night of listening to his brother drone on about Callie’s shooting abilities without divulging one interesting piece of information about the rest of the woman sure didn’t help Ben’s sour mood. Neither did the lack of sleep due to Mark’s old-man snoring. Ben planned to kick his brother to the downstairs guest bedroom tonight because the one right next door didn’t have enough soundproofing to cover the noise.
“Is your brother cramping your style already?” she asked, her smile suggesting that she found the situation funny.
That made one of them. Ben motioned for her to step out from behind his desk. “You seem awfully concerned with my love life.”
Callie took her time getting to the front of his desk and dropping into the guest chair there. She started to put her feet up but stopped when he stared her down. “The only way I can protect you is if I know about the people around you. That includes the women you date, sleep with, and know. Also includes your staff here, friends, and—”
“I get it.”
She flipped through a small notebook as she clicked her pen. “Then let’s start with the women.”
“I’d rather start with my impressive staff.”
Her gaze made the slow trail up until her eyes met his again. “Excuse me?”
“Your word, not mine.” Though he did use it as a test. Wanted to see if Ms. All Business All the Time could get thrown off task, and now he knew. “I’m talking about the other people in this office. Since you’re going to be here until Mark lets you leave or we kill each other, we may as well get going on the introductions.”
“We need to work on our background story first.”
Ben waved that suggestion off as he sat down. Today would be filled with enough boredom without adding more. “I got it.”
She handed him a file anyway. When he didn’t immediately reach for it, she dropped it on his desk, letting it smack against the wood. “I’ve worked up some information for our cover.”
“I said I got it.”
“Then you get that I’ll be with you during every case, and at lunch, and any private discussions you have with lawyers.”
As far as he was concerned she took her job a bit too seriously. “Are you going to follow me into the bathroom as well?”
“I might.”
He leaned back in the chair and tapped his fingers together in a triangle. “Don’t you think people are going to find it a bit strange that you’re stapled to my hip?”
“This Samson guy—”
“Administrative Judge Samson.”
“He already sent out an e-mail to everyone in the building explaining the new assistant program.”
“Leave it to Mark to take care of…” Something clicked in Ben’s head. “Wait, how do you know about the e-mail?”
She bit her bottom lip but stayed quiet.
That couldn’t be a good sign. “You were on my computer?”
He knew the answer but wanted her to own up to the misdemeanor. Maybe apologize.
“I was checking for e-mail threats.” She scribbled down something on the lined paper. “Get used to it.”
She sure didn’t sound sorry to him. “You were violating my privacy.”
“We can call it whatever you want.”
“How about illegal? I could have you arrested.”
Callie snorted. “Oh, please.” She made the annoying sound a second time as if trying to prove her point.
It was hard to threaten someone who refused to be afraid. “Which reminds me, how did you get in the office this morning?” he asked.
She reached inside her blazer pocket and flashed a courthouse I.D. badge at him. “I also have a key to the suite and my own desk.”
Ben followed her head nod to the small setup perpendicular from his under the window. How in the hell had he missed that? Instead of a two-shelf small bookcase filled with mementos from his pre-lawyer days there was a place for her complete with fake files and a black briefcase he’d bet was empty.
“I don’t think so,” he said.
“You don’t get a vote.”
She needed to understand how this arrangement was going to work. Her pushy demanding act was not the right answer. “The governor who appointed me and the electorate that keeps me here would disagree.”
She rolled her eyes. Made quite the dramatic scene of it, too. “Must you talk like that?”
“Like what?”
“All hoity and superior.”
He tried to remember the last time someone fought him this hard and showed so little respect for his position. He came up with an answer fast: never. “Was it the word ‘electorate’ that upset you?”
She threw her notebook on his desk. “To be honest, most everything you say annoys me.”
He was starting to see why she no longer had a job with the FBI. That mouth could not have been an asset in a rule-oriented, follow-the-chain-of-command government agency. “Right back at you, sweetheart.”
“Tell me something. Is your problem with me or with women in general?”
Definitely with her. “I happen to love women.”
“So I’ve heard.”
The playboy chatter echoed in his head. Not exactly the reputation he wanted or sought. “If you’re getting your information from gossip, then you have the facts wrong.”
“Why don’t we get started and you tell me what the truth really is?”
“Isn’t it your job to know this stuff already?”
She shrugged. “I’d like to hear it from you.”
“I’m not playing that game.”
“This is serious.”
“It’s a waste of time, but if we’re being forced to do this you first need to meet the rest of the group.” He glanced over the daily schedule his secretary Elaine printed out and placed on the corner of his desk each night. “Then you get to sit through my trial calendar.”
“Meaning?”
“If you survive the first day, I’ll be stunned.”
She smiled, but it faded when he didn’t reciprocate. “How bad can it be?”
“Spoken like someone who never
