Bossy(52)

Now I’m late because of these stupid donuts, and on the slowest elevator in existence. I won’t have time to try to talk to her before our meeting with Cooper. Shit. I look up. If this was a movie, I’d punch open the hatch, climb up the shaft and win back the girl, somehow managing to get rid of Cooper for good at the same time. Something would probably explode.

My life needs better writers.

Guess I wait.

The costume thing was never supposed to go that far. She wasn’t supposed to look that excited, and then so hurt. I figured Carl would get an eyeful, maybe a few others before she figured out something was up. I was going to catch her at the door, tease her and then she’d get pissed at me like usual. It was going to be funny.

More importantly, it would put more space between us, so that fuckhead Michael doesn’t come down on her just because his shit-for-brains can't tell the difference between a relationship and... well, whatever the fuck we have.

Well, it got some laughs, but not from me, and not from Dad.

I’ll clear it all up after the meeting.

The elevator dings and the door opens. Carl looks up from his desk and gives me a glare. I’m not surprised. He seems to have taken Claire under his wing. I hurry back to my office. Claire and Cooper are waiting with some flunky Cooper must have brought with him. I guess he wants backup after last time.

As always, Claire takes my breath away. She keeps wearing these conservative business suits, but if you know what to look for, they don’t hide a thing. My fingers have traced every inch of that body, and she could be wearing a muumuu over a snow suit. I’d still be aching to tear it off her.

The last thing I look at is her face. Not because I don’t want to, but after Friday, she’s going to be fucking furious. She might just incinerate me where I stand. So no one’s more surprised than me when she’s wearing a little smile. I know something you don’t, is what it says, and it’s more terrifying than any withering stare. I can’t worry about it right now, but something tells me that I’m going to get it later.

At least Claire and Cooper haven’t set anything on fire or killed each other yet. I drop the donuts on her desk and crank the charm to eleven. It’s show time.

“Harry, good to see you. I’m so sorry about my delay. A trailer spilled on the highway, backing traffic up for miles. And here I thought I’d taken extra good time.” I put my hand out, dreading his clammy, limp dick handshake.

Cooper grins and waves a hand. “No worries. I just got here too.” He slides a finger through the tape holding the donut box closed, and fingers through the selection, grabbing a chocolate glazed. “I got your email last week, so I’m expecting some progress. Are we going to win this thing?”

His presumption pisses me off, but it’s a bit of a wakeup call too. Is that what I’m like?

Watching him drop crumbs all over the floor, I wince. Every time I meet this guy I have a harder time shaking off the feeling that Claire’s right, much as I hate to fucking admit it. This guy’s a dirt bag.

And she doesn’t even know the worst of it. I hid the medical reports from her, because she’ll go off the hook if she sees them. Especially with the way her dad went. Cooper’s insane if he thinks anyone can get any sort of win out of this, but I’ll do my job and at least make sure his settlement is a shit-ton better than he deserves.

Right before I take a few days off to scrub the feeling of slime off my skin. With a little luck, maybe Claire will hold the sponge.

Years of experience keep my smile in place so my personal feelings don’t show. “We’ll do our best, but it’s going to be an uphill battle.”

His face goes tight and the grin fades, but he nods. It pays to stay on good terms with the guy whose job it is to keep your balls out of the fire. “Of course. All of those damn leaks are out there poisoning the public against us.”

More like all of his damn leaks poisoning his workers. I let it go, opening the door and gesturing to let him and his buddy go first. “Right this way, Harry. We’ll discuss the details in my office.”

Cooper starts to move, then stops suddenly, turning back to me. “By the way, did you ever contact Lloyd? Peterson? He’s really eager to testify. I told him there’d be a promotion in it for him.”

Yeah, I don’t think so. “I did, but honestly, I’m not sure he’s the right man to have up there. He seems a little—I’m not sure how to say this right, but—unpredictable. If I’m putting a man on the witness stand, I want to be one hundred percent sure he’s going to say the right things.” I grimace. “Especially in a case as delicate as yours.”