Jane stepped into work, feeling a bit pleased with himself. Last night had gone according to plan, and the stern judge had been eating out of his hand. The only thing that made it better? Hightower witnessed the whole scene. She had a front row seat to the apology and the thank you. It was nearly sublime. Not quite, but nearly. But before he could celebrate with a lovely cup of Earl Grey, Hightower stepped out of her office, blocking his path to the kitchen. "Jane. In my office."
Jane stopped short at her sudden appearance. "Hightower. Nice morning, huh?"
"Jane. My office. Now." The comment about the morning apparently had no effect, because the evil glower on her face didn't budge. So Jane did the self-preserving thing and stepped into her office.
"What seems to be the problem?" He kept his tone light in comparison to Hightower's growl.
She clicked over to her desk. "The problem is that you seem to think it's okay to sexually harass me."
Jane snorted. "When did I sexually harass you?" Really, a kiss wasn't that big of a deal. At least not to him.
"When you took it upon yourself to kiss me! It was unwanted."
Jane walked over and took a seat in one of the armed chairs. "You know, a kiss used to be a sign of peace. Of friendship. Only now has it become the romantically charged gesture that people think it is today."
Hightower sputtered. "I don't care about the past! I care about now!"
Jane frowned. "Last night is the past."
"Mr. Jane!" Her voice was sharp and biting.
"Okay, okay. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you." He held up his hands. Whether he liked it or not, he had to play nice with her, or else he would get in deep trouble. Power was something to be played with, not irked.
Hightower's expression smoothed out considerably. "Thank you. I will not tolerate such behavior."
Jane got up and started to leave. "Your husband's a complete jerk, am I right?"
Hightower nodded faintly, a bit put off by the question.
He pressed on. "Maybe I just wanted to show you that, even though your estranged husband is a complete jerk, not all men are like that. Some of us are okay people."
He didn't get to see her reaction, because he dashed out of the room before she exploded. It was nice kissing her, though. She smelled good. That and, okay, maybe power was fun to irk now and then.