Working with Olivia was harder than I thought it would be. I spent half my time with her trying to control my hard-on and the other half wanting to murder her. There was no doubt she was used to being in charge. Every suggestion I made she shut down. You’d have thought I was fresh out of law school by the way she dismissed my ideas.

She was being protective of her case, which I understood, but it was annoying as hell. I wanted to win just as much as she did. My future was riding on it just like hers, but she was being stubborn and refused to admit that I might know something she didn’t.

After she’d walked out of the conference room in the middle of the afternoon, I’d said fuck it and had taken the rest of the day off. I went to the gym and worked out some of my frustrations with a punching bag and then took a cold shower.

But it wasn’t enough to clear my head. Olivia had taken up residence in my brain. I knew there was only one person who could talk some sense into me.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Mr. Big Shot Beck calling from his new throne in the city,” Reggie laughed when he answered the phone.

“You’re just jealous,” I snorted.

“Oh, come on, we both know I got the brains and the looks,” he joked. Reggie Cruz was the brother I’d never had. We met in law school at Stanford and had been close friends ever since. “Besides, I’ve been watching the weather, and it’s hot as balls there. Seattle is perfect right now.”

“Don’t rub it in. I don’t think I’ve stopped sweating since I got here.”

“So how is it?”

“It’s not what I expected,” I sighed.

“What … are you the little fish in the pond now?”

“Remember how I told you I’d be working with a woman on the murder case?”

“Yeah, so? Is she ugly?” I laughed out loud at the thought of anyone calling Olivia ugly.

“No, definitely not.”

“Oooh, so you want to bone her?”

“We cleared that hurdle a long time ago,” I admitted, running a hand through my hair.

“What? There aren’t any other hot women in New York City? You had to screw the one you have to work with?”

“In my defense, we actually fucked before I knew who she was.”

“Uh-huh, sure.”

“It’s the truth. We met at a club my first week here, had the best sex of my life, then a few days later I saw her in court and almost shit myself.”

“The best sex of your life? That’s quite the statement coming from King James,” Reggie scoffed. I ignored him.

“God, Reggie, this woman is making me crazy. She is stubborn and feisty, and if I’m being honest, a better lawyer than I was five years ago when I was in her place. To make it even worse, she thinks she’s getting the partnership.”

“Beck, are you still sleeping with her?” Reggie asked.

“What does that even matter?”

“Jesus, Beck, haven’t you ever heard the expression, ‘Don’t shit where you eat’?” he asked. “You went to New York to take the partnership she’s been working toward for God knows how long.”

“What do those two things have to do with each other?”

“Fuck, you’ve got it bad already. What’s going to happen in a month when you win the murder case and get promoted to partner? Are you going to be able to take the job knowing your girlfriend wants it, too?”

“She’s not my girlfriend … our relationship is purely sexual.”

“Yeah, sure, whatever. We’ll circle back to this. How is the case coming along? Are you ready for trial?”

“I think we’re both ready for trial, but we’re not ready to present this case together. She refuses to listen to anything I say. In her mind, this is still her case, not our case.”

“Do you remember the first case we worked together during our internship?”

“Yeah, of course. How do you forget your first double-homicide?”

“Do you remember how I was being a pompous prick and thought I knew the best way to question the eyewitness?”

“Yeah, you were being an idiot, so I let you make a fool out of yourself and then embarrassed you when I cleaned up your mess in front of the entire court room. What’s your point?”

“My point is, if she won’t listen, maybe you’ll have to show her why James Beck is the best.”

“That’s low, Reggie.” It wasn’t the worst idea he’d ever had, though, but I didn’t have to think very hard to imagine what Olivia’s reaction would be. Her ego would be crushed.

“Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.”

“I don’t know…” I blew out a breath.

“Don’t be such a pussy, Beck. You want to be a partner, don’t you?”

“Of course.”

“Then stop thinking with your dick.”

“You’re an asshole, you know?”

“I learned from the best.” He laughed and launched into a story about his latest case, but I was lost in my thoughts.

Could I do what he was suggesting? Olivia’s case was solid, so it’d be difficult to find a weakness, but if anyone could do it, it was me. She’d hate me for sure, but maybe it was time for someone to put this woman in her place.