Sweet Persuasion (Book 4 of the Girls In Suits Series)

Seventeen

It was already past ten in the evening when we finished eating dinner and discussing my case. I walked Steve to the door while Dean and Amy cleaned up in the living room.

"Thank you again for doing this," I said as we lingered outside the apartment door, waiting for the elevator to descend.

"It's my pleasure, Amy. You don't have to keep on thanking for every little thing I'd do for you." He smirked.

I rolled my eyes yet couldn't help but smile back. "Anyways, have a lovely night and a safe trip back."

Steve regarded me for a moment. While preamble, he reached out and cupped my cheeks. Startled at the sudden contact, I stood there immobile. Before I could react, he leaned down and planted a brief kiss on my forehead.

"Have a lovely night as well, Amy. Sweet dreams."

I could feel my face heating up at the sudden intimacy. By the time I was able to compose myself, Steve had entered the elevator. He watched me with a wicked grin as the door closed between us.

It took me another minute to calm my raging heart. When I returned inside, I might not have wholly recovered since Amy stared at me with confusion.

"Did something happen?"

I shook my head and pointed towards the bathroom. "I'll go wash-up for bed first."

Amy wasn't convinced by my reply, but she hadn't press on and allowed me to go. Thankfully, I had ample time to collect my composure in the privacy of the bathroom. I prayed that Amy won't pry further later.

To my luck, she hadn't. And the evening ended without any incident.

***

Although I don't mostly work on weekends, Hardy had insisted that I came into work and helped him complete his paper works that were pushed aside because we were categorizing his New York clients.

With disdain, I headed to work like any other day. Since there was no incident for two days since Scott's mishap at my workplace, Amy was confident to let me commute to work by myself.

Of course, she wouldn't have agreed if I wasn't confident myself. And I was assured that Scott won't do it again—for now. He could not be that stupid to do things twice.

However, when I entered the office building safely, I felt a rush of relief. Maybe I was a bit concerned. But then, since nothing happened, I'm convinced that nothing will happen.

Upon reaching my cubicle, I had at least a few minutes to collect myself until Hardy arrived. With coffee in hand for the both of us, we drive to another round of paper works. From there, the rest of the morning passed while we focused on work.

By noon, I was able to cut Hardy's work by half, which I knew would put me in my boss's good graces. He was lenient and quickly let me go for an early lunch. Since Lilian had no office this weekend, I went and searched for Karina as my lunch buddy.

As I passed by the reception area, I stopped in my tracks when I saw Reed heading towards me. He was preoccupied with his phone, so he didn't see me right away. Within the second, I contemplated heading back to my cubicle. But then, I didn't want to have a working lunch with Hardy. So, I marched on.

Reed finally noticed me and beamed.

"April, heading somewhere?" he asked cheekily. "Were you looking for me? I hope so."

I snorted. "No, I'm looking for Karina."

"Karina? You mean, Ms. Montes?"

"Yes, unless there is another person here whose name is Karina," I replied sarcastically.