Barefoot Kisses (The Kisses 7)

“You have to try these. I'm pretty sure they're made of heaven,” Darcie moaned. I loaded up my own fork and tasted them. They were creamy and delicious with a buttery goodness and just a hint of garlic.

“Probably the best potatoes I've ever had. Even better than Mom's,” I gushed, reaching for another bite. She knocked my fork away with hers to defend the potatoes from me, but I got a fork in anyway.

“You need to marry this guy,” Darcie informed me as she stuffed another bite into her mouth. “Anyone who sends something this delicious has to be a keeper.”

“I'll work on that,” I said dryly. I didn't even have his last name, let alone a way to marry him. I left the potatoes alone this time and took another bite of the salmon. This was the best meal I'd had in weeks.

“Um, how do I get out of here?” A voice asked, disrupting my salmon and potato bliss. I looked up to see the delivery guy standing in the doorway. The attitude from earlier was replaced with a bashful blush.

I looked over at Darcie as she furiously stuffed potatoes into her mouth. There was no way she was going to leave those potatoes. “Don't eat all of it, okay? I need to drop some stuff off with Calvin, so I'll show him out as I go.”

“I make no promises,” she managed to say around her mouthful of food.

I laughed as I grabbed the pictures off the printer and put them and the USB drive with all my findings in a folder. With a little bit of luck, I would have these to Calvin and be back to my food in no time.

“This way,” I told the delivery guy. Since he wasn't offering to carry my books, I was showing him out first. “They really need to put up a sign down here or something. People keep getting lost down here. This is the third time today.”

He followed me silently until he could see the elevators at which point he took off without even saying goodbye.

“Have a great evening!” I called out after him. I wasn't surprised or terribly disappointed when he didn't say anything. Most people around here didn't. Sometimes I wondered if I was invisible or if people really were just that rude.

I groaned as I reached Calvin's office. The light was off. I knocked, and checked the door, but it was locked. Of course, he got to go home while I stayed here working. I hit his number on my phone.

“Hey, Calvin,” I said when his voice-mail picked up without even ringing. “I finished that discovery file you wanted, but you're not here. I'll try Alexa.”

As much as I didn't want to call her, I knew I would get in trouble later if I didn't at least try. Alexa's phone rang twice before switching to voice-mail. I did my best to keep my irritation under control. Instead I went for passive aggressive. “Hi, Alexa. Calvin had me work on that discovery file for the Preston case you were supposed to do. I have it done. I guess they'll just wait until morning.”

I clicked the end-call button and then banged my hand against Calvin's locked door. This was a huge case and I knew the partners would be furious if they found out the two of them had left work undone on it. I had stayed late and missed my dinner reservations for them, yet neither one of them could be bothered to even pick up their phones.

I thought about just sliding the file under his door and going back to my delicious mashed potatoes. Or what was left of them. I even started to lean over to set it on the floor before I thought better of it. If I left the file here, Calvin and Alexa would just take full credit for it in the morning. The pictures were going to keep this lawsuit from trial and save our client millions. I deserved at least a pat on the back for finding them.

I checked the case file header. The partner running the case was Kathryn McDonald. I would just have to bring it up to her office and slide it under her door. That's where it would end up eventually, I was just skipping the step where Calvin got the credit instead of me.

I skipped the elevator and took the stairs up the one floor. Since I didn't have an armload of books, the stairs were faster. The cement was cold on my feet and I regretted my decision almost immediately. But, by taking the stairs I could pretend that my elevated heart rate was from exercise and not from the idea of what was going to happen to me when Calvin found out I had gone over his head.

The light was on in Kathryn's office and the door was open. I wasn't expecting that. I had thoroughly planned on just sliding the file under the door and scurrying away. My name was on the files, but I certainly wasn't ready to go in front of one of the nation's leading lawyers. The woman sitting at that desk was one of my personal heroes. I was terrified that she would find my work wanting.

I stood for a moment of indecision until I remembered Aiden saying he didn't think I'd be a lower level employee for long. I had gold-plated information. I had everything to gain from giving it to her and nothing to lose. If a stranger who had known me for five minutes thought I could be something, then I had no reason not to at least hand the file to her.

I knocked on the open door, buoyed by Aiden's words before I could talk myself out of it. “Ms. McDonald?”

An imposing woman looked up from her desk. Her blonde hair was graying, but instead of making her look old, it made her look distinguished. She had her glasses perched on the tip of her nose as she read over a document in her hand. She was exactly what I thought a lawyer should look like and everything I wanted to become.

“Yes?” Kathryn McDonald responded, sounding slightly annoyed at the intrusion. A hot sweat spread out on my stomach and the palms of my hands. Maybe I should have just left the file for Calvin.

“Ms. McDonald, I'm Lena Masterson- a paralegal downstairs...” I fumbled with my words. I had no idea what I was doing up here, let alone talking to the head partner of the firm.

“And?” Ms. McDonald blinked slowly at me, waiting for me to stop talking gibberish.

“I'm sorry to bother you- I just came across, I mean I found...” I stopped and took a deep breath, trying to center myself. Aiden had thought I could do this. I began again. “I found some information that will win you the Preston case.”

“A bold claim,” Ms. McDonald said as she set her reading down. I had her complete attention now and I started to shake. “Let me see it.”

I nearly tripped as I hurried over to her desk to hand her the file. “I printed the relevant pictures, but the original screen shots are on the USB as well as the-”

“Where did you find these?” Ms. McDonald cut me off.

“On the myFace pages of the plaintiff's friends. He was smart enough to un-tag himself so they didn't show up on his personal page, but several of his friends have all their pictures set to public view. I recognized him as soon as I saw them.” I swallowed hard. I had been expecting her to smile, but so far she was just watching me with a perfect, unemotional lawyer mask.