Counselor Undone by Lisa Rayne Read Free Book Online Page A

watched Eric’s jaw tense as the young man ground his
rear molars together. Anger stewed beneath the guy’s cool, macho surface.
Jordis had put him on the spot. He either had to retract his statement or come
up with a creative answer. If he failed to answer, everyone would assume he’d
based his comment on personal biases in the vein of those he’d claimed should
not be a part of the debate.
    Michael looked at Jordis. She sat relaxed, a neutral but
pleasant expression on her face. Her right hand found its way back to her mug,
and her fingers once again traced the rim of the cup. She had the demeanor of
one simply waiting for her opponent to make his next move on a chessboard. He
wondered if she stayed this cool in court. The lady was no shrinking violet.
She handled tough situations head on and took the direct approach to handling
personal affronts. He liked that about her.
    Intrigued
to see how Covington would handle the situation, Michael sat back in his chair.
As he did so, he glanced back at Chase who gave him a slight tilt of the head
as if to say, I told you so.
    * * *
    Eric Covington was not a happy camper. He stood watching
Jordis Morgan leave the conference room chatting conversationally with a redhead.
By the time the pro bono case discussion concluded, Jordis had won the day, and
the single mom had new legal counsel.
    “Hey, dude, don’t feel bad,” Jonathan said to Eric as he
swatted Eric on the shoulder. Jonathan’s eyes followed Eric’s down the hall to
the retreating back of Jordis Morgan. “You know if you’re going to take on Ms.
Morgan, you’d better have done your homework. That lady has the sharpest mind
in the department. Actually, probably in the whole damn firm. Don’t let the
pretty face fool you. Underneath her ladylike exterior lies the heart of a pit
bull.”
    “ I have the sharpest mind in the department,” Eric replied.
    “Well, it sure didn’t come off that way today, studly .
Keep telling yourself that.” Jonathan laughed as he gave Eric’s shoulder
another pat then headed for his office.
    Eric frowned, internally acknowledging Jonathan was right.
Jordis had made him look like an idiot and in front of Remington, the future
managing partner of the firm. By the time they’d finished debating the
intricacies of their respective preferred pro bono cases, he’d come across as a
pretentious snob. She’d made it look like he’d assumed because of her race
she’d have some special affinity for an inner-city dweller and the plight of a
single mother.
    He’d looked even more foolish when Jordis had pointed out
the prospective plaintiff was a young white woman named Cynthia Gardner who’d
gotten pregnant at the end of her senior year of high school. Rather than stand
by her, her high school sweetheart chose to accept a college basketball scholarship
and abandoned the teen to her own devices. After her judgmental, self-righteous
parents put her out, the single mom had found it hard to support her child
without state assistance and subsidized housing.
    Granted, he probably did have some preconceived notions
about how Jordis had gotten her lateral position in the firm. Diversity
initiatives were all the rage in major law firms across the country. No matter
the firm propaganda about being more aware of subconscious biases that had
excluded qualified candidates in the past, he figured women and minorities
simply got special consideration. No way that leggy, supermodel type had
credentials or a professional record to match his. He intended to be the star
senior associate of this division, and he wasn’t going to let some woman
upstage him.
    His father always said a woman had two places: behind a man
or beneath him. Jordis Morgan needed to learn her place—behind him like
the rest of the women in the group. Then again, he thought as he watched her
feminine curves disappear down the hall, maybe she’d be better off beneath him.
Getting her in his bed would certainly give them a better