Page 41 of Muddy Messy Love

To my left, a view of Collins Street looms. A skyscraper stands beyond the colonial windows, but now doesn’t feel like the time to admire. I offer a timid smile as I drop to the chair, but Cole’s gaze remains hard, knotting my stomach.

“Did you have a good weekend?” His sullen tone doesn’t match the sentiment, but I respond to his words alone.

“Yes, actually. You?” Memories of his dazzling lady friend surface, and my teeth clench. I’ll bet he had agreatweekend.But rather than answer me, Cole presses his mouth into a firm line, and his nostrils subtly flare.Shit. “Is this about my case?” I ask, wringing my hands.

He shakes his head. “Provided you don’t breach your bond, your case is done.”

I loosen my grip, but Cole doesn’t continue, so I cock a brow and add a cheeky smile, trying for levity. “Are you promoting me already?”

That earns me a wince as Cole retrieves a chunky white binder from his drawer that thumps to the desk. “Have you read Benedict Kane’s company policy manual?”

“I didn’t know you had one.”

“Well, we do. Copies are available in every section, Mini-Bees included. Hannah should have told you.”

“I’m sorry.” I swallow. “I’ll read it as soon as possible.”

Cole’s mint gaze pins me, swirling with a dozen indecipherable things, and my insides twist and tingle. Gifting transcendent eyes to a mere mortal really isn’t fair. I itch to rub that crease from his brow with my thumb. The weight of the world seems to live in that line. “Um…was that all?” My voice is pitchy, this whole scenario strange, and Cole hesitates a beat as if warring with himself before sliding the binder to me.

“Turn to section three, page eighty-seven, and read.”

I fumble through the pages with a frown that only deepens when number eighty-seven appears. I glance up. “Staff fraternisation policy…? I’m not sure I understand.”

Cole plants his elbows on the desk, re-steepling his fingers under his chin. “I think you understand perfectly. Turn to item 3.1.”

I look down, flip the page, then read, “Sexual and/or romantic relationships between staff are forbidden.” The accusation drops like acid rain, heating my cheeks and scorching Tej’s face into the zigzag timber floor. Saturday night. Us together. Sharing aride home. How it must have looked. But surely Cole wouldn’t assume— I snap my eyes back to his. “I’m afraid you have this all wrong.”

“I doubt that. I’m rarely wrong. Were you, or were you not, in the company of Tej Patil on Saturday night?”

“Well, yes, but it wasn’t—”

“And did you ride home together?”

The son of a bitch is interrogating me. Squaring my shoulders, I calmly inhale. “Yes, but we—”

“The yes will suffice. Consider this your first warning. If you value your job, you’ll stay away from Tej Patil. Work together, and that’s it.”

My mouth opens and closes wordlessly like a goldfish. Arguing with Snowman Cole seems tantamount to fighting a grizzly bear. But a warning? For bumping into a colleague outside work and sharing a ride home? I had no idea employment came with such control. It feels like…jail.

Tears prick my eyes as humiliation sets in, and the air thickens to glue, but a foreign urge sparks high in my stomach too. One that steels my spine and urges me to fight this ridiculous injustice. After all, I’m an adult now, and I decide what treatment I will and won’t tolerate, hierarchy be damned.

I drop my gaze to the binder and skim my fingernail across the laminated words as I stand, searing each one into my brain.

“What are you doing?” Cole asks.

I hold up a finger, shushing him, and finish the section, scanning the contents page before meeting his gaze with clenched fists and hot pride burning away my fear. “Nowhere in that section does it forbid platonic friendships between staff. In fact, your core values and history of trust-building retreats encourage it. But despite that, firing someone for screwing a consenting parity colleague outside work hours screams unfair dismissal to me, and I doubt this policy would stand up in court.In fact, I bet you know it won’t. It’s merely a deterrent, costing promotions at most.

“And, finally, what kind of brilliant lawyer jumps to rash conclusions instead of first gathering the facts? Facts like Tej and I live three suburbs apart, and it’s cheaper to rideshare. Facts like men and women can be just friends. Facts like most guys don’t carry a guitar around on a date night. And facts like I don’t sleep with people I just met!” My chest heaves, my breaths coming fast and shallow, like I’ve conquered Kilimanjaro. Hell knows his ego seems akin. But beyond the sound of blood rushing in my ears, there’s silence.

Stunned. Silence.

Cole leans back in his chair and rubs his clean-shaven chin. “Have you ever considered law school?”

I scrunch up my face. “Are you fucking kidding me right now?”

His lips twitch with amusement. “Language, Miss Masters.”

But the usual effect those three words have is lost in my fury. “What is all this? Do you regret hiring me, is that it? Do you want me gone? If so, I’ll go. I’m not staying somewhere I’m not wanted.” Not anymore. I’ve spent half my life living that way.

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