Legal Affairs - Violation: Legal Affairs Serial Romance by Sawyer Bennett

The rest of this
week has gone remarkably well considering on Monday I cut ties with
Matt. Well, personal ties anyway. I still had to face him every day
as my employer and, while slightly awkward, I was weathering the
storm.
    My first true test
was the very next day… Tuesday, when I had to listen to
Lorraine gush about her date with Matt. I got a full-blown novel on
their evening together, even down to what the china pattern looked
like at the fancy five-star restaurant he’d taken her to, and
the fact he ordered a two-hundred dollar bottle of champagne for both
of them to drink.
    Asshole hadn’t
even bought me a Big Mac, and I’d made him howl with pleasure.
Where’s the gratitude?
    Yes, I was still a
little bitter, but I didn’t let it affect the way I was around
Matt. There was no way I was ever going to let him know that my
feelings were still hurt and that, annoyingly enough, I missed him a
little.
    So, whenever we had
to interact at the office, I gave him my most pleasant smile, and I
even made sure I answered every question he posed my way with a “Yes,
sir,” or a “No, sir.” And yes, I danced an internal
dance of glee when his teeth would clench together and that jaw
muscle would pop every time I did that.
    Sometimes, life was
all about the little pleasures.
    Past those few
interactions, I kept my head down and concentrated on my work. It was
driving me a little batty because I had run into a few roadblocks on
the Jackson case, but I was nowhere near ready to go ask Matt
for help, so I dug my heels in and tried to solve my problems on my
own.
    The brightest part
of my week was hearing from Cal. True to his word, he sent me an
email Monday night and invited me to lunch on Thursday. Still
smarting from Matt’s refusal to treat me even remotely like a
human being with feelings, I gladly accepted and even made sure I
wore a pretty dress that clung nicely to my curves. I even curled my
hair.
    When I walked into
the office kitchen Thursday morning to get a cup of coffee, Matt was
in there sitting at one of the tables and reading the paper. He
glanced up when he heard me walk in, and did a double take over my
appearance. For a brief moment, his lips started to curve up in an
appreciative smile and I thought he might compliment me, but then one
of the staff pool secretaries walked in and we started talking.
    Yes, it was evil of
me, but when she complimented me on how great my dress was, I
couldn’t help myself when I said, “Thanks… I have
a lunch date today and wanted to look nice.”
    My back was to Matt
so I have no clue what his reaction was, but he immediately stood up
and walked out of the kitchen.
    So, back to my lunch
date.
    Cal is pretty
awesome. We meet at a great little Cuban restaurant and spend an hour
and a half just talking and laughing. He’s down to earth and
completely charming. I find out he’s been practicing law for
ten years but is completely dissatisfied with doing insurance defense
work.
    When I ask what he
really wants to do, he tells me with a sheepish look, “Honestly…
I’d love to do the type of work Matt does.”
    He says it with
admiration, and I understand exactly how he feels. As a lawyer, Matt
is someone you would want to aspire to be like.
    As a lover…
not so much.
    “So what’s
with you and Matt? He seems a little antagonistic toward you,”
I ask. I don’t tell him that Matt had warned me off, because
that would imply Matt had a personal reason to do so, and that is
still very much a secret.
    Cal’s face
tightens just a bit, although he tries to give me an apologetic
smile. “Actually, that’s kind of personal if you don’t
mind. Matt and I have a history together, and it’s not good.”
    I reach across the
table and grab his hand, because I can tell that I provoked some dark
feelings. “Not a problem. Forget I even asked. In fact, let’s
just agree that Matt Connover has no place being involved in our
conversation.”
    Cal rewards me with
smile filled