Chapter 5: Michael's EveningMichael had met Gwen Channing a couple of years earlier on a flight from New York to Las Vegas. She was attending to the first-class cabin, then about an hour into the flight, she was attending to him personally, giving him a blow job in the galley of the 777. Gwen always gave him a call when she was in town.Michael returned to his table in the corner and to his irritated date. "Who are they?" she snipped."Some students from the U. I recognized one of them from the interviews today," he answered. "Did you order?"As the evening progressed, he realized that Gwen was rambling on about an asshole passenger on a recent flight, but his mind was on Mary Margaret Flynn. The truth was, she intrigued him. She wasn't unattractive. Obviously not dating material, but still, she was smart, and she had spirit, too. She'd proved that when she'd stood up to all of them that afternoon.He was glad when a band took the stage and he could stop pretending that he wa
Chapter 6: "Welcome to Murphy, Rannigan, and Metheny."In spite of having been wide awake until the wee hours of the morning, Maggie's eyes popped open immediately as her alarm sounded at 6:15 am. Classes were over but there were still finals, one of which she had this afternoon. Besides, she liked the routine of getting up at the same time every day. She couldn't call Murphy, Rannigan until nine, so she threw on workout clothes and left the apartment for a quick run.More than two hours later, freshly showered following her workout, she sat watching her clock until it blinked from 8:59 to 9:00 before she dialed the number on the business card. The woman who answered was friendly and efficient. Yes, Mr. Rannigan had said to expect her call. Yes, the firm was scheduling follow-up interviews for candidate finalists. Maggie should report to the Murphy, Rannigan offices at nine o'clock sharp on Tuesday morning. She hung up the phone feeling bewildered. Follow-up interviews? I th
Chapter 7: Maggie's First Day"Oh, God!" Maggie gasped, pulling against the restraints that kept her arms over her head. She looked down to see him working her left nipple with his tongue, taking the whole thing in his mouth, suckling sensuously. At her words, he looked up at her, tousled salt and pepper hair perfectly framing his chiseled face, heat radiating from his brown eyes, a smirk on his lips. "You like?" She nodded vigorously. "Because I was thinking about moving further down," he said, lazily tracing a finger down the center of her body until he came to the mound between her thighs. There he paused to stroke her moist pink folds, gently at first, then more intensely. Maggie writhed in pleasure but with her feet bound to the corners of the bed, there was little she could do. "Oh, God, Michael," she squeaked, on the edge of molten pleasure. He looked back up at her, his eyebrow crooked. "I've always wondered. Does a ginger taste like ginger?" With that, he lowered
Chapter 8: PrioritiesMichael sat behind his huge desk listening as the councilman droned on and on, expressing his gratitude for Michael's help. "He's just a dumb kid. I don't understand why they wanted to make a federal case out of it," the man said, referring to his seventeen-year-old son who'd been arrested in the wee hours of Sunday morning on suspicion of driving under the influence. Complicating matters was the fact that when they emptied his pockets, the cops found a small amount of cocaine. Councilman Menzel had called Michael right away. He'd helped the politician out of a few scrapes of his own over the years.It was only 10:15 in the morning but it had already been a long day. Michael had cut short his weekend in the Caymans by a few hours to fly home and help get the kid out of jail. The harder part was keeping it out of the papers, but he had the contacts to make that happen. He tried to look sympathetic. "Aw, you know, Bob, the police are just doing their job.
Chapter 9: OrientationMichael stopped in the door and allowed her to precede him into the hallway. As she passed him, she caught the scent of his cologne, and recalling her dream from earlier that morning, she blushed furiously. Thank God he can't read my mind, she thought, gripping the new folio tightly. Even so, when she turned he was regarding her curiously and she felt her face redden further. She smiled to cover her discomfort. "I can't believe I have my own office. Downstairs the newbies have cubicles."He grinned and nodded. "Yeah, up here on 50, we're kind of our own beast." He began walking down the hallway toward the reception area. "Jim Metheny used to be with Jernigan, Krandel back in the day, but they had a parting of the ways about ten years ago. He was looking for partners to start his own firm. He found Brian Murphy first. I had just won a big case in the Public Defender's Office.""People vs. Smithson," Maggie said. "He was accused of murder. An eyewitn
Chapter 10: The Pecking OrderMaggie walked away from Michael's office feeling like a first-class idiot. What in the world possessed me to be so flippant? she wondered miserably. At least he hadn't seemed bothered. She thought about his words. We're both alone in the world. She knew exactly what he meant. When her father died, she felt completely alone. She'd thrown herself into her undergraduate studies to distract herself from those thoughts. Law school had somehow been better. She'd bonded with her group of friends. She thought of Casey and knew they'd be close for the rest of their lives, the same with Ben. They were her family. Graduation had been a reminder that they wouldn't be together forever, but she hadn't allowed herself to dwell on the notion. She sighed and busied herself with the lunch order.Everything went smoothly until she got to John Hemphill's office. He was meeting with Ellen Standifer when she knocked on the open door. "Knock, knock," she said bri
Chapter 11: Office PoliticsMichael leaned back in the cab and watched as they passed Maggie walking down the street on her way to the subway. He thought back on the day, smiling as he recalled her passionate argument on the virtues of patronizing local business. She must have aced her litigation classes, he thought, shaking his head.After Maggie left his office that morning to order lunch, he'd gotten busy returning calls and going over notes he had for tomorrow's case, a former child actress who'd been caught shoplifting expensive silk lingerie at Bergdorf Goodman. He figured he'd be in court most of the day, taking Hodges and Standifer with him.In the back of the cab, he smiled to himself once again. At least Ellen Standifer would be out of Maggie's way for the day. What was it about women? He had never understood why women could never seem to get along with each other.His thoughts drifted to the moment an apoplectic Ellen had come storming through his door about half an ho
Chapter 12: Comparing NotesMaggie wasn't sure why she hadn't mentioned to Michael that she was meeting the other new hires for drinks at Doc Watson's. She supposed she didn't want him to wonder if she was talking about him. Nate had texted her shortly after five to say that he and the others were heading out. She'd replied that she planned to keep working until she was finished and to let her know if they left the bar. She'd also texted Ben to see if he'd meet her there. His new office was only a few blocks away.As she reached the black awning in front of the pub, she heard someone calling her name. "Hey Flynn, wait up!" Ben grinned as he strode up to her and gave her a peck on the cheek. "So how's tricks?" he asked her."Not too shabby, how about you?" she asked as they made their way inside.He grimaced, running a hand through his thick brown waves. "Well, I made it through the first day without any major fuck-ups. I hope I'm not bored to tears by real estate law."Inside