Chapter 1

one

. . .

Easton

“Hi, Easton.” Laney flashed me the smile of a sixteen-year-old girl who didn’t have a care in the world outside of getting off work at the end of the day and heading down to the river to meet her friends.

“Morning,” I said, as I tapped the counter twice at Rosewood Brew. “I’ll take the iced mocha, tall, please.”

“You know, we’re running a special on our Taylor Teas today. Buy one, get one free.”

“I’ll stick with my usual. I’m actually surprised that you guys would name a drink after that ridiculous ‘Taylor Tea’ column.” As far as I was concerned, it was a crock of shit that the Rosewood River Review , our local newspaper, had started some anonymous gossip column and called it “The Taylor Tea.” And now everyone in town was acting like it was the best thing they’d ever read—when it was a bunch of horseshit served up on an alluring small-town platter.

The Taylor family owned the newspaper, and most people were convinced that the column was penned by their daughter, Emilia Taylor. At this point, nothing would surprise me.

“Are you kidding! I hear there’s a new lady in town starting work at your law office today. Where do you think I found that out? ‘The Taylor Tea . ’” She squealed, far too loud for seven o’clock in the morning, and I winced. “Everyone loves getting the scoop on what’s happening in town. Best thing to happen to Rosewood River in a long time.”

“Interesting, seeing as we have a new health clinic that opened last year, a newly expanded law office, and a top-tier veterinarian hospital, and this is what you consider the best thing to happen to Rosewood River? You know it’s all gossip, right?” I raised a brow as she poured the coffee over the ice in my cup.

“Um… yes. That’s why we love it. All my friends are actually reading it now, and we haven’t read anything that hasn’t been school assigned in years. We wait for it to come out every Saturday.”

The world has gone to shit if this is their idea of reading.

I took my cup from her and pulled out some cash. “Laney, there are much more interesting things to read about other than gossip in Rosewood River. You do remember that the first column that went to print was about Emerson’s wedding disaster. Does that seem like something everyone should be reading?”

My twin sister had almost walked down the aisle with an asshole, and I was happy she’d ended up calling off the wedding. Now she was engaged to Nash Heart in Magnolia Falls, and everything had worked out. But that still didn’t mean that her heartache should have gone to print and been talked about by everyone in town.

It was her personal life, for fuck’s sake.

“Listen, with social media today, everything is out there anyway. Everyone would have found out that the wedding was canceled eventually because they’d invited everyone in Rosewood River to that wedding. It was all everyone was talking about. At least this is just news that’s spread through our small town.” She thought about her next words, and I bit my tongue before biting her head off and telling her that was a lame defense. I was a goddamn lawyer—I knew what a good argument looked like, and this wasn’t it. “Think about it, Easton. If they hadn’t printed that juicy gossip about the wedding being called off, Emerson might have come home, and then she wouldn’t have met Nash and become a mama to little Cutler.”

Yes. They’d gone on to print another story about my twin sister finding love after heartbreak, as well.

“It’s shit and you know it. People are entitled to a private life. The Taylors have a reputable newspaper; they should keep it that way.” I dropped a couple of bucks in the tip jar and turned to leave.

“Well, how do you think I know that Henley Holloway just moved to town?” she said over a fit of giggles like this was huge news.

I pushed the door open with my shoulder and turned to look at her one last time. “There are much more interesting things than a new lawyer moving to town. Be a normal teenager and go have fun with your friends and stop reading that trash.”

She giggled some more and nodded, as I let the door close before walking the short distance to the office.

We had two locations, and I ran the law office here, which worked out great as many of the employees preferred to live just outside of Rosewood River and avoid the madness of commuting to the city. We were only thirty minutes outside of San Francisco, and I made the drive when I had to be in court, but I preferred to work out of our satellite office here.

I rounded the corner, taking in the large brick building I’d convinced the partners to invest in when we’d expanded. The sign hanging above the door was my daily motivation to put my head down and keep working.

Holloway, Jones, and Waterman.

Our firm was one of the longest-standing law firms in the state of California. My boss, Charles Holloway, had hired me four years ago. I’d fought hard to get my foot in the door of such a prestigious law firm, and I’d been the youngest attorney they’d taken on in the history of the firm—up until today, of course. Charles’s daughter, Henley Holloway, was starting at the firm this morning fresh out of law school.

I was assigned to being her mentor, which was a fancy term for babysitting the boss’s daughter. She’d graduated from Harvard Law a few months ago. And sure, it was Harvard, but she’d probably cruised through the program as a longtime legacy, since her great-grandfather, her grandfather, and her father had all attended. Then she’d spent the summer in the south of France with her mother, living a life of leisure.

Because that’s what you did when you had a rich daddy who saved you a spot at the firm.

Birthright had gotten her this position—not her credentials.

And that shit pissed me off.

I was determined to get my name on the door.

Holloway, Jones, Waterman, and Chadwick.

And the little princess was the only thing standing in my way.

My final task.

Take her under my wing. Show her the ropes. Let her shadow me for a few months to show her how it’s done. I was an arrogant prick, no doubt about it. But I had the track record to back it—so I made no apologies for knowing that I was the best at my job.

I knew how to win cases, and I didn’t quit until I had every juror convinced that I was right.

When I came around the corner, the sound of the alarm had me moving quickly. I pulled the door open to my building, only to see the backside of a woman wearing a pink fitted skirt and matching jacket with long blonde waves trailing down her back. My eyes scanned her lean, tan legs all the way down to the nude heels on her feet. She frantically typed a code into the alarm system and was having a full fucking conversation over the loud ringing coming through the walls.

“Stop! Oh my gosh! Please, stop!” she shrieked.

For fuck’s sake.

“Move.” I slid in beside her, and she gasped at my presence before stepping aside.

I typed in the code quickly, and the noise came to a stop.

“I’m so sorry. I—er, my dad clearly gave me the wrong code,” she said, shaking her head, her sapphire blue eyes locked with mine. Her skin was flawless, even though she barely wore a stitch of makeup, and her plump, pink lips turned up the slightest bit in a forced smile.

She was gorgeous.

I’d seen photos, so I’d expected as much.

But in person—she was quite possibly the most stunning woman I’d ever laid eyes on.

Which meant she’d be a big fucking distraction in the office.

“Do you always decide to show up earlier than your boss on your first day?”

“My boss?” She quirked a brow and smirked, as if the idea were comical.

“I run this office, in case you weren’t informed. Your last name might be Holloway, but you’re new here, and even if you get to start out in a posh office—that doesn’t change the fact that you answer to me.” Her father told me to treat her like I’d treat anyone else, even if he clearly wasn’t going to take his own advice.

“I prefer the word mentor over boss.” She tipped her chin up in challenge.

“And I prefer not to start my day with a blasting alarm going off in my ear.”

She sighed. “It won’t happen again. I’ll get the correct code from you today.”

She followed me inside, and I directed her to the staff lounge before pointing in the direction of her new office. “Yours is at the end of the hall. Get yourself settled and give me half an hour. We’ll meet in my office.”

“I’ll see you there.”

She marched down the hall, and I turned in the opposite direction toward my office. I dropped my briefcase onto my desk and opened my laptop before turning on my monitor.

I made my way down to the staff lounge to top off my coffee, because my assistant, Rosie, wouldn’t be in until later this morning, as she had an appointment. The woman spoiled me. She was quite possibly the best executive assistant on the planet, and I wouldn’t function well without her.

But today, I’d get my own coffee.

As I turned the corner, scalding hot liquid collided with my chest as Henley Holloway let out a deafening squeal.

Motherfucker.

I stepped back, tugging my dress shirt away from my skin, which was burning like a bitch.

“Oh, my gosh,” she said as I stormed past her. “I was bringing you a cup of coffee as an apology for the alarm.”

I tossed my suit coat onto the chair and hurried to the sink, unbuttoning my dress shirt as I went. I was fairly certain she’d had hot lava in that mug, and it was currently eating through my flesh.

I reached for a towel and ran it under the cold water before pressing it to my chest.

“How about you don’t do me any favors, and just do your fucking job,” I hissed. The words came out harsher than I meant them to, but my fucking skin was on fucking fire.

“I can do that.”

“One would hope so with a Harvard degree.” I turned off the water. “I need to go change my shirt. I’ll see you in my office at the scheduled time.”

She nodded and walked away.

I’d most likely hurt her feelings, and I was fine with it. This was not an easy career or firm to work for. No one had held my hand when I’d started, and I wouldn’t be doing her any favors by giving her special treatment.

Hell, she was already given an office, which was going to be noticed by everyone who worked here.

Carver Thomas had just moved into a small office after two years of working his ass off. Joey Barker, who was a junior associate, just like Henley, sat in a cubicle with the other junior associates nine months after being hired.

She was already receiving special treatment.

And this day was off to a shit start.

She’d set off the alarm and spilled scalding hot coffee on me, and it wasn’t even seven thirty in the morning yet.

This woman was going to be my shadow for the next six months, and I was already on edge.

And that was never a good thing.