“So, how does it feel to be a rock star?” Dean asked.
“Oh, I’d hardly call myself a rock star.”
“You hit it out of the park. I love the fake modesty, but no one’s around. You can admit you are without a doubt a total badass.”
Jess smiled at the compliment.
“Well, yeah I guess I am.”
“That’s right. We are both really proud of how well you are doing,” Dean said.
“Thanks. I appreciate it.”
“What are you doing tonight? Surely you got plans to paint the town red?”
“Not exactly…”
“What? It’s Friday night and you are coming off of the biggest win the firm might see all year.”
“Well, I do have some plans.”
Dean suddenly seemed slightly disappointed.
“Oh, well that’s great.”
“Yeah, Alex is actually taking me to dinner to celebrate.”
“Oh, Alex is? Well, I hope you guys have fun.”
“I’m sure we will.”
“Well, since I’m too late for tonight, let me take you out tomorrow night.”
“I really should get some work done,” Jess said.
“Now you are starting to sound like me. You are much too young to be sounding like me,” Dean said, even though he was only thirty-seven and looked thirty.
“Well, you don’t get to be a rock star by accident,” Jess replied.
Dean laughed heartily. He had an amazingly infectious laugh. It took up the entire space all around you. It was the typical laugh of a relaxed, confident alpha male. It inspired and comforted all the while it instilled a bit of fear in you.
“That is true, but I’m taking you out tomorrow night anyway. I’ll accept no excuses,” Dean said.
Jess smiled. She was wondering what had aligned in the cosmos to conspire to put this thing together. First Alex, and now Dean was asking her out. Was it all because of the case? She knew that Alex and Dean, either one, could take their pick of women in the world, but she was starting to get the picture that beauty was not nearly enough to keep guys like them interested. They needed a challenge. They needed a strong and successful woman. It kind of made sense when you really thought about it; they were the cream of the crop when it came to men and they expected nothing less from the women in their lives. She was suddenly feeling even more privileged knowing that she had passed a series of tests to live up to their ridiculously high standards. She knew that on some level she should be appalled at the shallow behavior, but she felt great about it. It was an odd confidence boost and she found herself intrigued by how this sort of thing could play out. Could she really date them both? And for how long? Was she getting ahead of herself a bit? It was just a dinner date with each of them. Who knew if anything better than that would happen.
“Ok, it’s a date.” Jess said.
“I’ll pencil you in my appointment book,” Dean said. He mocked as if he was writing in a book in the palm of his hand.
Jess laughed at the cheese of the joke. Only a guy like Dean could pull off something that lame, but he made it look cute and suave. He had a sweet way about him.
“That’s great. I’ll see you tomorrow, Dean.”
Jess tasted the pasta and felt her entire mouth tingle with pleasure. It was truly the most amazing thing she had ever placed between her lips, and she felt as if her entire mouth was coming alive with flavor and pleasure. She took her time with the food, really enjoying the flavor and allowing it to build up inside of her senses.
Alex glanced across the table at her with a smirk. He was enjoying her reaction as he took a mouthful of his Chicken Marsala. It was a bit distracting but she tried to pay him no heed.
The restaurant was fantastic and she wondered why she had never been there before, but then again Jess did not date a lot. There was too much work to be focusing on. Even right then she was having a bit of difficulty relaxing enough to ignore the mountains of work that she had to do to get ready for Monday. She knew that Alex and Dean both enjoyed the night life and they were often running around town. It seemed they both had the energy of ten men, because with as much as they worked and as hard as they played you had to wonder when they found time to sleep. Jess was fairly certain that they both often came into the office without sleeping the night before. She would have dropped dead after a few days of that.
“So, what brought you to the practice of law?” Alex asked.
Jess paused a few moments before answering. It was kind of a strange question to be asked by your boss four years after you started working. She believed he had asked her that question when she was hired, but she did not remember the answer she had given him then. It was hard to know if he was just making conversation, or if he remembered what she had said before and was trying to see if her answer had changed at all since then.
“I have always loved the environment. I love the legal system and I fully believe it works when it is worked right. People like to blame the system for failing, but I believe people fail the system. Sorry, not trying to wax all intellectual and poetic-like,” Jess said.
Alex seemed pleased with her answer. He took a sip of his Merlot, and leaned back in his chair.
“That’s a great answer and I have to agree completely. So, do you see yourself sticking with us in the long term? I’m sure you will be partner one day at the rate you are going. You have started down a beautiful path.”
“I would love that. I enjoy where I’m at and I believe in what we stand for as a firm and the mission statement we are trying to accomplish and hold up.”
“Wow, you are just full of great words tonight,” Alex said. He poured more wine into her cup and his own.
“Are you trying to get me drunk?” Jess joked.
“No, I am getting you drunk.”
Jess laughed. She loved the way he just assumed that the world would bend to his will, but he did it with such class and grace that it was utterly charming.
“Oh, really? Why would you want me drunk?” Jess asked. She was hoping to make him squirm by forcing him to answer an awkward question.
“Because it’s hard to celebrate properly without some liquid fun,” Alex said.
Jess found herself blushing and reaching for the wine glass.
“So, what are your thoughts on the Jones case?” Jess asked.
Alex smiled. “No.”
“No?”
“No. We are not talking about a case tonight. You are celebrating and enjoying yourself. Tonight is all about having a good time.”
“Well, I have a good time when I talk about work,” Jess said.
“You have to get out more. If you don’t stop and take some time for yourself then you will wake up one day to find that your life has passed you by.”
Jess paused a moment and gave some thought to what he was saying. She realized that he was right, but she was still young. She knew that what she wanted to do was climb the ladder of success in her chosen field. She was willing to do what she had to in order to make that happen. She wondered right then if that was really why she had accepted dinner invitations from both partners of the firm.
“This coming from the man who doesn’t sleep,” Jess said.
“Hey, I never said it was easy. If you spend too much time with your eyes closed then life will also pass you by,” he joked.
“I agree,” Jess said finishing off the wine.
“So, how about you? What made you want to be a lawyer?” Jess asked.
“I love power and money and it seemed like an easy way to achieve both. Plus I love to win. It is the ultimate power game, isn’t it?”
“Wow, that’s an extremely honest answer.”
“Well, I’m an honest guy. What you see is what you get.”
Jess smiled at that. She had seen the way he nonchalantly fired off answers to any question he was asked. It was almost like firing bullets at him only to have them bounce right back at you. She wished she possessed that level of confidence, but
she was working on it. She wondered if someone like Alex was just born with it, or if he had to work to obtain it.
Finishing up her dinner, she excused herself to the ladies room where she checked her make up in the mirror and made sure her hair was still kicking sexy. Everything still seemed to be dynamite and she had to give herself a high five for wearing the power dress tonight. That was the one dress she had that always made her look stunning. It was elegant and classy, with just a touch of slutty that made the whole thing very appealing. Even walking to the bathroom she had seen three different guys checking her out while their anorexic girlfriends glared at her. She adjusted her chest slightly, making the girls stand up a little more. Her cleavage was lacking just a bit. She smiled at a job well done and in admiration for her large chest assets. They were always there when she needed them.
“What the hell are you doing?”
The voice came from behind her. She spun around seeing a woman standing behind her, a look of evil intent on her face. The woman was tall, slender and attractive — or she would have been if her face wasn’t scowled up with rage.
“What?” Jess asked. She relaxed her posture and took a step forward. Jess didn’t frighten easily and she sure as hell wasn’t going to be intimidated by some Barbie Doll with an obvious Meth addiction.
“What are you doing? You are out with my man.”
“Excuse me? I don’t know what you are talking about. If he were your man then you would be out with him and not me.”
“I’m telling you for the last time to stay away from him. He belongs to me,” the woman said, her voice filled with malice and rage.
Jess laughed. She loved it when people got so worked up over something so silly.
“Excuse me, but I’m on a date,” Jess said as she spun away and walked out of the restroom.
When she got back to the table she mentioned the altercation to Alex. He had ordered another bottle of wine and had just poured the first glass. She expected him to be shocked or to deny that he ever knew the woman. That had been her experience with men — they lied and cheated and then lied about cheating.
“That sounds like Veronica,” Alex said.
“Veronica? Well, she may have gotten the wrong idea about us,” Jess said.
“Oh, I’m thinking she has the right idea about us,” he said winking at her. She felt her heart speed up a little bit and willed it to stop. Damn he knew how to flip her attraction switches.
“Veronica and I used to go out — briefly. That was about the time I learned that she was clingy, possessive, and mildly psychotic.”
“Mildly? I'd hate to see a real psycho then,” Jess replied.
Alex smiled. “Well, in the game of love there are bound to be some casualties. It isn’t pretty, but it happens.”
“Is everything a game to you?” Jess said shaking her head. The guy was so smooth it was unbelievable.
“Yeah, everything in life is a game. That’s the way you have to look at it. If you take it too seriously it all starts to suck. Life is about fun. Even when you are working, you should be having fun. If you aren’t then you are doing it wrong. When it comes to people and relationships I feel the same way. People have me figured out wrong. They think I’m some sort of douchebag player.”
“Aren’t you?” Jess asked.
“No, I’m very open and honest with people. In fact I’m too honest sometimes. I told Veronica that I wasn’t looking for anything serious when we started fooling around. She used to be a paralegal at the firm, but when she wouldn’t take no for an answer and started stalking me then I had to let her go. I hated to do it.”
Jess wasn’t sure if she swallowed everything that was coming out of his mouth, but she could tell that Veronica was an obvious nut. She herself had dealt with a weirdo or two in her quest for love, which wasn’t much of a quest when you factored in all the time she spent not thinking about it and not pursuing it.
“I can handle that,” Jess said.
“Good,” Alex replied. He smiled that million dollar smile at her and leaned back in his chair. He seemed to be very satisfied and happy with the fact that she was not the least bit rattled by what was going on.
Next Alex decided to take her dancing at an exclusive club. He had really decided to pull out all of the stops to impress her tonight it seemed.
She was just fine with that. Jess just smiled and sat back ready to enjoy the ride.
Chapter Three
Jess pushed herself away from the computer and leaned back in her plush office chair, stretching her back deeply. She let out a huge yawn and really sank into the relaxation of it all. For the past three hours she had been glued to her office chair working on the Jones case. The Discovery process had gone well and now she was working on all of the questions and possible scenarios that needed to be in place in order for her to trample the prosecution on the next step of the trial.
She had shut everything off and allowed herself to become immersed in the details of the work, and she had worked longer than she had intended to without a break. That was a bit of a problem with her and she suddenly realized that she had not had lunch or dinner yet. This wasn’t that unusual either, but now she was feeling her blood sugar crashing and she knew she had to get something in her, fast.
She went down the hall to the vending machine and bought a bag of chips and a coffee. She figured that would tide her over until she got home and had some real food. She had pizza leftovers for tonight.
A noise in the other room garnered her attention. She moved back from the vending machine and noticed Dean working in the other room making copies. She was not at all surprised to see him working this late. It was past eight at night.
She had actually not had a chance to speak with him since their date. It had been an interesting contrast to the date she’d had Friday with Alex. While Alex was overtly cocky and arrogant, albeit in a sexy way, if that made sense, Dean was much more urbane and suave. He kind of reminded her of Daniel Craig as James Bond. He actually looked a bit like him, but much taller. Same intense gaze and steady, flowing movements. It sent the message that he was in control and you were going to have to be ok with it, because he was going to take great care of you. Jess liked that. It had been a long time since anyone had bothered to take care of her.
She had been taken aback by how subtly funny Dean actually was on their date. They had gone to a wine mixer and Dean had introduced her to several people of note in the area, most of them wealthy business owners, and a few minor celebrities. If she had not been so used to keeping these people out of jail then she might have been a bit impressed.
It also turned out that Dean was a snazzy dancer. There had been a section of the wine mixer that had actually been set aside for dancing with one of the hottest dj’s in the area. Dean had taken control and moved her body in ways she was not sure it had ever moved before. The way he danced was very seductive and sexual. It really felt like he was making love to you and the music. By the end of the night she had been ready for just about anything, and she meant anything. But Dean as it turns out was a perfect gentleman. He had dropped her off at her place with a sweet kiss and said goodnight. She had almost invited him up, but she could tell that he wouldn’t have accepted the invitation. It was rather peculiar, but she decided she liked that and it made her want him more. She was really looking forward to their next date.
She was also looking forward to the next date with Alex. He had arranged for them to go skydiving. She had never been and it sounded terrifying, but the way he described it had made the whole thing sound so exciting that it made her want to try it. Jess had never been afraid of trying new things and she certainly wasn’t going to pass up an opportunity like that.
Dean had not asked her out again. He was either very old fashioned, or he was just playing a bit of hard to get with her. She knew that he wanted her. She had felt his cold, seductive gaze on her for the past few months. She had even started to dress a little sexier on days when they had scheduled im
portant meetings. It was fun for Alex and Dean both to get an eye full of her and to watch them squirm.
No, Jess did not consider herself a tease in any way; she was just having fun and she was doing it for all the big girls out there.
“Jess, is that you?”
She had just been about to walk back to her desk when Dean called out to her. He had apparently caught her watching him and he probably thought she was totally checking him out, which she was. Oh, well, she was just going to have to wing it. She put on her sexiest smile and slowly walked into the copy room, carefully accentuating her curves with every bouncing step she took. He looked like his eyes might pop out of his head. This late in the day when everyone had pretty much gone home, Jess liked to remove the restrictive blazer and just wear her blouse. The blouse was a bit see-through and it revealed the lacy bra she wore underneath that barely covered her large breasts. It was comfortable so she wore it under the hot blazer all day. It seemed to keep the sweating to a minimum and no one was the wiser until she took it off; then it was party time. Or in her case it was time to do a massive amount of prep work and sifting through paperwork.
“Hey, there. Why am I not surprised to find you still here?” Jess asked.
“Probably the same reason I am not surprised to find you still here,” he replied.
“Well, I guess workaholics stick together,” Jess said with a smile.
“I had a great time the other night,” Dean said. “I’d love to take you out again soon.”
“I thought it was just a one-time celebration?”
“It started that way, but I think it deserves to be something else.”
Jess smiled coyly at him, walking a bit closer, allowing him to smell her perfume and catch some more cleavage out of his peripheral.
“I like the sound of that,” Jess said.
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