Jason broke into a loud coughing fit—at this point he was ready to try anything to shut her up.

He felt Taylor patting him on the back.

“There, there, now, Mr. Andrews, that’s okay,” she said reassuringly. “You don’t have to say a word. As your attorneys, we’ll do all the talking.” She turned to her boss with a wink. “Isn’t that right, Sam?”

Sam took a moment, then nodded. “Yes, of course,” he said politely. “Our firm would be more than happy to help Mr. Andrews with his . . . uh . . . issues. You carry on with that, Taylor.”

Standing by Jason’s side, Taylor smiled proudly.

“Thanks, Sam. And don’t you worry—I’m quite certain that Mr. Andrews is quickly learning that there are just some things you don’t do in somebody else’s workplace.”

She looked up at Jason with a smile that was as sweet as pie. “Isn’t that right, Mr. Andrews?”

He glared at her.

It didn’t take a genius to catch her real meaning.

THE MINUTE HE and Taylor stepped out into the hallway, Jason could control himself no longer.

“Are you crazy?”

Taylor furiously shushed him, and before he could say anything further, she pulled him into a corner alcove. She looked around to be certain they were alone, then whirled on him.

“Who do you think you are, storming into my office like that?” She pointed angrily in his face. “Do you realize how much trouble you almost got me into?”

“Wait—you’re angry with me?” Jason stared at Taylor incredulously. “Do you realize the mess you’ve made?” Realizing that time was of the essence, he whipped out his cell phone and pushed the speed dial.

“Marty—we’ve got a problem,” he barked into the phone as soon as his publicist answered. “Listen, in about fifteen minutes, there’s going to be real shit storm—”

He was cut off as Taylor suddenly reached over and grabbed the phone out of his hand. She slammed it shut.

Jason stared at her in disbelief. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Furious now, he stalked toward Taylor, backing her up against the wall. Under other circumstances, his mind would have wandered nefariously at their close physical proximity, but by then he was angry even beyond the point of Naughty Lawyer fantasies.

“You know, I tolerated your little charade in there because I felt bad for getting you in trouble,” Jason hissed at her. “But if you don’t hand over that phone right this second, I swear I’m going to—”

“Calm down,” Taylor interrupted smoothly. “There’s nothing to worry about.”

“Nothing to—” Jason managed to refrain from shouting the rest. He looked up at the ceiling and counted to ten to keep from throttling her.

“You just told those people that I’m a sexual deviant,” he said through clenched teeth. “And apparently, one with the intelligence of a ten-year-old. Those stories will be on the Internet by this afternoon.”

“Those men won’t talk.”

Jason glared at Taylor and grabbed his cell phone out of her hands. “You obviously need a lesson on how my life works, missy.” He hit the redial button. “Everyone talks.”

“They think I was telling the truth in there.”

“No shit.”

“So, if they think the things I said in there were true, then they also think that information is protected by the attorney-client privilege. Those men are legally bound not to repeat what I said.”

His eyes meeting hers, Jason paused as this information sunk in. After a moment, he hung up his phone.

She winked. Gotcha.

“I’m not completely heartless, Mr. Andrews,” she said with a grin. She turned and headed down the hallway.

Jason watched her walk away. There was something about that confidence she always had. He liked it very much.

He hurried and caught up with Taylor in the middle of the buzzing hallway. “Wait—there’s something I need to talk to you about. You haven’t even asked the real reason I was calling.”

People stopped to stare all along the office corridor as Taylor and Jason breezed past them. “I’m very busy today, Mr. Andrews,” she said efficiently. “Perhaps you could make an appointment with my secretary for us to talk another time?”

Jason laughed out loud at this—surely she must be joking. But when Taylor said nothing further, he decided it was best to just ignore her.

“Anyway, as it turns out,” he explained, “the screenwriter did not consult a lawyer when writing his script. And now the director and I have realized there are several problems with the film.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Taylor said distractedly. She stopped in front of her secretary’s desk to pick up her messages. “Can you call Tom Jacobs and see if he has a few minutes to discuss his trial testimony?” After her secretary nodded, she stepped into her office.

Jason stood awkwardly in the hallway, unaccustomed to being left unattended to. After a few moments, when Taylor didn’t return, he followed into her office.

Inside she was already seated at her desk, riffling through some files. Jason decided it was best to cut to the chase.

“I want you to work with me on the script.”

Now that got her attention.

Taylor paused her work and peered up. She looked him directly in his eyes.

“No.”