Page 13 of Cocky Counsel

Seven

Ethan

“Get the paperwork drawn up and have it delivered to me this afternoon,” I ordered then hung up the phone. I glanced at myself in the mirror of the tiny bathroom in Eva’s apartment where I had been taking the majority of my business calls while she slept.

I had been here for over four hours and was pleasantly surprised that she had finally fallen asleep and appeared to be getting some rest. From the sound of her loud snoring on the couch, I didn’t have to wonder whether she had woken up yet or not. When I first showed up at her apartment, I was convinced that she had called in to avoid me after what had happened yesterday. When she didn’t bother to get up to open the door and sounded drunk as she attempted to mutter a response to me, I requested that her apartment manager let me inside for a welfare check.

When I got inside, I hadn’t expected to see her as sick as she was. It made sense given that Kate was so ill, and they had been working together the past few days. Her fever was high when I got here and stayed pretty consistent as I checked it every thirty minutes. After consulting with my mother, a retired nurse, she advised me to take her to the emergency room if it climbed above 103 degrees. For the last hour, she had been hovering around 102.5 which had me concerned that she wasn’t getting any better.

I was sitting in the chair across from her, working on my laptop that I had brought over earlier when she rolled over and her eyes fluttered open. It took her a few minutes to focus before she realized that I was there. She slowly lifted herself to a sitting position and rubbed her throat before coughing.

“Why are you here?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

“To take care of you.” I knew how it sounded after I said it. It wasn’t the response that I should have had as her boss, but it was the first thing that came spilling out of my mouth. I found that I genuinely meant it.

“Thank you, but you can go. I don’t need anyone to take care of me.” She pulled her shoulders back defiantly as she tried to narrow her eyes at me. Suddenly, without warning, she sneezed. I watched as her body flinched in response, her hand grabbing her side as she tried to brace herself for the next one. She leaned forward and grabbed the box of tissues from the table before she leaned back against the couch.

“Eva, stop being so stubborn and let me take care of you,” I suggested, as I set my computer on the floor beside me and got up to get her a glass of water from the kitchen so she could take some of the medicine that I had delivered earlier. I popped a few tablets out of the package and carried them with me, waiting for her to finish sneezing before I sat down on the edge of the couch beside her. I extended my hand with the pills to her and waited for her to take them.

“What are these?” she asked suspiciously.

“Cold and flu, something or another,” I shrugged. “I can get the package if you want to look at it,” I offered.

“Where did you get them? I know that I didn’t have these in my medicine cabinet, which also makes me worried that you’ve been sitting here, going through my stuff.” She cringed and crinkled her nose, forcing another round of sneezing.

I scooted back to avoid the warzone as she attempted to cover each sneeze with a tissue. Soon, she was covered in a mound of them on her lap, her face red and splotchy.

“I didn’t go through your stuff, I had them delivered earlier.”

“You had someone deliver drugs to you?” She arched a brow as she reached out and took the pills and glass of water from me.

“Well, that makes me sound like a drug dealer, so no—I didn’t have someone deliver drugs to me. I had my assistant bring me medicine, as well as a few other things.”

“A man with a plan,” she teased quietly before taking the pills and swallowing the drink of water. “Thank you, I appreciate the medicine.”

“You’re welcome.” I stood up and glanced at the mess around her. There was a trashcan next to her on the floor, but it was full as well with tissues overflowing from the top of it. I went to the kitchen and opened the cabinet under the sink, thankful when I found the trash bags front and center. I pulled one out and shook it open as I made my way back to where she was sitting on the couch. I held it in front of her, waiting as she collected the used tissues and tossed them in. I grabbed the trashcan from the floor and emptied it into the bag as well. There were a few empty Gatorade containers on the coffee tablet that I added to the bag before setting it by the door to take out later when I left.

“What do you feel like for dinner?” I asked, taking my place in the chair across from her again.

She made a grossed-out face and shook her head.

“I’m not hungry.”

“You still need to eat,” I scolded, suddenly feeling like my mother.

“I’ll eat some crackers or something later,” she brushed me off and turned her attention to the tv when I set my eyes on her and pinned her with a look.

“Eva,” I warned. “What do you want for dinner? I’m ordering food and don’t want to have to decide for you.”

I waited impatiently with my phone in between my hands, ready to scroll through the options of food delivery choices once she made up her mind. She folded her arms across her chest and stared back at me. Our eyes locked onto each other, each waiting for the other to back down and look away.

“I really get to you, don’t I?” she asked.

“Get to me?” I furrowed my brow. Of all the things she did to me, get to me wasn’t one of them.

“Mmm-hmm.” She pulled her mouth to the side in a sexy smirk that I would love to wipe off her face if she wasn’t sick and borderline looking like death at the moment. “It must drive you nuts that I don’t just bow down and do whatever you say.”

“There are plenty of things that drive me nuts. Like trying to figure out what to feed someone who won’t tell me what they want.” I narrowed my eyes at her.

---