Forever Blake (Once Upon a Player Book 3) by Elena Matthews (free books to read .TXT) 📗

expect you to work the long hours that us old lawyers have to,” I tell her lightheartedly as I loosen the knot in my tie and whip it over my head before unbuttoning the top button of my shirt. As much as I rock the hell out of my suits, by the end of the day, I can’t wait to take them off.

“I honestly don’t mind. Today was the first day I did actual lawyer work, and I had fun.”

I cock a brow. “If you think looking through paperwork was fun, you’ve got to be out of your mind.”

She snorts as she stands to her feet with the laptop in her hands. “I didn’t say it was the paperwork I enjoyed, but the investigative side of it, I could do that all day.”

“Well, if you’re not in a hurry, I’d love to see what you found.” I point to the takeout bag still on my desk. “I didn’t anticipate you still being here this late, or I’d have picked something up for you. But if you like Thai food, I have some incredible fried wantons and shrimp pad thai that I don’t mind sharing,” I offer.

She immediately shakes her head, smiling as she sets the laptop back on my desk. “As much as I love shrimp, I’m okay, really.”

Just as she says this, her stomach growls, and I pull her under my scrutiny, a smirk on my lips.

“Is that your final answer?”

She looks as if she’s about to relent, but her eyes flicker to her feet for a moment. She looks unsure.

“I just…I don’t think it’s a good idea to be… fully alone.” She points outside my office, indicating the deserted corridors.

I give a simple nod of my head, pressing my lips together. “I understand, but I promise, I would never force anything on you.”

“It’s not you I’m worried about,” she mutters under her breath.

My eyes shoot up at that comment.

Did she just say what I think she said?

“Huh?” is the only question that I’m able to manage.

She rapidly shakes her head. “Um, I said that isn’t what I was worried about.”

Ahem, liar.

That is not what she said.

She continues, “I hate to bring it up, but the last time we were completely alone, we, well, you know…”

“Did dirty stuff to each other, naked?” I whisper.

Her eyes flash over to my office door. When she realizes the coast is clear, she reverts her gaze back to me and lets out a nervous laugh. “Well, yeah.”

Grabbing the food, I make my way over to the table and set it down, removing the cartons from the paper bag. “You have nothing to worry about. The second I heard you singing, it turned me off straightaway. Any feelings I had for you have disappeared.”

“Blake,” she argues, amusement in her voice.

I chuckle under my breath for a moment before forcing myself to be serious and discuss this like an adult. “We’re always going to have the past hanging over our heads, but please know that I won’t ever abuse my power. You’re here to learn, and I’m here to teach…well, to some standard of teaching at least.” I smirk, and she lets out a breathless laugh. “If I promise not to have my wicked way with you on this table for the entire firm to see, will you eat with me?” I ask her bluntly, humor in every word.

She rolls her eyes, and her lips begin to lift with the tiniest of smiles. “Well, since you put it so eloquently, then sure.”

She joins me at the table, and using the containers of fried wantons and shrimp pad tai, I manage to divide them into two half portions in each container. I slide her food toward her with a fork.

“What, no chopsticks?”

“Funnily enough, I went to law school, passed the bar…yet I still haven’t figured out how to use chopsticks. Though fun fact: you’re not supposed to eat Thai food with chopsticks. In Thailand, people use spoons and forks, but they don’t physically eat with a fork; it’s used to put the food onto a spoon, and then the spoon goes into your mouth.”

She stares at me for a second, seeming to be momentarily stunned.

“How do you know that? Have you been to Thailand?” she asks with intrigue.

I sheepishly glance at her before making my way to my desk to grab a fork I know is in my top drawer. “Um, no. It was actually the wise words of Sheldon Cooper.”

She does that adorable snort that I love so much. “From The Big Bang Theory?”

I nod as I return to the table and sit my butt back down. “The one and only.”

“And here I thought, lawyers were all academics.”

Using my fork, I dig into my noodles. Ever watches me eat for a moment, a smile on her lips.

“Um, question. Why do you keep a fork in your drawer?” she asks as she finally digs her own fork into the food before lifting it to her mouth to take a bite full of noodles.

“Well, as much as it doesn’t look like this is my second home, I actually eat here more than at home. In fact, there are a few times when I was too exhausted to get myself home, and I just crashed on the couch.”

“Well, it’s better than falling asleep behind the wheel. Or maybe, don’t work so hard that you can’t even drive home.”

I can’t help the laughter bubbling up my chest. “Telling me not to work so hard is like telling me not to look at women’s breasts—it’s not going to happen.”

She almost spits her food out. “You are just something else, Blake.”

“It’s what everyone says. I’m a unique brand of awesomeness,” I tell her with a beaming grin before shoving more noodles into my mouth.

Our banter naturally fades out, and we eat in silence for a few minutes.

After I’m done shoving my last wanton in my mouth—yes, I’m a fast eater—I say, “You want to show me what you found?”

Swallowing, she says,