Free Wrangling with the Laywer by Fran Louise

later?
    Frowning, she stepped inside the elevator, her eyes casually sweeping across the offices as she waited for the doors to close. A young office assistant casually entered one of the private conference rooms in front of her eye line. Harper froze at the same time as the young woman literally flinched in surprise.  The breath evaporated in her lungs when she saw Gabe and a tall, blonde woman together inside the room. Gabe was leaning over her desk, not quite touching her, but almost. It was clear even from the flustered assistant’s reaction, who closed the door again, that they had been interrupted. Then the elevator doors shut finally, locking her in static silence.
     
    Chapter Five
     
    The preliminary hearing was an eye-opener for Harper. Though she knew a lot about the specifics of her case, and paid close attention to the items prioritised during her weekly catch-ups with Don and Gabe, she nonetheless knew very little about the complex world of law. When she and Gabe arrived at the courthouse on Friday afternoon to meet with two patent attorneys, for an alarming moment she thought that Gabe was taking a back seat on the case. She waited while the introductions were done before cornering him.
    “I told you I wasn’t officially a patent specialist,” he responded lightly, answering an email on his phone as he spoke. “One has to gain qualifications, take a separate bar exam, for this type of nonsense.”
    “Then why are you working the case?”
    “Because I’m an exceptional case lawyer. The brand of law doesn’t matter as much as you might think.” He finished sending his email, giving her a patient smile. “These guys will keep me in line on the details of the law. I’ll be litigating.”
    She shook her head, gazing down at the corridor. It was full of arrogant-looking lawyers and lost-looking clients. She gave herself up to it for a moment, still tired after her horrendous bout of ‘flu earlier in the week.
    She heard him sigh. “We can cover all of this after the hearing.”
    “It’s fine.” She smiled, walking over to the bench and sitting down.
    “Fine?”
    She looked up at him standing before her so confidently, suit jacket open to reveal a well-tailored vest buttoned over his lean stomach. His hands sat in his pockets; he looked like a man who answered to no one.
    “I wouldn’t expect you to be able to code one of my programs to appreciate how it works,” she told him evenly. “I guess it’s the same principle here.”
    He looked unconvinced. In fact, he looked concerned.
    She turned away. The whiplash was gone. Lying in her bed with the ‘flu for five days had given her plenty of clarity on things. He was clearly cut from the same cloth as every other lawyer she’d met; successful, good-looking rich men in their prime who could have any woman they wanted. It wasn’t about the quality of the relationship for them any more than it was about the quality of the food at the restaurants they frequented. It was being able to take and discard the best life had to offer and to be seen doing so. Being envied was all part of the package they’d worked so hard to attain. She didn’t resent him; it was just disappointing.
    Disappointing because she knew that a hard-working single mother was not the best life had to offer.
     
    Gabe took a stroll over to the main balcony to watch the crowds milling around downstairs. Clearly Harper was not in the mood for conversation today. He glanced back at her where she sat at on the bench working. His eyes took in the way her slender ankle turned in a slow circle, moving those sexy black pumps around and around. She frowned over the dimly lit screen, her hair falling across her cheek and revealing the pleasing tilt of her nose and mouth. She chewed her lip compulsively when she was working; it was intensely distracting. He wondered how the guys in her office dealt with having such an attractive boss. He was pretty sure there weren’t many men out there