I wasn’t interested in small talk. “What can I do for you, Violet?” I asked, turning to face her.
“I just came in to give you these.” She tossed some papers on my desk. “This arrived by courier and is marked private and confidential. I thought it might be urgent.”
“Thanks.”
She turned to leave.
“Wait. What’s this?” I asked, opening an additional envelope.
She stopped and glanced over her shoulder. “My raffle entry you paid for—it won. It’s a two-day spa break thing.” She shrugged. “Enjoy.”
“I don’t want it,” I said. “And anyway, you were the winner, not me.”
“But you paid for it, so I can’t accept it.”
I sighed. The woman was exasperating. “I explained to you how these things work. You take it.” I turned back to my computer, hoping she’d leave.
“I’m sorry if I pissed you off last night. I didn’t want you to leave.”
“I had an urgent matter to deal with, which wasn’t anything to do with you,” I lied.
“I just think it’s better, as we work together. It’s not that I don’t find you attractive,” she said.
I snapped my head around. “Violet, please. I don’t need your reassurance. You didn’t piss me off, and it is precisely conversations like these that I’m trying to avoid.” I ran my hands through my hair. “Let’s just get back to work, shall we?”
“So, you’re just in a normal, stick-up-your-ass, rude-to-everyone-not-Violet-in-particular kind of mood?”
I couldn’t help but grin as I shook my head at her insolence. “It looks that way.” I picked up the spa certificate and handed it to her. “Here, take this.”
She shook her head. “I can’t. It’s for two, and my only friend in England is in New York that weekend.”
I didn’t know much about Violet other than how she felt under my fingers, how she made my cock jerk whenever she was around. I’d assumed she had roots of sorts here.
“Go on your own,” I said. “As Jean-Paul Sartre said, ‘Hell is other people’.”
She laughed and I couldn’t help but smile as her giggle took over her whole body. It didn’t matter if she was in a ball gown or a skirt and blouse, she was still beautiful.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d have attributed that quote to you. So, you go on your own,” she said.
“You won. And anyway, I rarely take an evening off, let alone a full weekend.”
“Jesus, do you ever just enjoy the moment?” she asked, raising her hands in the air and then taking the card from my hand.
I was enjoying this moment a little too much. “Close the door on your way out, please.” I sat back in my chair and turned to the screen. She needed to leave before my willpower faltered and I did something I knew I shouldn’t. I knew how soft her skin was, how wet I could get her pussy. She had to get out of here. “Just one more thing before you go.”
She glanced back over her shoulder and a memory of my hand up her skirt flashed into my mind. I swallowed it down. “It’s none of my business and you don’t need my permission, but if you were to date someone else in chambers, that wouldn’t be a problem from my perspective.”
“Someone else in chambers?” she asked, turning to face me again.
“You know, if you and Jimmy went out, whatever, that would be . . .” Fucking awful. For some reason, I felt some kind of ownership over Violet, but I wasn’t going to tell her that.
“Well, you’re right,” she said, placing a hand on her hip. “It isn’t any of your business, and I don’t need your permission.”
I turned back to my screen. I’d been trying to set her mind at rest, and convince myself that it really would be okay. I shouldn’t have said anything.
“But I’m not going to date Jimmy.” She cocked out her hip and tilted her head. “Ever.”
I tried to keep my breathing steady. I wanted her to finish her sentence. I wanted her to fill in the gaps I had in my mind about what had happened between them.
“He asked,” she said. “I said no. He’s not my type.”
I cleared my throat in an effort to disguise my smile as I mentally punched the air. I hated the thought of Jimmy’s hands on Violet. “Not your type?” I repeated.
“Yeah. Apparently, I prefer assholes.”
There was no way I could hold back my grin. “Good to know.” She turned to go, and as I began typing, she closed the door behind her. The only chance I had of resisting the primal urge I had to pursue and claim this woman was if I kept a five-mile exclusion zone around her. For now, I had the space I needed, but how long would it last? Violet had picked at a thread in me and was pulling at it, slowly unravelling me.
I sank back into my chair and grabbed the courier package Violet had brought in. I tore off the sealed end and emptied the contents onto my desk. Papers. Legal papers. I wasn’t expecting anything. I turned them over.
Decree Nisi.
My wife was divorcing me. Proof that I needed to stick with what I was good at and avoid any pretense at a relationship with a member of the opposite sex.
Sixteen
Violet
Over the last few days, I’d crossed all but the last few invoices off Knightley’s spreadsheet. Just a couple of items to send to finance, and then he’d be up-to-date. I glanced up at the pile of filing that took up most of my desk. I’d been working hard on his filing and archiving, but his office still looked like a freaking war zone. At least I could completely focus on it now that his billing was done.
“Violet,” Craig called out in the clerks’ office.
He clearly still didn’t know where I sat. “In here,” I said, getting up and heading in his direction.
“Oh, there you are. Can I have a word in my office?”
I hadn’t spoken to Craig in any detail about anything since my interview. Curious, I followed him.
“Have a seat, Violet,” he said, indicating the chair opposite his desk as he sat down. “I’ve not had the opportunity to say what a fantastic job you’ve done. You’ve far exceeded my expectations.”
I smiled. “I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or not.”
He chuckled. “Well, you’re right, my expectations weren’t high given our history with Mr. Knightley and the impossible task you had, but you’ve managed to bill over a million pounds. Some of it dates back five years. That’s tremendous work.” He slammed his hand on his desk, clearly delighted.
I hadn’t been told I was good at anything since college. But then, I hadn’t made an effort. I was proud I’d managed to do what I had here. Proud of the work everyone did. I was part of a team and it felt good. Craig was acting as if he’d given me the Gordian knot and told me I couldn’t cut it. Instead, I’d meticulously unpicked it. “I’m really glad it worked out.”
“So am I, my dear. So am I. And you’ve won Mr. Knightley’s trust, which is no small feat. Most of the barristers around here haven’t managed that, let alone the clerks and admin staff.”
I shrugged. “He’s not so bad. He’s just not used to his fire being matched with fire.”
“No, he’s not.” Craig chuckled. “And you’ve enjoyed it?”
“I have. More than I expected to, actually.”