Page 30 of Joint Custody

He was furious that he hadn’t gotten rid of me, and now he was hoping to scare me away by overwhelming me with an impossible amount of work. Either that, or he was trying to kill me, hoping I’d drop dead around my desk from exhaustion. Regardless of what he was trying to do, I knew, with how little he thought of me, that he didn’t assign this to me because he entrusted me with this task. He didn’t think I had it in me to get it done.

If I was being honest, in all my years of law school, I had worked on piles of research, worked throughout the night and lost sleep, still wouldn’t have traded it for anything. But with the documents blocking my view of anything beyond them, I feared this one may have had me beat . . . if I wasn’t so determined to let Jared eat his words.

Even if he couldn’t admit it out loud, if I got this task done, somehow, by some miracle, there was no way he could deny, if only to himself, that he was wrong about me. And that would haunt his thoughts because he was too proud to admit that he was wrong, I could tell. Ooh, it would sting him, making him lose sleep at night, and that would be worth every second of sleep I lost working to get this done.

So that was it then. I let my fury with the man fuel me. I would become like a ballerina, dancing gracefully on chapped and bloody feet concealed behind pretty delicate slippers as they smiled through the pain, convincing everyone that they were okay. I’d always wanted to do ballet when most of the ones who were my age would get dressed in tutus and tights to dance around like little angels, but I didn’t have time. I was far too busy rushing home for even more school about the law. I began to see that we had more in common than I realized back then. In fact, I thought in many ways they were stronger than I was, and those dancing angels would be my motivation today.

I picked up one of Jared’s files and began to work on it alongside Mario’s and Anthony’s briefs, determined not to be distracted by anything from that second onward. Even if Mario showed up naked, dripping in body oil, glistening before me like a Greek warrior, I would put on shades to shield myself from his dazzling aura. I didn’t care if Anthony realized he was madly in love with me and came in here to profess his love, requesting to take me atop the paperwork on the desk, papers flying everywhere as he breached me. Both those sexy ass men would have to wait until I proved whack-ass Jared wrong while managing to deliver them their proofed briefs on time.

Time ticked on by, and there was no way of being able to tell what time it was since there were no windows in the filing room. The lights stayed on all throughout and the AC was the freshest air I’d been able to breathe as my body began to droop after being upright and determined to begin with. I’d started out motivated and still was now, even as my eyelids grew heavy and my brain felt like mush. I was not allowing myself a break. I didn’t have a single second to spare unless I was willing to admit defeat. And I was not.

But when my phone rang, I jumped in far too much joy, gasping at the chance to be given an excuse to take a break. I needed to at least check to see who was calling me, just in case it was an emergency. My phone started to hop, skip, and jump out of my uncooperative fingers as I rushed to answer it, not even stopping to check the caller ID.

“Hello?” I asked, the roughness of my voice startling me a little.

“Hey, Sis! I heard you got hired! Congratulations!” Chris screamed into my ears. “Let’s go out, have some drinks, and celebrate tonight!”

The request sounded like an explosion of fireworks that went off when I wasn’t expecting it. In my head, I became a dog looking at the people around it like “why didn’t you tell me the world was ending?” or a cat dashing for cover. The invite was made in good fun but there wasnoway I was drinking on a work night, not after learning my lesson from last night. I didn’t know what to expect of myself with liquor now that I had tried it, and I didn’t want to give Jared a reason to think even less of me, although that bordered on impossible since his perception of me was already at the bottom of the barrel.

“I’m sorry. I’m working late tonight,” I responded as my heart pounded at the thought that each passing moment of this conversation was time I could never get back, time that I could be using to get this assignment done. I stared at Jared’s pile which I was only a quarter of the way through, finding tiny relief in the fact that at least I was done with Mario’s and Anthony’s briefs.

“Aww, listen to you, working woman. Come on, I’m sure Jared wouldn’t mind you taking an early first night off to have a drink with your brother and his friends,” Chris said.

I scoffed at the mention of Jared’s name, not even giving myself time to think about what hanging out with Chris and Mario would mean. “Good luck with that, that guy can’t stand me. And the feeling’s mutual,” I said. “You have him to thank for me working late. Thanks for the invite, but I’ve really got to get back to it if I have any chance whatsoever of meeting his ridiculous deadline.”

Chris paused for a while before chuckling a little, even though I couldn’t begin to imagine what in the world was so funny. “Don’t worry, I understand. We can do it some other time,” he murmured. “Congratulations again!” he yelled.

“Thanks.” I smiled into the phone although I didn’t take long to disconnect it. I heard the disappointment in his voice and that made me feel bad, but I didn’t even have time to feel at the moment.

I glimpsed at the phone right before the screen turned black and threw myself out of the seat in a rush, nearly tripping over the shoes I had kicked off to give my stuffy, aching feet a break. Oh crap. I didn’t realize that it was six thirty in the evening. I was supposed to be done with these briefs an hour and a half ago. I didn’t want to let Mario and Anthony down when they were the ones I had to thank for giving me a chance here.

I grabbed their completed paperwork, feeling washed with guilt as I shoved my feet into my heels and hurried out of the filing room. It was the end of their workday. Chances were they’d already left, although I was hoping, like most people here, they were working overtime. I hurried to Mario’s office, but I couldn’t find him, checking with his assistant to find that he had in fact left the office. I dropped my head in embarrassment, feeling like I let him down.

I started to rush through the hallway, hoping to locate Anthony’s office since I hadn’t been there yet. I was reading the names on the glass doors when I almost dropped the files I was holding after being frightened by his voice.

“Tiffany!” he beamed out.

I spun around to see that I almost missed him as he was leaving his office, locking the door behind him. My heart nearly leaped forward and pounced on him in relief.

“Oh, thank goodness!” I started. “I thought I missed you. I’m so sorry,” I said as I hurried toward him.

“Hey. I was just heading out to meet up with your brother to celebrate your first day as a working lawyer. You ready to go?” he asked.

“Huh?” I blinked.

“I could give you a ride if you want,” he suggested.

I scolded myself inwardly for my thoughts going where they went with him standing there, looking so relaxed, smiling as if his intention was to weaken me at the knees. Now I understood my friends’ reactions to Mario last night. I would be willing to go for a ride with him . . . on any night other than tonight. Not that that’s what he was offering anyway. Since when did my mind grow so scandalous?

Chapter 22

Anthony

Ihadbeentryingto play it cool all day around her, trying hard not to let my eyes wander over her body. However, with her back turned to me as I was coming out of the office, noticing that it was just us two in the quiet, dimly lit hallway. I couldn’t fight the temptation to indulge my eyes for a quick moment, taking in the subtle curve of her hips and ass. I’d been a good guy all day and it was agony as I tried to keep my eyes occupied by all the women I’d already slept with in this building, many of them still willing to go again.

Yet it was Tiffany that stood out among them, the one I couldn’t have. It was as if she shone with an electric bubble surrounding her that would shock the hell out of me if I got too close. Fuck, each time she smiled at me, my pulse raced a little faster, rushing to the base of my dick, which was why I didn’t let my eyes linger over her delicate frame too long. I’d have lost the game I was trying to play, of pretending that I wasn’t bothered by her very presence.

I was trying my best to maintain self-control, going as far as agreeing to hang out with her and her brother tonight, getting drinks to prove to myself that I wasn’t just a raging sex hungry mongrel who couldn’t keep it in my pants, who couldn’t be the respectful person my best friend needed me to be.

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