by B. T. Love
“But she’s right. She uses it, not me.”
“But the only reason you don’t use it is because it is too painful. Remember your mother, Steve. If you hand it over you’ll never get it back. Someday you might want to visit it and get those nostalgic feelings back in your life. Don’t throw that opportunity away.”
“I think he’s making the right decision,” Brad cut in.
My head shot over to him. “This isn’t your concern, Mr. Hunter,” I replied with a glare. “This is between me and my client.”
“Mrs. Thompson is entitled to everything she’s asking for. And if you don’t see it that way then I’m sure the judge will see it at the hearing next month.”
“Then I guess we’ll leave it up to the judge,” I replied calmly. I broke our stare and tucked my paper back in the folder in front of me. “Well, this meeting was short but it was definitely not sweet. I was hoping we could come to a mutual agreement but I see that’s not in the cards today.” I looked back up at my boyfriend. “Mr. Hunter, I’ll be seeing you in court.”
His lips turned up with a satisfied smile. “I can’t wait.”
* * *
I pulled up to Brad’s office and scowled at his name that was written on the front of the glass door. Who on earth did that man think he was? I mean yeah, I had argued with plenty of lawyers in my time, but I thought Brad’s professional attitude would have changed after we became a couple. I guess I was wrong.
I got out and slammed my door behind me as I tromped up to the glass entrance and flung it open. Brad’s secretary looked up from her desk. “Can I help you?” she asked, her eyes wide from me taking her off-guard.
“I need to speak with Brad.”
“Do you have an appointment?”
“No, but I need to discuss something with him.”
“And who are you, exactly?”
“Roxanne Balkner.”
“Oh,” she said, her demeanor lightening. “Ms. Balkner, it’s nice to meet you.”
I forced a smile; I was a little wrapped up in my annoyance. “And you as well.”
She smiled in return. “Mr. Hunter is in a meeting but I’ll let him know you’re here.”
“Thank you.” I watched her as she picked up the phone and dialed Brad’s extension. He had described her exactly as she was, and as much as I hated to admit it I was pleased she was older. I wasn’t really the jealous type, but I appreciated him not having a young sexy secretary.
“Sorry to bother you Mr. Hunter,” she said into the phone, “but Ms. Balkner is here to see you. Okay. Yes, I will.” She hung up and looked back over at me. “He’ll be out in five minutes.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
I had never been in Brad’s office. He had been fixing it up still and we usually met in mine because of it. But it appeared to be finished now, and it was impressive. The front desk was large and white, and the wall behind it was painted a dark burnt orange color. There was track lighting on the ceiling, casting a comfortable glow over the room. The rest of the space was small. There were two white leather chairs against the wall with a red table positioned between them. A vase full of white calla lilies sat on top of the table, matching the front desk and pulling the room together. It looked like an office that belonged in the big city that he was from.
I could hear laughter as a door at the end of a short hallway opened. A man walked out and Brad followed, and they were chatting happily, wrapping up whatever they had been discussing in the room.
“I’ll call you as soon as I hear something,” Brad told him as the man opened the glass door to leave.
“Alright. Thanks Mr. Hunter,” the man replied, closing the door behind him.
Brad turned his attention to me, smiling warmly at my presence. “Hey you. Is everything alright?”
“No,” I huffed, crossing my arms in front of me.
He unbuttoned his suit jacket and pushed his hands into the pockets of his slacks, his face turning serious like mine. “Well what’s wrong?”
“You know exactly what’s wrong.”
He looked over at his secretary who was eyeing us from behind the computer screen on her desk. “I’m done for the day,” he told her. “You can go home now.”
She nodded quickly and grabbed her purse from beneath the desk. “I have those papers you need to sign right here in my basket.”
“I’ll take care of it. Thanks.”
As she went to the door she smiled at me. “Have a nice evening,” she said.
“You too.”
“Lock the door on your way out, please,” he told her.
“Okay.”
We were alone. Brad gave me a half-smile. “You want to come into my office?”
“Sure.”
I followed him in to the room at the end of the short hallway. His office was equally as impressive as the waiting room, with large white leather chairs for his clients to sit on. His desk was modern and brown in color, and his office chair behind it was made of white leather as well. To the side was a wall painted the same burnt orange like the other room, and it had a large window that overlooked the park that was across the street.
He closed the blinds and then sat down behind his desk, leaning back in his chair. “What’s wrong, Roxy?”
“How could you do that to me?” I asked as I sat down across from him.
“Do what?”
“Talk to me that way in our meeting earlier.”
“You mean like a lawyer?”
I crossed my arms. “Are you really going to try and pretend that you weren’t being a complete jerk to me?”
His eyebrows lifted. “What are you talking about?”
“Ugh,” I sighed. “You are so . . . I don’t know.”
“I’m so what exactly?”
“Infuriating.”
His face was blank. “Why?”
I leaned forward and looked him right in his gorgeous eyes. “Are you really going to try and take the beach house from Steve?”
“I can’t discuss those details with you without my client present.”
My jaw dropped. “Are you kidding me right now?”
“No.”
I uncrossed my arms and folded my hands together on my lap. “I see,” I said, looking down at them. “This, uh, this is working out exactly as I figured it would.”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“We’re just not going to work.”
“Why not?”
I let out a small laugh. “Because,” I said, looking back up at him. “You’re my enemy.”
His eyes flickered, but I couldn’t tell with what emotion. “I’m not your enemy; I’m your peer.”
“Yeah, my peer who has no mercy when it comes to getting what your client wants.”
He shifted in his chair. “Listen, did you honestly think that just because we’re dating that I was going to treat you differently when we met with our clients together?”
“Yes, to be honest, I did.”
“Well you were wrong.”
“I guess I was.” I shook my head. “I think what upsets me the most is that you know Claire isn’t entitled to that house. She doesn’t deserve it.”
He stood up from his chair and casually slipped off his suit jacket. “Yes she does.”
“And how is that?” I asked bitterly.
He smiled and unbuttoned the sleeves of his dress shirt. “You have that little crease in your forehead right now,” he said, nodding his head at me. “The one you get when you’re angry.”
I jumped up from my seat. “Don’t mock me, Brad.”
“Oh just sit down and relax, Roxy.”
“You can’t tell me what to do you egotistical jerk!”
His face hardened. “Sit down,” he said calmly. I don’t know why, but I obeyed his request and sat back down on the white leather chair. He came around the side of his desk and loosened his tie. “Thank you.”
I cut my eyes up at him. “I’m really upset with you right now.”
<
br /> “Yeah, that’s a little obvious.” He took off his tie and laid it on the arm of the chair I was sitting on. “Listen, you know how I play ball when I’m working. You’ve known this from the beginning.”
“Yeah but I thought you would see the difference between right and wrong.”
“I do,” he said as he knelt down in front of me. “And I see that both of our clients are in the wrong.”
“How is Steve in the wrong?”
“He wasn’t there for Claire when she needed him, just as much as she wasn’t there for him when he needed her.”
“That’s bull,” I shot back. “She’s a gold digger Brad, and you know it.” I stood up quickly, forcing him to stand back up as well. “I don’t understand how you can’t see that.”
“You don’t know what I see.”
“No, I don’t. But I do see one thing, that she’s a busty blonde who gives you bedroom eyes every time you walk in the room. Maybe that’s the reason, huh?”
“What exactly are you insinuating?” he said, his voice growing angrier with my statement.
“Oh I thought you could read people, Brad. Well, if you’re having trouble then maybe you can read this!” I stuck my hand in the air and flipped him off. “And if you’re still confused,” I wailed while thrusting out my other hand and flipping him another bird, “then here’s a copy for you to keep in your records!”
He stared blankly at me with his hands to his sides. “Man, that crease is really showing itself right now . . .”
“Argh!” I threw my hands in the air, resigning from our argument.
“I mean that sucker’s deep! I can plant a row of corn in there.”
“Goodbye, Mr. Hunter.” I spun around to leave, but was stopped by his hand gripping onto my arm.
“Where are you going?” he chuckled deeply.
I turned back to face him and shrugged his hand off of me. “You’re enjoying this . . .”
“Hey, I told you from the beginning that I like to argue.”
“Yeah and you just won’t let up, will you?”
“You’re the one that keeps bringing up our case.”
“Because you’re being ridiculous!” I said, my voice raising once again.
“Roxy, you need to realize that when we’re in that courtroom together that I’m working for Claire and not for you. And I’m going to do everything in my power to win my case.”
“Well you know what?” I said, poking my finger into his solid chest. “I’m going to do everything in my power to make you lose your case. And you’ll always remember me as the woman who gave you your first loss. I promise you that.”
His eyes burned with anger as his temper flared. “Is that so?”
I dug my finger harder into him. “Yes. It is.”
His chest rose with a solid breath. “That’s what I wanted to hear.” He put his arms around my waist and pulled me against him, taking me by surprise.
“Wha . . . what are you doing?”
“What does it look like I’m doing?”
“I thought we were arguing.”
“No no, baby,” he said as he leaned down and placed a kiss on the side of my neck. “This is foreplay.”
I tilted my head to the side to allow his mouth better access. My body immediately reacted to his touch, and in an instant all of the anger I had felt toward him vanished into thin air. He smoothed his hands down my backside and pulled me against him closer than before. I could feel him, feel his excitement, feel his readiness to take my body into his control.
Our breaths became heavy as he swallowed my mouth with a deep kiss. My fingers found the buttons of his shirt and I hurried to undo them, eager to feel his skin. As he kept his lips to mine he took care of the rest, peeling his shirt off of himself, leaving him half naked in my arms. I ran my hands along the hardness of his stomach, happily confirming what I already knew about the muscular shape he was in.
His fingers tugged my shirt free from the waistband of my pencil skirt and he pulled it up over my head and threw it across the room. As he unclasped my bra I pulled out my hair tie, letting my long strands fall around my shoulders. With our bare chests pressed together, he led me over to his desk and lifted me up onto its uncluttered surface.
He stopped our kiss and stepped back, bringing his hands to his belt and unfastening it slowly while I watched. “Why did you want to hear that?” I asked, panting with my excitement.
“You mean your promise to make me lose my first case?”
“Yeah.”
“Because,” he answered as he pulled his belt off and threw it to the side, “I wanted you to exert yourself as the talented fiery woman you are. You will be a hard lawyer for me to beat; I wanted you to admit that yourself.”
His words made me smile. “And I see that turned you on . . .”
“Immensely.”
He unfastened the button on his slacks and then slid his zipper down. I was unable to restrain myself; I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him on top of me. He held himself up over my body and stared down into my eyes, his carnal stare penetrating like nothing I had ever seen before in a man. We both felt the thrill of the moment and the intense emotion of our complicated relationship. We were ready to succumb to the fever that was taking us over.
Seven
Suzie and Nancy stared at me from the other end of my couch, their jaws almost dropping to the floor. “You have got to be kidding me!” Nancy said in disbelief.
I smiled and took a sip of my wine. “I’m telling you the truth.”
“He had sex with you on his desk?” Suzie asked in a whisper, trying not to wake Marshall who was asleep on her lap.
“Yep.”
“Was he, you know, good?” she asked.
“He was fantastic.”
Nancy’s mouth was still ajar. “I am so freakin’ jealous of you . . .”
I laughed and sat my glass down on the coffee table. “It was the most erotic sexual experience I’ve ever had in my life. He was so manly and, I don’t know, greedy with my body.”
“Greedy with your body?” Suzie repeated. “What does that mean?”
“I don’t know, like he couldn’t get enough of me or something. I felt very desired by him.”
“I still can’t believe it was on his desk,” Nancy said. “I need to find me a lawyer so I can experience that!”
* * *
Two weeks had passed since my steamy encounter with Brad. After that we couldn’t get enough of each other. We met up as often as we could, with half of our explorations filled with desire and raw emotion, and the other half sweet and passionate. He was a jack of all trades in the love-making department.
My head was busy drifting away in the clouds as Nancy rang my line. “What’s up?” I answered.
“Robert Stillman is on line two for you.”
“Got it. Thanks.” I clicked over to the line. “Hey Robert. How are you today?”
“Fine,” he said, his voice different from what I was used to.
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, um, listen Roxanne, I’m going to make this short and sweet. I’ve found another lawyer.”
My heart dropped. “You did?”
“Yeah. I’m sorry to do this to you, but I just felt like you weren’t getting the job done quickly enough.”
“Oh,” I said, trying to mask the emotion in my voice. “Well I’m so sorry to hear that. If it makes any difference I’m supposed to be briefed by the private investigator tomorrow to see what he could find on your ex. Maybe you would like to wait until then? You might change your mind.”
“No, I’m sorry but my mind is already made up.”
“Oh, well, okay. I hope you get your son back Robert; I really do.”
“Thank you, Roxanne.”
“Before you go,” I said quickly, “can I ask who you decided to use instead?”
“Yeah, um, he’s new to town but I heard he’s really good. His name is Bradley Hunter.”
My
heart sank into the depths of my chest. “Thank you. I wish you luck on your case.” I could feel the color drain from my face as I gently hung up the phone. How could Brad do this to me? “Nancy!” I yelled from my office.
A minute later she poked her head in my door with wide eyes; she wasn’t used to me calling for her in that manner. “Yes?” she asked.
“Get me Brad on the phone.”
“Yeah, okay. Are you alright? You look pale.”
“I’m just feeling a little sick. Get me Brad, please.”
She nodded and then shut the door. After a couple minutes she rang my line. “Brad’s waiting,” she said.
I clicked over to his line. “Brad?”
“Hey baby. I was just thinking of you.”
My eyes glossed over. “You were?”
“Yep.”
“What were you thinking about?”
“Oh, I was just thinking of taking you out to a nice restaurant one of these nights. Maybe twirl you around the dance floor. How does that sound?”
I looked down at my lap. “I don’t know.”
“What do you mean? Do you not want to dance? We don’t have to, we can do something else instead.”
“No, it’s not that.”
“Roxy,” he paused, “is there something wrong?”
“I’m just a little upset right now, that’s all.”
“Well, why?”
“Because I just lost a client.” His end of the phone went dead silent. “His name is Robert Stillman. Have you heard of him?”
“Roxy,” he sighed. “I’m sorry; I really don’t know what to say—”
“You don’t have to say anything, Bradley. Now I know that the rumor about you is true.”
“And what rumor is that?”
“That you steal other lawyer’s clients.”
“What? Is that what you’ve heard about me?”
“Yes, it is. And apparently it’s the truth.”
“That is not the truth at all. I can’t help if a client comes to me because their previous lawyer wasn’t doing their job . . .” I could almost see his eyes clench shut with regret from his words. “I don’t mean you, I mean other lawyers who—”
“Don’t worry about it, Mr. Hunter. You can have my client. I’m sure you’ll do a much better job than I would have anyway.”