Insufferable Proximity 2 (25 page)

“Heaven Deville afraid to bite off more than she can chew? I don’t believe it.”

“Say one more word and I’ll bite off something else bigger than I can chew,” she threatened as she lightly slapped his cock.

“Careful.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her closer.

“No…you be careful,” she snapped back.

“If you keep talking to me like that, I’m going to pull up your skirt and beat your ass right here. Maybe if I beat you hard enough, you’ll tell me why you really didn’t fight for that case.”

The knock on the door echoed through the room.

“Mr. Baker is having an impromptu party in the cafeteria,” his secretary yelled through the door.

“All right,” he answered. He slid his hand down Heaven’s arm, as he looked into her eyes, “Do you want to go congratulate him? Or maybe he should be thanking you for letting him win.”

“I didn’t let him win,” she hissed, “I told you that I didn’t want such a big case right now! I have more important things going on. Besides, Mr. Baker seems capable of handling it.”

“Does he?” he asked, not liking her statement.

“I believe so. Your father thinks he’s great, and that’s all that matters.”

“And what do you think about him?”

“I don’t think about him.”

“Good, I don’t want you to think about him,” he ran his finger across her lips, “I want you to think about me, and only me.”

“I do,” she confessed and Julian smiled smugly.

***

Word of Clive’s win spread across the firm like wildfire, but no one seemed interested. Everyone was abuzz with the news of Heaven giving up a juicy case. Even Clive’s elaborate buffet couldn’t entice them.

“I told you.” Gloria grinned with satisfaction; she loved being right.

Adele’s eyes were wide with shock. “I can’t believe she didn’t fight for that case.”

“She must really love him. I once saw her try to take Lila’s head off for a case,” Reese added.

“I’m actually impressed. I see her in a new light; she seems less demonic and more romantic.” Adele shook her head, “I can’t believe I just called Ms. Devil romantic.”

“It must be snowing in hell,” Reese shook her head.

Juliette stood by silently with her mouth dropped open. She was stunned that neither Heaven nor Julian would fight each other for the case. It spoke volumes of their relationship. She realized for the first time that she would never have Julian. It was a lost cause.

“Is everything all right?” Ronnie, the security guard asked Juliette.

Juliette turned to look at him with a mixture of sadness and disgust written on her face.

“Excuse me?” she snapped.

“I’m sorry; you just look so darn sad, Miss Juliette.”

“That’s absolutely none of your concern,” she raised her chin, trying to appear as if she weren’t about to cry.

“I’m sorry if I offended you, I just hate to see such a pretty woman so sad. I do apologize if I crossed the line,” he said before he walked away.

Juliette watched him retreat as his words ran through her head. Ronnie had always been very nice to her; too bad he’d been in a relationship with Lila Strain.

***

Lila left the boss’s office, fighting back the tears. She was crushed by the display of affection between Julian and Ms. Deville. Lila knew how Julian was when it came to cases. He fought tooth and nail for any case he wanted—no one was immune. In the past, he had never shown a hint of relenting or an ounce of leniency. But now, here he was, handing over a case to Heaven Deville. Well, trying to hand it over to her.

Lila slammed her office door behind her and went to sit at her desk. She knew she had to do something. Maybe she could seduce him again. It had worked once, and she was desperate enough to try again. She couldn’t let him go that easily; she would fight every step of the way.

She had to do something to remind him of how amazing she was when it came to sex. She would get him alone and get him so turned on that he would fuck her on the spot. She knew Julian, and she knew one thing he couldn’t resist was sex.

***

Clive had decided to put his father’s money to good use. He’d ordered a spread of food from one of the best chefs around. He’d had them bring the food to the cafeteria and set it up with a few decorations. If he won, he had a special display created to congratulate him. If he lost, he would still honor the winner with a banquet set for a king. He was thankful that he won. He was already making a name for himself at the firm.

Clive stood in the middle of the cafeteria as if he were ready to give a speech.

“Thank you.” He smiled at the secretaries and a few of his co-workers.

“This is great, Mr. Baker,” Adele said, smiling.

“Please, call me Clive,” he flashed his megawatt smile at her.

“Yes, please call me Adele.”

“I feel wonderful because I won. I want everyone else to feel wonderful as well.” He’d been helping Ayden with a case since he got here, but this was his first official case on his own.

Clive smiled when he watched Heaven walk into the room. He left the bevy of secretaries and made a beeline towards her.

“I wanted to thank you for taking it easy on me and giving me a chance to win that case. I’ve heard you can be quite ruthless when it comes to picking cases,” Clive said with his most dashing smile.

“You won that on your own; it had nothing to do with me.” Even though she remained stoic, Clive smiled warmly.

“Well, thank you for not going for my throat when you found out how much I wanted it. Ayden told me that we have very similar tastes when it comes to cases.”

“I think most lawyers do,” she replied before turning away from him.

Julian stood by the door, seeing how long Heaven would converse with Clive. He felt a perverse satisfaction when she cut the conversation short.

Heaven smiled when she saw Julian standing in the cafeteria entrance, and she put a little pep in her step as she hurried over to him.

She smiled and tilted her head back. “Hi.”

He instinctively bent his head to accept her kiss. As he pulled back, he locked eyes with Clive. Julian saw the envy on Clive’s face and was tempted to heckle him. Enjoying Clive’s discomfort, Julian slid his hand down Heaven’s back to rest on the top of her butt. He watched Clive turn away, but not before he saw the fury below the surface.

“Come with me,” Julian whispered in her ear. He put his arm around her and led her out of the cafeteria.

“Where are we going?” she asked as he led her toward the exit.

“We’re going to celebrate.”

“Celebrate what?”

“Celebrate not winning that case. Not winning means that I have more time to spend molesting my soon-to-be-wife.” He kissed the side of her head, before leading her to the elevator.

***

Heaven stepped out of the pool, dripping water as she walked over to Julian. He was still in his suit and perfectly dry.

“I thought you were going to swim with me?” She dropped to his lap and wrapped her wet arms around his neck.

“Not now,” he said dispassionately.

“You might as well have a lap with me, you’re already soaked.” She smiled as she wiggled her wet bottom on his lap.

“Maybe later.”

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Tell me the truth—why didn’t you fight for that case?” He was obviously not going to stop until he got an explanation.

“I told you, it’s a big case.” She had no idea how to explain what she was feeling—she barely understood it.

“But that’s your favorite type.”

Heaven had wanted the case more than she had wanted any other. She had seen the look on Julian’s face, and knew that he wanted it just as badly as she did. She thought about the case, and how wonderful it would be to win. It was a hard one that would set her career in stone and would bring her right back up to speed with the time she’d lost.

Then, she thought about all the time that case would take. It was a huge case that would require a lot of focus. She thought about all the busy days and sleepless nights it would bring. She thought about spending day after day in court, and she couldn’t prevent the frown twisting her lips. Under normal circumstances, this would ignite her blood and send her ambitious tendencies into overdrive.

But nothing was normal anymore.

Things were different now; she didn’t have the time for such a high-profile case. As much as she wanted it, she could think of a million other things she would rather be doing with Julian instead. If she were honest with herself, she just didn’t want to spend that much time away from him. She thought about lunch with Julian in the backyard; she thought about his muscular arms wrapped around her as she lay her head on his chest. She thought about spending long hours just kissing him, nothing else—just kissing. The thought of chocolate-chip cookies invaded her brain, and she smiled.

Heaven was smiling widely, a lusty joy spreading across her face. She wanted to be disgusted with herself for her uncharacteristic decision, but she felt more relief than anything. She was tired of trying to hide her true feelings. There was nothing wrong with preferring Julian to work. Sure, success was fabulous, but at the moment, it was more of a nuisance. She had plenty of time for her career; she had spent her whole life building it. Now she wanted to enjoy the moment. She would refocus on her career when she was ready.

“I just thought that with everything that’s happened, I don’t have the time to focus on such a big case. I’m thinking about assisting other lawyers at the firm or taking a small case when it comes.”

“Did I hear you right? Did my workaholic, bulldozing-her-way-to-the-top, fiancée just say that she is taking a step back?”

“I didn’t say I was taking a step back. I said that I didn’t want to spend all that time on a complex case right now. There is a
big
difference.”

“Hell must be freezing as I speak,” he said in total shock.

“Just for a little while, I’ll be back full-force before you know it. This is NY—there are plenty of large cases.”

“Wow, I never thought I’d see the day.” He was amazed. She always managed to shock him.

“Well, now you have.”

“Why the sudden change? This morning you were ready for battle. You looked at me like you did before the contract—like an opponent.”

“That was part of the reason.” She’d realized that she was seeing him as an opponent again, and she hated it. She wouldn’t allow that into their relationship again, at least not like that. “I’ve learned that other things are more important to me.”

He found it hard to believe. “What’s more important to you than work?”

She stared at him for a moment before she answered, “You are.”

He sat in shock as his brain attempted to comprehend the true meaning of her words. It took him a full thirty seconds to breathe.

“Did you just pick me over your beloved career?” He raised a brow, waiting for her to deny it.

“Yes. I would rather spend the extra time with you,” she admitted, and Julian grinned.

“That’s part of the reason that I didn’t fight for it as well. I’d rather focus on you,” he also admitted.

“What’s the other reason?”

“I thought you wanted it, and I wanted to give it to you.”

“You would really give me a case?”

“I’d give you anything you wanted,” he spoke from his heart.

“I don’t ever want to think of you as my opponent again. I’d quit before I let that happen.”

He couldn’t believe his ears. “Really? You would quit your job?”

“Yes; I obviously have little to no self-control when it comes to competition. So, before I let that job come between us, I would find another one.”

“But you love your job; you love the firm.”

She held him tightly. “I love you so much more.”

***

Heaven fought like a dog to make it to work on time, even though Julian was damn near irresistible. She fought his advances and even skipped going to get coffee. She had a mysterious appointment. A mystery woman had called to make it, but refused to give her full name or explain what it was about.

Once they were on the floor, Julian kissed Heaven before heading to his office. She made a beeline to the cafeteria to grab a big cup of coffee. A few of the secretaries were huddled at the corner table, speed talking; they had ten minutes until they needed to be at their desks and were too engrossed in their conversation to notice Heaven.

“Let’s just say that Clive is not as bright as we thought,” Reese said.

“I heard he has no idea what he’s doing on this case. Gloria wouldn’t confirm it, but she didn’t deny it either.”

“I overheard Lila say the same thing,” Reese nodded in agreement.

“Oh well, he’s sexy—he doesn’t have to be smart,” Adele giggled.

Heaven frowned as she left the room. She hoped that was just gossip and there was no truth to what they said. Heaven would feel responsible if Clive lost the case, especially since there were two other attorneys who never lost that were vying for it. Julian would have easily won if not for her; she felt as if she’d let down Julian, and the firm.