Caught Crossing the Line
Read Caught Crossing the Line Online
Authors: C.M. Steele
Caught Crossing the Line
Book four in the Caught Series
C.M. Steele
Contents
She was starting today. Sophia Rinaldi was starting at my law firm today. My heart was pounding out of my chest. She’d interviewed with us a week ago, and Jackson and I hired her on the spot. She had the qualifications even though she was quite young. Only twenty-four, but already a lawyer for a year when she moved out west.
I had studied her C.V. (curriculum vitae) before she arrived for the interview and it was impressive for someone so young. She’d gone to college in Italy, then moved to the United States to study at the University of Chicago Law School. She graduated with high honors, passed the bar, and was only twenty-two at the time. The law firm of Hoyt, Wells and Michaels scooped her up. She lasted there just a year when a rumor of an affair with Leonard Hoyt began and had been too big to squash. She adamantly swore to us that it had been just that, a rumor, exacerbated by none other than Hoyt’s jealous wife.
Looking at her while she had pleaded her innocence, I wanted to believe it. Jackson didn’t buy the rumor either because it had died down the instant she left the firm. It was clear someone wanted to get her out of there. My guess was because she was beautiful, young, and smart; a real threat.
“Mr. Blake, Mr. James, I know it looks bad, but there was nothing to the rumor. It all started because I was working a case into the wee hours of the night. Mr. Hoyt had been working on his own in his office. Seeing my light still on, he walked into my office and asked if I needed any help. He didn’t flirt with me, and I refused his help. He was sitting on the edge of my desk because my chair had been full of my things since I was about to leave, then his wife walked in. She immediately came at me and struck me. They had a huge blow-up and the next day the rumors were flying.”
“She hit you,” I growled, forgetting that I was interviewing her as her future employer, not her boyfriend.
“Yes, but it was nothing compared to having my name ruined for no reason. I was let go a week later, and I was happy to be gone. It’s not easy being a woman in this field. All stereotypes enter people’s minds and you get treated like you’re a pariah. I should go back to Italy, but I don’t want to disappoint my parents. This is my last stop. I’m not saying this so I can garner your sympathy, but rather so you know the full story.”
Jackson whispered in my ear that he was hiring her. She was smart, and we could tell she was telling us the truth. I nodded in agreement.
“Miss Rinaldi, I thank you for your honesty. We know that prejudices are strong when it comes to female lawyers, but I’d never heard of the incident with the law firm,” Jackson said calmly, then he turned to me. “Have you, Caleb?”
“No, not at all,” I said without taking my eyes off of her. She blushed and ducked her head away from me. I wanted to kick myself. She’d just been accused of having an affair with a partner at her last firm and here I was already eying her like a hungry wolf.
Jackson looked at me like I was an idiot, then he said to her, “Miss Rinaldi, we were very impressed with your C.V., and your honesty is something we value highly. We’ll give you a trial run here. When can you start?”
“I’m available as soon as you need me. Most of my things are in Chicago because I didn’t know if I would be getting a position here, so I’d need to have it brought down from storage. Other than that, I have no other plans that may interfere.”
“Great, we’re getting swamped with new cases daily, so we’ll set you up with a place here until you find your own and you can bring your things there. You can start next Monday. Welcome aboard, Miss Rinaldi,” Jackson said as he stood and stuck out his hand to shake hers. She jumped from her seat and shook his hand and smiled the most enchanting smile I’d ever seen.
“Thank you, Mr. Blake, Mr. James. You won’t be sorry. I promise,” she declared.
“It’s Jackson, and he’s Caleb. You’re a part of Blake, James and Thompson now, so feel free to call us by our first names.”
“That’s nice. Please call me Sophia then.”
“Sophia, welcome aboard,” I said before sticking my hand out to shake hers. I wanted to touch her, too. I wanted to beat my best friend to death for even smiling at her, but I knew he wasn’t even remotely interested in her. He definitely wouldn’t have hired her if he was attracted to her. How he wasn’t interested was a total mystery to me, but I was forever grateful because she had to be the most attractive woman I’d ever seen. She had her fitted gray suit jacket open, and her light blue dress shirt was buttoned up enough to look professional but not stuffy. I kept eying her buttons, damn near hoping that top button would pop open, but another button undone would have been too much for an interview, and too much for me. I would’ve thrown her ass on the conference room table and filled her up with my cock. I’d been so caught up in her cleavage that I’d forgotten I stuck out my hand.
The moment she grabbed my hand my pulse kicked up ten notches, and I was ready to pull her into my arms. This was going to be a big problem. I forced myself to release her hand in a rush, causing her to blush in embarrassment. She was fucking too hot for her own good.
~~~~~~~
Looking at the clock, I noticed she should be arriving at any moment. I stared at the executive floor elevator waiting for her to show up when I really wanted to go down there and welcome her myself. Kristen, our office manager, would be doing that. She was married to my brother Malcolm, another lawyer here in the office, and was already five months pregnant.
Turning to the big screen on my wall, I hit the link to the security cameras so I could catch the time of her arrival. I saw her enter, and she looked fucking perfect. Her curves couldn’t be hidden under her tailored suit. You could tell that she cared about her appearance. She looked neat; her hair was pulled back into a bun and she wore very little makeup. I saw our other new attorney, Matthew Ryder, walking alongside her. I snarled at the camera because they arrived at the same time and she was smiling up at the tall, handsome, young man. He looked like I did as a newbie lawyer, and I knew that I had all the ladies clawing at each other just to get to me, so I knew he would, too. I wondered if Sophia was attracted to him.
Once they walked into the elevator, I switched camera views and watched as they made their way up to my floor. They were standing a little too close for my liking while Kristen was talking to them. They exited the elevator, but I was lost in my thoughts. I’d been staring at the screen with a visceral look that said I was about to commit murder. I remained looking at the empty elevator when Kristen walked into my office and stood directly behind me without me knowing.
“Touch her and I’ll fire your ass,” I growled aloud, then Kristen coughed.
I turned around like a mad man, and she just had a shit-eating grin on her face. “Don’t you know how to knock?” I howled.
She placed a hand on her waist and replied in a bitchy tone, “I did, and you said ‘come in’. Maybe you were too busy staring at her and her potential lover to notice.”
“He’s not her lover,” I snarled automatically.
“Wow! You sound like your brother when he gets jealous. Be careful that’s a very fine line to cross.” She smirked before giving me a warning look.
“I’m not interested in her,” I lied. My raging erection that was just covered by my suit jacket proved I was full of shit.
“Yeah, sure. Well, they’re here now, so I’m going to take them on a tour. Don’t worry, I’ll warn them about the company policy on relationships,” she said.
“But there isn’t one against an office relationship.”
“That’s why. Aren’t you glad Jackson turned down the idea because Malcolm and I were already engaged?” she said before erupting in a fit of giggles.
“Just go do your job,” I growled.
“Keep it up, and I’m telling Malcolm,” she warned playfully. There wasn’t anything my brother could do anyway. They both worked for me.
I growled and sneered at her, but the insolent snot just laughed before exiting my office. I turned off the screen and went back to the file on my desk. This wasn’t going to be good. Kristen already knew I was interested, and she wasn’t the kind of woman to let it go. She was a brilliant and beautiful woman, but she was a real pain in the ass. Kristen was going to tease me until I made a move on Miss Rinaldi.
Jackson just got off the elevator and went straight to his office. Something was up with him. I knew it had to do with his most recent case, but I wasn’t sure what it was. I’d find out later when he was ready for me to know. We were best friends, so I knew he’d tell me.
Right now, I had my own problems. I locked my door because I didn’t want any more absentminded “come ins”. I’d already been outed about my interest in Sophia in a matter of a minute into her arrival.
I tried to focus on the file at hand, but it was hard to do knowing Ryder was at her side. They were getting a tour of the floor then being shown to their offices, where they will be set up with all their pass codes and shit. I wanted to fire Ryder on the spot for no other reason than he was walking with Sophia. I was so damn torn because she wasn’t available to me at all. She was now my employee and like Kristen said, “a line I couldn’t cross.”
“Fuck me,” I groaned as I heard the knock at my door. I’d spent the last few minutes fighting a losing battle with a hard-on. “One minute,” I shouted at the closed door. I was sure it was Kristen trying to annoy me. Readjusting myself, I got up to unlock the door. To my surprise, it wasn’t Kristen. It was Sophia.
“Excuse me, Caleb?” she asked quietly. All I heard was the way she said my name. Never had it sounded so good coming from a woman’s mouth.
Fuck, shake it off, Caleb. She works for you!
“Yes, Miss Rinaldi,” I snarled harshly. I didn’t mean to sound so cruel, but my attraction was too much to contain. I needed to get out of here before she was pinned to my wall, desk, or hell, even the floor.
“I’m sorry for bothering you, Mr. James, but Mrs. James asked for our pass codes. They weren’t in the file,” she said tersely.
“Oh, sorry. I must have forgotten to give them to her this morning. Give me a moment.” I walked back to my desk and pulled out two sealed envelopes with their names on them.
“Here’s yours. I’ll give Mr. Ryder his,” I informed her when she looked at the other envelope expectantly.
She ducked her head but not before looking at me angrily. I could care less if she was offended. I didn’t need her handing him anything. I didn’t want their hands to touch, and I wasn’t going to give her a reason to get closer to him. I didn’t give a shit if it was rational or not.
I walked right passed her and into Matthew’s office, but he wasn’t there. I knew she was directly behind me and not because of the clicking heels, but I could sense her. Turning to face her, I asked, “Where are they?”
“They’re in my office, waiting for me to return.” She walked right passed me, her heels clicking quickly in a huff. Sophia walked into the room and both Kristen and Matthew turned to look at us as we approached.
“Matthew, welcome aboard! Here are your codes. Kristen, once you’re done with them, can I see you in my office?”
“Yes, Cal,” she said sweetly, knowing that I was fucking losing it.
I turned away without saying another word and stormed back to my office. I worked my balls off trying to forget that Sophia Rinaldi existed. I failed miserably, but I did manage to get some work done by the time Kristen showed up.
“I have to go to court right now, and you knew that shit. If you think you were being funny sending her in here, you’re wrong. I don’t want her anywhere near me. So use your common sense and keep her away or my brother is going to be really pissed when I fire your ass.”
“Calm down, Caleb. I didn’t think you wanted me to leave Matthew in there with her. He does look at her like you do. I’m surprised Jackson isn’t huffing and puffing like you right now; Sophia’s very attractive. Besides, you’d be too fucked if you fired me, so quit with the shit. Have a great day.” Kristen walked up to me and started straightening my tie. It was the moment when she said, “There you go, drop dead gorgeous as always,” that Sophia chose to pass by.
She looked like she was embarrassed to have interrupted something personal and scurried off. I was about to chase after and correct her, but I put my head back on. She wasn’t for me. It was wrong, and I wasn’t going there.
“Does she know you’re married to my brother?” I asked anxiously. I didn’t want her to think Kristen and I were married; as far as I was concerned, she was the sister I never had.
“I don’t know? I didn’t say anything about it, but it isn’t a secret here,” she said with a shrug before walking out of my office.
I had to hurry to my meeting so I didn’t have time to deal with checking on her and any of the other male staff members. But I’d put any money down that Kristen, as the office manager, could tell me almost everything Sophia did daily.
When I came back to the office Miss Elizabeth Homan was waiting to see Jackson, so I took her into the conference room and started the questioning for him. She was a possible witness for the defense as the stepdaughter. He didn’t like his client, Mrs. Laney Homan, but he needed the clout in the Seattle area so taking a high profiled case was a start. Interviewing the daughter of the victim and stepdaughter of our client was a part of the process. Plus, I needed to get Sophia off my mind.
This girl was cute, but she was just a teenager; barely legal. I wasn’t interested in her at all, but as soon as Jackson walked in, I knew he was most definitely interested in the pretty, young thing and so was she. The chemistry was exploding all around the room. I made my excuses after the introductions and a few minutes of questioning. Once I got back to my office, I knew it was going to be a rough time for both of us. We both wanted women we couldn’t have.