Page 15 of Cocky Counsel

Eight

Eva

Almost everything from the past forty-eight hours felt like a blur, my fever making me feel delirious and causing me to question my sanity. I could have sworn that I had dreamt that Ethan came by yesterday to take care of me and that we ended the day together, enjoying a warm bowl of soup while cuddled next to each other on the couch. When I rolled over and woke up, I felt slightly relieved that I was alone and somehow had managed to get myself to bed safely last night.

I got out of bed and pulled the plush, warm robe from the chair by the window, and slid it on. It looked rather warm outside with the sun beating through my window, but I still had a chill that I couldn’t get rid of. If I had to guess, I was likely still running a fever. So much for hoping that it was a quick, twenty-four-hour bug after all. I made a quick note to check in with Regina to see how Kate was doing and to let her know that I would be out another day. I also needed to let Ethan know that Graham was planning to come by this morning to discuss things with him.

I walked down the short hallway into the living room and kitchen—they were a shared space which helped to make my small apartment feel bigger than it was. I stopped in place, my heart skipping a beat, when I looked over and found Ethan stretched out, asleep on the couch. He was still wearing dress slacks, and his button-down shirt was now wrinkled and rolled up to his elbows. The jacket that went with it was hung on the back of the chair across from him with his shoes neatly tucked underneath it.

I took a few minutes to admire his gorgeous face as he slept. For once, he looked peaceful. He wasn’t frowning and the vein in his forehead was nowhere to be found. I wondered if this was what he might look like on a good day when he was happy and not stressed at work. My mind quickly wandered back to the night when I first met him and how calm and collected he looked sitting in the VIP lounge. He definitely had a charisma about him that made people notice him, but he didn’t seem to intimidate anyone the way he did when he was at the office. In public, women were practically salivating at the sight of him, and men quickly moved out of his way. No one cowered or kept their head down until he passed for fear of being noticed by him.

A strand of his dark hair rested on his forehead and my fingers itched to reach over and brush it away. To run them through his thick mane and feel how soft it was. While I took good care of my hair, I was also quite envious of his and wondered how much work it took for him to get that slightly mussed look. I sat down on the arm of the chair, continuing to stare at him when suddenly his eyes fluttered open, and he looked at me. He smiled and sat up, rolling his head back across his shoulders.

“Good morning,” he grumbled, his voice low. “How did you sleep?”

“Morning,” I said quietly. “Too good,” I laughed. “For a minute, I thought I had dreamt that my boss came by my apartment and fed me magical chicken noodle soup that healed me.”

“It was better than the burnt toast you offered to make.” He laughed and raised an eyebrow at me. I could feel the heat rush up the sides of my face, spreading quickly as I remembered a sliver of the conversation about my cooking abilities last night.

“I did NOT tell you about the burnt toast,” I moaned, covering my face in my hands.

“Oh, you sure did. Amongst other things.” He smiled a crooked smile, one that I hadn’t seen before. While I liked it and it was incredibly sexy on him, it made me worry about what else I had voluntarily confided in him in my drugged state.

I waited a few minutes to see if he would tell me on his own. Instead, he got up and grabbed his cell phone from the coffee table, checking his messages while wearing a smug smile. I racked my brain, trying to remember as much as I could but everything was really fuzzy in my head. After all, I thought I had dreamed that he was at my apartment taking care of me, and yet here he was, standing in front of me while the empty take-out containers that sat on the counter by the door. He slid his phone into his pocket and turned his attention to me.

“What else did I tell you?” I asked nervously, chewing on my fingernail. “If it was anything personal or inappropriate—I apologize now.” I held my hands up in front of me, knowing that I had a habit of talking and saying too much when I should learn to keep my mouth shut.

Once the word inappropriate was out of my mouth, I felt the energy between us shift as we both remembered what had happened in the file room. The playful side of him was gone, and I was immediately greeted by the rigid Ethan that everyone at work feared. Everyone except me.

“Look, about Tuesday,” he said as he raked a hand through his hair as he started to pace in front of the couch. “That shouldn’t have happened, and I’m sorry that it did. We work together and our relationship needs to stay professional.” His eyes went wide with embarrassment when he said relationship. “Not that there could be a relationship— I’m not that kind of man,” he hurriedly assured me.

“Got it,” I said with a hint of annoyance in my voice. “But just so we’re clear— you came on to me in the file room yesterday. Not the other way around. And while it was pleasant and enjoyable, I was not hired on to be some sort of booty call. I expect that we can put this behind us and that you will step aside from your ego and train me on how to do the job you hired me to do.”

“Technically, Regina hired you,” he said with a smirk that perfectly highlighted his dimples. I rolled my eyes and looked away, though I was happy to see the playful side wasn’t too far from the surface after all.

“I thought you called in and were avoiding me because of what happened,” he admitted, rolling back on his heels as he looked at me.

“Unfortunately, no. I would have been there if I could have seen straight and didn’t feel like death. Which you got to see firsthand when you showed up and refused to leave.” I gave him a pointed look followed by a playful eyebrow quirk.

He nodded in agreement.

“I’m used to people cowering and avoiding me when conflict arises, so it was my first assumption. After what happened with Graham...” His voice trailed off, laced with the insulting insinuation that he still thought I had done something wrong. My eyes narrowed as I stood up and faced him, barely a few inches separating us. The way his body towered over mine didn’t intimidate me in the least. I could smell his cologne, the scent overwhelming my senses, making it hard for me to focus. I shook my head to clear it so I could focus on what I needed to say. If I wanted to be respected by him, then I needed to make sure that he heard what I had to say.

“What happened with Graham was that I did the job that you asked me to do. I gathered the information and put it together in a way that would be easy for him to navigate at home, PER YOUR REQUEST. Aside from the fact that you didn’t get to speak with him while he was there, I didn’t do anything outside of what you asked of me.” I pointed my finger at him, feeling like my mother when she would scold us for something we had done wrong.

“You SPOKE to a client without my permission!” he yelled, his voice booming against the walls of the small room. His hands flew up in the air beside him in bewilderment. The quick gust of air around us sent another chill through me, my eyes widening at the motion.

“So that’s what this is about?” I pursed my lips and shook my head, my hands planted firmly on my hips. “You’re upset because I didn’t ask your permission!?”

“EVERYONE who works for me needs my permission,” he bit out coldly. Our eyes locked onto each other’s, a stare down filled with equal parts anger and equal parts forbidden chemistry. I closed my eyes and tried to force myself to take a deep breath before I completely lost it and found myself unemployed.

“Okay,” I slowly breathed out, my blood continuing to boil. “I assure you that if and when I do something wrong, I will apologize for it and own my mistake.” I watched as a quick wash of relief crossed his face.“However,” I continued, my tone sharper than before. “I will not apologize for something that I don’t feel was wrong. Which includes talking to Graham— “

“Excuse—“he started, interrupting me.

I held my hand up to silence him as he cut me off. There was no way in hell that I was letting him control this conversation. I had something to say and damn it, I was going to say it.

“You can be upset about it if you want to,” I shrugged. “I’m not going to apologize for doing my job. If you don’t like how I did it, then you need to take the time to train me. But let’s just get one thing clear— you do not intimidate me. I will not bow down to you or kiss your ass to make you feel better about yourself. I am a damn good attorney and have earned every single promotion that I have been given. I have worked my way to where I am because I am driven, motivated, and refuse to take no for an answer. I will not have you insult me by insinuating that I don’t know what I’m doing when you haven’t taken the time to see what I’m fully capable of.”

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