “You really think I’d roll into work hungover? Me? Come on. I don’t party on work nights, I’m just going for moral support.”

“You never know,” he teased before growing more serious. “Strong work today, Hendricks.”

“You too, Stanton.”

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