Barefoot Kisses: A Billionaire Love Story (7 page)

“I know this is a disappointment, Lena,” Smith said slowly. I hated that he used my first name like he knew me. He didn't know me because if he did, he wouldn't have done this. “There will be other cases. Ones closer to home and more your speed.”

My eyes nearly bugged out of my head. Alexa smirked. I wanted to scream, to tell Smith exactly what kind of lawyer he was getting with Alexa, but nothing would come out. I stayed quiet. I stayed small and insignificant.

“I wanted to tell you in person,” Smith concluded. He stepped away from me and back toward Alexa and Calvin and folded his hands behind his back like he did at the end of a presentation to the jury. “Now if you'll excuse us, I need to get everyone who is coming to Houston with me together. Would you mind letting my secretary know she can send in the others on your way out?”

“Of course, sir,” I replied meekly, turning blindly to reach for the door. I couldn't get out of the room fast enough.

As soon as the secretary saw me emerge, she nodded to the newly gathered crowd to go in. A stream of lawyers poured past me, and not a single one said a word.

“I told you not to mess with me,” Alexa said, coming to the door. She smiled, her teeth cruel and bright. “Have fun staying here. I'll send you a postcard.”

She slammed the door shut behind her. Through it, I heard Smith's voice followed by a cheer from the lawyers. Tears filled my vision and I stumbled away from what should have been mine.

I
didn't want to see Darcie yet, but I didn't know where else to go. The library was the one place that I could escape to; I could hide in a book better than I could hide behind my very open desk. I managed to keep myself contained until I stepped through the big glass doors protecting the books before I lost it.

Mercifully, the library was empty. Darcie must have had to deliver something. The placard on her desk said she'd be back in fifteen minutes, but I was just glad to have a the library to myself for a moment. As much as I loved my friend, I wasn't ready to tell anyone how crushed I was. Alexa had beaten me. She had destroyed me and I hadn't seen it coming.

I went to my favorite desk in the library. It was tucked up against a window and hidden from the rest of the library by bookshelves. I'd never seen anyone else use it, since most people preferred the big tables close to the entrance to work. It was my secret place in the office where I could read and research without anyone bothering me. Today, I had no plans for research. I just needed a place to hide.

I sat down on the comfy office chair, pulling my knees up into my chest. The tears started falling, silently tracing paths down my cheeks. For a few glorious hours, I had thought I was going places. I thought I was going to observe a high-profile murder case. My acceptance to Harvard was practically assured. The scholarship was in my pocket.

Now it was all just sand on the wind. Painful and messy.

I couldn't believe Smith picked Alexa over me. She was the last person that should be going to Texas. She could barely remember what a jury was called, let alone be in the same room as one. He probably picked her because she would look good on camera. She was tall and beautiful, especially when compared to a short, little paralegal with too much excitement in her eyes.

I wiped my cheek with the palm of my hand, trying to wipe away the sadness and bitterness with the tears. I hoped Alexa showed Smith her true colors. The idea of her ruining the entire murder case with her ineptness was appealing, except for the part that it wouldn't be Alexa's name that was ruined. It would be Smith's. He was an excellent attorney and I didn't want to see Alexa take someone of his skill down because she was an idiot.

The unfairness ached like an open wound. I had worked so hard. I deserved this chance. Even though murder trials weren't where my legal interests lay, I had been excited. It would have been the experience of a lifetime. Instead I was just going to stay in Chicago and pray that I had enough on my resume to get into a good law school, let alone have a shot at Harvard.

I took a deep shaky breath. At least I wouldn't have to deal with Alexa and Calvin while they were at the trial. My life would certainly be easier without having to be their step-n-fetch-it. I might actually go home on time without them here.

Except I didn't want to go home. The law firm, the courthouse—they were more my home than my apartment. I was made for the legal world. I ached with betrayal and loss. Everything I wanted in life was crumbling apart and I didn't even have a basket to put the pieces in.

I wiped another set of tears from my cheeks and hugged my knees in tighter.
This isn't the end of the world, it just feels like it.
My Mom used to tell me that all the time when I was a kid.
This too shall pass.
I knew it was true, but for now, I just wished it didn't hurt so much.

***

“I
didn't know anyone else knew about this spot.”

I looked up from my secret desk in the library in surprise. The late afternoon sun reflected warmth across Kathryn McDonald's stern features. She had a large ceramic mug and a legal pad in her hands.

“Ms. McDonald,” I stuttered, quickly gathering my things and closing my laptop. “Let me get out of your way.”

She waved a hand through the air to negate me. “No, no, don't get up. You were here first.” She smiled and pulled a chair over with her free hand. I sat back down, suddenly nervous. “Actually, I was looking for you.”

I had already been told by one partner that my dreams were gone. I wasn't looking forward to round two. I was probably going to be fired. Why else would Kathryn McDonald be looking for me?

“I'm sorry I wasn't at my desk.” I just needed a chance to explain myself. Maybe I could still manage to keep my job. I didn't have the current “Grooming the Future Generation” option anymore, but I wasn't ready to leave the firm either. “I just couldn't concentrate down there, so I brought my work up here, and-”

“It's a good place to work,” Ms. McDonald agreed, cutting off my nervous babble. She set her legal pad down on the edge of the desk and took a sip of tea. She frowned down at it and blew on the steam. It must have been too hot.

“Ms. McDonald, I'm sorry if I bothered you last night. I shouldn't have gone over the associates' heads like that, but I thought you should have the information and—”

“Lena,” Ms. McDonald said gently, cutting me off again. She placed on of her hands on mine. “You're not in trouble.”

“I'm not?” Relief flooded through me and I no longer thought I might have a heart attack.

“No.” Kathryn smiled and shook her head. “Quite the opposite, in fact. I'd like to offer you a job.”

I stared at her, utterly confused. “I already have a job... unless I was fired and didn't realize it.”

She laughed gently. It was a pleasant, normal sound I wasn't expecting. “I guess it's more of a promotion than a job,” she explained, sounding a little unsure of herself. In my head, Kathryn McDonald was a mythic lawyer of epic proportions. I had forgotten that she was human, but sitting here with her, I was slowly changing my opinion. “I'd like you to be my personal paralegal.”

“What?” I started to shake my head no. There was no way I was qualified to be a personal anything for a lawyer as good as Kathryn. “You have plenty of associates and more qualified—”

“Lena,” she cut me off again. The quirk of her mouth at least suggested she was finding my babbling amusing rather than irritating. “Most of the files I get from the associates have your initials on them. I've seen your work. You do as well, if not better, than several associates I know. You may not have the letters after your name, but you have experience and I'd rather have someone with experience and a brain helping me than fancy letters.”

I sat there, in the presence of my legal hero, completely shocked. My ability to speak completely vanished. She was offering me a dream job as well as giving me the best compliment I could ask for. I couldn't find the words. Kathryn sipped on her tea again, this time finding it the right temperature.

“Did you know I was a paralegal?” she asked, conversationally. I was fairly sure I had to be dreaming. I shook my head no and she continued. “I was. I became a paralegal because someone said I would be good at it. I became a lawyer because I knew I would be fantastic at it.”

I was still a little in shock as she sipped her tea again. She watched me, her green eyes taking in every detail and analyzing it. I hoped I didn't look like a disappointment.

“I tell you this because you remind me a lot of myself.” Kathryn set her cup down on the desk. “I've been searching for someone since my previous paralegal retired. She was good, but you're better. What I need is another me and you're the next best thing.”

“So you want me to be your personal paralegal?” I asked, sounding like a very confused parrot. I was still trying to get over the fact that she was just sitting her telling me her life story like a normal person. This was beyond what I thought could happen today.

“Yes. I want you to work solely on my cases. You report to me and only me. You will attend all court hearings with me and accompany me on meetings.” She picked her cup back up and took another sip. It smelled like some sort of green tea. “You will work closely with my secretary and the associates under me. It will be long hours, there will be travel, and I expect perfection.”

“All court hearings?” I whispered. Just seeing her once in court would be amazing, let alone getting to go to all of them.

“Yes.” She frowned over her tea cup, thinking that I was going to object. “Is that a problem?”

“No!” I managed to choke out. That was the opposite of a problem. It was a dream come true. “It's fantastic! I've got to be dreaming. This is too good to be real...”

Kathryn grinned, obviously enjoying this. “It gets better.”

“Better?”

“You get a raise. A good one. Better than good, really.” She sipped nonchalantly on her tea as she slid a piece of paper with an absurdly high number on it across the desk.

I couldn't find the words for the millionth time that day. Instead, my mouth just hung open in disbelief.

“There is one downside, though,” Kathryn informed me. She lowered her cup to her lap. “You would be ineligible for the Grooming the Future Mentor Observation with Elijah Smith. You can't observe his cases if you're busy with mine.”

“I'm all right with that! I'd be observing you instead,” I gasped. My heart was singing hymns. This had to be a dream.

“You'd be doing more than just observing. You'll be working. You want the job?” Kathryn asked. Her voice was controlled, but her eyes sparkled with the joy of offering someone their dreams.

“Yes!” I practically shouted. “Yes, I want the job!”

She grinned. “Excellent. Hand off your current workload to someone else and clean out your desk. My secretary will show you your new workspace next to my office.”

I was moving up the the sixteenth floor. I was going to be in court with Kathryn McDonald. For that, I would have taken a pay cut, but instead I was getting a pay raise. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face. I wanted to pinch myself, but I didn't dare. I didn't want to wake up from this. “Yes, ma'am. I'll tell Mr. Smith about dropping the mentor program on my way.”

“No need,” she informed me as she stood and put her chair away. “I told Elijah to pick someone else for your spot last night.”

“But you just asked...”

Kathryn laughed and her green eyes shone with cleverness. “I already knew you were going to take the position. I was counting on it. This was just to make sure you knew where to look for your new desk.”

***

O
ne hour later I stepped into Kathryn's office, ready to start my new job. I was all moved in to my new office space just outside of Kathryn's corner suite. Even the desk was bigger and better than anything we had down stairs. Alexa's desk was just plywood with a nice paint job—this desk was solid wood the whole way through with the McDonald, Smith and Ward MSW logo on the front. I kept expecting a camera crew to jump out at any moment and tell me it was all just a big prank.

“All settled?” Kathryn asked coming around to greet me. “What do you think?”

“That you're going to realize I'm just a paralegal and send me back,” I answered honestly.

Kathryn evaluated me with keen eyes. “Do you know how much money and time you saved my clients by finding those pictures? Millions.” She motioned to a stack of files nearly ready to fall off her desk. “Every single one of those files has your initials all over them. I know good work when I see it. If you think I would make a mistake as big as hiring an incompetent personal paralegal, then you should leave right now. Go back to The Dungeon.”

I stayed put. I wasn't lower level.

“That's what
I
thought,” she murmured as she sat at her desk. “Now, you see that stack of files? I need you to go through them and get me ready for trial.”

I swallowed my stomach back down. I could do this. I was ready.

Opening the first file, I smiled. This case was easy. I recognized it as the case
I
had worked on for Joffrey.

“Yes, ma'am. I'll get right on this.” This is what I was made to do.

A
fter three days of officially working as Kathryn's paralegal, I still felt like I was a very small fish in a very big ocean. I knew almost all her cases from front to back, but the newness of the position and the sudden change from nobody to somebody was messing with my head.

It wasn't that I didn't know what to do, quite the opposite really. Working for Kathryn let me use all the skills I had accumulated the past few years. By the end of my first day, Kathryn was already telling me how pleased she was and how I had accomplished more than she had even hoped I would.

It was just that I had this terrible fear that I would be fired from my dream job at any moment. This was just so wonderful that I couldn't see how I deserved it. It was too perfect. I kept pushing the limits of my skills, expecting to fail like I always did. Yet, Kathryn kept telling me what a wonderful job I was doing and how I was making her life easier.