Page 13 of The Reading

This sonofabitch.

“Because you thought thatyourmouth would help the situation?” I countered.

I worked for Granger Critical Financial, and I was just one of the many corporate attorneys that they had on their payroll. Though I was very good at my job, I was only one person, hence the need to hire other people, one of those people being my current cellmate, Reign Claymore.

Reign freakin’ Claymore.

Now, if I didn’t want to be called a liar, I’d say that Reign was exceptionally good at his job. He was organized, meticulous, and smart. He was also six-foot-two, had inky-black hair, eyes the color of liquid mercury, and a face that belonged on a warrior sculpture. There was no doubt that the man had the looks to melt the panties off the hips of most women, but he was also a pain in the ass.

In addition to his good looks, the dude was also chivalrous, and the women at work were always taking advantage of that. Every woman was a damsel in distress whenever Reign was nearby, and I struggled with rolling my eyes at every turn. I mean, I was all for wondering if those strong, masculine, capable hands were enough to hold me up against a wall, but I wasn’t going to faint thirteenth-century style in front of him to find out.

“I was only trying to shut you up,” he shot back,forcingme to flip him off. “Cute.”

I eyed the bastard. “This isn’t even criminal court,” I pointed out. “Can we even be held in contempt of court?”

“Why don’t you go find Judge Roberts, argue with him some more, and find out,” he huffed. “Just be happy that this was our last court appearance for the day, or else we would have been fucked.”

“Oh, please,” I scoffed.“Iwould have been fucked.” I did roll my eyes this time. “Everyone at Granger knows that you’re their golden boy.”

“What are you talking about?” he asked, sounding genuinely offended.

“I’m talking about how everyone fawns all over you,” I went on before changing into character. “Oh, Reign, this box issoheavy, can you please help me. Oh, Reign, there’s no more water in the cooler, and I’m just too feminine to change the empty jug myself. Oh, Reign, would you be a dear and hold the elevator for me. Oh, Reign-”

“Are you seriously giving me shit for havingmanners?”he asked, now sounding a bit thunderstruck. “Are you seriously criticizing me forhelpingpeople?”

I shot him a look with my blue eyes, wishing I could shoot lasers out of them or something. “It’s only help if they need it,” I retorted. “And it’s only exercising good manners if you’re not flirting the entire time.”

His head reared back. “Are you out of your mind? When have I ever flirted with anyone at work?”

He had me there.

While the women at work-and some of the men-were overly obvious about their interest in Reign, I’d neveractuallyseen him flirt back. Running through the memories in my mind, I couldn’t think of a single time that he’d flirted back or had done more than what had been asked of him.

“That’s not the point,” I grumbled.

“Then what in the hell is your point?”

“Just thatyou’renot going to get in trouble for your fine,” I said. “Just me.”

“Jesus, you’re unbelievable,” he muttered, running one of those strong, masculine, capable hands through his black hair.

“Yeah, so I’ve been told,” I muttered back.

“You’re also insane,” he added, and I couldn’t see how pointing out my faults was helping any.

“Yeah, well, your impeccablemannersare sure to get you out of this thing unscathed, so kudos to you,” I shot back like a petulant child. “I, on the other hand, am going to have to drown my problems in green beer as soon as I get out of here.”

Thank God for the Irish and St. Patrick’s Day.

*****

Reign~

Sloane Vicious was the bane of my existence, and when God gave her the last name Vicious, He hadn’t been lying.

Sloane Vicious was five-foot-three of pure attitude and professionalism, and that light blonde hair of hers, those bright blue eyes, and that petite figure drove me fucking nuts. Though she didn’t know it, I took her into the shower with me a lot. Water conservationists would hang me in the middle of town square if they knew how much water I wasted each morning. Still, it was either that or show up to work with a perpetual hard-on all day, and that wasn’t a look that I was trying to pull off.

Glaring at the rabid creature sitting across the room from me, I knew that she had an identical twin sister, but for whatever reason, it was easy for me to be able to tell them apart. Even without her sister having some pigment missing in her left eye, I could tell which female was Sloane without even trying.That’show fucking obsessed I was with this nutbag.

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