Ex-Daredevil by Zoe Lee

Chapter 15

Eliott

The week at work was very busy, and by Thursday I had to admit it was in part because I wasn’t one hundred percent focused on it the way I’d always been. Gavin was coming in at ten-thirty to go through all of the files he’d put together for Barley’s divorce. So I was eager to get to work on that, but I was also really looking forward to seeing him again.

We’d been texting since we went our separate ways after the ultimate frisbee game, where I’d shocked the hell out of him by being good at it and securing my team the win.

When the receptionist called to say he was here, I thanked her and then wiped my sweaty palms down my pants and took a deep breath. We had work to do, and since my personal and professional lives had never bled into each other before, I was nervous. I needed to keep on task while he was here, no matter that I couldn’t wait to see him again.

“Mr. Sycamore, hi,” I said as I walked into reception, keeping my eyes on his face and holding my hand out for him to shake, which was the standard expected greeting.

With a suppressed smirk, he shook my hand. “Mr. Navarre, great to see you again.” He turned to the receptionist, the smirk morphing into his cheerful grin. “See you around, Sasha. Thanks for the tip about the pierogi place, I’m dying to try it out tonight.”

“Bye, Gavin!” she answered happily.

“Handshake,” he said with a snicker as I led him through.

The junior partners had our offices in a far corner from reception, and it was a little louder and more hectic than the partners’ area because we were all still jockeying for position. I led him to one of the suites, which held mine and two other offices plus a miniature reception area for our shared admin. I nodded at her as we came in, but didn’t stop.

Gavin, however, went right over to her to introduce herself. “Hi there. I’m Gavin.”

Looking up through her stylish cat’s eye glasses, she replied, “Hello, sir. I’m Mia.”

I stuffed my hands in my pockets nervously when he gave her a conspiratorial look and asked in a fake whisper, “I’m here to help Mr. Navarre get started on Mr. Finn’s divorce. How is he? He sure looks the part, but I haven’t met many lawyers before, Mia.”

She gave him a pitying look and said, “He doesn’t suffer fools or small talk.”

“You don’t say?” He didn’t seem offended in the least, only delighted by her warning.

“Mr. Sycamore,” I said firmly, “if you’d join me, then we can get to work.”

“I’ll get the dirt on him later,” he promised my admin, then joined me, looking around. My office was a small rectangle with a window and not very much personality, which had never occured to me until I saw it through his eyes. “This is… definitely a workspace.”

I arched an eyebrow as I sat behind my desk, waving at one of the two chairs on the other side of it, a short, square table between them, conscious that the offices had glass windows with blinds, which were always open unless we knew we needed total privacy.

He fell into a chair and opened his messenger bag, pulling out manila folders in yellow and red and pink. He stacked them on the table, some thin and perfectly flat and others bulging and a little crinkled at the corners as if they were older. “I’m totally ready, Eliott.”

I was helpless against him, able to look at him the way I’d wanted to from the minute I’d stepped into reception. He was wearing fitted dark gray trousers not that different from mine, but paired with a graphic tee shirt that had some anime characters I didn’t recognize on it. Half his hair was pulled back into a knot, his nose ring in, brightly polished.

“Now there’s the man I’m getting to know after hours,” he murmured, bracing his elbows on his knees and leaning in, so fashionable and vivacious I could barely breathe.

“I—” I cleared my throat and woke up my computer, then launched into the list of documents I’d given him to bring, prepared to accept and check them off one by one.

Although I was sure that Gavin was going to interrupt me any second, he only rolled his eyes once at the beginning and then produced the requested documents from the red folders, laying them down in a precise fan across my desk. On top of each one was a helpful neon pink sticky note with the document’s description and date in black block letters.

I printed off my checklist, initialed next to every item, and signed at the bottom, then passed it over to him and said, “I’ll need you to initial, sign and date this so we have a record of these documents being provided. I’ll scan and email it to Barley and you later.”

“Do we need to get Mia in here to notarize it too?” he asked, rolling his eyes.

“Not this time,” I answered calmly, taking a drink of my cold coffee from first thing this morning. He gave me an unimpressed look and I frowned, then started to go over the next set of items, which he’d emailed earlier in the week since I didn’t need hard copies.

Once I was doing that, I relaxed because I knew I was an excellent lawyer who kept things as simple and clear as possible, which wasn’t always easy in my job. I’d been looking forward to Gavin’s insolence and teasing, something I’d never had the opportunity to enjoy while working, but he was quick and efficient, and highly organized. He hardly needed to look in his folders or the laptop he’d pulled out after signing the checklist, providing answers and information with very little editorializing. Nothing he said could be construed as gossip, but his evaluation of Barley and Carina’s marriage was helpful.

“You’re really good at this,” I said after we wrapped up for this time.

He put his laptop aside and sprawled back into the chair. “Now you sound like I surprised you. Did you honestly think a man like Barley could survive with a bad PA?”

“I honestly have no idea what a PA for a rock star does,” I replied evenly.

“What is this… thing you’re doing today?” he demanded, holding his hand out palm toward me and circling it while his nose scrunched up. “Is it because I made friends with Sasha and Mia and you’re jealous because they think you’re no fun? Which isn’t true.”

Scoffing at that, I still shifted uncomfortably before I admitted, “This is a bit weird for me. My job is very important to me, I think you know that by now. I’m good at it and I like to think I make a painful process as easy as it’s ever going to be. I take it seriously and I’m a consummate professional at all times. But now you’re here, and I like showing off, even though I know it’s silly, but I also want to kiss you badly and make you laugh.”

He stood up like a shot.

But I shook my head sharply and warned him, “Don’t come closer, please.”

His eyes flicked to the fairly soundproof glass between us and Mia, then his posture eased into a sexy slouch and his smirk was back. “Afraid you’ll be tempted to bend me over your desk?”

When I just gulped and nodded, his eyes widened in astonishment and he licked his lips before going on. “That sounds fantastic, but I care about my job too and since I’m on the clock, I’m not abusing Barley’s trust to have sex with you. We’ll have to wait.”

Air whistled out between my clenched teeth as arousal streaked through me. “We need to set some boundaries, before this gets out of control,” I said, and it was the first time I’d been less than excited about rules. “We have to keep our hands completely to ourselves or I’m going to snap one of these days. And if… if things go wrong outside of work, then I’ll do my best to minimize how often you have to see me in person or talk on the phone.”

That made him put his hands on his hips and toss his hair. “I don’t have any plans to let anything go wrong,” he declared. “But I’ll agree to your boundaries, if you agree to try to schedule our meetings right before or after lunch, so we can eat together off the clock sometimes. That way, I can kiss you and tease you and it won’t be violating our work ethics.”

I was stunned at how the suggestion was both utterly sexy and utterly reasonable, since I hadn’t seen this facet of his personality yet, I stuttered, “A-absolutely. It’s a deal.”

Then he grinned wickedly and began gathering up his things, bending over a lot more than was strictly necessary. When he was done, I was feeling flushed, and it worsened when he purred, “When can I take you out on your first dangerous, reckless adventure date?”

“Anytime,” I said without a thought.

He put on his messenger bag, freed his hair from underneath the strap, and turned his back to the glass so that no one outside my office could see him lick his lips and blow me a kiss. “How about Sunday? I can’t wait longer than that to shake up your whole worldview.”

“Yeah. Sunday’s good.”

That gorgeous, sharp gaze slid over me like a caress, and all I could think was touch me, touch me, but he kept to the deal and showed himself out without another word.

I rubbed my hand over my mouth, trying to hide a silly smile, then got back to work, finding it easier to focus now that we’d come up with rules for this part of our relationship.

But I wasn’t smiling by Sunday morning, because despite all my persuasive texts, Gavin hadn’t given me a single clue about what he was going to make me do this afternoon.

I made the mistake of complaining about it in the group chat with my best friends, which Camdon had renamed Don’t Quit It after Asher and Lucas got engaged.

Asher: Oh no, he’s going to make you eat something with your hands.

Sam:Wear something with a pattern.

Sam:Other than argyle or plaid.

Camdon:Batting cages.

Sam:Dance Dance Revolution.

Asher:I’ve got it. He’s going to make you go to brunch.

While they were successfully distracting me from sweating, that was the final straw.

Eliott:Fuck you, Asher. Brunch is not a legitimate meal.

Sam:How are you even gay with an attitude like that?

Camdon:Everyone loves brunch. You’re a monster.

Asher:My mom loves brunch. Saying fuck you to me is like saying fuck you to her.

Camdon:Dude. You can’t say fuck you to Beth Bernthal.

Eliott:How about you assholes just wish me good luck? I’m not losing this bet.

Eliott: [Renamed the group Beth is the Best]

I closed the chat and went out to my porch swing to wait for Gavin.

My condo was in a pocket of quiet, with a tiny lawn and planters with herbs and pansies hanging off the porch railing. It was early September, the leaves starting to change colors and the weather in the mid-sixties, so different from the scorching day I’d met Gavin two months ago. I could hear traffic, a constant hum at the outer edge of my hearing that was easy to ignore. I loved living in the city, within an hour of everything I ever wanted to do, but I needed to be able to retreat to this quiet place that was all mine.

A loud engine invaded the quiet and I scowled, looking up from my ebook app.

My scowl transformed into a look of total horror when I saw that the engine belonged to a motorcycle, which slowed down and then turned into my driveway.

Before the helmet came off, an echo of the first time I’d seen his face, I knew it was Gavin. I jumped to my feet, the porch swing chains screeching, already shaking my head.

“No,” I denied.