“Wait, are you just now taking the bar?” Unable to resist the dig, she kept her tone innocent. “I mean, for some reason, I thought you took it last summer.”
This time, there was no mistaking the hardening of his jaw or the flash of fury in his eyes.
“Last year was pretty rough. Circumstances put me in the wrong headspace and, unfortunately, it caught up with me.” His words were curt. “So I need to take it again.”
“What a cute, roundabout way of saying you failed,” she teased.
The stunned look on Ryan’s face made her quickly realize she’d gone too far.
With a light swat on James’s shoulder, she gave a small laugh. “I’m just messing with you, James.” She gave Ryan a conspiring glance. “We always give each other a hard time. It’s kind of what we do.”
Though their time together could boil down to just a handful of occurrences, it was somewhat true. When they weren’t arguing, they were...
Better not go there, girl.
She cleared her throat.
Why couldn’t she stop needling him?
Maybe because she was freaking pissed that he was stealing the glory of her first day at work by existing as one of the lawyers at the firm.
Though logically, she could acknowledge that this was all completely random and just a shitty coincidence.
Ugh.
“Well, it’s nice to see a familiar face around here.” She added the last comment in a warm, sugary tone, needing to save face a bit after that exchange. She didn’t want to come across as a savage bitch—at least not on her first day. “Wright and Williams seems like an upstanding firm and a wonderful place to work. I couldn’t be more thrilled to be here.”
“Well, you’ll fit right in.” Ryan oozed charm, and the way his gaze quickly skimmed from her head to her toes oozed sleaze. It was a bit predatory too.
But that was something she was used to. Men looking her up and down and treating her like she was some kind of expensive car they wanted to drive. To own.
Fortunately, she’d gotten really good at shutting those types down. Oh, they had their place. And every now and then, she was looking at them the same way they looked at her. But that was less often, especially lately.
Hopefully, Ryan wouldn’t let it go beyond the occasional lewd glance—that he was probably arrogant enough to assume she didn’t notice.
He was undeniably good-looking, charming, and clearly someone of importance at this firm. Which was just one of the reasons she’d stay away from him.
One, she didn’t want to date anyone at work. And two, guys who knew they were hot shit were a bit of a turnoff to her. Three, he was probably close to forty, and she was in her early twenties.
“Anyway, I need to make a phone call.” Ryan gave them both a knowing nod. “Victoria, please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.”
“Thanks. Grace in HR has already been a big help.”
When he disappeared down the hall, she cast a quick look toward the office she shared with others on the HR team.
Now that they were somewhat alone in their corner, the weight of James’s gaze sank in. It sent a frisson of awareness through her and lifted the tiny hairs on her arms.
She cleared her throat. “Well, I should get back to—”
“Actually, I’d love to have a word with you, if you don’t mind? My office is just around the corner.”
Without waiting for a reply, he turned and walked away, veering off into a room a moment later.
So he expected her to just follow? Like a damn puppy?
Her teeth snapped together and she glanced around indecisively.
Don’t make waves on your first day, Tori.