Page 81 of At His Beck & Call

As a result, I’m out of my office for much of the time, which is probably a good thing.

I can’t believe I kissed her with the fucking door open. Control yourself, Heath.

As I head back to my office, a sinking feeling settles in my stomach when I see that Lissa isn’t at her desk. I love looking at her as I walk by. I make sure she never sees me doing it, though.

Adelaide is there, however, and she rises as I walk by, following me into the office and closing the door. I glance back at her, raising my eyebrows. This is unusual; she tends to dislike closing the door during work hours, telling me it fosters a ‘culture of deception’.

The door is only closed from 5pm on, and the hours until then seem to be getting longer and longer.

“What’s going on, Addy?” I ask, looking at her with a little smirk. “You look agitated.”

“Stop calling meAddy,” she says without much heat. I’ve been doing it for a decade, and I don’t plan to stop.

“Do you need another raise?”

“No,” she mutters irritably, and I raise an eyebrow at her in amusement. “I wanted to ask if I could take Lissa out to lunch.”

“Of course, why would you need my permission?”

“She’s had a horrible week.”

“Henry seems to be doing better, though, from what she’s said?”

“The surgery went well. But there’s a long road ahead. Cancer doesn’t just snap its fingers and disappear.”

“Of course,” I say gently.

“I would like to take her to Morgan’s. It’s a nice restaurant, and since it’s Friday, I thought an extended lunch break where she could relax would do her good.”

I put my hand in my pocket, take out my credit card, and hand it to her.

“That’s an excellent idea. Get whatever you’d like.”

I sit down at my desk before looking up at her to find her frozen in place, staring at the credit card.

“I meant on thefirm,” she says, frowning at me.

“Use my credit card, it’ll be simpler. And take as long as you like.”

She doesn’t say anything for a little while, the frown still on her face as she tucks my card away in her pocket.

“Will Lissa be with us for a while?” she asks, her gaze curious. “She’s really good, one of the best, in fact. Did you know she was planning on going to law school at one point?”

I look up, shocked by that. “Really?”

“Yes. I think she would have made a great lawyer, actually. She’s hardly as assertive as some of you people, but she has a gentleness about her that would put any client at ease. It’s a shame she couldn’t continue with her schooling.”

“Why didn’t she go to law school?” I ask, intrigued now.

“I’m not sure. She just said she had to stop.”

That fucker of a husband probably forced her to quit.

“Hm... Well, I’m glad you like her. You’ve seemed less stressed lately. Is the Reynolds case slowing down? I hope Noah has been useful.”

“Very. A little obsessed with work, like you, but he’s a good egg.”

I nod. I really don’t know much about him.