it free, but failed. And so with each step she took she was pulling on her hair, so she quickly switched gears to get rid of her load sooner. Using her elbow, she pressed the well-worn elevator button and leaned against the wall until a soft hum announced the elevator’s arrival. The doors opened quietly, and she was welcomed by soft music and a pleasantly warm light. As if that made hauling around these dust-covered binders worthwhile!
Carefully, she maneuvered them into the elevator and stuck out her tongue to her stressed-out reflection in the mirror. Only then did she notice that the button for the second floor was lit. ‘Just my luck!’ she thought, rolling her eyes in irritation. She was throwing her back out lifting stupid binders, and now the elevator would probably stop on every single floor. Her arms were shaking under the weight, and she tried again to pull free her hair. When the doors opened, the stack of files jiggled dangerously.
‘Dammit!’ she muttered, pressing her chin over the top binder and looking over at the man who had entered the elevator and was pressing the button for the third floor. Just her luck. She snorted quietly, but he must have heard her because he turned around. Lauren froze when his ice-blue eyes met hers. His eyebrows shot up in surprise. He ran his hand through his hair.
‘Hi,’ he said with a huge grin, eyeing her stack of binders. ‘Those wouldn’t be evidence and lawsuit documents regarding the hot coffee at the diner? I sure hope not, because I quite liked going to that place.’
‘What?’ Lauren’s head sprung up. The strand of hair pulled at the paper clip, came loose, and fell over her eyes. She tried blowing it out of her face, but it didn’t work. Her blue-eyed Prince Charming smiled and helped her tug the curl behind her ear.
‘Better?’
‘What?’ Lauren’s skin tingled where he had touched her, and the feeling of it chased away any sensible thought. She felt like a parrot repeating herself, but found it impossible to follow his words. What coffee? What lawsuit? And better than what? Patiently, as if explaining something to a child, he leaned in her direction.
‘Who’s representing you?’ And, after a glance at her confused face, he added, ‘Who’s your attorney? Who are you looking for? Maybe I can help . . .’
‘Help? Me?’ Lauren tried to make sense of what the handsome stranger was saying. ‘Who the hell are you?’ she asked, wheezing under the weight of her binders.
‘I’m sorry, my bad. Tim Parker: trial lawyer. And you are . . . ?’
He held his hand out to her, but quickly withdrew it again when he realized that she was unable to move hers. Helpfully, he offered to relieve her of most of the binders.
‘You work here?’ Lauren asked in surprise, tucking the last remaining binder under her arm and smoothing down her sweater, revealing a little more cleavage. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around here before.’
Now it was the lawyer’s turn to act surprised. The elevator doors opened but no one got in and he didn’t get out.
‘What do you mean? What do you do around here?’
‘That was your floor,’ Lauren reminded him as the doors closed quietly.
‘Yeah. No. I mean, yes – it was, but,’ he motioned toward the binders, ‘where do those need to go?’
‘One more floor. I . . . You must be new, because I know all the other lawyers here at the firm.’
Lauren clenched her teeth. Bleurgh. Lawyer! Sure, if she were a lawyer she’d be able to see eye to eye. Instead she was going to have to explain that she was probably the least qualified person in this entire building.
‘No, I . . . This is just a job during term break. I’m Lauren.’ She attempted a smile but felt stupid and almost wished for the elevator’s steel cables to snap so that this dreadful journey would finally come to an end.
Tim Parker, the man she had lost an entire night’s sleep over, was even more handsome close up than he had been when she saw him at the diner for the first time. The tiny scar on his lip drew her attention. It was a flaw in an otherwise flawless face. A flaw that was deeply sensual, somehow. He was still looking at her, still waiting for an answer, and it flattered her – he was interested, even if it was only because he was probably thinking about calling Security on her. In his dark suit and pale-blue shirt that really brought out the color of his eyes, he looked a little older than he did yesterday. The suit jacket hid his athletic figure, which was a good thing because Lauren was finding it hard enough to think straight.
‘Lauren . . . Nice to meet you. So, you’re still in school? What’s your major? Traffic defense law? Economic law?’
Lauren could feel the blood rushing to her cheeks.
‘I’m in art school,’ she managed to squeeze out and breathed a sigh of relief that the fourth floor light finally came on.
She stepped through the doors as soon as they opened, keeping her head low.
‘Thank you, I can take it from here.’
She was about to reach for her binders, but Tim stepped out into the hallway with her before she could. Suddenly, the narrow hall with its soft, grey carpeting and its teal walls seemed to close in around her. The sheer presence of this man made her feel unsettled. Which she enjoyed – and hated at the same time. She’d never felt this way before. Need she remind herself that this Tim Parker person had a girlfriend – and so she urged her goddamn heart to get a goddamn hold of itself, do its job, and start pumping blood into her brain for a change.
‘Don’t be silly, they’re way too heavy. So, where are we going?’
He glanced down the hallway, and Lauren shrugged her shoulders. She’d be rid of him sooner if she let him get on with it. Without saying a word she marched ahead of him into the copy room. Her new skirt suddenly seemed very tight, and she thought she could feel him staring at her backside. Sheepishly, she motioned toward a table.
‘Just put them down over here. Thank you so much!’
Did her voice sound a little unsteady? She licked her lips and cleared her throat as inconspicuously as she could. Tim did as he was told and then wiped his hands on his upper thighs. He took a look around the tiny room and nodded.
‘So art, huh? And how . . . do you balance that with shredding documents?’
Didn’t he have someplace else to be? She was finding it hard enough not to propose right then and there.
‘Yep, art,’ she said curtly. ‘Peter Latham is my dad. I’ve no say when it comes to shredding.’
Her little joke made Tim smile, and he bowed his head in reverence. ‘I see.’ He looked at Lauren as if contemplating whether he should have guessed her status as first daughter here at the firm. ‘My normal advice would be to seek legal counsel in the case of employer coercion, but . . . but in this case . . . I mean, seeing that I might risk my job . . .’ He gave her a wink, and his dimples were back. ‘I won’t, but instead I will offer to help with these binders again any time you need.’
Lauren laughed out loud. She pushed the files aside and leaned with her hip against the tabletop to make herself look even skinnier. This Tim guy was a hole-in-one! Not only because he was devastatingly handsome, but also because he was a pleasure to be around. His voice was wonderful: deep and masculine and confident; and
