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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 f**k 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 ass**le. ”
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 f**king 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 ass**le. 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.
Neither of us has said a word, and the room is heavy with emotion.
I look down at my hand, at the ring sparkling and Matt’s hand holding mine. Looking back up, I hold his gaze and his smile wraps around me like a blanket.
“Will you?” he asks simply.
The great Matthew Fucking Connover, the King of Prose and Wordsmith Genius has no great speech prepared for me. He just has a simple question, and I give him my simple answer.
“Yes. ”
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