He was in his comfort zone, in command of everything around him, and it showed. Even here, in her office, he had Stephanie jumping. Oddly, she didn’t take offense. Instead of sitting at her desk, painting her nails in between phone calls and putting off the Cooper files, she worked diligently, showing off the skills Cassie had hired her for. Normally she only showed dedication when she began to sense Cassie was reaching her limit of patience with the lackadaisical approach.
Brad ducked into Cassie’s office, still on the phone, and set a fax on her desk. DNA results on different case of hers that she was working while they were waiting on Miles Cooper’s response to the property division—the Armory’s paternity suit. Brad had circled a match in genetics and the overall percentage that excluded the alleged father as a candidate. Beside the too-low percentage he had written: Test Mom.
Cassie squinted at him.
“Yes, yes, I know he pays us well. But we can’t afford to take on clients, invest our time, and have the client fail to show up for a key element in his case.” Brad tucked the phone against his shoulder and motioned to Cassie for a pen.
She passed one across and watched as he flipped her test results around and made another note in the margin. Inconclusive, conflicting data. Genetic mutations. Include Mom in a second test.
Oh. For an instant, chagrin gripped Cassie, along with a hefty dose of embarrassment. She should have known that, shouldn’t she, if family law was where she intended to specialize? Stop it. He’s been doing this far longer. You still have things to learn. Nodding, she took her paper back. Monday, she’d follow up with her client.
Brad gave her a wry grin and deliberately dropped his gaze to her breasts, leaving it there until her nipples pebbled. Heat infused her. She blew out a frustrated sigh that turned his grin into a knowing smirk, and he left her office. He hadn’t attempted to take charge of her work—he’d have war on his hands if he tried—but he hadn’t let her forget that when it came to her body, he was in command. Damn him. All day he’d used her over stimulated senses against her. Touching when she least expected it, leaning in too close and whispering a suggestive remark in her ear, taking her to lunch and kissing her after with such abandon she’d have sworn he would peel off her clothes once they were enclosed in the car.
He hadn’t. And she’d been suffering the effects since. Thank God he was discreet enough, she’d swear even Stephanie wouldn’t have caught on if she wasn’t already in the know.
While they waited for Miles to return Brad’s email about how serious he was in following through with his allegations, all Cassie could do was try to focus on this new development in the Armory case and try not to think about Brad and what would happen later this evening.
She turned the DNA results around to study them more closely. Vaguely, she remembered reading a case like this, where one look at the child revealed his father but the paternity test excluded the obvious man. Including the mother in a second paternity test had accounted for unmatched alleles and raised the likelihood of paternity to the court-required ninety-nine percent. It didn’t happen often that genetic mutations threw off testing, but Brad must have dealt with complicated results frequently. It would have taken Cassie a long while to reach the same conclusion of testing Mom.
She opened her Internet browser to read up on testing and dig for some case law. It didn’t miss her observation he didn’t have to offer the knowledge. That he hadn’t done so with arrogance impressed her. He had no way of knowing she wasn’t as experienced with complicated paternity cases, and yet, he’d offered without hesitation. Cassie couldn’t deny it was nice to have a small bit of unsolicited mentoring. If things were otherwise, she had to admit he’d make one hell of a partner.
A few minutes later, Brad appeared in her doorway again, sans phone. Hands tucked in his pockets, he leaned against the doorframe. Cassie allowed herself a moment to drink him in. His charcoal grey suit accented the light color of his eyes and added a touch of dignified age to his handsome face. She squirmed in her seat.
“You about ready to get out of here?” His quiet tone carried heavy overtones of suggestion.