It takes her a moment to realize I’m standing there before she looks up from her work. “Can I help you?” she asks with a plastic smile.
“Hi, I’m Emery Winters. Is Mr. Pratt here yet?” He’s the partner I had corresponded with the most, but if he hasn’t arrived yet, I can still talk to the others and get started. The joys of a workplace where every other employee is your superior.
There is no spark of recognition whatsoever in the receptionist’s green eyes. “Do you have an appointment?”
I chuckle; someone has dropped the ball here, and it clearly wasn’t her. “In a way. I’m the new summer intern.”
Genuine pleasure enters her smile. “Oh, I’m so sorry,” she says, her happy tone at odds with her words. Maybe she’s relieved that her duties will be shared with someone else now. “I’ll call to tell Mr. Pratt you’re here. I’m Trina, by the way. Would you like any coffee or water while you wait?”
“No, thank you. I can grab something after I get started.” After all, I work here now.
The thought fills my stomach with butterflies. Calm down, Emery, this isn’t summer camp. I’ll be fine.
I consider one of the caramel-colored leather chairs, then decide I’m too nervous to sit down. Instead I watch Trina buzz the senior partner’s office, then announce, “There’s a Miss Winters here to see you,” in a singsong voice before she resumes her furious typing.
After a minute or two, a man walks in from the hallway to the left of the reception desk. He looks like he’s in his early sixties and desperately trying to cover that fact up: iron-gray hair, a slight paunch, skin like tanned leather, and a neatly brushed mustache. Glossy brown wingtips and an olive shirt with black suspenders complete the picture of a man who was hot shit about thirty years ago. But there’s no ring on his left hand, making me wonder if he’s divorced, a “confirmed bachelor,” or just really unlucky.
As the man comes closer, he gives me a toothy grin that shows off thousands of dollars in dental veneers. “You must be Miss Emery Winters. Welcome to Walker, Price, and Pratt.”
I smile back at him, hoping there’s no lipstick on my teeth, and extend my hand. “Good morning, Mr. Pratt. It’s great to finally meet you in person.”
He gives my hand two firm pumps, a textbook handshake, the greeting of someone who knows how to charm and intimidate without saying a word. “Please, call me Larry. I don’t like to stand on ceremony in this office.”
Somehow I’m not sure whether to believe that. Powerful men, especially if they’re old and rich, like people to perceive them as laid-back—but when it comes to how they actually prefer to be treated, most of them want deference. At the same time, though, I can’t just blatantly ignore what he said. “Okay, then . . . Larry.”
He looks me up and down, still holding my hand. “My, my. I knew from your phone interview that you had a lovely voice, but the rest of you is even more so.”
Say what? I blink at him, trying to figure out how to respond, and quickly decide to pretend he said something else entirely. “Um, I’m glad my attire is appropriate for the office.”
“A little too appropriate, if you ask me.”
I can feel his eyes surveying me up and down, and when they settle on my chest, I have to look to make sure I didn’t miss a button on my blouse.
Larry continues with an amused tone. “You’ll find that California is much more casual than the Midwest, even in our line of work. Let loose, have a little fun . . . I certainly won’t mind.” He winks and I try not to let my lip curl in disgust.
“Thank you. I’ll keep that in mind,” I say in a carefully neutral tone. In deference to the mindboggling heat, I may take this excuse to ditch my blazer tomorrow, but I’ll be damned if I give this guy any more of a show than he’s already getting.
Just when I’m starting to wonder if I’ll have to rip my hand away, he finally releases it. “Before you get started, honey, I’d like to show you around the office. Meet our other lawyers, get acquainted.” He turns toward the hall entrance and I start to scurry after him . . .
Only for his hand to fall securely on my lower back, just a couple of inches above my ass.
Oh, hell no. I suppress a full-body shudder.