Page 54 of Dirty Judge

Confirm you’ve received these messages.

Olivia

I’ve received them.

Good.

Give me a five-minute notice whenever you’re leaving and exiting my chambers.

Can you do the same for me?

YES. Stop texting me.

Confirmed.

I survived without a glimpse of her for eight hours of the day, and I’d officially regained control of the situation.

As long as I focused on my work, checked in on research, and brushed away the thought of her mouth each time it came to mind, I would be just fine.

This woman was nothing more than my law clerk.

Nothing more.

And that’s all she could ever be.

GIFT (N.):

THE VOLUNTARY TRANSFER OF MONEY OR PROPERTY TO ANOTHER PERSON COMPLETELY FREE OF PAYMENT OR STRINGS WHILE BOTH THE GIVER AND THE RECIPIENT ARE STILL ALIVE.

OLIVIA

It’d taken exactly one week since that “totally didn’t happen” kiss—one week of avoiding this man in the office as much as possible—for me to come back to my senses and focus.

Thanks to him tapping back into my journalism days, I’d been working on a separate piece, and my takedown article on him was guaranteed to beepic.

I could see it now—a five-page spread inThe New Yorkeror a three-part rollout inThe Wall Street Journal.

The Reddit board would probably combust in flames, hitting record comments and views, and Netflix would come running with offers for a documentary.

I even had a title in mind:

Dirty Judge: The dishonorable Judge Ashton Experience.

Of course, I would need to omit any mention of the tension between us, my vandalism of his cars, and whatever the hell happened in his office last week.

From here on out, I would be on my best behavior and stick to strictly business. I was also determined to record everything, starting now.

Carrying today’s set of dockets into the office, I doled them out to my coworkers’ stations before settling behind my desk.

I made sure my cell phone was angled properly on the edge of my drawer before reading through this week’s arraignment files.

By the evening, the only interaction I’d had with Judge Ashton was seeing him slip into his office after court.

So, he’s reversing course, too…

“Miss Spencer?” His deep voice made me look up around eight at night.

“Yes, Judge Ashton?”