Before she could move, his head popped out of the office and his gaze homed in on her. With a jerk of his head, he silently beckoned her again to follow before ducking back inside.
Yes, like a damn puppy.
She sighed and made her way to him. “What can I do for you, James?” she asked, stepping past him into the room.
He closed the door and leaned against it. “You can leave.”
Chapter Two
What?
Tori blinked in dismay, her stomach twisting.
She folded her arms across her chest and tilted her head to look at him. “I’m a little confused. Did you or did you not just ask me to come to your office?”
“I did.” He nodded and lifted a hand. “What I’m trying to say is you can’t be here at Wright and Williams.”
“I can’tbehere? Like at the job I just got hired to do?”
“Exactly. You should quit.”
She started to laugh, and then went silent when she realized there wasn’t a trace of humor in his words.
The fury that heated her belly stayed at a slow simmer at the genuine distress in his eyes. “No. I’m not going to quit my job, James.”
“Two weeks. I’m two weeks away from taking the bar.” His voice broke as he shoved a hand through his hair. “And here you are to fuck everything up again.”
The blood flushing to her face left her almost trembling, and she grabbed the edge of his desk to keep her balance.
“Did you just blamemeforyoufailing the bar?”
He blinked, his eyes going wide for a moment. “Yes. No. I don’t even know. What I do know is my life got a helluva lot more complicated when you came into it.”
“You’re a grown man,” she ground out. “Take responsibility for your own actions and the consequences they create.”
When his gaze slid to her mouth, she knew immediately what he was remembering. What she thought about more than she cared to admit.
With the two of them alone in the small room, she became all too aware of him.
As a tall woman, she was used to being close in height to many men, but James still had at least four inches on her.
He wasn’t overly muscular, but lean, and maybe a little lanky in that gray suit. His face was fully masculine, with its square shape and strong jaw.
But it was those dark brown eyes that were watching her right now. They’d always put her a bit off-balance.
Which he was doing entirely too well right now, judging by the way her pulse was racing.
“How the hell is this happening?”
Maybe he didn’t actually want an answer, but she replied anyway.
“I don’t know... I applied for a job at a law firm that you apparently work at too? Pretty simple explanation, actually.” She put her most innocent expression on. “Would a PowerPoint presentation help break it down?”
“Could you, just, not...”
“I could.” She sighed. “Look, obviously, this isn’t ideal, but we’re both adults here.”
“I’m going to need to pretend you don’t exist for the next two weeks.”