Angel

Chapter 6:

"Excuse me?" she sputtered.

I laughed, "Not for that. For what you suggested. Mattie, you're talented. Far better at contracts than all of my other paralegals and even most of my attorneys. I need you to look over the deals and our initial contract."

"Me," she gaped, "but...but I'm not an attorney, sir." Damn, there's that word again. I swear one of these days I'm going to make her scream it as I fuck her senseless.

I sighed, "I know you aren't, but you have the skills of one. In less than three minutes you tore apart the Franklin contract with not a single resource. That's beyond talented, Mattie, that's fucking amazing! I need your beautiful brain to help me get our firm out of this clusterfuck, please?"

She nodded hesitantly, "I...I can try sir, but I don't know about the overtime. I have to help my MawMaw. Her health isn't good, sir."

"I understand completely. Family comes first. Matter of fact, let my brothers and I take care of getting you back and forth to work for a while. That way you can save some money and we know you're safe." Come on, please say yes I begged in my mind.

"Sir, I, uh," she stammered.

"Please, Mattie."

She sighed, "I'll agree on one condition."

"Name it, anything! You want a raise, done, a corner office, done, anything," I offered.

Mattie sputtered, "No, no, I just need off the afternoon a week from Thursday. If I could leave around noon that would be helpful."

That's all she wants? I'm offering everything I think a young woman would want and she simply wants to take off a half day?

"No." Her shoulders slumped. "No, I'm sorry, you'll have to take the full day. I wouldn't want you to get caught up in something and be late. Better to keep your focus," I grinned as she realized my trick.

She threw her arms around my neck and giggled, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Suddenly she pulled back and blushed, "Oh shit, I'm so sorry, Mr. Henshaw."

"Corey," I said as she tilted her head in confusion. "My name is Corey, Mattie, and you have nothing to apologize for. Hugs from a beautiful woman are always welcome, especially you, little one." Her blush deepened. "Now, we should get you some food before the others get back. Any preferences, dietary restrictions?"

"Oh, no, none, sir," she said softly. "Thank you again."

"My pleasure, little one," I smiled and picked up the phone, but before I could order, Raven and Brandon walked in with sandwiches.

"We, uh, noticed you snag her in the hallway, so I picked up something for both of you," Brandon blushed. "We've got a French dip, shrimp po' boy; cajun shrimp wrap, and a creole steak sandwich. Who wants what?"

She raised her hand, "I'll take the wrap if no one else minds." He handed it to her and sat down next to her, placing a quick kiss on her cheek. Her eyes went wide as she looked at Raven and me. "Brandon," she chided him.

He chuckled, "Too late, beautiful girl, that ship has sailed. I confessed everything when I got home last night."

She nearly choked on the bite she'd taken. Her hand flew to her mouth, "Confessed! We kissed for goodness sake. It's not like we had sex on the front porch, Brandon."

He winked, "Yeah, I'm fairly sure your MawMaw would beat my ass for that. But she still thinks I'm beau material."

"What is beau material?" Raven asked.

"Druzhok," she told him. "She thought Brandon was my boyfriend when he dropped me off last night."

Raven pretended to pout, "I want to be druzhok material too." I thought she was going to pass out. "Let me meet MawMaw, see if she thinks I'm beau material for krolik."

"Todos ustedes van a hacer que me sonroje hasta la muerte. (You are all going to make me blush to death,)" she muttered under her breath and continued eating.

"Woah, you speak Spanish too?" Brandon asked.

"I was surprised too," I told them. "Seems our little one is rather talented. She overheard the lawyers and figured out our situation. Right before you came in, I was offering her anything she wanted to help us review the files for the merger and our original contract with Meadows. Maybe we can find a way out of this."

"What does little bunny want?" Raven said in a husky voice as she blushed further.

I snorted, "She only wanted a half-day off. I told her to take a full day and that we would start providing transportation to and from work."

"Beautiful, why didn't you just put in a request for the day off with your department supervisor?" Brandon asked her. I noticed her body stiffen at the mention of Trish. Hmmm...

"Oh, um, well she said I need to get to the meeting quickly and I just found out that I'd need the day this morning before you picked me up. I guess I just didn't have time," she said quickly - a little too quickly.

"Oh, well next time just tell one of us," he said.

She blinked, "I can't do that. I mean, you're my bosses. What would the rest of the firm think?" She groaned, "Maybe the rides might not be a good idea after all. I don't want any gossip getting started. I'm sure you three have busy lives too."

We exchanged worried looks. I know Bran was already gone for this girl, and I think both Raven and I aren't far behind.

He took her hand and scooted closer to her, "Hey, don't worry about any of that." She lowered her head, but he gripped her chin gently and lifted it. "Mattie, I mean it, we mean it. If you need something let us know, and as for the rides, we want to help. If you won't accept a raise, then it's our responsibility to help with transportation. Taking a taxi twice a day is too expensive."

"But what will people think?" she whispered.

"Don't give a damn what people think, krolik," Raven gruffed. "Only what you think."

"I...I guess it's okay. I mean it would really help," she replied quietly. "Thank you." This girl was something else... "Oh, shoot, we need to get back!"

"Yeah, otherwise Trish will end up signing something she shouldn't," I groaned. Mattie raised her eyes but didn't say anything. "I'll get you copies of everything by tomorrow morning, okay?" She nodded and brushed off her skirt before heading to the door, but Brandon stopped her.

She seemed confused when he quickly pulled her to him and kissed her. Her cheeks were flushed when he finally took a step back. "Damn, that color looks amazing on you, baby. When we're all done, get changed and meet me in the garage to get you home," he grinned as she nodded dreamily.

I nudged his arm when she'd walked a few steps away. "We need to have a talk about her," I said.

He snorted, "Yeah, I knew that comment was coming yesterday. You two are already goners. Axel will fall to his knees, and Marc will flip when he finds out she knows Spanish and used to live in California. She perfect for us, brother, completely fucking perfect." I nodded in agreement. The look of pure happiness on my brother's face was something I had seldom seen. If this girl could make the rest of us even a fraction as happy, then I'd be damned if we let her slip away.

Author's Notes:  I like sassy Corey.