Page 49 of Love and Order

“Speaking of, you know who else might have some great insights before we head into court tomorrow?”

She looked at him suspiciously.

“Judge Cora Maguire, who happens to be hosting a dinner tonight, and you’re invited.”

A smile split her face. “Sunday family dinner?”

He took one step closer, careful not to touch her.

“Yes, I want you to come with me as my date, not my colleague. But it doesn’t hurt that my mom would love to talk strategy and law with you.”

Biting her lip, she narrowed her eyes. “Okay, you twisted my arm. Do you need to work more, or are you ready?” She took a half step closer, stopping only an inch away from his chest. “If we leave now, we could stop by your place and freshen up,” she said.

It was clear she wanted to get dirty with him, thus the reason to clean up—and he was one hundred percent on board.

He dropped his voice into a low whisper and leaned toward her ear. “As soon as we leave this building, I’m going to give you what you want.”

Her breath caught and she gripped his shirt, but in the next moment, she pushed away from him and grabbed her laptop before stomping toward the door.

“Last one to the car is on top,” she called out.

“Is that a threat or a promise?” he hollered to her back as he collected his notes. Quickly, he shuffled his things into his bag and locked up the conference room. She’d already gone down in the elevator, likely to grab her bag and beat him to the car, but he used the stairs. When he popped into the third floor, he was surprised to see Smith at the end of the rookie hallway, towering over Hailey, who was being backed into a corner.

“Why were you snooping around in my office, Smith. What were you looking for?”

Her words barely registered before Smith moved closer and Finn saw red, but before he could do anything, Hailey’s hand struck out to strike Smith’s throat.

Gasping for breath, Smith staggered backward.

Finn gripped his shoulder to make his presence known and Smith tried to pull away, but Finn held his upper arm as Hailey skirted past him into her office.

“Hey, you get something stuck in your throat, Smith?” Finn asked, as he applied pressure to let him know he better back off.

“Not quite. He was rifling through my desk,” Hailey said.

Smith finally caught his breath.

“Look, man, I was just looking for the keys to the library. She’s always forgetting to return them to the communal drawer. Then she attacked me.”

“I have my own set. You were looking for something, and I want to know what,” she accused, stepping closer, but Finn put up his forearm to stop her. Their colleague was definitely lying. Smith wasn’t even trying to mask his dislike for Hailey today.

“Little ice princess, I see you’ve used your assets to get Finn to do your bidding too.”

“Easy, Smith. What were you doing here? You never come in on weekends.”

A sneer spread on Smith’s face as he looked from Hailey to Finn.

“You’re on the wrong team, Maguire. She’s not going to sleep with you, and even if she does, it’s not going to gain you any favor if she makes partner.”

Finn stepped in front of Hailey to block the ugliness Smith was spewing. “Time for you to go.”

Smith’s sneer turned into a devious smile. “When you two lose this case, neither of you will make partner.”

“What makes you think we could lose?” Hailey challenged, stepping from behind Finn. But Smith just chuckled and picked up his hat off the floor where it must have fallen earlier when Hailey struck him.

He felt like he was in a haze of red-hot anger and turned to Hailey.

“Did he touch you?” he asked, trying not to direct his annoyance at her.

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