Dating a Lawyer (The Dating Series Book 3)

by B. T. Love

  Eight

  The sun peeked through my curtains, blasting me in my bloodshot eyes. I grimaced at the bright light that appeared to be from nowhere else but hell and rolled over on my side, tugging my covers over my head. I was hungover.

  I felt around for my phone on my nightstand and pulled it under my blanket, turning it on to see a text from Brad.

  I miss you.

  I groaned, partly from nausea and partly from guilt. After a long night of figuring out my plan of attack with my girls, accompanied with many more drinks of celebration, I found myself feeling conscience-stricken for what I was about to do to Brad.

  “Why must I have to choose between you and my career,” I moaned in the darkness. I flung the blankets off of my face. “And why did I say yes to that last drink!” I sat up slowly and grabbed a hold of the edge of my bed that was suddenly located on a sailboat in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. “I’m so screwed.” I stood up, realized it was a terrible idea, and sat back down. Giving up on getting up, I laid back down and looked at my phone in my hand. I miss you too, I wrote back to Brad. After a minute passed it beeped.

  I want to see you.

  “You don’t realize what you’re asking.” I put one arm under my head and held the phone above me with my other. I’m hungover, I wrote back.

  So am I.

  I smiled at the simple words. Brad was always good at making me smile. My phone vibrated in my hand with his incoming call. “Hey,” I answered.

  “Hey. You alright?”

  “As alright as I can be with the room spinning like it is.”

  “You too, huh?”

  “Yeah, I went out with the girls. What did you do?”

  “Got drunk with my dad.”

  “Sounds fun.”

  “Yeah, kinda.”

  “What do you mean?” I smiled, thoroughly interested in his story.

  “Well, for one he can’t drink with his meds so I was technically the only one drunk. And I was so wasted that instead of using a fully functioning bathroom I decided to go outside in the dead of night and pee in the pond.”

  “Oh no,” I giggled. “Poor fish.”

  “Yeah well, that’s not the worst of it. I fell in.”

  “You fell in?” I asked, my giggles turning to laughter.

  “Yep. And then I started freaking out because I thought I was drowning in the foot of water I was in. So the only thing I could think of to do was call Kitty to help me. So apparently I was falling all over the place in the pond, yelling, ‘Here Kitty Kitty!’ at the top of my lungs.”

  I laughed loudly in the small space of my room. “That’s hilarious!”

  “And my dad came to help me but he said it was so funny that he decided to sit on the rock and watch me instead.”

  After my laughter dwindled I wiped a happy tear from the corner of my eye. “And where was Kitty when all this was happening?”

  “Sitting next to my dad.”

  I broke out in laughter once again. “He didn’t even try to help you either?”

  “Nope.”

  “Oh, man,” I chuckled. “I wish I were there to see that.”

  “Well if you were there it wouldn’t have happened in the first place.”

  I quieted down, realizing the conversation was taking a serious turn. “I know.”

  “I wanted to see you yesterday, or at least talk. When you ignored my texts I felt like it was the beginning of the end of our relationship or something.”

  “I wasn’t ready to talk to you yet.”

  “Yeah, I know. And I want to apologize for coming off strongly in your office on Friday. Sometimes I don’t say things the right way when it comes to people I have personal relationships with. I’m trying to work on that. So I’m sorry.”

  I appreciated his apology. “I’m sorry, too.” I looked over at my nightstand and noticed a single red rose was resting on it; apparently I had done something funny in my drunken state as well. “A man sent me flowers yesterday. Long-stemmed red roses.”

  “Who is he? I’ll kick his ass.”

  “Oh really?” I laughed quietly. “Well kicking your client’s ass will probably be bad for your business.”

  “My client? Who?”

  “Robert Stillman.”

  “Oh really?” he said with surprise. “Hmm. Well, good man. I’ll still kick his ass, but, good man.”

  “That doesn’t upset you?” I teased.

  “Well, I don’t know why he chose red roses, but, that was nice of him to do. And you deserve flowers.”

  “I thought they were from you,” I confessed.

  He paused. “I’m sorry they weren’t.”

  “I don’t expect you to give me flowers. The girls and I were joking that if you gave me flowers every time we argued that you would be sending me flowers every day.”

  “Oh, that is a very big exaggeration. We don’t argue that much.”

  “Sometimes arguing is worth it,” I said, referring to the passionate encounter we had on his desk.

  “You’re right about that.”

  I smiled and thought back to the young man who had delivered the roses. “Oh, by the way, you’ll be happy to know that you’ve won another one of our arguments.”

  “Oh yeah? Which one? There are just so many . . .”

  “The cologne argument.”

  “Oh, yeah, well it goes without saying that I won that one.”

  I rolled my eyes. “There he is.”

  “What?” he laughed. “I told you I was right about that.”

  “I know, I know.”

  “How did you come to the conclusion that I won that one?”

  “The flower delivery guy. He was moderately attractive to me at first, but that was until I realized he was wearing cologne. Then I realized he wasn’t attractive at all. So, Brad one, Roxy zero.”

  “No no,” he corrected me. “It’s more like Brad one thousand, Roxy nine hundred and ninety-nine. You still win a lot of our arguments.”

  “Well, you’ve still got one over on me.”

  He was quiet for a moment. “Roxy, you’re a good lawyer, you know that?”

  “You think so?”

  “Of course I think so. You know, I remember the first client I lost.”

  My brows furrowed. “I thought you said you never lost a case.”

  “I haven’t ever lost a case that has gone to court, but I never said I haven’t lost a client.”

  The news surprised me. “How did you lose them?”

  “Well, it was a woman who—”

  “It was a woman?” I interrupted him.

  “Yes, a woman fired me.”

  “A woman, firing the oh so very handsome Bradley Hunter. What has the world come to?”

  “Anyway,” he continued, ignoring my teasing comment, “I was working with her regarding her divorce, and after a few meetings she simply said she was changing lawyers. When I asked her why she just said it wasn’t working out between us.”

  “Wow. Sounds like me and Robert.”

  “Yeah, it does. And you know what? It bugged me at first but I just had to lift my head up and carry on. I worked harder in areas I thought I might have made some mistakes in and went on with my life. I wanted to see you do the same, not take things so personally. It’s hard, believe me, I know. But you are so talented and have so much to offer the public. Don’t count yourself short.”

  I rolled over and hugged by blanket. “Thank you for saying that. Sometimes I feel like I’m nothing compared to you.”

  “Don’t say that,” he said quietly. “You know, I hate to admit it, but the only reason I think I’ve been so successful is because I’m a real dick in the courtroom. No one likes messing with me.”

  “You act like we don’t know that about you,” I joked.

  “Yeah, well, you’ve only seen me privately with clients. You haven’t seen me in action. Yet.”

  The fogginess in my mind cleared and I remembered the reason for my celebration that moved me to
get so drunk: Claire’s admission. I finally had a leg up on Brad, and I didn’t mean sexually.

  “I guess I’ll see you in action in a couple of weeks.”

  “That you will.” He was quiet for a moment. “Listen Roxy, I want you to know that the way I talk when we’re in meetings . . . it’s not the real me.”

  “Yeah, I know.”

  “I’m being serious. It’s just a front I have to put on. So I want you to know that if I seem really harsh when we go to court that it’s not personal.”

  I drew in a deep breath. “Yeah Brad. I know.”

  “Good. Because I want you to know that you’re very important to me. I mean, very important.”

  “You’re important to me too.”

  “I hope so. And I want to make sure I don’t do anything to lose you. Sometimes I worry that will happen because of the way I do my job.”

  “Well, just remember who you’re talking to when you talk to me about work.”

  “You mean a kick ass lawyer who’s sexier than hell?”

  “That’s me,” I chuckled.

  He laughed quietly. “Yeah, I’ll be sure to work on how I talk to you about work when we’re alone.”

  “And I’ll be sure to work on not being so sensitive when you talk to me about certain things.”

  “Well it sounds like we’ve reached an agreement that we’re both happy with.”

  “I agree.”

  “So,” he sighed, “can I see you today?”

  “I don’t think I can get out of bed,” I chuckled.

  “That’s not a problem. I’ll just come over and get under the covers with you. I’ll even refrain from trying to poke you with my gigantic penis.”

  “What a gentleman,” I laughed. “But I don’t think I want you seeing me like this. You’ll probably end our relationship on the spot.”

  “You’ve seemed to have forgotten that I’m hungover as well. I’m not lookin’ so hot today.”

  “You always look hot.”

  “Yeah, so do you.”

  “You’re sweet,” I said with a smile. I rolled onto my back and stared up at the ceiling. “Give me a few hours to recuperate. Maybe we can rent a movie and order a pizza or something.”

  “A night in? Sounds perfect.”

  * * *

  He knocked on the door and my heart fluttered. When I knew I was going to see him my body always reacted in the same way, with the jittery feeling in my belly and the spark of electricity that flowed within the blood in my veins.

  I opened the door and smiled at the sight of him. He was dressed casually in a t-shirt and jeans, and he hadn’t shaven most likely since Friday morning, so he had short stubble on his face that only added to his rugged handsomeness.

  “Hi,” I said happily.

  His eyes twinkled at the sight of me. “Hey.”

  “Come in,” I said, standing back for him to enter. As he passed me I got a whiff of his cologne, the scent stirring my electric blood.

  “Feeling better?” he asked.

  “Much. You?”

  “Yep. I wasn’t too bad, though.”

  I crossed my arms and looked him over. “I like the stubble.”

  “Yeah,” he said, smoothing his hand across it. “I shave every day for work; I needed a break.”

  “It’s very manly . . .”

  “Well if you like it so much maybe I’ll grow it out then,” he offered.

  “You should.”

  “Okay, I will.”

  My eyebrows lifted. “No argument, huh?”

  “There’s no arguing when it comes to impressing my woman.” He reached out and encircled his arms around me, pulling me against him with a hug. “I’m sorry again.”

  I hugged him back tightly. “It’s okay. I’m sorry too.”

  “You don’t need to apologize for anything.” His lips found my hair and he kissed the top of my head gently. “So, pizza and a movie tonight?”

  “Yeah,” I smiled as I looked up at him. “The delivery guy should be here soon.”

  “What kind did you get?”

  “Combination like you like.”

  “You didn’t get pepperoni?”

  “Nah, I’m good with combination.”

  “No argument about why pepperoni is better, huh?” he smiled.

  “Nah. No arguing for us tonight.”

  * * *

  He cuddled me on the couch in the dark, the only source of light coming from the television that was casting a muted glow over the room. The movie had just ended, and we were both quiet, just enjoying each other’s presence.

  His hand came around my stomach and his hold on me tightened, the muscles in his arm showing themselves for me to admire. I pulled my head to the side as he slowly began kissing my neck, his tongue gently grazing over my skin, beginning the process of taking me to a wonderful height.

  “I thought you said you weren’t going to try and poke me with your giant penis,” I joked.

  He laughed quietly next to my ear. “That was when you didn’t feel good.”

  “Ah, I see.”

  “You want me to stop?” he asked with sincerity.

  “Absolutely not.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I figured.” His hand gravitated lower down my body, making its way beneath my clothes. I responded with a sigh of gratification. “You keep making those noises, baby,” he whispered.

  “I will; I can’t help it.”

  His fingers found a sensitive curve of my body. “Do you like it when I make love to you?”

  “What kind of a question is that?” I asked with a pleasant smile.

  “I just like hearing you tell me.”

  I shifted my body so I was facing him better. “I love it when you make love to me.”

  His finger slid along the inside edge of my panties. “Because it’s not every time that I do it slowly.”

  “I know,” I said, remembering him pushing me onto his desk. “I like both.”

  “And how do you want it now?”

  “Just like this.”

  Without another word he leaned in and placed his lips against mine, lingering for a long moment before slowly brushing my tongue with his. I shifted more, allowing the weight of him to lower over me so I was beneath him completely. I could feel the adrenaline release in my body as he rubbed against me and his hand went under my shirt. My fingers trailed up his back and to the top of his head, making small paths in the thickness of his hair. When his tongue delved deeper in my mouth my fingers gripped more tightly onto his strands and I pulled at them with a gentle force that was driven by my building excitement.

  He sat back and lifted my shirt, exposing my bare breasts in the glow of the television screen. His hand smoothed over them as his eyes gazed into mine with both softness and want. I arched my back and he pulled my shirt up over my head, throwing it to the side.

  My hands ran up his stomach as he took his shirt off and reunited it with mine that was on the floor. I lifted my behind and he carefully pulled the rest of my clothes off followed by his.

  There was something in the way he looked at me that I couldn’t discern. The way his eyes flickered as he brought his body down on top of mine, the way he watched me as I accepted him as part of me . . . I caught sight of something new in him.

  His gaze lingered on me as we made love, the passion between us undeniable. His kiss was even different than it usually was. It was deeper and more purposeful, and suggested something more in its delivery.

  We had been intimate more times than I could count. During the times when we were driven by our arguments we would say risky things in the moment to match our moods. It was fun; it was dirty. The other times we would make love and whisper sweet and often sexy things to each other. But tonight as he felt my body inside and out he was a silent man, a contemplative man engrossed in his thoughts. He took his time, stilled at certain moments, kissed me longer, held me tighter.

  His lovemaking was holistic; mental and physical wrapped into one. We
had that intellectual spark outside of the bedroom and that intense fiery connection between the sheets. It was at that moment I realized I had really found my complement, my counterpart. He had told me I was his peer in our profession but it went beyond that. I was his perfect match.

  My heart quickened its beats. His movements were flawless and readied my body to transcend into a vital release. I loosely held him, my arms relaxed around his shoulders, feeling his slow intricate motion. And then I shuddered beneath him, quivering with the overwhelming sensations he was making my body achieve. My body’s response pulled from him his body’s release and he trembled against me as his warm breaths hitched next to my ear.

  I stroked my fingers along his back, feeling the faint mist of sweat that was breaking through his skin. As I breathed in his cologne he laid against me in silence, his body still lightly quivering from the intensity of our love-making.

  He pushed up onto his forearms and kissed me, lingering like he had done the entire night. When he pulled away his eyes were still difficult to read as they looked into mine, so unlike the Brad I knew.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked, being the first one to speak.

  “Nothing’s wrong.”

  I smoothed my hand down the side of his handsome face, feeling his stubble pleasantly scratch my palm. “You don’t seem like yourself.”

  He turned his head to the side and kissed my fingers. “It’s because I’m not myself.”

  “What do you mean?”

  His eyes explored my face as he thought of the words to say. “I love you.”

  “You do?” I said happily.

  “Yeah,” he nodded. “I do.”

  I pulled him back against me. “I love you too, Brad.”

  He nestled his nose in the side of my hair and pulled in a deep breath. “I mean, I’m in love with you.”

  “I know what you meant,” I replied with a smile he couldn’t see.

  “It scares me.”

  “I know.”

  He propped himself back up on his arms. “How do you know that?”

  “Because I know you. I’m good at reading people, remember?”

  He smiled that smile I loved so much, the one that cocked to one side when he was intrigued by my words. “Yeah, I know you are. You’re even better at it than I am.”