“His team ain’t worth a dime, and his general counsel should be fired. Any rookie would tell you that when dealing with any gender-related lawsuit, the jurors would respond more sympathetically to a female litigator. Especially someone young.”
“Like Claire,” Arya pointed out.
“Like Claire. But that’s beside the point.”
“Are you saying he needs to hire a female lawyer?” Her green eyes sparked with curiosity, and there it was, the Arya I knew and was obsessed with. Apparently she was still there, under the thick layers of designer clothes and ballbusting moves and bullshit.
“Correct.”
“That’s sexist.”
I shrugged. “Doesn’t make it any less true.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Her eyes tapered. “No part of you wants my father to win this case.”
Smiling at her like she was a foolish child, I deliberately mansplained. “I’ll be buttoning up this puppy if you bring in Jesus Christ himself to represent your father. It’d be nice to break a little sweat while I do. I’m giving you a head start.”
Arya’s eyes glided over my chest. I was glad I couldn’t do the same to her, now that she’d wrapped herself back up. My IQ had dropped by sixty-nine points when she was naked.
“You look pretty sweaty to me,” she remarked.
“In court.”
She extended her bronze legs, wiggling her toes. I couldn’t help it. I sneaked a look. First at her shapely calves, then at those toes she used to entwine with mine when we were kids, reading under the desk at her library.
“So tell me, Christian, how do I know you?”
We were on a first-name basis now. That wasn’t good. Still, it felt weird to refer to Arya as Ms. Roth.
I flexed my muscles. “You seem like a smart cookie. Figure it out.”
You’re playing with fire, I could hear Arsène warning in my head.
That may be, I answered. How could I not, when the flame is so beautiful?
The next day, I called Claire into my office.
“Miss Lesavoy, please take a seat.”
Claire always looked good, but she seemed to be putting in extra effort in recent days. Perhaps to remind me she had more to offer than her sharp mind.
She sat in front of me, smiling breezily. “Hey, stranger. Tried to call you last night. Your voice mail has been working extra hours.”
I’d been busy jerking off to mental pictures of Arya. But I supposed she could do without this piece of information.
“Sorry.” I smoothed my tie over my dress shirt. “I was busy. Listen, Claire, I’m going to cut straight to the chase. You are gorgeous, intelligent, smart as a whip, and completely out of my league. I’m a washed-out, jaded asshole who cannot say no when a good thing lands in his lap, and in doing so I’m slowing you down. So this is me doing you a favor and calling things off before you begin to resent me and working together becomes tasking.”
I thought it was a nice little speech. Especially considering none of these things were lies. She was too good to me. I was jaded. And things were becoming more complicated, especially now that we were handling the Roth case.
Claire scowled, not bothering to appear unwounded. I knew I should adore that about her, but I couldn’t help but miss Arya’s mind games. Her arrogant pride. Her obstinacy.
“Don’t you think it’s on me to decide whether you’re good enough or not?” Claire asked.
“No,” I said softly. “I fake quality quite well.”
“I think you’re selling yourself short.” Claire leaned across the desk, capturing my hand in hers. “I like you very much, Christian.”
“You have no reason to.”
“Even more so, because you don’t get how amazing you are.”
I gave her an it’s-not-going-to-work look.
“Is it Ms. Roth?” She dropped my hand.
“Don’t, Claire.”
“It is, then.” She stood up but didn’t leave. Waiting for a blanket denial. For me to change my mind.
I masked my annoyance with concern. “You deserve better.”
“I obviously do.” She smiled humorlessly but didn’t make a move toward the door. She was waiting for something else. Something I was incapable of giving her. Humanity. Remorse. Sympathy. I wanted to kill Arya and Conrad just then. For robbing me of all the things I could have given others.
“I trust this matter is settled and behind us,” I said.
And that was when I saw it. The realization sinking in. The way her eyes turned off told me everything I needed to know. She got it.