finally, she’d be able to show him that she was capable of so much more than the family law cases that had been thrown her way.
The file contained only one sheet of paper. Four words had been hastily scrawled in black pen: Marian MacAdam. Custody matter.
The sight of it filled her with disappointment, resignation. Resentment, even. But not guilt. That would come later.
She closed the folder carefully. The writing was on the wall. Randall had her firmly slotted in the family law group. All the platitudes her mentor, John Lyons, had given her about the probationary period being a time to assess her strengths and see where she best fit in the firm were bull. She hadn’t received a single litigation, insurance or corporate case since she’d been here. Just family law. The pink ghetto.
She met Randall’s gaze. His was cool. Amused, even. Damn him. He knew she was pissed off. And he liked it.
She circled her desk, crossing her arms. “I have only two months left of my probationary period.”
A small smile curved his mouth. He turned and held open her office door, waiting for her to collect her latest family law client.
His lack of response was specifically designed to intimidate her, she knew. She strode through the doorway, knowing he was too much of a gentleman to walk in front of her, no matter his natural inclination to be one step ahead. Over her shoulder, she said, “When John Lyons recruited me—” the slight lifting of Randall’s brows showed he hadn’t missed her meaning “—he told me I’d be working in the civil litigation group.” She began walking down the hallway.
“John didn’t have the authority to tell you that,” Randall said matter-of-factly, falling into step beside her.
She hoped her face didn’t reveal how much that casual revelation threw her. Not long after she’d arrived at LMB she’d suspected John had less power in the firm than he’d like to think, but she never expected that the managing partner would come out and say it to a first-year associate. Partners usually stuck together.
“Why did you hire me, then?”
“We brought you in for a probationary period—” His careful choice of words was deliberate. Kate’s stomach clenched despite her resolve to not let him intimidate her. “—Because we need to see where your strengths lie.”
“I thought you’d seen them pretty clearly on the Robertson file.” She’d single-handedly won the day for her David-like client, resulting in an offer of employment from John Lyons, who represented the Goliath insurance company.
“Yes, there’s no question that John was impressed with your work on that file. But that was one case. We deal with a multitude of clients and issues at LMB. We need to be confident of your abilities to handle both the clients and the issues.” Translation: she was now swimming in a much bigger pond and needed to prove she could be a shark like all the rest.
They approached the glass door that led to the reception area. She stopped, crossing her arms. “Unless you give me some civil lit files, you’ll never know.”
“You’ll get your chance, Kate.” Randall held open the door. “Do a good job on these files and we’ll see if there’s something we can give you from the litigation group.” His eyes met hers. Piercing. Sharp. Looked right through her.
She wasn’t fooled for a minute that he was interested in her. She knew he wasn’t. He just expected her to respond to his magnetism like every other female he encountered.
Well, she did, if she was honest with herself. How could she not? But he wasn’t her type. Too cocky, too confident, too arrogant. And yet, there was a pull there. An awareness in her body that had everything to do with primal urges and nothing to do with self-respect. To respond physically to a man so sure of himself was humiliating.
She stepped around him and walked through the doorway into the reception area. The glass door closed behind her. Randall had not followed her.
She took a deep breath. Randall’s patronizing “be a good girl” attitude had been hard to take. But he had thrown the bone she craved her way. She’d waited too long and desired it too deeply to walk away from it now. Because she knew if she forced the issue with Randall while she was still on probation he’d tell her to take a hike.
2
Her new client pushed herself to her feet when Kate approached.
“Mrs. MacAdam?” Kate asked, hoping she was wrong. She’d expected a