His To Own Read Free

her.”
    “From walking in a straight line?” Price pressed. “No, you just can’t be serious. Have them send another girl over, one that can walk and chew gum at the same time.”
    “She’s doing well,” Michael said firmly. “This is only her second day and she’s already impressed me.”
    “Are you sure it’s her… performance… you’re so impressed by?” Price asked, an insinuating eyebrow arched skyward.
    “It’s her coffee, actually,” Michael said easily. Denying his attraction to Laney outright would be a mistake. Price was a gifted attorney; he had a sixth sense about when people were lying to him. Plus, Michael had nothing to be ashamed of. He hadn’t acted on his attraction – yet – and therefore Price had no reason to infer anything untoward.
    “No one’s coffee is that good,” Price insisted. “I’ve only seen the girl twice and both times she was a mess.”
    Before Michael could respond there was another knock on his door. Jonah Waters poked his slick black head in. “Has he agreed?” he asked Price.
    “He is being obnoxiously, remarkably thick headed about it,” Price said with a sigh.
    “Look,” Michael said, holding his hands out in a placating manner, “Just give her the rest of the week. If she can clean up her act, she stays. If not, I’ll call the agency for a replacement.”
    Michael had absolutely no intention of calling the agency for a replacement. He was fairly certain he wouldn’t have to find a way around it. Laney was competent, more so than she gave herself credit for. He would just have to figure out a way to neutralize her nervousness around him so she could stop being a threat to herself and those around her.
    “The rest of the week,” Price agreed, holding out his hand for a shake. Michael grasped his partner’s hand firmly.
    “You won’t regret it,” he assured both Price and Waters. “You’ll wonder how you ever doubted her.”
    “I wouldn’t go that far,” Waters muttered. “We’ve got a conference call at 4. I’ll be in the gym if you need me.”
    “What else is new,” Price muttered as he followed Waters out. Michael grinned. They were total bastards, but they certainly kept things interesting. Price, almost skeletally thin, was a lifelong vegan who detested exercise. Waters had never met a cut of meat he didn’t devour and was a gym rat with a stocky build that was not as exclusively made of muscle as he liked people to believe.
    Michael ran a hand through his hair wondering how he would start the conversation he needed to have with Laney. The last thing he wanted to do was make the situation worse and he was afraid letting her know the partners had her on probation would only succeed at making her more nervous. And he wasn’t certain the staff could handle it if she got any clumsier.
    No, Michael needed to put her at ease, or at the very least refocus her attention so she wasn’t so nervous around him. His grin turned rakish. He had just the idea.
    ##
    “I’m so sorry,” Laney muttered, clutching the file she’d just retrieved from the basement even tighter to her chest. The last thing she needed to do was send another batch of papers fluttering to the floor, totally out of order. It had taken her almost an hour to put the last file back together again and this one was twice as thick.
    "Laney."
    Her spine straightened and her nipples hardened. She covered them with the folder and spun to face her boss.
    "Could you please come to my office when you're finished with whatever you're doing?" he asked politely.
    Michael was always polite. It would have been easy to think of him as a gentleman, but Laney had heard the gossip around the office and she had seen the looks Michael gave her when he didn't think she could see him. Honestly, it was a wonder she hadn't set fire to the kitchenette with the way those overtly sexual pheromones he gave off made her nerves feel raw and exposed.
    "Of course," she muttered, spinning around again to