Prologue

Cincinnati "Cin" Santos

Two Years Ago…

" T he partners at Berry & Johnson are very welcoming to all flavors of the rainbow," Leif, the executive assistant to Ms. Johnson tells me as we walk through the carpeted halls of the law firm. "In fact, one of the junior partners is…actually, I shouldn't out someone. But I guarantee you will be accepted as non-binary."

"Color me curious," I wiggle my perfectly-shaped eyebrows and bat my long lashes on instinct. Leif smiles and it meets his green eyes, but I don't actually want him to out someone. Or label me as a gossip on my first day as a paid paralegal. "Glad to hear it. Where to next?"

"Staff lounge." Leif doesn't skip a beat, letting me know how they got to be an executive assistant to the founding partner. "You can bring food for the fridge, but they clean it out every weekend. Everyone with an office has a mini-fridge of their own, though those are often full of caffeine and alcohol. There's a microwave and toaster oven, as well as tables to eat at if you don't want food at your desk. My favorite part is the couch for reading on my break."

Chuckling, I watch Leif gesture to everything like a game show host offering up prizes. "Is it comfy?"

"Almost too comfortable. I've fallen asleep on it multiple times." Leif rolls his eyes and mock-whispers, "That's when I'm reading memos and proofing briefs, not my novels."

"Understandable," I reply, following his blond head and pressed blue suit out of the lounge. I tried to dress less flamboyantly than if I was going out with friends, but not less stylishly. Everything I own is flashy, androgynous, and black, and I didn't like to dim my light for anyone. "I'm more of an audiobook reader, myself."

My ADHD makes me unable to sit still for long unless I'm interested. Hyperfocus for the win. Going on meds got me through college, plus beauty school and studying for the paralegal exam. Loving to edit and organize is what I feel will make me a good paralegal, since I haven't been happy with the other careers I've tried. I hope this one sticks, since I enjoyed interning at another law firm in Boston.

"Want to see where you'll be working?"

Leif leads me toward a grouping of cubicles in the middle of the floor, which can be seen by the surrounding offices but have some privacy between them. I did my HR paperwork and training on the first floor, but Berry & Johnson is on the fifth. The top floor across from the biggest courthouses in Boston.

"You'll be on filing and other menial tasks for a bit, but eventually they'll assign you to a partner or two and you'll focus on specific cases."

We round the corner of a cubicle, and my five-foot-two-inch self doesn't see the person coming right at me. Papers fly everywhere and I hear a husky voice cursing.

"Goddammit, Donna just organized these." The person doesn't look up, mumbling as they crouch to pick the papers up, and I freeze. Their voice sounds familiar.

They have dark, slicked-back hair, shaved short on the sides, and their suit is a mix of straight line pants with a blouse. Their nails aren't done, but they have pointy-toed heels on. Another non-binary person?

"Shoot, let us help, Ms. López Cruz," Leif offers, and they finally look up.

Her dark eyes meet mine and a jolt of recognition runs through me like lightning. Gael López Cruz was the name of a junior partner at Berry & Johnson. But there was no picture. I know her as Gay, a femme Dom in the local kink community. And I've seen her on her knees before. In front of me, when we did a scene a few months ago. I've seen her nearly naked, and she has made me come.

Fuck. Me .

Gay swallows and turns from me to Leif, pretending we haven't been intimate in public. "I've told you, Ms. Cruz or just Gael is fine. We're not so formal here."

The last words are for me, I can tell. Squatting down to help, I can see there are label tabs and try to follow them. "If you tell me the goal, I can reorganize these."

"Your first task, perfect," Leif claps me on the shoulder and stands. "Ms. Cruz, you can welcome our newest paralegal, Cincinnati Santos. Do you use Ms., Mr., or something else? I forgot to ask."

"Mx." Gay and I answer at the same time, our voices mixing together like the sound of my title. She coughs to cover her slip, and I realize Leif was referring to Gay earlier when he mentioned a junior partner being LGBTQIA+. Gay is a trans woman.

"Thank you for your help, Mx. Santos." Gay takes the papers from me and sets them on the empty desk to her right which must be mine. Then she surprises me. "Maybe I can take you to lunch and answer any further questions you might have?"

Something in her serious gaze tells me to accept. We need to clear the air if we're going to be working together. "That sounds great. And you can show me what's good around here."

"Sure," she agrees, but it sounds like a lie. She turns to Leif, "I'll let you get back to Erica, I'm sure you have your own pile of work."

"If you're sure? I did want to get in a couple calls before I take lunch." Leif looks at his watch and starts backing up, pointing to the desk outside of the corner office. "I'm here if you need anything, let me know when you're back, but you guys take your time."

Before I can think of anything, Gay has stepped past me to the nearest office, grabbed a messenger bag, and closed the door behind her. "Let's go."

Her no-nonsense brusqueness is more severe than the nurturing Dom I met and played with, but we are at her place of work using our real names. My bag is still over my shoulder, so I follow her long strides past the receptionist, onto the elevator, and out of the lobby onto the street before I can't stand the silence.

"You're not going to have a problem with me working here, are you?"

Gay does a double take but doesn't stop, leading me to a street vendor with Empanadas in the name. "Of course not. That would be unethical. Does this look good? I'm buying."

"That's not unethical?" I ask and wince when she only narrows her eyes. "I love empanadas. My parents came to America from El Salvador."

"Mine came from the Philippines," she tells me without looking away from the menu board. "So I grew up with empanadas too. Though my mom's are not the same as the ones I find here."

"Legit." I nod, checking her out from the corner of my eye.

Her blouse is white and I can see the outline of her bra in the sunlight. She also has a great ass, though it's hidden now. Yeah, I still find her attractive even though we work together. No magical switch is telling me to cool the flames.

We make our way to the front of the line, order and have our food in minutes. Gay leads me around the courthouse to a public garden to sit on a bench.

"So, what's the plan here?" I ask after devouring my first empanada. "We've seen each other in an intimate way and now…"

"We'll be discreet. I can keep my attraction to myself if you can?" Gay asks like it's a question, and I see a drop of dipping sauce at the corner of her full lips.

"So you admit the attraction is mutual and undeniable?" I ask, reaching out to get the sauce. She grabs my wrist and licks the pad of my thumb before dropping her hold faster than you can say fire . "I'll take that as a yes."

Gay sighs. "What would you have us do? Tell HR we've fucked around but it's just casual? I'm technically one of your bosses at a civil rights law firm, they'll be watching to see if I take advantage of you."

"First, I'd like to ask you on a date." I tick off on my finger, turning to face her properly. "It's not a power imbalance if I ask you out before I've even worked there."

"Fair," Gay's lips twitch as she tries to suppress a smile. "What's number two?"

"Second," I start then stop to pull a pen from my bag along with a napkin I have in there from a diner I went to the day before. "We'll agree that dating or doing anything physical has no bearing on my position or yours. And we sign it as evidence."

"Sure you don't want to move up from paralegal to lawyer someday?" Gay asks as I scribble on the napkin and sign my name. Gay takes it and signs before holding it up. "I could have given you my legal pad to write on. Is this from Randy's Diner in the South End?"

"I'm sure. And yes, it is. Love the place," I add taking my phone out to take a picture then handing it to Gay. "Put your number in and text yourself the contract so we both have it."

Gay does what I ask then turns to face me until our knees bump together. "So, where are you taking me on our first date?