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

psychiatrist to help me work through my douche bag tendencies.”

She lets out a laugh, and I chuckle along with her.

“I’ll see what I can do.”

I laugh again before smoothing out my features. “Seriously though, are we good?”

“Yes, we’re good. In fact, I’m great with this latte,” she says, holding up her hot beverage.

“Okay, now that we’ve got that squared away, how would you like to join me in a deposition in an hour?”

Her eyes widen, and excitement glows along her cheeks. “Are you serious?”

“As a heart attack.”

“Oh my God, that would be amazing. Is it for the money laundering case?”

“Yes. Though I’m not sure it’ll take long. We have the son of a bitch cornered, so I’m guessing he’ll have no choice but to fess up.”

“And if he doesn’t?”

“Then, we’ll go to court, baby.”

She giggles at my enthusiasm. “You sound like a kid on Christmas Day.”

“That’s because I love going to court. In fact, I hope it does go to court, so you’ll get to witness me at my greatest before you head off to law school.”

The mention of her heading to law school has knots forming in my stomach. I’m not even sure why. I just know the thought of her being all the way at Harvard makes me feel things I can’t even describe. In fact, the last time I felt this many flips in my gut was when I was on the Rip Ride Rockit at Universal Studios in Orlando last summer.

“That I would definitely want to see.”

“Well, I’ll see you in an hour for the deliberation.”

“Okay, see you in a bit.”

I turn and make my way back toward my office. However, I am intercepted by my assistant at the door of the associates’ office, arms folded over her chest, a suspicious gaze being thrown my way, and a wry smile on her lips.

“Okay, what’s the look for, Kiki?” I ask.

She lets out a sigh as she steps up to me. “Oh, just wondering how long you’ve been in love with your intern.”

I almost choke on my own saliva. “Excuse me?” I question, whipping my head back and forth to make sure no one overheard her—specifically Edwin.

“Oh, come on, Blake. I’m not blind. I see the way you look at her.”

“I don’t look at her like anything.” The denial comes out so easy.

I begin to walk away, but she is on my heels.

“Well, you certainly don’t look at her like she’s your intern—that’s for sure.”

I sneak a glance in her direction before focusing forward. “You’re just seeing things.” Again, more denial just spills from my mouth.

“Why else do you buy her lattes every morning?”

“I buy you drinks. Does that mean I’m in love with you too?”

“Honey, everyone is in love with me…but that’s beside the point. She, however, is your intern and…well, you never bought coffees for any of our previous interns.”

“Well, I guess I’ve evolved.”

When we reach my office, I desperately wish I still had a door on the frame, so I could lock her out. Unfortunately, she just follows me inside.

She muses for a moment. “Hmm, that isn’t it. It’s not just you. It’s her. She looks at you the same way.”

I lean against my desk, folding my arms, glaring at my assistant. “Have you been smoking marijuana again?”

She chuckles, shaking her head. “Considering you’re a lawyer, your poker face is off its game today. And do you know how I can tell?”

“I guess you’re going to tell me anyway.”

“Your nostrils flare. No one else knows it’s one of your telltale signs of lying, except for me. So, cut the bullshit. Something is going on between you two. You know it, I know it, and I’m guessing the barista at Starbucks knows it too.”

“There is nothing going on between us,” I tell her as I round my desk and take a seat in my chair. This time, my nostrils don’t flare because, technically, there isn’t anything going on between us now.

She follows me until she’s almost in my lap and perches her cute little ass on the edge of my desk.

“You know what I think. I don’t think anything is going on between you, but you want her. I think you want to fuck her right here… on your desk.” She smooths her hand over the wood of my desk.

I can’t say it hasn’t crossed my mind because it has. It crosses my mind every time she’s in my office.

“You know I wouldn’t blame you. She is attractive. I can imagine she’d be very hard to resist, especially with how closely you’ve been working with her.”

I peer at her through my lashes, my mouth in a flat line. “Are you finished? Because I have a lot of work to do before the deposition at nine.”

She ignores my protests and continues with a lower voice, “Or maybe something has already happened, but because she’s your boss’s daughter and your intern, you can’t allow it to happen again. Maybe she was a one-night stand before she was even your intern. Maybe you didn’t even know she was Edwin’s daughter when you slept with her.”

That’s when it clicks. She fucking knows. I’ve no idea how she knows, but she does.

I rock back in my armchair, giving her a stealthy glare. “Okay, how do you know?”

She throws me an impish grin, and she taps her manicured finger against my nose. “Ah, you should know I have eyes everywhere.”

“You either had a wire on me or you overheard me, so which one?”

She laughs. “I overheard you in the filing room the morning Reagan started. You know, next time you want to carry on a secret argument with your one-night-stand-slash-new-intern, you might want to check nobody else is in the back, making photocopies.”

“Why the hell were you in there? I didn’t think the ancient copy machine even worked.”

“Oh, that old thing? No, it doesn’t. I had IT purchase a new one and install it in there, so I didn’t have to use the germ-riddled one that all the associates use.”

“Well…shit.”

“Shit indeed,”