For You I Will Read online

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Prologue

  For You I Will

  Hadley Raydeen

  Copyright © 2018 by Hadley Raydeen

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Author Hadley Raydeen Appreciates You!

  Prologue

  About the Author

  Also by Hadley Raydeen

  Prologue

  “I won’t deal with him anymore, Callie. Won’t do it—refuse to do it.” The young woman held up her hand in protest. “I already know what you are gonna say, ‘Paul put him in charge’. I get it, okay? He’s one of the bosses now. We have to respect what he says. And, hell, the man is even easy on the eyes, but the fact remains, he has no manners. He’s rude. Arrogant. Never wrong. Controlling! Who can work for somebody like that?” One of the firm’s lead, legal assistants, Jayla Williams, paced the office manager’s floor ticking off the reasons her assistant team was upset. She continued, “Especially when, technically, the legal assistants report to you. But the way he demeans me and looks at me like I'm nothing? Callie! Me! I’ve worked at this firm damn near ten years!”

  Callie Johnson, the firm’s office manager and Jayla’s boss, nodded her head in understanding, hoping it would calm the woman down. Thankfully, it did—a little. The other woman let out a long sigh, and waited a beat before she kept on, this time her tone a bit calmer. “Well, it's just uncalled for and I feel bad for the lawyers reporting to him. I would look for another job if he was my direct supervisor… and if I didn’t have my son to take care of. I need my job, Callie.”

  The complaint was about the managing partner, Daniel Morrow. There was nothing to say in his defense because Jayla was right. Callie stood there patiently waiting while the woman continued to rant and rave about lack of professionalism and disrespect on the firm.

  Callie too had run-ins with Daniel. They butt heads, more times often than not about office management. He demanded and probed assignments from the employees, sometimes above and beyond their pay grade, but this was the straw that broke the camel's back. He would not treat one of her employees like garbage and think he wouldn’t hear about it.

  Whatever his problem, he needed to get a handle on it right away or he would have her to deal with.

  As if on queue, an email popped up on her computer screen. She could see it was from Daniel, and she internally groaned. Minimizing the screen, she turned back to the legal assistant, ignoring the email. She’d deal with it, and him, later.

  “I’m sorry you feel this way, Jayla, but thank you for coming to me about it. I will deal with this, I promise you. Please know I don’t feel any less about you or your work. You’ve been a valued employee and the legal assistants are much appreciated.”

  The woman smiled at Callie. “We know this—from you and Paul; Daniel on the other hand—”

  Callie held up a hand to hold off another barrage of complaints. “Okay, I get it. Unfortunately, Paul is out for a while and Daniel is in this position until he returns. We will have to make do, for now. In the meantime, I will have a chat with Daniel, and hopefully we can get this thing situated. Give me some time to see what I can do?” Callie asked.

  The woman shook her head in agreement and mumbled a stiff, “Thank you for your time,” before exiting the office and closing the door behind her.

  Callie swiveled in her chair letting out the groan from deep within. She glanced at the computer screen and opened her email again. Daniel’s message sat front and center in her inbox and she rolled her eyes.

  The subject read: Meeting Schedule.

  She clicked her tongue behind her teeth and opened the email, already knowing what this was about.

  Callie,

  I need to talk to you. Please schedule time with my legal assistant so we can go over some things for the office. I have tried to reach you for a while now and it seems like you are avoiding me.

  -DM

  Callie deleted the email, not bothering to reply. She would talk to him on her own time; not at his beck and call. But she knew she had to talk to him sooner rather than later before this whole thing with the staff festered out of control. And, one thing she hated more than anything was being controlled, by anyone. She was used to holding the reins and never gave that over to anyone else.

  But, that wasn’t the only reason she avoided him like the plague. Of course, there were all the things the legal assistant thought about him and his downright brusque nature. Though she tried to avoid him, there was something about him that seemed to draw her in despite her need to keep her distance.

  Maybe all that ‘I’m Daniel Morrow hear my roar’ nonsense was a put on. She wouldn’t mind peeling back the layers to see what lay beneath.

  He was, in fact, very easy on the eyes. Truth be told, she couldn't quite control herself when she was around him. She became nervous and fidgety and he straight out her turned on…

  She ran a hand down her throat. Her skin was heated just thinking about him; she could feel the tingles of it where her skin goose pimpled. Damn him.

  She wanted him, thought she shouldn’t, for more reasons than one. This was a workplace and Paul left her to manage his law office. She couldn’t think about the delicious things she wanted to do to Daniel after hours in the law library, with the lights off. She shook the image from her mind. He didn’t even see her that way. Hell, he didn’t even notice her other than to try to boss her around.

  No, they were colleagues and she would not back down to him. Screw him! Hmm, screw him indeed...

  Just then a message came through the group messenger service, used for in-house communication, between the lawyers and the legal assistants. This particular message was from Heather, the legal secretary and executive assistant to Daniel and Paul, whenever he was in the office.

  Heather: Callie, Daniel asked me to book some time for you and him to meet. Do you have availability sometime today or tomorrow to go over budgets and other office related items he needs to discuss?

  She read the message twice. Well, shit, his email just came through. He didn't even give her a chance to respond, yet. Of course, she had no intention of responding and had chucked the thing right in the virtual trash can. But, he didn’t need to know that. Maybe he figured she would do just that since he already had Heather on her heels. She placed her cursor in the reply window and typed:

  Callie: Heather, I saw the email from Daniel and I will get back to him when I am available. I have other projects I
'm working on right now. I've already tried to go through this budget with him. And, we didn’t get anywhere with it. He did not want to hear anything I had to say. So, right now, he can wait until I have time to speak to him. I'm sorry to put you in the middle of this.

  She hit ‘send’ and saw the read receipt on the other end from Heather. She felt bad for the young woman having to relay that message to Daniel. Callie was sure she could be more diplomatic on how she delivered it, but right now she didn't care. She did not have time to deal with Daniel especially when he did not respect her and wasn't showing any signs he would.

  The notification dots lit up, indicating Heather was typing a message back, and she didn't know if she wanted to see that response. Too late.

  Heather: ☺

  Okay, that emoji is clearly to soften the blow...

  Heather continued typing:

  Heather: He says he wants to meet with you sooner rather than later. If you have availability, today or tomorrow, he would like to get something on the calendar.

  And, of course, he hadn't listened to one damn thing she had said. Per usual, it was what he wanted, when he wanted it and to hell with what everybody else thought. That would be the downfall of this law firm if he didn't get his attitude under control.

  Callie wished Paul would come back to work. He was the best managing partner ever, the perfect boss and always listened to her ideas.

  Paul’s absence, for God knows what, was a detriment. She wanted to talk to him about this, but he hadn’t returned her calls.

  It was a challenge working with somebody that intrigued her as much as she wanted to strangle him. She shook her head and typed Heather back.

  Callie: Tell him, I’ll get back to him.

  When I’m damn good and ready.

  Chapter 1

  Her eyes widened and back stiffened when the heat of his looming body pressed into her. “I need to talk to you, Callie, now.” The threatening hiss at her ear was low and dare not be challenged.

  She rolled her eyes shut and her heart quickened. Shit! Not here, not now. Here we freaking go.

  She had successfully avoided him for the better part of the week. He’d sent her numerous emails, sticky notes were left on her desk, internal message pings blew up her messaging system in the office and she’d deleted and ignored every one of them.

  Daniel Morrow, the firm’s acting managing attorney, would not be ignored for long though. She knew this eventually would happen, but she’d pushed it off long enough. Time to face the music.

  This talk would more than likely end with them arguing, arguing would end in emotional, and heaven help her, sexual frustration. She did not want to be alone with him, but he was her partner in the office. He managed the attorneys, and she managed the day-to-day of the office. They did have business to discuss, she was sure of it; they had many cases going on, the damn budget needed established for Paul to approve. It was petty refusing to talk to him and she knew it pissed him off. She got a little satisfaction in that.

  “Not here, Daniel.” She cleared her throat, thinking about the support staff standing around watching for her reaction to his demands. They didn’t need to hear this conversation.

  “Excuse me?” he growled at her.

  She turned on her heels and faced him now. Something flashed in his eyes. She could see the anger there, but she didn’t care. She’d hold her ground. Leveling her gaze at the ridiculously handsome man, she repeated the words he didn’t want to hear. “I said, not here.”

  She looked around the buzzing law office at lawyers coming and going from trial, paralegals on the phones, and legal assistants typing deposition notices and scheduling meetings.

  Butting heads seemed to be their thing though the office still ran like a fine oiled machine. He refused to accept the fact she was his equal as Office Manager. She was tired of him treating her like his underling.

  Her gaze raked over his perfect, chiseled body, clothed in a tailored blue suit and a dark blue designer tie—all shades of gorgeous. She blinked away the elicit images floating in her head. She didn’t care how delicious he looked. She had to put a stop to this. The way he treated her and the firm’s staff was unacceptable. She’d been lax in letting him get away with speaking to her like this before. She didn’t know if it was because she found herself salivating every time he came into the room, but she’d be damned if she would stand around like a dewy-eyed schoolgirl backing down to some man just because he filled out a suit in all the right places.

  He had another think coming if he thought he would get away with it this time. She calmed her nerves, scolding herself for finding this sexy dominance remotely attractive. She hated being controlled when she was used to being the one in control and her ever-growing weakness for his daunting smirk annoyed the hell out of her.

  But, she’d stand her ground this time. “Since you are being so persistent about meeting with me, fine. Just not here,” she spoke through gritted teeth. She turned her back to him and took the stack of files one of the assistants handed her. “Thank you, Katy.” She turned on her heels again, walking right past his ever-looming shadow. “Let’s talk. Your office or mine?” she asked without looking at him.

  He took a step back letting her walk by him. Her skin grew warm under his gaze. She stopped and turned to look at him over her shoulder. He wasn’t following her; instead, he stood his ground, watching her walk away.

  Lifting her head in defiance, she turned and continued marching away from him, passing a group of attorneys. “Callie, he’s following you. Watch out,” one of them whispered.

  She turned slightly and caught Daniel shooting a warning glance at the three attorneys. “Don’t you have a case or something to work on, Michael?” Daniel’s voice was low and rumbling. “I know there is more than one Workers’ Compensation case close to settlement, right?”

  Callie glanced at the group of men. The young attorney shook his head ‘yes’ to Daniel and slinked away with the other attorneys in tow before their boss saw fit to call them out on something else.

  Daniel turned his attention back to her. She noted his dark blue gaze seemed to roam her body as he spoke. “Well, after you, Miss Johnson.”

  She shifted the files in her arms and averted her eyes from him where it was safe. The way he looked at her caused her traitorous body to react and she needed to readjust her thinking back to the screw you, asshole state of mind before she was behind closed doors with him.

  “Do you need to put that paperwork down, Callie?” he asked, looking at the files snuggled against her breasts. His gaze lingered a little longer than needed.

  She shook her head. “No, I grabbed these because I have to close these files for Frank.”

  He turned his head to the side to read the file labels hugged to her sexually aroused body. His eyes examining something pressed so close to her body caused her nipples to harden. She was thankful for the files covering her front or he’d surely see the protruding points through the material of her business suit. “I didn’t know he had reached a settlement on this file.” His deep voice caused a tingling in her belly making her bite back a moan.

  “Just this morning,” she replied, clearing her throat trying to shake the husky tone from creeping out.

  “Interesting. I’ll talk to him about this one. Can you hold off on closing until I discuss the details with him?” His gaze moved back to her face. She noted his blue eyes grew dark when he was angry, or serious, and even when they were looking at each other—like now. She fidgeted in front of him, pulling the file away from the others. She handed him what he had requested.

  Looking into his eyes this long without exchanging words was dangerous. She needed to hold her ground. Don’t hold onto the file. Look everywhere, but at your hands connected by the damn thing. Don’t even touch him.

  “My office is closer,” he said, disrupting her inner monologue.

  “What?” she asked, distracted by what she’d like to do to him, besides touching his hand with
a stupid file as a barrier. Turn him right out that’s what; he wouldn’t know what hit him.

  “You asked if we should go to your office, or mine. I suggested mine is closer,” he said, speaking slowly, his lips wrapping around each word. She watched them, plump and kissable as he spoke. Then something clicked in her. He was doing it again. Talking to her like she was slow; like she couldn’t understand the words coming from his delectable mouth. Well, he did kinda catch her in a ‘moment’. She’d just missed what he’d said; not that she could understand him. She wouldn’t let him do this.

  “Please don’t speak to me like that.” She looked him square in the eye. Mistake. She ignored the reaction between her legs and the tightening of her nipples.

  He stepped closer. He smelled woodsy, spicy and masculine and his body emitted a deep warmth she would love to get wrapped up in. He spoke low so only she could hear. “Lose the files and the attitude, Miss Johnson,” he said, looking down at the files near her body, lingering over cleavage they nestled against, before moving his gaze back up. “I’ll meet you in my office.” He left her gawking after him.

  She stole the chance to watch him from behind as he sauntered away from her. He shoved his hands in his pants pockets causing his suit jacket to ride up and hug his tight ass. She bit down on her bottom lip. Shit.

  He ran a hand over his mouth and sank into his leather chair. Callie Johnson was more than he bargained for when he came to this firm. She kept him on his toes, standing up to him in front of the staff the way she just did. He smiled to himself. He wanted to taste those beautiful, sassy lips. “You have no idea how much I do, sweetheart,” he murmured, adjusting the tightness in the front of his dress pants. He couldn’t stop thinking about her. And she’d been avoiding him like the plague. He knew he shouldn’t think about his business peer with pure lust, but heaven help him if she walked past his office one more time in those short business suits she wears with creamy, tanned legs that went on for days and days…