Page 30 of The Emma Special

He stuffed the phone in his pocket and stood with his empty plate. “I’m sorry. The Crisman trial is the week after next, so we can still use what we’ve done, but the Chapman trial is this Monday.”

“Yikes.” They’d spent hours on the Crisman file already. The Chapman file was even larger.

“If you need to go, I understand.”

“No way! I signed up for this. I’m here for it. Come rain, come shine, come paper cut, tornado, or hail, I’ll…”

James rubbed a hand across his chin, but his sparkling eyes gave him away. He was laughing at her!

Emma propped her elbows on the table. “You think I’m kidding. You’re trying to ditch me the moment it gets rough. Nuh-uh, I can’t let you take all the glory when you win this thing. Share a little, honey. Gimme that plate. I’ll clean up our fine dining. You get what needs gettin’ and meet me in the copy room.”

James’s hand fell from his face. His gaze remained locked on her as he slowly shook his head. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re the best thing that ever happened to Anderson and Associates.”

“Get out.” Emma waved a hand in the air. She could dismiss his praise with her words, but her heart soaked them up like a sponge. “You with the nice words and flattery. Florence was the real treat. She would have handled this for you during business hours. You and Florence didn’t stay late together for pre-trial pizza parties?”

“We did sometimes. Florence was wonderful. Let’s just say you bring the sun.”

“Oh. That’s good, though. Right? How could I have taken that the wrong way?”

“I wanted to say how much I appreciate your positive attitude and help getting this ready. Just don’t file with HR that I was flirting or something.”

Emma scrunched her nose. “Eww, flirting. Gross. I would never. It’s my least favorite. Boys have so many cooties, haven’t you heard? Flirting is overrated. I hate it. Bleh. Flirting. Shiver.”

“I’m really glad you didn’t overreact and take this conversation to a new level of awkwardness.”

Oh, boy. She’d gone off the deep end again. Well, no sense in stopping now. “Shhhyeah… that would be uncool. Go away. I’ll be normal again when you come back. I need to make a call anyway and let people know I’m staying late with the boss in an absolutely non-awkward environment of professionalism.” She shooed him toward the door. “My mask is slipping, don’t judge me.”

“Your mask?”

“The one where I pretend to be professional for eight to nine hours a day. There’s a limit, friend, and the cheesy carbs just busted through it. Nobody knows what I might do next.”

“Let it go then. You don’t have to pretend in front of me.”

He stacked his plate on top of hers and walked out smiling.

Emma called Katie and grabbed a paper towel to wipe the crumbs from the breakroom table.

“Emma!” Katie’s voice sang in her ear. “You ready for a ride? I’ve got our next movie queued up.”

“Um. Change of plans. I had dinner. But we hit a roadblock and need to reroute. It’s going to be a late night with the copy machine, I think.” Emma toed off her heels and rotated her ankles.

“Want me to come and help? Then you won’t be stuck there.”

Wasn’t it just like the best friend in the whole wide world to offer help on a Friday night? One day, that woman was going to get a boyfriend and have better things to do than sit on the couch and binge the Marvel Universe.

“I wish, but I don’t think it’s legal. These documents are case sensitive. Bringing in extra eyes is something that could get me fired.”

“Oh, bummer. Keep me posted okay? I hate that you’re having to stay late. Be smart.”

“Always. Whenever I get the urge to do something unbecoming of a young lady, I ask myself, ‘What would Katie Lewis do?’”

Katie chuckled. “That’ll keep you out of trouble.”

“It always does.” Emma left her shoes under the table and headed for the copy room.

James was lining up a new stack of papers that would be the bane of her existence for the next few hours. She grabbed a tower of binders and placed them on the counter, holding the phone between her ear and shoulder. “Love you, babe. You can go on to bed, but you’re not allowed to watch Iron Man without me. I will fight you. G’nite.”

James glanced at her from where he was unpacking a ream of paper. After refilling the tray, he hovered over the copier display for too long as he programmed the machine for the new project.