Page 5 of Defensive Hero

She stays.

Four days later, and she’s still here.

I give her a heavy workload, and she meets all my demands. Where I expect her to glare at me for the amount of work I toss her way, she seems way too excited to have more work to do. Perhaps a little too excited.

Most annoying of all is the fact that I can’t bring myself to reprimand her when she makes errors. I am known to raise hell over the slightest of mistakes, but when she looks at me with her bewitching eyes, I can’t bring myself to say a word.

Four days after the brown-eyed girl comes into my life, and everything has changed. I have been told I have the rare talent of sucking the life out of bright-eyed kids who come to work for me, and yet, the light in Sandy’s eyes remains.

“Here are the case files you asked for, Mr. Hile. I’ve organized them and made sure everything is in order for your upcoming court appearances,” she says, passing over a file to me before placing a clear bag on the empty spot on the desk. “I’m still working on the police report we received for the robbery case, but is there anything specific you would like me to focus on today?”

My eyes lock on the plastic bag on my desk before shifting back to hers. “What is that?”

Her eyes follow mine, and fuck, there is that smile again. It’s so bright and innocent. “The kind woman at the bakery told me to bring this for you when I went in to grab your coffee,” she beams. “It’s a chocolate croissant. I just had one, and they are heavenly.”

I stare at her, really stare at this girl, who to me feels unreal. I have never met anyone who smiles so much in my life. No one has ever smiled at me as much as she does. Other than the first day when she was a ball of nerves, she seems to take even to my dark mood well.

It’s unnerving.

Everyone in this town is wary of me. They respect the Hile name that’s been passed on through generations of lawyers, and some of them fear the power that name carries, but very few of them can withstand my attitude, let alone meet it with a bright smile.

She’s different.

Everything about this girl is different.

“I don’t eat sweets,” I tell her, nudging the bag back toward her, but the smile remains as I do so. “You should take this with you.”

“You haven’t tried the croissant; you might have a change of heart,” she says, unbagging the contents. “Annie, the owner of the bakery, asked me to personally deliver this to you. She would be upset if you turned down her offer, don’t you think?”

Who cares what Annie thinks,is what I would say if I didn’t personally know the woman. She’s been running her bakery since I was a small boy. She is one of the few people in Valor Springs not affected at all by my bad attitude. No, Annie doesn’t put with anyone’s bullshit, not even mine. Of course, having witnessed my awkward pre-teen years firsthand might have something to do with that.

At least that’s something the town’s baker shares with my assistant. The only difference between the two is that I don’t spend every waking hour thinking of Annie.

For the last four days, Sandy has been front, center, and back of my mind for an alarming amount of time. She is all I ever seem to think about, and when she’s near—as she is right now, nudging a box of chocolate croissants toward me—I am too weak to resist her.

I want her.

Perhaps more than I have ever wanted anything in my entire life, but I can’t have her. Something tells me it would be unwise to give in to my desires. I have never been involved with any of my staff before, and I am not going to start now.

With Sandy, I know once would not be enough.

No, it’s better if I keep my distance.

Chapter Three

Sandy

“I can’t believe I lost the bet.”

“Me either. I was so sure she would be gone by the second day.”

I turn away from the printer to find two girls from the billing department standing behind me, gossiping, and their smiles quickly drop when they notice me watching them. I flash them a smile, but they quickly hurry off, and I am left staring at their backs.

Wait, do they hate me?

Why else would they run off suddenly at my sight? I’ve never experienced workplace bullying…. Is this what is happening?

“I can see your mind running a mile a second,” someone says, sliding up next to me. I look up to find Martha and a blonde girl I recognize as another legal assistant who works for a different lawyer.

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