Keeping my eyes shut, I lay in bed and let the waves of an orgasm roll through me as I screamed the three yeses he couldn’t hear. When I finally stopped shaking, I rolled over and grabbed a pillow, pulling it to my chest.

Before I could force myself to sleep, I heard my phone ringing beneath me.

It was a text from Thoreau. “I’ll take that as a yes. Fourteen days.”

Burden of Proof (n.):

The obligation to prove or disprove a disputed fact.

Andrew

“Did I tell you that I landed the leading role for that ballet I auditioned for?” Alyssa said to me the next morning.

I’d been talking to her since I arrived at work, but I’d made no mention of the fact that she’d hung up in my face last night; I was going to punish her for that later. Severely.

Thirteen days...

“Did I tell you about it?” she asked again.

“No, and if you’re not going to tell me when and where the show is, then I don’t care.”

“Oh, wow.” She laughed. “You’re mad about last night, aren’t you?”

“Furious.”

“Because I hung up?”

“Because I know you screamed yes when you came, and you hung up because you didn’t want me to hear it.”

She was silent, and I was about to say something else, but Jessica suddenly stepped into my office, smiling at me.

“Hold on one second.” I put my phone against my chest. “Yes, Jessica?”

“The final interviews are going to start in twenty minutes. They need you in the conference room now.”

“I’ll get there when I get there.” I acted as if the kiss she was now blowing me wasn’t happening, and waited until she closed the door. “I’ll have to call you back later, Alyssa. I have a meeting.”

“Must be bad timing for both of us. I have a meeting, too.”

“Your doomed gunshot client?”

“No, something much worse. An intern interview.”

“Must be in the air then.” I sighed as I slipped into my jacket. “I have to sit through a few of them myself, unfortunately.”

“Any advice you want to share?”

“Try to look like you’re actually paying attention while they answer the questions, and make sure your cell phone is fully charged so you can get on the internet.”

“Not for me.” She laughed. “For the interns. Something I should say if one of them is nervous.”

“Oh.” I shrugged. “Tell them my motto.”

“And what motto would that be?”

“It is what it is.”

“Why do I ever ask you anything?”

“Because I always tell you the truth.” I hung up.

“Mr. Hamilton?” Jessica stepped into my office again. “They want you to look over the files before they begin.”

“I’m right behind you.” I followed her into the conference room, where Will Greenwood and George Bach were waiting, and I sat next to them.

“Good to see you out of your office today, Andrew.” Will laughed.

“Yeah,” George added. “Thank you for bestowing your presence upon us this afternoon. We know how much you love being sociable.”

I rolled my eyes. “Why do the three of us need to conduct intern interviews? What’s the purpose of having an HR department if the partners do their job for them?”

“This is a family, Andrew.” Mr. Greenwood spoke sternly. “Whether it’s an intern, the secretary, or the young man who stays overnight and cleans this office, I want everyone to feel like they’re a part of a huge family. Don’t you?”

“I’m not answering that,” I said. “How many are we picking this year?”

“Not too many.” Will slid me a folder. “We have our top five picks. We just need to narrow it down to three. Two from law school, one from pre-law. We’ll add two more next semester.”

“Hmmm.” I pulled out the applications and pretended to pay attention as the two of them went over each applicant’s achievements.

“Okay, Jessica!” Will pressed the intercom button. “You can send in the first applicant!”

When the door opened, I expected to see the usual plainly dressed stiff with a wooden smile, but the woman who stepped inside was far from that. Dressed in a light grey dress that clung to her hips and a pair of nude high heels, she was one of the sexiest women I’d ever seen; I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

Her eyes were a deep ocean blue that matched the sapphire necklace hanging around her neck. Her hair was pulled into a low ponytail—the loose strands slightly grazed her breasts, and her lips—her bright pink, fuck-able lips, seemed to be mouthing words of some kind.

I have no idea what you’re saying...

As I was noticing the pink bra strap that had slipped from underneath her dress and onto her bare shoulder, her stunning eyes met mine. I raised my eyebrow and she blushed. Then she immediately turned away, looking at my partners.

“Welcome to GBH, Miss Everhart,” George said. “We’re happy that you’re here for an interview, but as you know we can only select one undergraduate intern for our program at this time.”

“I understand, sir.” Her eyes met mine again, and my cock twitched.

I tried to stop the images that were flooding my brain, images of me bending this woman over the table, fucking her against my office wall, and tying her hands above her head and torturing her with my tongue all night, but they wouldn’t stop. Each image dissolved into another one, and before I knew it, I’d visually undressed her and there was no one in this room but the two of us.

What the hell is wrong with me? Attracted to a prospective intern? An UNDERGRADUATE intern?

“Well, let’s get started then.” George interrupted my thoughts. “Mr. Hamilton, would you care to start with the first question?”

“Not particularly,” I said, trying to ignore the fact that Miss Everhart was smoothing her dress over her thighs.

He nudged me under the table and whispered under his breath, “Family, Andrew...Family.”

I rolled my eyes. “Why do you want to be a lawyer, Miss Everhart?”

“I enjoy screwing people over,” she said. “I figure I might as well get paid for it.”

My lips curved into a smile, and George and Will laughed.

“In all seriousness, gentlemen,” she continued, “I come from a large family of lawyers and judges; it’s what I’ve known my whole life. I know the justice system is far from perfect, but nothing makes me happier than seeing it at its best. There’s no greater feeling than working for the good of society.”

“Good answer,” Will said. “Now, we’re going to ask you a series of questions regarding the real-world case study packets that we mailed you. Were you able to complete everything?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Great. Question number one: Your client walks into a federal bank with a loaded gun in his pocket. Upon being brushed by a stranger, the gun fires—shooting him in the leg. Regarding the charges that the prosecution filed, how would you have your client plead?”

“What?” I looked over at him. “Could you repeat that question, Will?”

“The prompt?”

“Whatever you just asked.”

He nodded and happily repeated it, putting extra emphasis on the crime of walking into a bank with a loaded firearm.

My mind immediately flashed back to the conversation I’d had with Alyssa last night.

I smiled, thinking that maybe Alyssa’s “friend” was a headline story in the local news, that maybe I could figure out who she was without her telling me. I pulled out my phone and held it underneath the conference table, googling “Man shoots himself in federal bank. North Carolina.”

Nothing relevant appeared.

Hmmm...

“How would you make him plead, Miss Everhart?” Will asked again.

“No contest,” she said quickly.

“No contest?” He sounded slightly impressed. “Why so?”

“He doesn’t have a license to carry, so I’m sure the prosecution will try to make it seem like he carried that gun into the bank for a reason. Regardless of if he only hurt himself, he’s looking at a prison sentence, so we could bypass the trial and try to limit it to the lowest terms possible.”