Page 8 of My Best Friend's Grump Brother

At Your Service

Selena

Isatattheend of the desk and took my notes like the good little paralegal he wanted me to be. I was doing my best to focus, but this man was just too damn fine for his own good. Before he became my boss, he was the hot brother of my friend. I had ogled him shamelessly and imagined his body melded to mine once or twice.

It had been an attraction at first sight for me. Everything about him screamed masculinity. His arms, chest, oh my God, and those eyes—woah! Down girl.

I was a changed woman. I was not here to be the same person that I was before.

No flings. No sex. Just work.

It was safe to say that I was in a little bit of a predicament. I had shamelessly flirted with this man at every opportunity I got and made sure I was in his personal bubble repeatedly. And now here he was. So close but yet so damn far away. And even if the feelings were reciprocated, there was still that damn company policy which would act as my invisible leash.

Had I known that I would be applying to his law firm, I might have thought twice.

I now realize that I should have paid more attention to what the company name was when filling out applications. Sinclair is a common name, though. I didn’t think twice about it.

Plus, he owned several small firms in Braven Bay last time I asked.

I didn’t even know he was in Chicago full-time. But Claire had gotten tired of me constantly asking what Danny was up to. He seemed to avoid me anytime we were at family functions- almost to the point I thought for a second he might like me. You know, like how little boys pick on or ignore the little girls they like? Or then again, maybe he really did not like me.

But the money here is just too good. With this new salary, I could afford to pay off my debts and put more into my savings for the big dream of taking a year off and traveling the world.

“Have you got all of this down?” His voice broke my train of thought, and I was thrust back into the leather seat of his office. His green eyes held mine, but in this light, I could see the little specks of blue mixed in.

Hmm? I had never noticed that before; it was quite unique.

I looked down at my notepad, which had just one line on it that read, ‘Try not to stab him with this pen.’

“Sorry,” I muttered under my breath, my cheeks heating with embarrassment. “Please, can you just repeat that for me?”

His face contorted into a frown. “Are you serious right now?”

I sat up a little straighter, “I’m sorry, I’m just still trying to acclimate to the new environment, and with you being my new boss, it’s…it’s a lot.”

And that was the honest-to-God truth. I had always managed to be confident around him, but that was before our dynamic shifted. Now, I felt like I had to walk on eggshells and be mindful of what I did and said.

“Where did you get your qualifications?” His question caught me off guard. It was a normal and valid question, but his tone made it seem almost…condescending, like I surely could not be qualified enough to be here.

“Well, if you must know, I got my qualifications at Baylor.”

He frowned, “Quite a prestigious school for someone like you.”

There was that condescending tone again. It was like he had his nose turned up at me, and I was not worthy of being in his presence. I was used to it by now, though. I had grown up with the accusations and stares all my life. I was from the slums of Braven, and he was from the high society side. His fences were high to keep people like me out. He watched from his castle while people from my background stared up at their crystal palaces, hoping one day to attain some semblance of money.

“I don’t think so. I worked my ass off to get my qualifications after high school.”

He leaned back in his chair and assessed me for a few seconds. His gaze was like a laser, dissecting me layer by layer. “Well, according to our records, you are twenty-six, and you only received those said qualifications six years ago. What were you doing from the time you graduated till age twenty?”

“In case you weren’t aware, I already interviewed for this job. And I got it. Why are you interrogating me now?”

“I like to know who I have let into my business. The fact that you got the job here is

suspicious enough, given your background. I have some of the top graduates from the most

prestigious law schools around the country. I rejected up to a hundred applications. But

somehow, you slipped through the cracks.”

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