by B. T. Love
“Okay,” I finally answered. “When would you like to meet?”
“Tonight.”
“So soon?”
“Why wait?”
“Okay,” I agreed. “Where do you want to go?”
“You tell me. This is your town.”
“How about Billy’s Bar and Grill?”
“Yeah, I’ve been there before. That’s a good place. How does six sound?”
“That sounds fine.”
“Okay,” he said, the smile apparent in his voice. “I’ll see you then.”
* * *
I walked into Billy’s with my head held high and my heels even higher. I was still in my work clothes, a white silk blouse and a black pencil skirt, but I decided to wear my long hair down for the occasion, something I never did while I was in my working environment. My usual style was a braided bun or a sleek ponytail; I felt I looked more professional that way. But tonight was different. Some crazy hormone in my body decided to break free and moved me to try and look sexy for the occasion. And what was the reason for that? Because Brad was sexier than sin, that was why. So I undid my bun and let my hair flow in loose waves around my shoulders.
I spotted Brad in the back corner of the restaurant, looking over one of the menus. I walked confidently toward him, being sure to not seem too over-eager to meet with him, although the truth was that I was.
Brad looked up at the clicking of my heels. His face stayed straight as his eyes caroused me up and down, taking me in. “Hey,” he said, quickly standing up to greet me.
“Uh, hi.”
He motioned at the seat across from him. “Have a seat.”
“Thanks,” I said, smiling as I sat down.
Brad was still dressed in his work clothes just as I was, but his suit jacket was missing. The sleeves of his business shirt were rolled up, exposing his solid masculine arms, as well as the expensive watch he had worn in my office the week before.
“How was your day?” he started the conversation.
“Busy. And yours?”
“Busy.” He took his menu back into his hands. “You hungry?”
“For a drink.”
“Ah,” he smiled handsomely. “One of those kind of days, huh?”
“When you practice family law every day is one of those days.”
He laughed and his eyes sparkled liked I loved so much yet loathed so much. “Yeah, I get that.”
I picked my menu up and scanned over it, not really sure what I was wanting to eat. “This place is so good. There’s just too much great-tasting stuff to choose from.”
“When I came here last I had the bison burger. I think I might have that again.”
I lowered my menu so I could see his face. “Bison burger? I don’t see why people buy that stuff.”
“And why is that?” he asked, lowering his menu as well.
“It tastes exactly the same as hamburger meat and costs like three dollars more.”
“No it doesn’t,” he smiled, that familiar fire sparking in his eyes. “It tastes way better than hamburger.”
“You wanna bet?”
“Absolutely.”
“Fine,” I grinned. “I’ll order a regular burger and you order the bison burger. We’ll have them put both in front of you when they bring them out and you have to take a bite of each. I guarantee you that you won’t be able to tell the difference between the two.”
“I will gladly accept that bet,” he said happily.
Our waitress Cindy, who was also someone I knew, came up to the table. “Hey Roxy. Can I get you something to drink?”
“My usual wine, and I’m also ready to order.”
“Okay,” she chirped. “What will you have?”
“Just a regular ol’ hamburger and fries.”
“Okay. And what will you be having?” she asked Brad.
“Your most popular beer and a bison burger with fries, please.”
She finished writing down the order and then took our menus. “Okay. It’ll be right out.”
“Oh, and Cindy?” I stopped her. “When you bring the burgers out put them both in front of this over-confident man right here. We have a little wager happening tonight.”
“Not a problem,” she said with a grin.
Brad put his elbows on the table and laced his fingers together in front of his mouth. “You think you’ve got me all figured out, don’t you Roxy?” he said, smiling behind his hands.
I copied his mood. “Yep. And only my friends call me Roxy; you can call me Roxanne.”
He chuckled and sat back in his seat, his body flowing into a more relaxed position. “So, what made you choose to practice family law?”
“Hmm. Getting personal now, are we?”
“I’m just getting better acquainted with my adversary.”
Adversary. He couldn’t have said it any better than that. “Well,” I sighed, “I guess it’s because my parents got a divorce when I was little. I remember going with my mom to meet with her divorce lawyer, which was kind of weird now that I think about it. But her lawyer was a very sweet little old lady who was very kind to me. She really wanted to help my mom and get her through the situation with as little drama as possible. It always stuck with me as I grew up. So I guess the short answer is because I want to help people.”
“Oh,” he nodded. “That’s cool.”
Cindy came back to our table with our drinks. “Here you go,” she said as she slid them in front of us.
“Thanks,” I told her with a smile before she left. I took a sip of my wine. “And what about you? What made you want to get into family law?”
“I like to argue.”
I laughed into my glass before taking another sip. “Yeah, I can tell.”
“Is that funny?” he asked, smiling with amusement.
“Very.”
“Good. I like making you laugh.”
His words made me smile at first; they flattered me. Such an attractive and intelligent man showing me an enormous amount of attention gave me a wave of self-confidence I forgot I had. I was loving every second of his attentiveness to me. And then the fog lifted from my brain.
I leaned forward and locked eyes with him. “Why am I here right now?” I asked, my tone growing serious.
He looked confused. “I, I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me?”
“No, I mean, why did you ask me here Bradley? Be honest with me, are you just trying to get information from me to use against Steve?”
He puffed out a laugh of air. “Is that what you think?”
“Yes,” I said, looking him square in the eyes.
He shifted in his seat and took a drink of his beer. When he sat the glass back down on the table he looked at it while he twisted it back and forth on the smooth surface. “No, Roxanne, I’m not here to get information from you about Steve. Although I can see why you would think that.”
“Then answer my initial question: Why am I here right now?”
His eyes met with mine once again. “Honestly?”
A tiny smile lifted the corner of my mouth. “Well you’re incapable of lying, aren’t you?”
“Yeah,” he chuckled.
“Then tell me.”
He leaned forward with his hand around his beer and pierced me with his radiant eyes. “You’re here because I find you insanely attractive.”
His revelation blew me away. My face warmed with flattery and I just knew it was turning red. I brought my wine to my lips and took another sip of the crimson liquid, all the while watching him over the rim of my glass. I was at a loss for words.
“Would you like me to continue?” he asked with a fearless smile.
I sat my glass back down. “You mean there’s more?”
“There’s plenty more.”
“Well, I guess I will grant you the request of elaborating on your statement.”
“Spoken like a true lawyer.” He looked back down at his glass. “I’ve heard about you around town.”
“I’m
sure you have.”
“You’re fantastic at what you do.”
“I know.”
He laughed under his breath and cut his eyes back up to mine. “Yeah, I know you know. Anyway, I was actually nervous to meet with you for the first time on Friday.”
That admission surprised me. “You? Nervous?”
“Yeah, it threw me off too. And then when you came into the conference room and introduced yourself I nearly fell off my seat.”
“Bull.”
“I wish it were,” he said happily. “Then to top it off you opened your mouth and the most sarcastic words came out, and . . .”
“And what?” I asked. I just had to know more.
“And, well, that was it.”
My eyebrows knitted together. “What was it?”
He took another drink. “I had to have you.”
“What . . . really?” I said anxiously as I reached for my glass. But instead of grabbing a hold of it I knocked it over, sending the red liquid splattering across the table and onto his expensive dress shirt. “Oh my gosh, Brad, I’m so sorry!” I said as I pulled an excessive amount of napkins out of the dispenser that was on our table.
He casually laughed it off. “Don’t worry about it. I have plenty more of these shirts at home.”
“Ugh, I feel like such an idiot.”
“Don’t say that,” he said as he dabbed a napkin on the stains. “You are very far from being an idiot.”
I picked up my glass and pushed it off to the side. “Well, no more wine for me tonight.”
“Or maybe you need a little more.”
“Yeah,” I laughed. “After a confession like yours I might need a little more to settle my nerves.”
He nodded in agreement. “Why do you think I ordered a beer?” he said with a warm smile.
I sat back in my seat and folded my arms over my chest. “So, let me get this straight: You say mean things to me because you like me? That sounds a tad bit like grade school, don’t you think?”
“Yes, it does. That’s why I wanted you to get to know me outside of work. The role I play at my job . . . it’s different than the one I play in my personal life. I mean, I’m very successful at what I do, and a part of that is because of how I come across in the courtroom. Sometimes it’s hard to get out of that frame of mind, but, it’s important that you see me as the person I really am.”
“And why is that so important to you?”
“Because,” he shrugged, “you’re an intelligent woman who just happens to be fascinatingly beautiful. Why on earth would I pass up the opportunity to get to know you on a personal level?”
I was always good at detecting a lie. And Bradley Hunter was not lying to me. He really wasn’t trying to get information about the Thompson case from me. His motives were pure. He just honestly found me attractive and alluring. He wanted to get to know me on a personal level.
“Brad, I, I don’t really know what to say.”
“Say you’ll go out with me again.”
“I don’t think I can.”
His face fell with disappointment. “Why not? I didn’t mean to come on too strong.”
“No, no,” I shook my head. “It’s not that. It’s just . . . you’re my competition. I mean, I think it would be odd to date someone who I was battling against in court. I’m sure we’ll continue to get cases where we’re against each other, and I could see it causing problems for us. Maybe if you were in a different field, like, maybe mobile home law, or—”
“Mobile home law?” he laughed, cutting me off. “What am I, an eighty-year-old man?”
“Well you know what I mean. We’re rivals. How would that be healthy?”
Just then, Cindy brought us our food, setting both plates down in front of him. “Wow, these look fantastic,” he said as his eyes bounced between the plates.
“Will you be needing anything else?” she asked.
“Yes, can you write down on this napkin which burger has the bison meat?” I grabbed a loose napkin from the table that had a red blotch soaked into its corner. “I uh, I spilled my wine . . .” I said with embarrassment as I handed it to her.
“Don’t worry Roxy, it happens all the time. So, how do you want me to do this?”
“Well,” I said while pointing at a plate, “let’s say that this plate is number one and this one is number two. Just write the number on the napkin that the bison burger is on.”
“Okay,” she nodded. She wrote a number on the napkin and then folded it up, handing it back to me. “There you go.”
“Thanks,” I smiled.
“Do you need more wine?” she asked.
“No thanks, I don’t trust myself.”
“Well you two enjoy your meal then.”
I looked back over at Brad. “You ready?”
“Yep. But first we have to decide what I get if I’m right about being able to taste the difference.”
“Well, what do you have in mind?”
He moved his head from side to side as a thought jumped around. “I’ve got it. If I win, then you’ll start talking to me on a personal level.”
“And if you lose?”
“Then I’ll be destined to spend the rest of my life pining after you.”
I laughed at his humor. “Fine,” I agreed. “Get ready to start your eternity of pining.”
He smiled and picked up the burger on plate number one. “This isn’t bison,” he said with sureness.
“But you haven’t even tasted it yet.”
“I don’t have to; I can smell it.”
“Seriously?”
“Roxanne, come on. I’m a man; I know my bison.”
“Okay,” I gave in. “Is that your final answer or are you going to take a bite?”
“You know what?” he said as he sat it back on the plate and slid it over to me. “I am so confident in my answer that I’m not even going to try it. Go ahead and open the napkin.”
I unfolded the red-splattered paper and saw that the number two was written inside. “You have got to be kidding me!” I said as I flipped it around for him to see.
He threw his hands in the air like his favorite football team had just scored a touchdown. “Yes! See? I know what I’m talking about.”
“That you do,” I smiled.
“So that means I can take you out again.”
“Yes, it does.”
“Good.” He crossed his solid arms across his chest and leaned back into his seat. “Your hair looks pretty when you wear it down like that, Roxanne.”
My face glowed with a smile. “Thank you, Brad. And please, call me Roxy.”
Four
“You’ve got to be freakin’ kidding me!” Nancy said as she sat down on the other side of my desk. “So you guys are like, what, a couple now?”
“No, no. We’ve just met. We’re just getting to know each other on a personal level.”
“Personal level huh,” she said with a click of her tongue. “You know what that means . . . Bow chicka wow wow . . .”
“Oh shut up,” I laughed. “We’re so not there yet, obviously. I’m just getting to know him. He said he wanted me to see the real type of person he is away from our profession. We’ll see if I still even like him after I see that side of him.”
“But didn’t he show you some of the real him last night when you went out with him?”
“Yeah.”
“And did you like him?”
“Yeah,” I confessed. “I liked him a lot, actually. He’s quite pleasant when he’s not trying to offend me.”
“That’s because his douche bag behavior is a front. How do you think he’s such a good lawyer?”
“Hey, I’m a good lawyer and I’m not a jerk.”
“That’s true,” she nodded. “But you’ve also never won all of your cases.”
I swiveled back and forth in my chair. “Don’t you have some papers to fax?” I joked.
“I’m just pointing out the obvious.” She stood up and went over to
the door. “I’m glad you’re talking to him on a personal level. And when you do, you know, knock boots or whatever, you better give me all the details. I can’t wait to hear about what’s under that suit.”
I grinned and chucked a paperclip at her as she left my office. I couldn’t deny that I was on cloud nine. It felt good to have Brad’s admiration.
* * *
I pulled up to Brad’s place and killed the engine. It surprised me to see that it was a quaint little house on the country side of town that was a about a mile down a dirt road. I imagined his house would be right in the center of town like how he had most likely lived in the big city he came from. But I was wrong.
Along the front was a nice porch that looked like it wrapped around the side as well. The main door was open but a screen was closed in front of it, and there was a potted plant on each side. A pitcher of tea was sitting on the banister, warming in the sun, right in front of an older man in a wooden rocking chair.
“Who the heck is that?” I said in the space of my car. I could see the back of Brad’s BMW sticking out from the other side of the house so I knew I was at the right place, but he never mentioned that anyone would be there.
A moment later Brad pushed through the screen and waved. I waved back and watched as he went over to the man and helped him out of the chair. My heart softened as he put the man’s arm around his shoulders and wrapped his arm around his waist, helping him slowly walk inside.
I got out of my car and shut the door behind me. The property was beautiful, with green wild grass that stretched off to the side of the house. There was a barn there as well and it was covered by the long vines from weeping willow trees that grew comfortably beside it.
The screen door opened and Brad came outside. “Hey,” he said, his face showing that he was happy to see me.
“Hi,” I smiled.
“You have a hard time finding the place?”
“No, not at all. I just figured you would live somewhere else.”
“Like downtown?”
“Exactly.”
He leaned against the banister. “I’m done with the city; I’m a country boy now.”