“Come on, man. It’s Friday night,” Anthony said. “Stay for one more round of drinks.”
“Yeah, the next round is on me,” Zachary added.
They were my partners at Sloane & Partners. We’d taken out our entire team of twelve for drinks, to celebrate the move to the new office.
“Have fun. I need to get home to the girls.”
There were several boos from the team, but I shook my head, smiling.
“You should bring them too,” someone said.
“At a bar?”
“We can move to a restaurant.”
“I promised I’d watch a movie with them.”
“Awww... that’s so sweet.” That was Ashley, one of our interns.
Zachary shuddered. “Ashley! Don’t say that in public. Imagine if word went out that the great Carter Sloane’s employees call him sweet? His reputation would be ruined. Our entire business would collapse.”
Clients flocked to us because we had a great track record. They trusted my ability and work ethic, and appreciated my no-nonsense attitude.
“Hey, who knows? It could be a unique selling proposition. Most people think lawyers are soulless robots,” Ashley volleyed back.
“Could be true,” I said.
“Nah, boss. You’re not fooling anyone,” Ashley said.
I liked to think I was the kind of boss everyone liked. I was ruthless when I had to be, but I liked the casual atmosphere. The law business was exhausting as it was. We could all do without the additional pressure of a stressful office life.
As I waved goodbye to everyone, I caught Zachary eyeing Ashley suggestively. I cocked a brow, motioning him to follow me. Once we were far enough from the group, I went straight to business.
“No fucking around at the office.”
Zachary set his jaw. “I know the rules.”
“You weren’t looking at Ashley as if you were planning to follow the rules. Employees are off-limits.” My tone was harsh, but I wanted to get my point across. Even though we’d been friends since law school, rules were rules.
“Understood.”
“Good. Have fun.”
He didn’t look too happy with me as I left, but there was nothing I could do about that. Office hookups weren’t unusual in bigger firms. I understood the appeal. The hours were long and the pressure was always high. It was a way of relieving tension. But in a smaller firm like this one, it was too risky, too messy.
The truth was, the number of singles or divorcees in the industry was alarming. The long hours were not exactly family- or relationship-friendly. And Zachary didn’t have anything to complain about. He hooked up often and wasn’t even discreet about it.
I dated plenty, but I hadn’t had a real relationship in some time. I wasn’t averse to them, but after the girls moved in with me, things changed. Some women pulled back when they found out I was a package deal or drifted away after I introduced them to the girls. After trying and failing a few times, I stopped trying. It was the best for the girls, and for me.
The girls and I ended up watching movies late into the night and sleeping most of Saturday. On Sunday I treated us all to ice cream and asked them about their week, trying to gauge if they liked the new school and were settling in well. As always, the weekend went by too fast.
On Monday morning, I headed out earlier than usual because I wanted to stop by the coffee shop first. That coffee was damn good, and so were the sandwiches. And who knew? I might even run into Valentina. She’s taken, I reminded myself, but then another voice at the back of my mind assuaged my guilt. We could just enjoy each other’s company or be friends.
Yeah... except every time I thought about her, the images flashing in my mind weren’t of the friendly variety. I wanted to taste her. Not just her lips. All of her.
I swept my gaze once around the coffee shop when I entered and found Val at one of the corner tables. After receiving my order, I went straight to her. She didn’t see me until I was right in front of her.
“I see you’re on your way to becoming a fan of Walter’s,” she said.