Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 95421 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95421 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 477(@200wpm)___ 382(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Naomi: She told you she was jealous?
Dawson: Didn’t have to. Found her sitting at your desk naked after our clients left. That said it all.
Naomi: What happened?
Dawson: The usual with her. Things got heated.
Chapter 21
* * *
DAWSON
Naomi huffed. “Can you please stop whistling?”
“I didn’t realize I was.”
She frowned. “You’ve been doing it all morning.”
“Sorry.”
“Whatever.”
I shook my head. She’d been off since I walked in today. Her responses were curt, and frown lines were etched at the corners of her mouth.
“Is everything okay, Naomi?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
“I don’t know. You’ve given me nothing but one-word answers since you got here this morning.”
“Everything’s fine. There, that’s two.” She looked pointedly at the file in my hand. “Did you want something?”
“Oh. Yeah. After you’re done with the Hausman petition, do you think you can go through this trial transcript and mark all the places that Mr. Abrams talks about his son? Mr. Abrams was convicted, and his appeal starts next week. The DA just added his son to their list of witnesses, so I need to memorize everything my client said. I don’t have time to read a five-pound transcript, and the electronic file is missing, so I can’t do a name search.”
“Sure.”
I smiled. “There’s a one-word answer again…”
Naomi rolled her eyes. “I’m just busy.”
My gut told me it was more than that. “Is your sister okay?”
“You asked me that already this morning. She’s fine.”
“That time of the month?”
Naomi’s eyes flared. There was fire lurking behind her irises. “Inappropriate much?”
I shrugged. “There’s Motrin in my top drawer, if you need it.”
She scowled.
I held up my hands and took a backward step toward my door. “I’ll be in my office.”
“Great. Maybe you can turn down the music you have playing in there, too.”
“Is that what’s bothering you? I’m making too much noise? Whistling and music?”
“Nothing is bothering me. Just keep your happiness down, please.”
“Fine. I apologize if my good mood is disturbing you.”
She scoffed. “Wonder why you’re in such a good mood.”
I narrowed my eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Just let me get my work done.”
“Fine,” I huffed. “I have shit to do, too.”
Women. I’ll never understand ’em. One minute they’re smiling, and the next they’re shooting daggers at me. It was just as well, because Naomi looked smoking hot in the turquoise dress she had on. Maybe that’s what it was. Maybe she’d caught me looking at her ass and I didn’t realize it.
A little while later, an email notification popped up on my screen. Naomi had sent me an electronic message to let me know she was going to pick up her sister and would be back in a few hours, rather than walking the ten steps to my office and telling me personally. I guessed her mood hadn’t changed.
At three, I was in the break room making a fresh pot of coffee when she walked in. She frowned upon seeing me, but held up a grocery bag. “I’m just going to eat something quickly.”
“Take your time. Everything go okay getting your sister home?”
“Yes, she’s fine.”
Her response was more than one word and slightly less chilly, but still nowhere near warm. The coffeepot beeped, so I turned and fixed a mug while Naomi unpacked the bag she’d carried in.
It didn’t look like she was much in the mood for conversation, so I figured I’d let her be. But while I was putting the sugar away, I noticed cleaning supplies on the table.
“Is that for here?”
“Yes.”
“Is something dirty? We have a cleaning crew that comes at night, you know?”
“I prefer to do it myself.”
I shrugged. There was a bottle of Lysol spray and a canister of bleach wipes—less cleaning supplies and more disinfectants.
“Are you worried about bringing germs home to your sister?”
“Maybe chlamydia or gonorrhea,” she mumbled under her breath.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
She huffed. “Lord knows what germs were left behind from the naked woman at my desk.”
Is that what had her all pissed off? The thought of Emily’s bare ass on her desk? “You know I’m a germaphobe. I wiped that shit down after Emily was finished.”
Naomi’s mouth twisted in what looked like disgust. “I’m glad she finished. But I think I’ll make sure it’s actually clean.” She picked up her plastic lunch container and stood abruptly. “I’ve lost my appetite.”
Huh? I blinked a few times and backtracked through our conversation. “Wait. I didn’t mean finished finished. Emily didn’t come on your desk, if that’s what you’re implying.”
My clarification didn’t relax her twisted mouth at all. She walked to the garbage and tossed in her untouched lunch. “Really? And here I thought you’d be better than that.”
“Better than tha…” I shook my head. “I didn’t fuck Emily. Is that what you’re implying?”
Without looking at me, she scooped up her disinfectants and hurried from the break room. I followed on her heels.