by Linda Verji
Instead of leaving, she asked, “How’s your arm doing?”
“My arm?” Spencer smiled softly as he glanced at the offending limb. “It’s okay. The sling’s just a precaution. It should be off by tomorrow.”
“Oh, that’s good!” She rubbed the back of her neck as she searched her brain for a something new to say so she wouldn’t have to leave the room. “Uh… I just wanted to thank you again for saving me yesterday.”
Spencer smiled. “Yesterday’s thank you was enough.”
“Yeah… but you know… thanks.” Kelly was aware that she looked and sounded like a damn fool but she couldn’t stop herself.
“Anything else?” Spencer watched her with raised eyebrows.
“Not really. Thanks again.” This time Kelly turned, determined to leave this room even if it killed her. However, she only managed two steps before she spun to face him again. “About yesterday.”
Spencer’s lips lifted in a smile and his eyes danced with amusement. “You already said thanks.”
“Um… not about that.” Kelly pulled in a deep breath. “About the kiss.”
Oh God, what was wrong with her? Why was she bringing up the kiss when she’d already sworn to forget it?
Spencer stilled and his eyes widened as if he was just as shocked that she was bringing it up, but all he said was, “Yes?’
“We were in a nerve wracking situation yesterday.” Her speech rushed, she added, “I almost died, you saved me and got hurt in the process. Therefore…”
His gaze uncomfortably intense, he mimicked, “Therefore?”
“Therefore, the kiss was an accident caused by our over-excited state. That’s why I think we should forget about it,” she explained even though on the inside she was banging her head against the wall. Why? Why? Why was she talking about this? As if her mouth had a motor of its own, it kept running. “It was a mistake that should never have happened.”
She waited for Spencer to respond but all he did was study her keenly like he couldn’t quite understand what she was talking about. She didn’t blame him. She didn’t understand herself either.
OH, SPENCER HAD understood her alright. She thought that their kiss was a mistake. That was too bad because he thought differently. It wasn’t a mistake to him. Actually, it was the best thing that had happened to him all week. Even now he could remember how good it had felt to finally kiss her, to finally have her in his arms after thinking and dreaming about it for so long. Her lips had been incredibly soft and her taste sweeter than he’d imagined. The kiss had been amazing and felt so damn right. How could he forget it? How could he think of it as mistake?
However, knowing his and Kelly’s history, he could understand her reaction. What woman would be ecstatic about kissing a man who’d hurt her as much as he had? Telling her right now that he was attracted to her and that he didn’t think the kiss was a mistake was akin to setting the room on fire. She’d probably run, and that was the last thing he wanted to happen. He wanted to keep her close to him – very close. So he changed the topic.
“About Xavier Lee’s case.” He offered, “Why don’t you take first chair?”
Kelly blinked. Then blinked again. “What?”
“You need to get on the horse sometime, and this is the perfect case,” Spencer explained. “You and Xavier already have a connection, and his case isn’t that complicated.”
The case was a simple arson. Xavier Lee was a restaurant owner, but the building that housed his restaurant wasn’t his. Once the restaurant had started to do well due to Xavier’s vigorous marketing, his landlord had kicked him out then promptly opened a new restaurant in the same place. Days later, the building caught fire while Xavier was inside it. Fortunately, Xavier had escaped with only a few burns on his back. Unfortunately, his presence at the scene and history with the landlord had landed him firmly at the top of the suspect list. Weeks later, the Arson Squad had established that the fire wasn’t accidental and Xavier was arrested.
Xavier claimed he was innocent. Though Kelly hadn’t said anything during their briefing of the case, Spencer could tell that she believed Xavier. Spencer wasn’t sure about Xavier’s innocence, but after seeing Kelly’s instincts at work a couple of times, he was leaning on the side of innocent. Fortunately for them, all the prosecution had was circumstantial evidence. All Kelly needed to do was prove that the circumstantial evidence wasn’t irrefutable proof that Xavier was the arsonist.
Kelly swallowed. “You want me to take first chair?”
“Yes.” Spencer tapped his fingers on his desk. “Is that going to be a problem?”
Frankly, Spencer wasn’t sure she could do it. Though she’d second-chaired for both him and Angelina a couple of times, she still hadn’t stood in front of a judge or a jury. Furthermore, she had the tendency of over-empathizing with their clients. But this was the only way to test her metal. He expected her to start trembling right then like most trial-virgins, maybe even burst into pleas for pardon.
Kelly surprised him by grinning. “No, it won’t be a problem.”
Suspicious that she hadn’t heard him right which is why she was smiling so hard, Spencer asked, “So you’re okay with first-chairing this case?”
“Yes, I am.” Kelly nodded vigorously. Her expression earnest, she said, “Thank you for the opportunity. I won’t disappoint you.”
Suppressing his instinctive smile, he said, “Please don’t.”
He expected her to leave his office, but she hesitated. Biting her lip in that way that had him remembering their kiss, she haltingly asked, “Will… will you be my second chair?”
This time he couldn’t hide his smile. “Were you planning on asking someone else?”
CHAPTER 10
Days later, Kelly still couldn’t forget the kiss. Trying to convince herself that it was merely a thank-you kiss had failed too. There was no denying the heat that raced through her body every time she thought of that kiss, or the sudden tightening in her lower belly whenever her gaze met Spencer’s. She would’ve preferred to avoid him until she cooled off, but that was kind of hard to do when she was preparing for her first trial and he was helping her.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,” Kelly started as she stood in front of Spencer’s desk. “My client-”
“Haven’t you memorized it yet?” Spencer, who was watching her keenly, interrupted her mid-sentence. He pointed to the paper she was reading from. “You’re not going to walk around court with that are you?”
“I’m not but-”
“Lose the paper.”
“Sorry.” Kelly crumpled the paper in her suddenly moist palm. Though this was just Spencer, and she had indeed memorized her opening statement, she couldn’t help the instinctive nervousness. She pulled in a deep breath then started again, “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, my client…”
“Nope.” Spencer cut her off firmly. “Call him by his name. You want to humanize him right out of the gate so your audience will sympathize with him.”
“Okay.” Kelly swallowed then started again. “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, Xavier Lee did not start the fire. He was its victim.”
“Strong start.” Spencer nodded. “Good job.”
Kelly tapped down on her instinctive smile. It was weird how just one compliment from him could get her stomach fluttering. More confident, she lifted her chin. “The prosecution will try to convince you that Xavier was so angry about being thrown out of his restaurant that he deliberately torched Abigail Fowler’s building.”
She met Spencer’s eyes, trying to channel that fierceness she’d seen him wield so skillfully several times in court. “They’ll claim that he did it because he was angry. That he did it because he was selfish. That he did it because he wanted revenge. But this is simply not true. I believe the evidence and witnesses will show-”
“Uh uh.” Spencer shook his head. “Lose the ‘I believes’ and the ‘I thinks’. It lowers your credibility. Say it like it’s a fact.”
“Got it.” Kelly cleared her throat before continuing, “The evidence and witnesses will show that Xavier Lee is hardworking, honest and forgiving. These allegations are contrary to his character and not worthy of belief…” She went on, giving him a taste what she planned to say in court.
Spencer stopped her several times to correct her. Maybe another lawyer would’ve found the constant interruptions annoying, but Kelly appreciated them. Frankly, she was glad that she’d ended up working under Spencer and Angelina. Her peers in other departments were jealous of her and Duke because they had the most trial experience of any of the younger lawyers in the firm.
Furthermore, Spencer wasn’t stingy with his knowledge. In the last few weeks of working with him, she’d learnt so much from him that she’d instinctively started to think of him as her mentor. Who’d have believed it? Spencer Chambers as Kelly Garner’s mentor? This was about the time pigs usually started to fly.
Kelly spent the next few days arming herself for her very first trial. When she wasn’t practicing her opening statement on everyone including Teddy’s dog, she was looking for evidence and witnesses to exonerate her client. However, even with all that preparation, she couldn’t help the butterflies that invaded her stomach on the morning of the trial.
“You’ll do great,” Spencer reassured her as they walked up the stairs to the courthouse. Setting his hand on her lower back, he said, “You’ve prepared enough.”
She quickly stepped away from him. She was already nervous enough; she didn’t need his touch making her even jitterier. By the time the judge walked into the court and everyone settled in for the opening statements, she was a wreck on the inside. Even worse, the A.D.A’s opening was really, really good – so good, Kelly began to doubt her own opening.
Oh God! What was she going to do if she wasn’t good enough? What if her wacky speech ended up just pissing off the jury? What if her client ended up going to jail and getting the max sentence just because she was bad at her job? What if-
“You’ll be fine,” Spencer whispered in her ear. “Just imagine that you’re talking to your friends and trying to defend your brother.”
His words made no damn sense. The members of the jury weren’t her friends – not when they were staring at Xavier Lee with those accusatory gazes. And Xavier was too old to be her brother. Yet still, Spencer’s words seemed to calm the storm brewing inside her.
“Does the defense wish to make an opening statement?” Judge Marcia Clark turned her sharp bespectacled gaze to the table that held Spencer, Kelly and Xavier Lee.
Her muscles tight with anxiety, Kelly rose to her feet. “Yes we do, Your Honor.”
“Alright.” Judge Clark nodded. “You may proceed. Ms. Garner.”
The silence in the room was almost overwhelming as Kelly pushed her chair back then circled the table. Her heels made a light tapping sound as she strolled and came to a stop just inches from the jury box. The jurors stared at her; some assessing, some skeptical, some curious.
Despite the fear roiling deep within her, Kelly forced a smile. “Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.”
“Good morning,” they responded in hushed tones.
“Ladies and gentlemen, that is Xavier Lee.” Kelly turned to point at her client who was looking appropriately somber where he sat. “You can call him Xavier. You can call him Lee. You can call him Mr. Lee or you can just call him Cuddles like his mother does.”
The courtroom burst into chuckles.
Their amusement was like a salve. Suddenly all the nervousness drained from Kelly and her muscles eased. She lifted her chin and let her smile fade slowly. “What you cannot do in this case is call him guilty.” Eyeing the jurors one-by-one, she continued, “Because from the facts, from the evidence, from the law, you will conclude that Xavier is not guilty. It’s that simple. Xavier Lee was building a new life in this country, not starting a fire.”
From there on, it was smooth sailing. It almost felt like she’d been born for this. Each word fell from her lips with the ease of honey dripping off a spoon. Despite having prepared her statement meticulously, she found herself changing parts of it as she went along to make the speech stronger and more convincing. By the time she was done, many of the jurors were looking at Xavier Lee with pity instead of recrimination.
“It went well, didn’t it?” she asked Spencer once they were out of the courtroom almost an hour later.
Smiling, Spencer nodded. “It did.”
“Yes.” She pumped her fist and grinned widely. Without conscious thought, she stepped closer to him. Spencer instinctively opened his arms, and a moment later, she was engulfed in his embrace. Against his shoulder, she said. “Thank you for helping me out. I don’t think I could’ve done it without your help.”
“Don’t underestimate yourself.” Spencer’s voice rumbled against her hair as he stroked his hand over her back. “I think you would’ve done just fine.”
That stroke of his palm on her spine turned what should’ve been an innocent hug into something… more. Suddenly, she was aware of how closely he was cradling her to his body. He wasn’t soft or cushiony, but there was something oddly breathtaking about having those hard muscles press into her chest.
Something hot seared through her and she found herself moving her hips unconsciously closer to him. As if he was feeling those same weird feelings cruising through her, Spencer tightened his arms around her and dragged her even closer to him. Her breath caught, held… and for a moment she just stood still in his arms, reveling in the sudden tightness that engulfed her whole body.
Then she realized what they were doing and where they were.
Quickly, she stepped out of his embrace.
“Um… sorry,” she stammered as her eyes flew to his face. Though his expression was inscrutable, his eyes had darkened perceptibly. Forcing a nervous smile, she said, “I didn’t mean to do that.”
“It’s okay.” A muscle in his jaw flexed as if to refute those words, but all he said was, “I guess you were excited.”
“Yeah, I guess I was.” Looking everywhere but at him, she said, “Anyway, thank you for all the help you gave me.”
Even though she tried to convince herself that it was just a hug and there was no need to dwell on it, there was no hiding from the fact that it’d felt good to be in his arms again. And she’d liked it, she finally admitted. But it wouldn’t happen again. She and Spencer were like ibuprofen and alcohol; not meant to mix. No more kisses, no more hugs. In fact, she was even banning longing looks.
She could do this, she decided determinedly before turning back to her work.
BECAUSE OF HER case, Kelly ended up staying in the office later than her coworkers. As with Dee Roberts case, her instincts told her that Xavier Lee hadn’t started the fire. But working with Spencer had taught her that instincts meant nothing to the law. Evidence was everything. Now, she was working hard to pile up the evidence to support her instincts.
Of course, Spencer stayed late too. If there was a trophy for most workaholic lawyer, Spencer was well on his way to winning it. What was he working on anyway? Kelly wondered as she finished up with her research at around eight. It had to be something really important since he hadn’t come out of his office in over three hours. Should she offer to help? After all the help he’d given her with her case despite his own heavy case-load, it was the right thing to do, right? She turned off her computer, stood up and headed to his office.
“Come in,” Spencer called out when she knocked on his door.
When she entered his office, she found him seated on his couch. He was reading from his laptop while several documents and books lay spread on the coffee table in front of him. His coat and tie were long gone, and his shirt was folded at the sleeves like that of a man hard at work.
His eyes widened in surprise when she walked in. “You haven’t left yet?”
“No.” She closed the door behind her. “I was looking at some old arson cases to see if they’d come in handy for Xavier’
s case.”
“You should check out Sebastian Puller’s two-thousand-and-nine case.” He set his laptop on the coffee table and sat back on the couch. “It’s a little similar to Xavier’s.”
“Yeah, Angelina already told me about it.” Kelly crossed the room to come to a stop in front of the coffee table. Tilting her head to peer at his documents, she asked, “What are you working on?”
He made a face. “Arguments for Carrie Anthony’s case.”
“Carrie Anthony?” Kelly winced.
She could understand Spencer’s distaste with the case. Carrie Anthony was a woman who’d been accused of standing by and watching while her stepson got beaten up by his schoolmates. If she’d stood by because she was scared, the case would’ve been different. However, the only reason Carrie had done nothing to help her stepson was because she didn’t like him.
It was an awful case, and both Spencer and Angelina had tried to convince the managing partners not to take it. Unfortunately, Carrie’s uncle was the state’s governor. Short story; her money and connections had won the firm over. Spencer and Angelina had drawn straws to decide who was taking the case, and Spencer had lost.
“Have you decided how you’re going with it?” Kelly asked as she settled beside him.
Closing his eyes, Spencer leant his head against the back of the couch. “I advised her to plead guilty and negotiate with the D.A. for a lighter sentence because there were so many witnesses. But she says she doesn’t want to be known as a child-abuser.”
“But that’s what she is.” Kelly leaned forward to pick up one of his books. She glanced over the contents of the open page. “This might work.”
Spencer opened his eyes and leaned towards her to see what she was reading. Immediately, his masculine scent and warmth assailed her senses, sending sparks of awareness through her. Unaware of his effect on her, Spencer read the open page then shook his head and sat back.