I was amazed at how well I was beginning to read Nathan when we were in the office. His discomfort for the Boob-Squad was clear, but no one else could tell.

I sat in my chair, pretending to work, when in reality I was gauging his reaction, trying to figure out why he didn’t tell the Boob-Squad to leave him alone once and for all.

His muscles tensed with every passing minute, and he was not good.

Tiffany, member number three, was clamoring for his attentions. Leaning toward him, the top two buttons of her blouse were undone, exposing the top of her br**sts as she reached to point at some arbitrary word on a summons her client had received.

In my peripheral, I watched him try to avoid looking down her shirt, not wanting to give her any opening, eluding to his disinterest. However, he was a man with br**sts being flashed at him, it wasn’t like he could resist their call for long. Even from my angle I could see right down her shirt and her ample assets were straining against the hot pink lace of her bra. Of course he was staring at her tits. It was like a f**king neon sign drawing people in. Who could resist that? Even I was having a difficult time looking away.

One small glance spurred her on, and she walked around to his side of the desk so she didn’t have to read it upside down. To most it looked like he was making room for her, moving over and back a bit. To me, I saw him fleeing, trying to keep space between them.

I was pretty sure if I hadn’t been there, she would have taken it as an invitation to mount him.

Despite his disinterest in the women in the office, especially the Boob-Squad, I knew he was attracted to many of his female colleagues.

I caught him sneaking a peek when he thought no one was looking. It didn’t bother me. We weren’t in a relationship, at least in the technical sense, and I knew he was only looking; he had no interest in acting on the attraction.

I learned a lot about him by observation; I was a people watcher. His cocky attitude wasn’t exactly a lie or an act. It was all based on the man he used to be; a smooth, charismatic, arrogant, intelligent, and f**k hot God. He was playing himself in a role that was no longer his life.

I broke down and asked him one night at dinner about Ian’s comment of him being a playboy.

“Playboy? No. You’ve saved me enough at the office to know that. However, I’m not a monk either,” was his response.

I nodded. “What lonely, angry, sad, and gorgeous man with a strong libido wouldn’t partake in casual sex now and again?”

He pursed his lips at me, his face unamused. “You see more than what’s good for you.”

“Like you?”

“Exactly.”

I still didn’t get it, why he didn’t regard me the same as all the other women. Fuck and run, look but don’t touch. I sighed and leaned back in my chair. What was it about me that attracted him?

“You’re daydreaming again, Palmer,” he said, bringing my mind back to the present. I looked around and noticed Tiffany was no longer hovering over his cock.

I gave him my best bitch brow to keep up the show. “Thinking, Thorne,”

“More fun if you were day dreaming.”

“And why is that?”

He smirked at me and returned to his work, ignoring me.

A moment later my phone buzzed. Why couldn’t he just tell me?

Because if you were day dreaming, I would have a valid excuse to punish you for ignoring your work.

Oh, that’s why. I swallowed past the lump that had formed in my throat before responding.

Okay, no more texting from you during work.

Lame, but that was all I could come up with. My brain had exploded at the implications of his words, wildfire ripping its way through my body. How did he always do that to me?

Telling me what I can and cannot do, Palmer? Now THAT’S something to punish you for.

My jaw dropped as I stared at the tiny screen. He was going to be the death of me in the most glorious of ways.

I was startled out of my thoughts by an unexpected rapping on the door, making me jump.

“Hey guys,” Mark, from the office next door, called from the entry. “Jack just called a meeting in Lincoln.”

We both nodded and rose from our desks, heading to the south side of the floor where the company’s largest conference room resided. Almost fifty people filtered into the space. Nathan and I ended up being shoulder-to-shoulder, leaning against the wall, as there were only twenty seats in the room.

My eyes scanned the faces of the room, and I did a double take at the man sitting next to Jack Holloway.

“Fuck.” I hissed through gritted teeth. What was Andrew doing here?

Nathan jumped, taken back by my low outburst. “What?”

“This’ll go over like a pregnant pole-vaulter.” I directed his gaze to Andrew.

“What the hell is he doing here?” Venom laced his tone as he shot daggers at him.

“All right, everyone. Settle down,” Jack’s voice boomed out over the murmur of the crowd. “This won’t take too long; soon you will be back to the mounting piles on your desk.”

The crowd chuckled, while Nathan and I turned and raised an eyebrow at one another. We always had mounting piles; it would be a blessing to have the stack some of the other attorney’s had awaiting them. Oh, wait, we did. The difference being we had a bit of everyone’s work. It came with the territory, and I was happy to have it, instead of going to a court room any day like many in our office.

“As you’re all aware, we’ve been down a team member since Stephen’s departure late last year. Well, it’s been over six months, and I think we’ve finally have found the right man for the job,” Jack announced. “Some of you may remember the man to my right, he was once an intern here, and I would like your help in welcoming Andrew Carter to our ranks.”

The crowd erupted in applause and the Boob-Squad already seemed to have Andrew in their sights.

“Andrew’s first day will be tomorrow, and he’ll need everyone’s help getting reacquainted with Holloway and Holloway.”

Andrew caught my gaze, and I stood, frozen. A huge grin spread on his face: he looked like such a cute, innocent kid when he did that.

“Hey, Lila!” Andrew called out, interrupting Jack.

My face heated up in embarrassment as everyone turned to see who he was looking at.

“Hi, Drew.” I waved my hand, trying to move the room back to the topic at hand.