Page 16 of Ache
Alec just blinks at me blankly. I guess he doesn't appreciate my sense of humor.Sorry, *shrugs* I tried. “I’ll just get started on this.” I sit down demurely and begin to sort through the paperwork. I feel like a dumbass. I’m just going to keep my trap shut from now on. No point in trying to establish a courteous working relationship with the man. He clearly isn’t interested.
Shithead.
I throw myself into reading. Tim’s handwriting isn’t that bad. I’ve seen much worse. I digest all the discovery that’s available and read over the depositions. Alec wants a face to face with all the participating parties because he’s anal retentive like that and strives to be overly prepared. A trial date is scheduled for next week, but Alec has made it abundantly clear he wants to settle. The opposing side is making settling difficult, though. They want their day in court, and it looks like they want to drag the company's name through the mud while there. Like Alec would ever let that happen. Our client’s reputation is what’s really on the line here. Settling will make everything go away quietly. And according to Tim’s notes, the company has been generous with what it’s willing to offer. It feels like there is more going on with this case than just the pursuit of fairness.
By six p.m., my eyes feel like they are going to fall out of my head. I can’t remember the last time I read so much, and that’s saying a lot, because in this job, all I basically do is read. I toss my glasses on the table and rub my tired eyes. There’s still an entire stack of papers I have to comb through. We’re going to be here all damn night.
“Ready for a break?” Alex asks from across the room.
“Fuck, yes,” I expel, then slap my hand over my mouth.Whoops. Totally inappropriate work language. Alec grunts. It’s more amused than annoyed, which I thank God for. I need this job. Iwantthis job. The very last thing I need is Alec getting on my case for not acting professional enough.
“No worries, Miss Paige. Feel free to drop all the F-bombs you want. Lord knows I have been silently cursing my head off. Fucking bullshit of a case.” Alec pushes his pile of papers away from him, sending some to the floor. “This shit is open and close. These fuckers just want to drag McKinney’s name through the mud. They’re wasting everyone’s time and money, including their own. Morons.” He runs his fingers through his disheveled, dark hair. The move is sort of hot. I shouldn't be noticing that. Nope, not at all.
“Tell me how you really feel,” I quip.
“I tell it how it is.” He shrugs. “No point beating around the bush.”
“Guess not,” I agree, even though I’m an expert at avoidance.
Alec’s phone buzzes on his desk. He reads the message quickly.
“Dinner has arrived.”
Thank God. My stomach has been rumbling for the last forty-five minutes. I barely had time to take three bites of my lunch today.
Several minutes later, a young delivery boy drops off a large brown bag that smells to die for. I know it’s just Chinese food, but being on the brink of starvation is making it that much more appetizing.
Alec tips the boy wearing a Giants cap and funky boombox T-shirt as I pull out all the contents of the bag. There are half a dozen little white take-out boxes scattered on the table by the time I’m done.
“It looks like you ordered half the restaurant.” I begin to open each one.
“I like variety, and you didn't specify what you wanted to eat. I took a shot in the dark.”
“It all looks good to me.” I open the chopsticks and attack the chicken and string beans. Yum. I try to interpret the red writing on the container but it’s fruitless. I can’t read Chinese. “Where did you get this from?” I don’t know if I’m just famished or if the food really tastes this damn good.
“I can’t give all my secrets away.” Alec settles into the chair across from me cockily before picking up his own little box to dive into.
He is so self-important. I internally roll my eyes as I take another bite of the buttery chicken. Fine, keep your stupid, secret —ridiculously amazing — food find to yourself.
I continuously poke at my dinner with the chopsticks, thoughtfully picking and choosing the best pieces to eat. Not a word is spoken for I don’t know how long, but when I notice the deafening silence in the room I look up to find Alec staring at me. Intently. Deliberately. Pointedly. He traps me in his icy gaze, the exact same way he did on the balcony, and just like on the balcony, my flesh becomes fevered. It feels foreign, my own skin too tight, tingling with unease. His eyes penetrate me in a way only one other person on this Earth has managed to.How? Why?I chew the food in my mouth slowly, concentrating heavily on swallowing. I’m under a spotlight, and I don’t know how to react.
Stop looking at me. Break the connection.
But his eyes just linger.
My heart pounds and so does my head, along with some other pulsating places that shall remain nameless. Alec Prescott may be gorgeous, but he’s a booming A-hole with a superiority complex I don’t want to get anywhere near. Even if he can crawl under my skin with just one look. Just one . . . piercing . . . powerful . . . polarizing look.Ugh.
What the fuck is that about? Only one other person in my life has managed to affect me the same way, and look how wonderful that turned out.
I want to shirk under Alec’s heavy stare, but I don’t. I rally. Staring straight back into his hypnotic blue eyes. Eyes like the Arctic, glacial and blue.
“Han Han.” Alec never blinks.
“’Scuse me?”
“The name of the restaurant is Han Han. It’s a tiny little place that is one of Chinatown’s best kept secrets.” He swirls his chopsticks around his box, slowly, thoughtfully, almost like he’s trying to seduce me with them.
No, that’s crazy. He is not trying to seduce me. Men like him do not seduce women like me. Whoever I may be.
