Read Counselor Undone for Free Online Page A

his head, but left full in the top. With his
athletic build and those compelling features beneath a smooth olive complexion,
he exuded an animal magnetism hard to ignore.
    Before he could make another comment, Chase called the
meeting to order.
    “After you.” Michael stepped aside and motioned her towards
the conference table.
    A voice interrupted their parting. “Excuse me, Mr.
Remington.”
    Michael looked down to see Alyson smiling at him.
    A petite woman, Alyson stood about a head shorter than
Jordis, making her look delicate next to Michael. “I’m going to top off my cup
of coffee.” Her sweetly reticent smile suggested a shyness contradicted by the
offer in her eyes. “How about I get you a cup?”
    “No thanks, Alyson. I appreciate the offer, but I’m good.”
Michael motioned Alyson to the coffee service. “Why don’t you hurry and freshen
your cup so we can get started.”
    From her spot at the conference table, Jordis watched Alyson’s
smile turn into a frown once Michael could no longer see her face. After
topping off her coffee cup, Alyson moved to the conference table and placed her
cup in front of her seat before adjusting the wide leather waist belt on her
red designer shirtdress. Alyson glanced at Jordis and gave a fake smile. Jordis
returned the smile in turn, internally pleased at the disappointment masked on
Alyson’s face.
    Jordis didn’t have time to examine why the interchange
between Michael Remington and Alyson pleased her so much because Michael
surprised her—and Alyson—by walking over to the coffee service and
pouring his own cup of coffee. Jordis discreetly caught the expression on Alyson’s
face as the woman took notice of the gesture and the silent message it sent:
she wouldn’t turn Michael Remington’s head easily.
    Ms.
Hot-To-Trot would have to up her game if she intended to make a play for the
sexy partner. Why this pleased Jordis, she’d have to examine more closely
later.
    * * *
    “Okay, the last order of business,” Chase stated, “is to
select this year’s litigation pro bono case.” He flipped open a file folder in
front of him. “Each of you has a copy of the synopses for the five potential
cases selected by the Pro Bono Review Board. The matter is now open for
discussion. Recommendations?”
    Michael looked casually around the table. He covertly
evaluated this latest crop of lawyers, trying to determine who’d likely have a
long-term stint at the firm and who’d likely be gone by the end of the fiscal
year. Good grades and high test scores were important, but they encompassed
only a small part of what it took to be a great lawyer. He believed in recruiting
from the top ranks of prestigious law schools, but intangibles such as drive,
discipline, empathy, and integrity meant as much as academic success. Talent
alone was never enough. When they got lucky and found associates with the
triple combination of academic talent, emotional intelligence, and those
amorphous intangibles, then he knew they’d hit pay dirt.
    He lifted his cup of now cold coffee and tried to focus on
the discussion. He was having an unusually hard time paying attention to the
various topic. He sat at the opposite end of the table from Chase, and the
long-legged associate with the unique name sat two chairs down on his left. He
couldn’t take his eyes off her, though he made sure to be discreet. Where had
he seen her before?
    Maybe he had passed her in the hall, but the thought didn’t
ring true. He’d noticed her immediately upon walking into the conference room.
Something about her posture and body language as she’d stood alone surveying
the room had tugged at the recesses of his memory.
    When he’d introduced himself, her striking eyes had taken
him off guard. The swirls of browns, golds, and greens mixed together to make
an alluring tapestry of color more intense than any hazel eyes he’d ever seen before.
She wore minimal makeup, but her eyes appeared large and seductive.