Affirmation (8 page)

“Hey!”
I exclaim and punch him on the shoulder. “I thought you forgave
him?”

Matt
looks at me in all seriousness. “I did, Mac. But I don’t
like him. We’re not friends.”

Sighing,
I lay my head on his chest and squeeze him tight. “No, I don’t
suppose you are. You did more than enough by offering forgiveness.
But I can’t turn my back on him. I made a deal with him to open
up a law firm.”

“Yeah,
well… I sort of might have changed his mind after I talked to
him today.”

I
pull back and look at Matt. He has a sheepish expression on his face.

“What
did you do?” I ask, already trying to shame him with my tone.

Matt
holds his hands up in defense. “Nothing bad, I swear it. I just
sort of offered him a job here, as long as you agreed to stay.”

“What?”
I ask, stunned beyond comprehension. “You asked Cal…
your arch nemesis… to come work for you? I thought you said
you didn’t trust the bastard.”

“I
don’t,” Matt says smugly. “What better way to keep
tabs on him than having him come work for me?”

I
arch an eyebrow up in skepticism. He returns my stare, and we poker
face each other.

Then
he cracks.

“Fine,”
he says with a long-suffering sigh. “I want you to stay. You’re
a brilliant attorney, and you’re going places. I want you on my
team. I also want you within reach of me at all times because I love
you to fucking death. So, the easiest thing seemed to be for me to
get Cal on board. I knew you had committed to him, but if he came
here, you’d stay.”

“You’re
rotten,” I scold him. “And completely selfish.”

“When
it comes to you, you’re damn right I am. But talk to Cal…
you both have a decision to make.”

Wrapping
my arms back around his neck, I stand on my tiptoes and give him a
light kiss. “I’ll talk to Cal, and we’ll see. But
for now… let’s get out of here.”

Matt
doesn’t need any more encouragement; the promise of our bodies
coming together the minute we step over the threshold of his
apartment… or mine… is almost too overwhelming.

He
doesn’t even let me log off my computer. Grabbing my purse to
shove in my hands, he starts leading me out of the office. With his
fingers laced through mine tightly, he pulls me through the firm in a
hurry. We pass attorneys, paralegals, and secretaries, who all stare
at us with mouths hanging open. There is no doubt by looking at us,
and the impatience on Matt’s face, that he’s either
dragging me out to murder me or fuck me, none of which matters to me
because I’m officially not his employee anymore.

As
he pulls me through the lobby, Bea looks up and I have to giggle at
the stunned look on her face. As we pass her desk, Matt stops
abruptly and looks at Bea.

“You
need to redo your rating scale,” he tells her.

Her
jaw drops open, and her face goes red. “Rating scale?”

“Yeah…
that scale that you and Mac use to judge my mood.”

Bea
turns to look at me, a pleading look on her face for me to step in
and save her. I’m shocked as well and turn to Matt. “How
in the hell do you know about that?”

Giving
me a smile that seemingly melts the panties away from my body, he
steps in and gives me a kiss. “I know everything that has to do
with you. Let that be a word of warning.”

Then
he kisses me again, this time more deeply, and his hand even palms my
ass to bring me closer. I can hear Bea choking behind us.

When
Matt pulls away, my head is completely fuzzed, but I’m able to
watch as he turns to Bea again. His voice is authoritative, and this
is Matt Connover, Supreme Boss and Litigation God Extraordinaire,
talking to her. “Yeah… redo that scale. This is me at a
fifteen on the ‘one to ten happiness scale’. That’s
what you use as a baseline to judge my mood from now on. Clear?”

Bea
just nods her head at him, fear and confusion in her eyes. He stares
at her hard for a moment, and I’m just getting ready to slap
him for being so rotten, when he levels a brilliant smile at her.
“And Bea?”

“Yes,
Mr. Connover?” she says timidly.

“Thanks
for looking out for my girl here when I was being an asshole.”

Bea’s
mouth drops open again, and then snaps quickly shut. “Yes, Mr.
Connover.”

Flashing
her both dimples, which, if you’re not quite ready for it, can
cause pleasurable blindness on a temporary basis, he pulls me to the
door. He lowers his voice so I hope to God only I can hear. “Let’s
go, baby. I’m dying to see how great our fucking is going to be
now that love is involved.”

Smiling,
I follow behind him.

The
man I love, who loves me back.

The
great Matthew Fucking Connover.

I’m
such a lucky girl.

“Listen…
I’m not impressed by that offer. It’s twenty-five and not
a penny less. If you don’t pay it, I’ll drag your ass
through the shit storm that is our legal system for so long, that
you’ll be ready to retire before this case is over. And I could
care less if I win it. Just drowning you in legal expenses makes me
all tingly inside.”

I
hear the voice on the other end give a sigh. Finally, he says, “Fine.
Check is in the mail.”

“Thank
you,” I say sincerely. “And have a nice day.”

As
I’m hanging up the phone, I hear clapping from my office door.
Turning, I see Matt standing there, smiling with pride, and giving me
an exuberant round of applause.

“That
was fantastic, baby,” he says reverently.

Shrugging
my shoulders, I say, “Well… I learned from the best.”

“Twenty-five?”
he says.

“Yup,
twenty-five hundred dollars. I know it’s not your twenty-five
million, but baby steps,” I say with a smile.

“I’m
proud of you nonetheless. We should celebrate tonight.”

I
love Matt. He is my biggest supporter, my grand champion, and even
though my victory is tiny compared to his legal prowess, he’s
just as proud of me as if I had just settled a case for twenty-five
bazillion dollars.

Smirking
at him, I say, “I’m not sure a twenty-five hundred dollar
settlement is worth celebrating. But… if you want to give me
an extra orgasm tonight, I wouldn’t be opposed.”

“I
can arrange that,” Matt tells me with a grin. “But how
about we fly down to Florida for a weekend getaway?”

“That’s
a great idea. And let’s ask Marissa if we can take Gabe.”

“I’ll
give her a call and hopefully I’ll catch her in a good mood.”

Marissa
and Matt’s parenting relationship has changed somewhat in the
last several months. Matt did indeed talk to Marissa and told her
that he forgave her, and he even apologized for the times he was an
asshole. While Matt did that more for himself rather than his
ex-wife, it seemed to provide a balming effect on Marissa. She’s
become slightly easier to deal with, although it’s a little hit
or miss with her. She and Matt have had some serious discussions that
they had to work together to provide a stable environment for Gabe.
Since then, she’s been a little more relaxed with Matt, and on
an occasion or two, Marissa even managed to actually smile rather
than sneer at me.

Matt
walks all the way into my office and sits down on the edge of my
desk. I try not to be distracted by the rock-hard thigh that is
bulging through the material of his pants, which causes my gaze to
run up the length of his leg to the bulge that is now becoming more
prominent in the crotch area.

Flicking
my gaze up to his, I see his eyes are dark and heavy. I swallow hard
and try not to look back down again.

Matt
chuckles and leans forward to kiss me. “You know you can’t
look at me like that and not make me hard. It’s a hazard of
having you in the same building as me during the day.”

I
kiss him back and make it hot. Because I want him to know that it
doesn’t take much for him to get my motor running either.

Pulling
away, Matt reaches into his pocket and takes out an envelope. Handing
it to me, he says, “Actually… I thought we’d
celebrate this.”

I
take the envelope. It’s white linen with the Connover and Crown
logo on the front. As I open it, I sneak a peek at Matt. He’s
smiling at me with love and warmth. It makes me go all gooey inside.

Reaching
in, I pull a piece of paper out of the envelope. It’s a check.
It’s made out to Carson and Dawson, and my eyes bug out. It’s
for an amount that has an insane amount of zeroes behind it. My legal
fee for the
Jackson
case.

You
see, approximately eight months ago when Matt proclaimed he loved me,
I had a decision to make. Matt wanted me to continue to work for him,
but Cal and I wanted to open our own firm. We ended up compromising.
Carson and Dawson was formed so the employer-employee issue between
Matt and me was gone. But we subleased space in Matt’s office,
and Matt hired Carson and Dawson to do contract work on some of his
cases. This provided immediate income to Cal and me, and provided
Matt the ability see me throughout the day, although I put a halt on
his insistence that we could have discreet office sex. I was
terrified we were going to get caught. Plus, I was with Matt every
night, so it’s not like we were suffering.

The
most awesome thing that has happened in my legal career is that, with
Matt’s presence on the
Jackson
case and his guidance and expertise, we managed to settle it for mega
bucks. We were able to fund an amazing annuity for our clients after
paying off all of their expenses, and they would never have to
struggle with bills or healthcare again.

So
yeah, my legal fee that Matt just handed me will ensure that my new
law firm of Carson and Dawson will actually be in the black during
its first year of operation. Most of it is going into savings though,
so that we can rely on it during leaner months. I’m not falling
into the same pitfall that Lorraine dropped into while trying to run
a business.

I
look at the check one more time, and then set it on my desk. Standing
up, I walk into Matt’s embrace. He has to shift his legs so I
can step in between them, our arms coming up to mutually wrap around
the other. He pulls me in close, and I can feel his erection pressed
up against me and, as is usual the case, my brain goes a little
wonky.

Giving
myself a mental shake, I lean in to give my man a kiss before saying,
“Thank you for helping me with this case. I could have never
gotten that type of justice for the Jacksons without you.”

He
doesn’t respond but resumes the kiss, pushing it hotter…
gripping me tighter. His tongue is almost as magical as his dick, and
I’m on the verge of begging him for desk sex when he pulls
back.

I
feel flushed and faint, and I can barely focus on Matt and his
grinning face.

“I
have something else for you,” he says.

“Please,
please, please… tell me it’s an orgasm. I don’t
care how… mouth, fingers, dirty talk. Just give me one.”

Matt
busts out laughing and leans in to kiss my nose. “You never,
ever fail to amuse me. I think I’ve laughed more since I’ve
met you than in my entire life.”

“And
that’s a good thing, right?” I tease him.

He
pulls me back in and hugs me tight. “It’s a very good
thing,” he murmurs, just before he pushes me away from him.

When
I’m at arm’s length, he reaches back into his suit jacket
and pulls something else out. It’s another envelope.

I
take it from him, completely curious because it’s fatter than
the one with the check, clearly containing a thick packet of papers.

“What’s
this?” I ask curiously.

“Open
it and find out.”

The
envelope is almost identical to the previous one I just opened. White
linen, but the logo on the left corner catches my attention. It says,
“Connover and Dawson,” and has a heart next to it. No
address, no other information.

Weird.

I
undo it up and pull out the thick packet. Opening it up, I’m
first struck by the fact that the papers are blank.

I’m
next struck by the fact that there is a ring taped to the middle of
the first page. Even with opaque tape over it, I can see it’s a
stunner. Platinum… or is that white gold? I have no clue, but
there is a square-cut diamond in the center with tiny diamonds
surrounding the edge. More diamonds litter both sides of the band.

My
hands start shaking.

I
mean hard, and all I can see is the ring sort of bouncing around in
my vision.

Matt’s
hands reach out and cover mine. They are calm and reassuring, which
makes the shaking stop.

I
glance up at him, and he’s looking at me with such love that my
heart actually hurts a tiny bit.

But
in a good way. In a painfully, pleasurable way.

Matt
nimbly plucks the ring from the packet and pulls the tape off. I
watch like I’m in a dream as he pulls the papers from my hands
and sets them down. Then he takes my left hand and slides the ring
on.