The Bold and the Bullheaded by Willow Aster

Chapter Twenty-Six

Emma

I wake up earlier than I want to, my mind going in a thousand directions. I look over and Spence is turned toward me, eyes open. I reach out and touch his face.

“What are you doing awake?” I whisper.

He doesn’t say anything for a moment and I’m taken aback by how sad he looks.

“Spence?” The panic in my voice seems to shake him out of it. He smiles, his expression softening and my fear along with it.

His thumb traces my lips and my cheek. “You know you have nothing to be scared of with me, right?” he asks. “You know I’m not going anywhere?”

I open my mouth to say yes, of course, I know, but I close it … because the very first place my mind always goes is to that dark place where he’s walking away.

I think about my mother who has been silent over the holidays. I don’t need to even imagine what that means.

“I’m getting there, I think.” It’s the best I can come up with and still tell the truth.

“I’ll just keep telling you until you fully believe me,” he says. He leans over me and kisses my cheek, my neck, down the valley between my breasts and then gets sidetracked with each one. He makes sure to never leave one out and I appreciate that about him.

He kisses his way down my stomach and even though I know where he’s going with this, it still makes me gasp every time his tongue dips inside of me. I sigh and moan and whimper … sounding like a greedy she-devil for sure, but ohhhh gooood God, what he can do with his mouth.

I see stars and I pull him up by the hair, his mouth shiny from where he’s been. It’s the sexiest sight ever and I practically beg him for more.

“I need you. Now.”

His eyelids are hooded as he smirks the shit out of sexy. I can’t even make sense anymore.

“In me. Now.”

He chuckles and I shiver and then am moaning in the next breath when he slams into me, his long, hard, thick coc—

“Ohhhh mmmmm, Spence,” I cry.

I don’t know how he manages to wring so many orgasms out of me whenever we’re together. He’s the orgasm whisperer. I yelp when he pulls out of me and sits up, pulling me to sit up with him. He wraps my legs around him, and I don’t have to stay empty for long because he knows his way. The man knows his wayyyy. I moan again, my head falling back. He gives my hair a tug and I look at him. He rocks into me slowly now, as I dance side to side.

He won’t let me look away. Every time I try, he shifts his hands to my face and his forehead leans against mine.

“Not. Going. Anywhere.” He thrusts so deep, we both go still and feel every single twitch. When we’ve caught our breath, we start moving again, slower than I think I can take, but it’s so good, I want it to last forever.

He makes me want to believe in forever.

Our movements become frantic, the build ramping up until I can’t think straight, and when we finally let go, he whispers my name over and over, his face buried in my neck.

I love him.

Something inside of me awakens and takes root … hope.

I hope with all of my heart that I can believe in Spence Taylor.

It’s hard to leave him to go to the office.

Something shifted between us this morning. I’m trying not to overthink it to death, but I’m a lawyer—that’s what we do. When I have more time, I will allow myself to fully dissect this. Preferably with Chardonnay and some wings.

Mya and I time it so we can walk to work together.

“You think Arwin will show today?” she asks before we walk into the office.

“He has to. We have that meeting today and the partners are all supposed to be here.” I smooth my hands down my skirt, feeling the nerves building when we step inside. I hate this feeling because I love my job, I love this place, and the fact that Arwin has made coming here something I dread is not acceptable.

He was way out of line the day before yesterday, and I’ve spent the past two days trying to process it. I nearly unloaded everything onto Spence last night and the night before, but I don’t want him to worry. Mya and I talked last night after Spence fell asleep, and I feel a lot better about everything today.

I will not let Arwin ruin this place for me.

She puts her hand on my back when we get to my office. “Say the word and I’ll come running,” she says.

I squeeze her hand and get to work, keeping my office door open. The music starts piping through the speakers promptly at 7:35 and I grin at the mix Miranda has selected. After teasing her about the Muzak that makes me want to bang my head against the wall, she’s been branching out. Today she’s playing an indie singer/songwriter playlist that I can finally get behind.

Jack raps on the doorjamb twice, his habit every time he’s in the office. “How’s it shakin’?” he asks. He’s been asking me this since I was a little girl.

“It’s shakin’,” I reply, grinning.

“Arwin said you did an excellent job in court on Monday.”

“Oh, he did? When did he say that?” My hands ball into fists at my side.

“Yesterday.” Jack smiles. “He wasn’t feeling well, but we spoke on the phone. He had nothing but good things to say about you.”

I bet he did. After I smashed his hand and he ran away like a little bitch … maybe he’s rethinking the way he treats me. I hope.

I nod and smile at Jack, trying not to grit my teeth. I’ll bide my time with Arwin a little longer. Hopefully, I’ve taught him a lesson.

Jack taps on the doorjamb twice more. “I’ll see you at the meeting later on?”

“You know I’ll be the first one there after you meet with the partners.” I grin.

“Glad I taught you to be punctual,” he says, grinning back.

I get lost in paperwork for a while and pick at a muffin. When my office door shuts firmly, I look up, startled.

Arwin stands there with his pompous, smarmy face, looking down at me. He crosses his arms and I notice the splint around not one, but two of his fingers. I can’t help but get a rush of satisfaction at that. I position myself at my desk, one foot out to the side and my chair pushed back where I can get to the door quickly if I need to.

“I left my door open for a reason,” I say.

His face turns a brighter shade of red. He leans over my desk and I stare up at him, unflinching. “I told Jack what a good job you did in court,” he says.

“I heard.”

“I can just as easily tell him that it was you who did this to my hand.”

“Go ahead. Say it now, why don’t you.”

He lifts an eyebrow. “Say what exactly?”

“Say what a good job I did in court and then what I did to your hand. Use my name, please.”

He gets a sick twist out of me saying please and smirks. “You did a great job in court, Emma.” He does a fake bow and I wave my hand for him to keep going. “And then you were a very naughty girl and hurt my hand.”

I do a full body shudder again. The man is a filthy swine. “Yes, and I can tell Jack that you’ve been harassing me since I started working here with your comments and demands … and a couple of days ago, your threats.”

He sneers and I want to smack it right off his face. “It would be your word against mine. No one would believe you. The way you walk around here in those short skirts and heels,” he points at my chest, “with your tits hanging out at all hours of the day. You really think anyone would believe you over me?” He laughs and leans even closer to my face. “I’ve decided I’m tired of playing nice. I’ve changed my mind—you need to pay me back for the damage you’ve caused.” He holds up his bandaged hand. “Dinner tonight, my place. Wife’s out of town and Daddy wants to play.”

My face curls up in disgust. “Daddy wants to play? Arwin Swim, you are the most revolting man I’ve ever met.”

His eyes widen because even though I slammed his hand against my desk the other day, I didn’t tell him what a piece of shit I think he is.

He reaches out and grabs my shoulder and shakes me. I shove him back and stand up, moving toward the door and opening it wide.

“Get out of my office, Arwin. There is no way on God’s green earth that I will ever get anywhere near your tiny peen, no matter how many times you suggest it.”

He looks out the door to see if anyone has heard that and stalks toward me. He stops when he gets to the open doorway.

“This isn’t over,” he says.

“Oh, it very much is. Get. Out.”

His eyes narrow on me and maybe I should be afraid, but I’m not. Any power he’s had over me is long gone.

Still, I’m shaking when I sit back down at my desk. I pick up my phone and tap quickly before sending a text to Mya.

It’s done. I’ve set things in motion.

She texts right back. OMG. So cloak and dagger. I GD love it. You were supposed to count me in though! What have you done?

I grin and tap the top of my desk. I have a lot to do before this afternoon’s meeting. Don’t worry. Just getting started. ;) I do a little shimmy.

Remind me not to get on your bad side.

I set my phone aside and get back to work. I’ll need to play this just right.

I spend the next two hours buried in trial files. There’s a knock on my open door, and Aidan Willoughby stands there smiling. It’s impossible not to laugh every time my coworker smiles, because of Jesse’s past obsession with his teeth. The man does have a killer set of pearly whites.

“Hey, what’s up?” I ask.

He glides through the door and drops to sit in the chair across from me.

“Have you heard what’s going around the office today?”

“Ooooh, no. Do tell,” I say, and my heart starts to race as I wonder if he’s heard rumors of what I did to Arwin after he grabbed me. I wonder if people in the office are suspicious that the man came into my office today and closed the door. The way everyone is in one another’s business, I’m surprised they haven’t all noticed the way the man has harassed me over the past few months.

“Would you ever guess Arwin to be a badass?” He leans back in his chair and folds his hands behind his head.

“That’s a definite no. A sleazebag, yes. A badass? Not in a million years,” I hiss, unable to hide my disdain.

Aidan, Paige, and Heidi are all my friends, much more than just coworkers, yet I haven’t shared all of the gory details about Arwin with anyone but Mya. I don’t want to be known as the shit stirrer. As the girl who can’t handle a senior partner who hits on her.

Not yet.

“Well, prepare yourself for the shock of your life,” he says, leaning forward with a wide grin on his face.

“What?” I’m on edge. I wouldn’t put anything past Arwin, and I realize that I’ve given him too much control to twist this however he wishes. I’m not playing with a rational or honest person. This is not a level playing field and I need to act quickly.

“I know the man is highly annoying, but damn, he just came into the breakroom. Heidi, Paige, and I were grabbing some coffee. Have you seen his hand? The two broken fingers?”

“Yes. What about them?” My voice has an edge to it and I try to mask my discomfort.

“He and his wife were jumped two nights ago. That’s why he wasn’t here yesterday. He wasn’t ready to share the story with anyone until today ... until he came to grips with what happened.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. He took them both on. Protected his wife in a very Rambo-esque manner. He referenced Rambo, is the only reason I say that—I’ve never actually seen that movie. Man, I never would have guessed the dude had it in him. But he kept his wife behind him and fought them both off. He’s lucky he walked away with only two broken fingers, but he said he’s fairly certain the two guys that jumped them are both in the hospital because apparently he kicked their ass.”

I roll my eyes because I can’t help myself. “Arwin? Seriously? You’re buying this?”

“Yes. He gave a pretty detailed story. He said he didn’t know he had it in him either, but it was a fight-or-flight reaction.” Aidan is shaking his head with disbelief, and I want to tell him right now what a lying piece of crap on a cracker that son of a bitch is. But I’m not there just yet.

“Fight-or-flight my ass. That weasel would not defend anyone but himself. I’m not buying it.”

“He does have the two broken fingers,” Aidan says with a shrug.

“You’re a lawyer, for God’s sake. Can’t you see through a bullshit story when it’s right in front of you?” I hiss, and now I’m pacing around the room.

What if he sells his brand of crazy to Jack? What if he twists what he’s been doing to me in the same way?

“I don’t know, Em. The guy seemed to be traumatized by the whole thing. Hell, he didn’t come to work yesterday. He said his wife is calling him a hero.”

A hero?

What the actual hell.

Arwin … Swim your way into the pits of hell. You will not walk away a hero.

Over my dead body.

I’ll break every one of his damn fingers before he gets to spin this in his favor.