“Mmmm,” I say, almost breathless. My gaze drags down his body.
“No,” he says, reading my mind. His words have the same effect as taking a cold shower. And this is why I wanted to massage that sliver of hope right out of my heart.
It was over then. And it’s over now.
Because you don’t reject someone twice and live to tell the happily ever after.
God, I’m so fucking embarrassed.
“No, I know. Of course,” I choke out, scurrying behind the kitchen counter and making myself busy getting him a glass of water. “Thirsty?” I say, handing him the glass, desperate to nottalk about just how much we’re not doing anything with each other ever again.
“I can win your case for wrongful termination,” he says, already moving on from the fact that there is no “us.” He opens the cream folder with purpose, but I can’t take my eyes off his face. “Because you were fired due to discrimination, we’ll file a report with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.”
He finally looks up at me, and heat creeps up my neck.
Discrimination?
I want to vomit. I’m going to be the poster child for sexually empowered women who are secretly lovesick over their lawyers.
I don’t know what to say at this point, so I just say, “Okay” to let him know I heard him.
Xander studies me a moment before continuing. “I had my team request footage from the security cameras on campus. The … incident happened off school property.” He stumbles onincident—which is professional speak forass-grab—but composes himself quickly. “You’re in the clear.”
I internally freak the fuck out. I thought he was looking into it. I didn’t realize he’d set the wheels in motion. That he’d reached out to the school. That this ishappening.
He takes my silence as acceptance and continues. Turns out, lawyers have a lot to say.
“We’ll need to prep you for a deposition,” he says, clasping his hands together. “It’s basically your verbal testimony. We’ll do it in my office conference room, but don’t let the chill nature fool you.”
“There is nothing chill about you right now,” I blurt out. I had kept my running commentary of the situation to myself up until this point. You know, all business. No feelings.
Now, I watch as my uncontrolled comment sends Xander raking his teeth over his bottom lip before releasing it into a smile. God, it’s the first smile I’ve seen since he walked in. And it melts the tension I didn’t realize was hanging between us.
He softens ever so slightly while keeping his cool, calm, and collected lawyer on retainer.
“What I mean is that all the answers you give during a deposition are sworn testimony and admissible at trial.”
My eyes widen. “Trial?” I say, that sick feeling in my stomach returning. People will ask me about my sex life, and I’ll have to air my laundry list of rules and men and sexual encounters in front of the court of law to be judged.
No fucking way. I am not that strong.
Like I’m having this conversation out loud, Xander slowly walks up to me. I put down the glass of water—which was serving as a prop anyway—before he reaches me. That cold tension we had between us when he first arrived is now replaced with anticipation.
He puts his hands firmly on my shoulders and directs me to sit.
When I’m seated and he’s sure I’m not a flight risk, he takes a seat next to me.
“We won’t go to trial. The school will settle. But we need to light a fire under their asses by filing a formal complaint in court,” he says, leaning in. He’s aiming for comfort, and I can’t resist. I lean in ever so slightly, and every surface possible from my ankle to shoulder is now gently touching him. The amount of control going into keeping this touch so light there could be plausible deniability is intense—but worth it. That entire side of my body lights up like a Christmas tree.
I want to twist my fingers around his. I want to trace my finger along his love line and read his future and tell him I’m in it.
I stare ahead, afraid I’ll project that directly into his brain.
I’m sorry. I can’t do that with you anymore.His testimony echoes through my mind.
Shut it down, Ash.
Xander’s arm moves, and I look down to watch the thick chords of his forearms as he slides the cream folder over to me. “Here’s everything you need to prepare for the deposition.”
