Dean on the other hand seemed like a warm and gentle guy, but Jess knew that no one got to be who he was by being warm and gentle. She had seen him turn on the tiger when enduring tough negotiations. So there was definitely more to him than meets the eye.
Jess went inside her home and immediately got dressed. She was supposed to be at Alex’s house in an hour. She should have left the office earlier, but she was a reverse procrastinator — she could not stop working on time ever. It was ok, because she had found herself at a comfortable stopping point in her work preparing for court the next day, and she had been in the right place and time to hear the little verbal exchange between Alex and Dean. It was almost like it was meant to be for her to hear that.
She put on one of her newest and sexiest dresses. She wasn’t planning on sleeping with Alex, but she wasn’t planning on turning him down either. She had tasted the fruits of one and now she wanted to taste the fruits of the other. She needed to see which one was sweeter.
When she arrived at Alex’s house she was shocked by the size of the place. He was definitely living the rich bachelor lifestyle to the hilt. He had a huge yard, a big swimming pool with an ice sculpture of an electric guitar, and a mansion that made the houses on celebrity cribs look small in comparison.
He greeted her at the door and escorted her through the humongous living room and into the large kitchen. He was just finishing up dinner and she watched in amazement as he placed everything on the table in a very systematic manner. It was like watching a real world chef serve you in a private setting. The fact that he had prepared the dinner and then set it up on the plate to look like something out of a five star restaurant was so romantic. Her plate looked so beautiful that she didn’t want to eat because it would mess it up.
“I can’t believe you did this,” Jess said.
Alex smiled. “I’m a man of many talents, my dear.”
“That you are. Where did you learn to do this?”
“My aunt is a chef and she took me under her wing when I was young and groomed me to be one too. I was all set up to go to culinary school when I decided to ditch it all and become a lawyer.”
“What happened?”
“I just found that as much as I enjoy cooking, I didn’t want to make a career out of it. So in college I was undecided the first year, but I was taking all my general education stuff, to get it out of the way, when I took my first political science class. This led me to take an interest in political science as a major. That in turn eventually led me to law school. It was kind of a natural path.”
“Well, it is delicious. Although it’s nice to know that if you ever get tired of fighting legal battles then you have another path to turn to.”
“Yeah, I don’t think that will ever happen. I don’t know too many chefs who get to live the way I do. Plus I love getting my hands dirty and I love the challenge of law. With food there is no challenge. You learn how to make things and then you kind of run on autopilot the rest of the time. That wasn’t for me.”
CRASH!
The window exploded behind them as an object hurled itself into the dining room. Jess jumped out of her chair and hit the floor on pure instinct, covering her head. Alex jumped up ready for the attack.
The object landed on the floor only a few feet from her, she kicked small shards of glass off herself. Jess winced as she turned her head away, fearing for her face.
Alex was instantly beside her.
“Are you ok?” He asked.
Jess looked around. She heard nothing and saw nothing.
“I think so. What the hell is going on?”
Alex picked up the object from the floor and looked at it. It was a red brick.
“It’s ok. There is no one there now.” Alex looked through the hole in the window.
Jess rose to her feet slowly, not sure if everything was as ok as Alex seemed to think. He was hardly even rattled from the fact that a brick had just flown through the window. He was just staring at it intently, as if it was going to give up the identity of who had thrown it.
“Any idea who would do this?” Jess asked.
Alex was pensive for a moment. Finally he spoke.
“I know who did it. And they are going to pay…”
Jess swallowed hard as Dean’s face flashed in her mind.
Couldn’t be… Could it?
End of Part 1
Chapter Five
Jess Bilson finished the brief she was working on and sat back in her comfortable office chair to have a mini celebration. She hated typing up legal briefs; it was by far the most tedious and time consuming facet of being an attorney. She could have had a legal aid or paralegal do it, but truthfully most of them did not have the experience and expertise to do it properly. You would think that was something they were supposed to be taught while obtaining their degree, but it seemed that more and more of them developed amnesia when it came to this menial and boring chore.
She was fairly certain that when their employer asked them to do a brief, most paralegals slopped it up so they would never be asked to do it again. Jess wasn’t sure why the incompetents were not just fired and solid replacements put in their place. But then again it had come to the point that so many of them had chucked this vital part of the job that now it was almost impossible to find one that was able to turn in a solidly researched and well written brief.
She picked the document up from the printer and smiled with satisfaction. That was one of the best parts of the job; the feeling of accomplishment she got after she had done some exhausting chore she hated. Now she was prepared for the next day in court.
Jess’ mind was now free to think about other things, besides a Netflix binge and several cups of hot tea—like the rock that had crashed through Alex Mathers’ window on their date the other day. She could not get the fear out of her mind and the loud crashing noise as the brick exploded through the window and sailed mere inches from her head. If it had hit her she might have been killed.
And she couldn’t understand Alex’s somewhat cavalier manner in dealing with the whole thing. How was it that nothing ever rattled the man? She could tell that he was very angry. He had that look in his eyes. His eyes were normally very sexy and she could find herself lost in them for days at a time, but that night there had been a darkness in them and a coldness in his face as he said he knew who threw the brick.
Jess’ first thought had been Dean. She was afraid she had started a bit of a rivalry between the two men, and while it was flattering that they were fighting over her, she really did not want to start a war between two alpha males. It was bad for the business they owned and had built together. She certainly never wanted to come between two friends.
But she had to admit a part of her found the whole thing exciting. It was very much the same sort of excitement that little girls dreamed about when they were planning their wedding to prince charming. That was the fantasy; to have several strong men fighting for your affections and waiting to see which one you would choose.
She realized it was childish and it was now starting to get out of hand. She needed to put a stop to it soon, but she was conflicted; she had no idea which man she wanted to pursue or even if she wanted to pursue anyone. She had done so well by just being by herself and focusing on her career for so long that it was tempting to tell them both that she wasn’t interested. It sounded so easy.
So, why couldn’t she bring herself to say it? Why couldn’t she bring herself to make a decision on this? Jess had always been proud of her ability to quickly make a decision based on instinct and to stand firmly behind it and accept the consequences, good or bad. She wasn’t used to being indecisive. So, why was she having this problem now?
It was all starting to have an effect on her work and her sleep. She had never been one to sleep much, but now the sleep she was having was so interrupted that she found herself tossing and turning and waking up every forty-five minutes to an hour. When she had to drag herself out of bed, it was a huge chore. She wa
s used to bouncing up out of bed, ready to take on the world. She missed that version of herself.
What if it wasn’t Dean?
That thought had also crossed her mind. She had wondered about that woman who had accosted her in the restroom at the restaurant on her first date with Alex. That woman was clearly out of her mind and she could have thrown the brick or had someone throw the brick for her. Throwing a brick that hard and that far was not easy. It required someone with a certain amount of physical strength. The woman did not appear to be that powerful, physically, but Jess had heard that the mad often possessed great strength. When the adrenaline was flowing it was not impossible for ninety-five pound women to lift cars up off of their children. It was an idea that scared her to death. Did Alex really have that many enemies?
Then there was Dean. There was so much about him she didn’t know, but he seemed so much more down to earth than Alex. Was he really that sweet? Or did he have a dark side that he easily hid from view?
Jess packed up her things and started to leave for the night. She had just passed Dean’s office when he called out to her. She wondered if he wanted to have another in-office rendezvous. That was not happening tonight. She had given in because the idea excited her, but to do it here again was just a bit tacky and Jess hated repeating herself; she had to do enough of that in court.
She walked into his office to find him diligently at work, although most would not know it to look at him. He was sitting with his feet up on his desk, the computer’s keyboard resting on his lap, drinking a glass of whiskey, and watching a news program on his flat screen plasma TV that was mounted to the wall. It was almost as good as being home, she thought.
“Hey, Dean. How are you?”
“I wanted to ask you that same thing. Alex told me about what happened the other night. That’s insane,” Dean said.
“Yeah. It ranks right up there on my list of most shocking things that have happened to me.”
“Do you believe Alex actually vaguely implied that I might be behind it?”
Jess paused a moment, unsure of how to answer. She didn’t want him to know that she’d had a lot of the same thoughts.
“I swear I felt like decking the guy. How crazy is that?”
“It’s pretty crazy,” Jess said.
“Well, I just wanted to make sure that he hadn’t put weird ideas into your head. I know you are a lot more level-headed than he is, but I was just checking in with you. And I wanted to make sure that you weren’t too traumatized by what happened.”
“I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about me,” Jess said.
“That is great. So, other than that, how have you been? How is the Jones case coming along?”
“It’s fine. I’m fine. I’ve been working hard on it and I think it’s going to turn out ok.”
Dean looked at her for a moment without saying anything as if trying to size her up for something.
“What are you doing this weekend?” He finally asked, refilling his whiskey glass.
“Nothing much, probably just work.”
“You are so boring,” Dean joked. “You have to get out more. We appreciate how hard you work, but you have to put 'living' in there somewhere, too.”
“Well, you can’t have it both ways. Either you want me to rock out in court or you want me to have fun,” Jess said. She realized that it had come out a bit snottier than she had intended.
“Right you are,” Dean said. She was unsure which he was referring to or which way he preferred her to go. “But this weekend I was hoping you would accompany me to my cabin up North in Chesterville.”
“What?” Jess asked. He was asking her to go away with him for the weekend?
This was all coming very fast and she was almost offended at the gall that he had, but she was also a bit attracted to it. He had a way of making the ridiculous and absurd sound perfectly plausible. That was why he was so good.
“Yeah. I want you to go away with me for a romantic weekend. They have a great ski lodge not far from my cabin up there and I was intending on doing some skiing and maybe some snowboarding. Do you ski? Or snowboard?”
Jess swallowed hard.
“Yes, I do ski. I haven’t done any snowboarding though.”
“Well, it’s no big thing; I’ll teach you.”
“I’m sure you will, but I don’t think I can blow off work to run away with you for the weekend.”
“You can bring your work with you; I will as well. That way we can both work and play. It’s kind of my mantra.”
Jess smiled. The guy was so slick. It was almost impossible to say no to him. It had been forever since she had been away anywhere for a weekend. And the thought of hitting the slopes again sounded like a blast. She used to go skiing all the time with friends from her sorority when she was in college.
“Ok. I’ll go.”
Dean smiled and gave himself a chuckle. “Great. I can’t wait.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Dean.”
“Goodnight, sexy.”
Jess tried to hide the excitement in her walk as she stepped out of Dean’s office and walked down the hall. The more she thought about it, the more amazing it sounded. It was all very romantic and sweet. She planned to get some work done, but she planned to get more play done than work. That meant she had to pull a couple of all-nighters over the next few days, which wouldn’t be too hard; she was totally used to that.
There were some things in life worth making sacrifices for.
Chapter Six
Jess was in shock at the size of the “cabin” that Dean owned in Chesterville. It was actually a two story log cabin-type house, which he’d obviously had custom made. It had four bedrooms, two and a half baths, a huge kitchen and large dining room—complete with a long table that was capable of seating twelve, a sauna, a billiard room with a beautiful pool table, a dartboard, and a poker table. And Jess’ favorite—a big Jacuzzi on an enclosed deck outside.
After Dean gave her the nice tour, they decided to waste no time in hitting the slopes. Jess had not skied in a few years, but she heard it was very much like riding a bike, where you never really forgot how. She doubted this was completely true. She had not ridden a bike since she was ten and if she got on one now she would no doubt get hurt and have to relearn everything all over again. But she was no coward and she was ready to get out there and rock out. Plus she didn’t want to look like a geek in front of Dean.
“God, it’s great to be back out here,” Dean said as he prepared to get set up for his first launch.
Jess had to agree. The crisp air and the snow beneath her feet felt very familiar. The air tasted and breathed so much easier than the city air she was used to and it felt so refreshing to be out among nature and to get back in touch with human roots.
“You want to go first?” Dean asked.
“No, I’ll let you. I don’t want to get in your way,” Jess said.
“No problem,” Dean replied.
He started his ascent down the mountain. Jess was impressed at the masterful way that he held his skis under control, letting the momentum take him where he needed to go and moving his body just ever so slightly along with it. She found herself laughing at the rush that had to be going through Dean’s body right now. She wanted to go so badly, but she was a bit terrified. Would her body remember how to do everything? Would she crash into a tree? She guessed there was only one way to find out.
She pushed off and began to move downhill. Her skis found the snow and began to cut through it and pick up momentum. Within seconds her body found the groove and everything came flooding back to her. The cold air whipped against her face, but not in a punishing way. It was very sweet actually, like the cold lips that belonged to a good friend, but warmed as they brushed the skin.
Her heart was beating fast in her chest, increasing with the increase in speed. She thought about slowing down, but the rush was too great and she found herself wishing that she could go faster. She pushed harder, even though it wa
s against her better judgment.
She could see Dean waiting for her at the bottom, having just finished his run. He was clapping and cheering her on. She was laughing so hard from the giddy feelings rushing through her body that it was affecting her stability slightly. She tried to calm down a little bit, but to no avail. She just wanted to ski.
She finished the run and came to a stop without stumbling or falling over. She considered that to be a huge accomplishment. Dean rushed to her and wrapped her in his arms.
“Way to go!” Dean said.
“Wow! That felt so great. I can’t believe I’ve stayed away from it for so long,” Jess said.
“That’s what being a workaholic does to you,” Dean said. “You have to take a few minutes out to enjoy life sometimes.”
Jess was starting to agree with him. She wondered about all of the other things that she was missing out on.
As they walked over to get on the lift Dean grabbed her hand in his, even through the ski gloves it was nice, even if it was a bit weird. But that was Dean; he was not afraid to do awkward or insane things to have fun. She loved that about him.
They sat down on the lift and enjoyed the ride back up the mountain. Jess had forgotten what this view was like and how it felt to ride so high up above everything. It really put the scope of the world into focus. The world was so beautiful and Jess was so glad she had accepted Dean’s invitation.
They hopped off the lift, and once again Jess was impressed with her own ability to stay on her feet, and then she prepared for another run. This time they decided they were going to go together. It would be more fun that way. Jess was determined to beat Dean down the mountain. He was going to eat her dust. And maybe later he will eat something else of mine, she thought. She was surprised at how extreme and exhilarating things always turned her on. It was weird, but she was happy to embrace her weirdness sometimes.
“Hey, you got room for one more?”
Jess couldn’t believe it.
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