"I took one my sophomore year. Did well enough then, but I'm gonna try an online course first, see how that helps me."
We chatting about menial crap, and kept ordering beers and eating chips. Pretty soon I was well buzzed and needing real food. I flagged down our waitress and ordered a chicken quesadilla, then made my way over to Todd's side of the table. He gave me a quick smile then started studying the saltshakers on the table. I moved in front of him, standing where he couldn’t avoid me.
"What's wrong? Why are you acting so weird?"
"Nothing. I'm not acting weird."
"Yes, you are. You're avoiding me like the plague. You invited me here - if you didn't want me to come, you shouldn't have asked."
"I did want you to come. Then. But.."
"But what?"
"De Luca told me to stay away from you."
I stumbled back, staring at him in surprise. "What?"
He chewed at his bottom lip nervously. "When I got back to the wing today, after talking to you, he called me in his office and told me to stay away from you."
"Did he say why?"
"He didn't allow me to ask any questions. Just told me that fraternizing with coworkers was bad news, and he expected more of me. Told me to stay in our Wing and stay away from the other interns."
"What did you say?" I sputtered.
He looked down. "I asked him if I could still hang out with Trevor, after work. We've been best friends for three years and I told him that. He said Trevor was okay. I really have to go. I shouldn't even be here." He rose despondently and went over to Trevor, placing a hand on his shoulder and whispering something in his ear. I held up my hand. "Todd."
He didn't hear me, so I repeated it louder. "Todd!" That got his attention. He looked up at me quickly, with a beaten look on his face.
"You stay. I'm leaving."
"What? No, I'll just -"
"Stop. It's done. I'm leaving." I reached in my purse, rifled through the side pocket until I found $40, and laid it on the table. "Give that to the waitress, and you guys can have my damn quesadilla." I stomped out of the restaurant, leaving them stunned and staring after me. I stood outside in the warm breeze, seething mad. That prick. I whipped out my phone and tried Olivia, then Becca. No answer from either. Damn. I was too buzzed to drive and didn't know where I was going. I saw a cab approaching and I waved frantically till it turned on its light and pulled over. I got in the back and slammed the door. "Just head north. I'll give you an address in a minute."
---
I assumed that Brad lived in the North side of town - mansions and manicured lawns seemed to be his thing. I pulled up whitepages.com on my iPhone, but there was no listing for a Brad De Luca. Next I checked the property appraiser's site. That did it. 1244 Olive Line Trail belonged to Bradley De Luca. So did 3 or 4 apartments, but I figured the Olive Line Trail address was his home. According to the Tax Collector, he paid $1.8 million for it 3 years ago. The beauty of the internet, a stalker's fucking dream. I gave the taxi driver the address and quietly steamed in the backseat. Fucking De Luca. Thinks he can decide who I hang out with? The man who doesn't want me, but doesn't want anyone else to have me? I will wring his ridiculously large neck with my own two hands. I ignored my grumbling stomach and flexed my hands in anticipation.
---
Olive Line Trail was on the north side of downtown, but just barely. We were there within 10 minutes, and I paid the cab driver before thinking. He sped off into the darkness and I stood there, on an oak lined residential street wondering what exactly my plan was. I checked my watch. 7pm. The man might not even be home, though he definitely wasn't still at work. I walked up a pavered drive to a set of double doors. I started to reach for the doorbell, but decided that dramatic was a better approach so I reached forward and pounded the shit out of the door. No one answered. I pounded again, then turned, looking at the empty street, taxi gone. Shit. I heard something from around the side of the house, so I teetered down the front steps and went around. In the back of the house was a large pool, hot tub (big surprise) and big covered porch. Brad was sitting on the back porch in a wicker chair turned to face the house. He had a tennis ball in his hand and was throwing it against the house, letting it bounce back, and catching it. He had a phone to his ear and was talking. I cleared my throat and stood on the steps behind him, my hands on my hips. He tilted his chair and looked over his shoulder, his eyes hardening when they saw me. "Rick, I'm gonna have to call you back." He hung up and stood, turning to face me. He wore a white v-neck tee shirt and workout shorts, tennis shoes on his feet. His neck and back were wet from sweat, and looked like he had just gotten back from a run. "What are you doing here?" He sounded irritated.
"What am I doing here?! What are you doing!"
"I'm at my house."
"I'm not talking about here you idiot! I'm talking about with Todd - with work - with us!"
"There is no us."
"Exactly! You made it very clear that you didn't want a relationship. Yet YOU ran off Bob. Yet YOU told Todd to stay away from me. You are not my father, you are not my boyfriend, you are not my boss. You don't have the right to fuck with my life!"
"Why are you yelling?"
"Because nothing seems to be getting through your skull!"
"Do you like Todd this much? Is this what this is about?"
"I don't like Todd at all! That's not the point. The point is if I did really like Todd, or someone else, I don't need you walking around telling people they can't date me. That's not your place. It's like you don't want me, and you don't want anyone else to have me. That's bullshit."
"Who says I don't want you?"
I rolled my eyes. "Okay I misspoke. It's like you don't want to date me exclusively. God, I forgot I was talking to an attorney and had to clarify everything."
"Maybe we should go to dinner."
"I already ate." As I spoke, my stomach growled. I ignored it.
"Not tonight. Tomorrow night."
"I already have plans." At that sentence, his eyebrows rose. I was bluffing my ass off, but wasn't about to give him dinner so easily.
"Oh-kay, when is your packed social schedule free?"
"Umm… maybe Monday? Wait - why are we going to dinner?"
"To talk. About this."
"About what? And I came all the way over here to talk about this - why can't we talk now?"
He sighed, and put his hands on his hips, looking absolutely ridiculously sexy. I fought to keep my hands by my side and my enraged look on my face. "We can't talk now because your drunk."
"I am not drunk!" I sputtered, though I was either swaying or the sidewalk was.
"Okay, then you’re impaired. Either way, I'm not having this conversation with you right now. Where is your car?"
"At the bar. I took a taxi."
"Where is the taxi now?"
"I don't know. He left."
Brad turned and looked at the house, and for the first time it occurred to me that he might not be alone. "I'll take you home. Come on."
"No!" I held up my hand and he folded his arms, looking at me with irritation. "I'll have one of my friends pick me up." I fumbled in my purse, and pulled out my phone.
"Julia…" I held up my finger at him and dialed Olivia's number. Please pick up, please pick up.
"Hello?" Thank god.
"O - it's me. I need a ride."
"I'm kind of in the middle of some-"
"O - I need a ride."
A sigh. "Okay, where are you?"
"1244 Olive Line Trail. It's just north of downtown."
"I'll put it in GPS."
"Thank you - I'll be out front." I ended the call and looked up at Brad. "My friend's picking me up."
"A guy or a girl friend?"
I threw my phone at him; a long, perfect heave that could easily have taken out one of his eyes if he hadn't ducked with an athlete's reflexes. He laughed, looking at my phone now laying harmlessly on the grass. Good thing he hadn't been standing in
front of pavement. I stalked over and picked up the phone, then marched over to the driveway and started heading back to the front of the house. My defiant stomp was marred slightly by the fact that I was wearing heels and the damn man had a cobblestone driveway, but I forged on.
"Julia." Brad hurried after me, catching my arm and pulling it. I ripped it free and rounded the curve of the house. I plowed through a bed of recently planted tulips *what bachelor has tulips* and stomped up the first two steps to the front porch, then dramatically flopped down on the step, hugging my purse to my body and staring stonily out at the street.
"Look, I'm sorry I said anything to Todd. That wasn't my place."
"And to Bob."
"AND to Bob. Though I didn't really say anything to Bob."
"No, you just sucked all the air out of my office and stared him down like he was a rogue agent." I grumbled through my purse.
Brad sighed and sat down next to me on the step. I fought the urge to lean against him. He was just so damn…everything. Strong, protective, sexy, and smelled ridiculously good, even with dried sweat all over him. He started to put an arm around me and I stiffened. "Don't." He dropped his arm and leaned back, gazing out at the street. It was warm out, and in the distance we could hear the sounds of neighborhood. Somewhere a basketball thumped and garage doors opened and closed. We sat in silence, and I tried to calculate how long it would take Olivia to get here from campus. Assuming she had been at her apartment, which was about a 50/50 chance. I was thinking about seven minutes, and probably three-
"What are you thinking about?" Brad's voice interrupted my calculations.
"What a dick you are."
"Wow. Not the first time I've heard that."
"I bet."
"Look, Julia. I’m sorry that I said anything to Todd. Tomorrow I'll talk to him again."
I snorted. "Like THAT won't be awkward."
He let out a deep breath of air. "It's all I can do."
"Well, thank you for the apology. The good news is there aren't any other good-looking interns, so you can't really do any more damage." I turned and looked at Brad, his strong profile gently lit by the recessed stairs lights. "I don't get you Brad. This has jealousy written all over it."
He clasped his hands, and looked at them, then at me, his gaze direct. "I don't know what to tell you Julia. It was just a reflex action. I heard Todd talking on his cell about meeting you for drinks, and it just popped out. I know it was out of place. I just didn't want him getting you drunk and taking advantage of you."
"THIS coming from you? The man who whisked me off to Vegas and poured drinks down my throat at every opportunity? The man who had me naked on his bed the first morning of our trip?"
He frowned at me. "Don't try to twist that trip into something it wasn't. I didn't take you to Vegas to woo you into sex. I took you to Vegas because you had never been, and it was an opportunity for us to get to know each other without fear of running into someone from the office. I don't think I was pressuring you when you walked naked and dripping into the living room and invited me into the shower."
I blushed and gritted my teeth. The man had a point. I changed the scope of my attack. "And you told Todd that fraternizing with coworkers was bad business? What about fucking clients? Did you include that in your business advice? And you can't even talk about fraternizing with coworkers! Seriously, did you choke on your own bullshit?!"
"Okay, Julia - you made your point. I'm an asshole; I was out of line. I have apologized. I'm not going to sit here and have you chastise me like I'm a child." He stood up and brushed off his shorts. Olivia thankfully chose that moment to arrive, pulling up and waving at me. Brad stood, hands on his hips, and watched me as I stood up and walked past him to the car. I didn't look back, and he didn't say anything.
I got in the car and looked at Olivia. "Is he looking over here?"
"Yep. He's looking and shaking his head, like he's confused."
"Okay. Stop looking at him and drive away."
"Is that De Luca?"
"DRIVE away. Then you can grill me."
She obediently put the car in drive and pulled off, waiting until she hit the first light before turning to me with an expectant look.
"Yes, that was De Luca. No, I don't want to talk about it."
"Damn, Jules - the man is a God! Those shoulders -"
I held up my hand, stopping her gush. "I really don't want to hear about it. I spend at least a half hour a day trying not to think about his body. Can you just take me home?"
"Sure. Just so I know, where's your car at?"
I groaned. "A metered spot by Cantina del Mer. I'll have a taxi take me by it in the morning." I leaned against the cool window, watching the streets zoom by. She pulled up at my house just when I was beginning to doze. I gave her a grateful hug, and drug myself inside and into bed. Crawling under the sheets, still in my work clothes and makeup, I barely remembered to set the alarm before I fell asleep.
----
My alarm rang at 5:45am - 45 minutes early so I would have time to figure out my car situation. I hit the alarm, stumbled to the bathroom to pee, then wandered back into my room. I grabbed my phone to look up a taxi company's number and saw a new text from Olivia, sent at 11:20 last night.
BECCA AND I PICKED UP YOUR CAR. IT'S IN THE DRIVEWAY, YOUR EXTRA KEY IS BACK IN THE HIDDEN MAGNET.
God bless friends who know every aspect of your life. I crawled on my bed over to the window, looked outside to verify that my car was, in fact, in the driveway and then crawled back under the covers, resetting the alarm for 6:30am.
---
7:35am. Jogging into the CDB lobby, I called Olivia's phone. It rang once and then went to voicemail. I left her a short but sweet message thanking her profusely for both rescuing my ass last night, but also for returning my car. I decided to wait to call Becca; she was undoubtedly still asleep. I made coffee in record time, a feat I had now mastered, and my butt was firmly in my seat by 7:45am. I nodded a "good morning" to Broward as he passed, then rose to pour him a cup.
"Morning, Julia." Broward said as I set the cup of coffee in front of him.
"Good morning. Anything special on the agenda today?" I smiled at him pleasantly.
"Not really," he said, flipping through some papers on his desk. "Except that I have that mediation next week that I have to fly to Dallas for, so I'll be gone from Tuesday through Thursday." He looked up at me expectantly.
Yes! Three days without Broward. I tried not to let my exuberance show and nodded calmly at Broward. "Anything I can do to help you prepare, sir?"
"Yes, I'll need all of the files related to the Bandor Construction suit. And it will be informative for you to sit through the mediation prep calls with me. Check my calendar and invite yourself to any events that are related to that case between now and Tuesday. When I get back, we'll have a lot of mediation paperwork, and hopefully a settlement offer to work on."
I nodded mutely and turned to leave. "Oh Julia?" Oh no. I turned demurely and smiled at him, my eyebrows raised. "Yes sir?"
He stood, now at eye level with me. "Last time I was out of town, I heard from Shirley that De Luca had been… bothering… you. I was worried, but it appears that he has backed off. Is me leaving town again going to cause a problem?"
I kept my voice light and my eyes perplexed. "I don't see why it would sir. I've only spoken to Mr. De Luca a few times, and always regarding work items. He hasn't bothered me."
He looked relieved and sank back to his seat. "Great. That's great. Just checking Julia. You have a bright future ahead of you, and I didn't want it being tarnished by Brad. I know don't need to tell you again; but please stay in the West Wing and as far as you can from Brad De Luca."
---
Back at my desk, I held my head in my hands. Halfway through my internship, and I was lying to my boss and breaking the only rules he had given me. The right thing to do seemed obvious - stay away from Brad and hope that no one ever finds out. Stick to the pla
n, and maybe salvage this ridiculous internship that I was already regretting taking. My phone rang.
"Julia Campbell."
"It's me." Brad.
I hung up the phone.
CHAPTER 28
Thursday morning, 10:45am.
Todd Appleton knocked on my door, and stuck his head inside. "You busy?"
"Nothing I can't pause. Come on in." I smiled at him hesitantly, him doing the same to me. Neither one of us spoke for a minute.
Blindfolded Innocence Page 20