Dating a Lawyer (The Dating Series Book 3)

by B. T. Love

  “I highly doubt that.”

  His smile softened. “I’ve never felt this way about another woman before, I want you to know that.”

  “And that’s why it scares you,” I stated.

  “Yeah.”

  “That’s understandable.”

  “Why did you make me fall for you so fast, huh?”

  I ran my hand over his hair. “Because I’m good.”

  “You are,” he smiled. “In more ways than one.” He put his arm under the arch of my back and moved next to my side, pulling my body over on top of his. “There. That’s much better.”

  “You’ve always liked me on top . . .”

  “What man wouldn’t?”

  I smiled contently and laid my head on his chest. The warmth I felt from his confession was slowly fading away as I stared at my glowing television screen. He didn’t know about my overhearing Claire’s conversation the night before; he didn’t know I had an advantage over him. A part of me wanted to tell him; I felt guilty keeping it to myself. But the other part of me wanted to win the case. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

  His arms held me in a comfortable position as we enjoyed the serene silence together. I listened to his heart beating in his chest as his relaxed breaths raised and lowered my head over and over again. I had the upper hand in the Thompson case, and he was so blissfully unaware. But I decided not to tell him now. After all, we had already agreed that there would be no arguing for us tonight.

  Nine

  My hands twisted around each other as my nerves got the better of me. I was in the waiting room at Brad’s office, lingering by a window as I waited for him to get done with a phone call.

  “Hey,” his deep voice called out to me.

  I spun around and took in the attractive sight of him in his suit with his hands in the pockets of his slacks. “You didn’t shave,” I pointed out, walking over to him.

  “You liked it so I kept it.”

  “It suits you.”

  “I think so too.” He nodded toward his door. “Come into my office.”

  I followed him into the expensively-furnished room and sat down in the white leather chair. “I remember this desk,” I flirted.

  He chuckled deeply and leaned against the spot he had sat me on before, crossing his arms in front of him. “Believe me, I stare at it every single day and recall every last detail to mind.”

  “I bet.”

  “I still recall every last detail to mind about last night as well.”

  I smiled up at him. “Are you still glad you told me you loved me?”

  “Of course I am. Why would you ask that?”

  “I don’t know,” I shrugged. “I just wanted to make sure you weren’t caught up in the moment is all.”

  He uncrossed one of his arms and leaned forward, bringing his hand to my chin. “I am a man of my word and I don’t lie. I love you.”

  My face brightened. “I love you too.”

  He smiled warmly and stoked my chin before taking his hand away. “Nothing makes me happier than to hear you say that.” He went around the side of his desk and sat down in his chair, leaning back in his usual manner. “So, I have to say that it’s odd to see you here. I mean, you scheduled an appointment with my secretary . . .”

  “Yeah,” I said looking down at my hands in my lap. “I wanted to make sure you had time to talk.”

  “What about?”

  “The Thompson case,” I said, looking back up to see him.

  His eyebrows lifted. “The Thompson case? What about it?”

  “Well, the court hearing is less than two weeks away.”

  “Yeah, I know.”

  “And, I . . .” I paused, still weighing the decision to tell him about Claire in my mind.

  “And?”

  I stared at him across from me. Did I want to tell him this? If I did it would give him the opportunity to work up a plan to defend what Claire had said that night, and he would ultimately beat me. But if I waited and sprung it on him in the courtroom then he would have to scramble for an excuse for her actions. And then maybe, just maybe, I would beat him.

  “Listen Brad,” I sighed. “I have something to discuss with you.”

  “What, did Steve reconsider the beach house?”

  “No,” I huffed, becoming immediately defensive.

  “Well what is it then?”

  I swallowed the lump that was forming in my throat. “On Saturday night I went out to Billy’s Bar and Grill with the girls, like I had told you about.”

  “Yeah.”

  “And when I was there Claire came in with one of her friends.”

  “Okay.”

  “Well, I overheard her telling her friend some things.”

  His eyes sparked with interest. “Like what?”

  “Well, apparently she had tried to get pregnant with Steve’s baby so she could ultimately leave him and secure child support payments from him for the following eighteen years.”

  He looked unfazed. “Yeah? So what?”

  “There’s more,” I went on. “She said Steve couldn’t get her pregnant so she decided to lie about being pregnant to him. Then she faked a miscarriage and used it as an excuse to say he didn’t support her through it.”

  He leaned against the arm of his chair and rubbed his stubble in thought, keeping eye contact with me the entire time. “And you heard this?” he finally asked.

  “Parts of it, yeah. Suzie listened to the rest for me because I didn’t want Claire to recognize me.”

  “Hmm. Well, that evidence isn’t going to hold up in court. It’s all hearsay.”

  I crossed my arms. “I know how the legal system works Brad, I’m just telling you this so you know what I heard.”

  “And why would that matter?”

  Ugh, my boyfriend was fading away and the lawyer was quickly coming out. “Because,” I said with attitude, “I figured it might change the circumstances of the case.”

  He laughed out a breath of air and scooted closer to his desk, lacing his fingers together on top of it. “This changes nothing.”

  My eyes narrowed. “How can you say it changes nothing?”

  “Because it doesn’t. She’s still entitled to get what she deserves.”

  “She deserves nothing.”

  “And why is that?”

  “Because she’s a crazy person who faked a pregnancy and miscarriage, for one.”

  “I see that as someone who was reaching out for help.”

  “What?” I scoffed. “Okay, well, she did that to make an excuse to party and cheat on Steve.”

  “He cheated too,” he added with certainty.

  “What is this, déjà vu or something here? He cheated after she cheated on him.” I shook my head at the ridiculousness of our discussion. “He was unhappy too. What, was he supposed to just be the loyal and loving husband while she went out and banged every guy who gave her attention?”

  “Do you have proof that she banged every guy who gave her attention?”

  “No,” I said, irritated by his calm, rational tone. “But you’re not an idiot. You know what kind of person she is.”

  He shrugged. “I only see the facts of the case. She had a miscarriage—”

  “A fake miscarriage,” I corrected him.

  “And Steve failed to support her emotionally. He pushed her into the arms of another man.”

  “You know,” I said, standing up in my chair, “it stumps me as to how you are so big on making it known that you don’t lie, yet you’re representing someone who lies without feeling any guilt whatsoever. Tell me how that makes sense . . .”

  “You don’t need to worry about me or my client. I’m a big boy; I can handle my own business.”

  I shook my head. “I shouldn’t have even told you.”

  “You’re right; you shouldn’t have told me.”

  “And why is that?”

  “Because,” he said as he stood up from his chair. “I’m your competition. I mean, d
id you realize what you did here today? You came into my office and gave me information so I could be more prepared when we meet in court. You helped me out, which in turn isn’t helping your client very much.”

  “Well like you said, it’s all hearsay anyway so it won’t hold up in court.”

  He crossed his arms and cocked his head to the side. “You’re a very intelligent woman.”

  I stood my ground firmly. “I know I am.”

  His mind reeled as he examined my face, trying to figure out what was going on in my own mind. He dropped his arms and slid his hands into his pockets. “I know you’ll still bring it up. You’re going to try to cast doubt.”

  “Smart man.”

  “It won’t work. The judge will still award in Claire’s favor.”

  “That’s your opinion.”

  His eyes were still friendly but his face was serious and stern. “From one lawyer to another: my case is solid; you won’t destroy it. And from a man to his woman: don’t share information with the enemy. You’re setting yourself up to fail and I hate to see that.”

  My hands fell to my hips. “I thought the correct saying is don’t sleep with the enemy.”

  “It is. And you shouldn’t do either.” He smiled once again and gave me a wink, trying to return the moment to a degree of normalcy as he went around to the front of his desk.

  My stare penetrated him. “I’m going to destroy you, Bradley Hunter.”

  His eyes twinkled. “Baby, you know those words do nothing but turn me on . . .”

  I couldn’t hide the corner of my mouth from lifting into a sly smile. “So, I guess I’ll see you tonight?”

  He ran his fingers along the top of his desk over our favorite spot. “Who says you’re going anywhere?”

  * * *

  Phone calls that come in the middle of the night are never a good thing. So when Brad’s picture lit up my screen at three in the morning I panicked. “What’s wrong?” I asked quickly as I answered.

  “It’s my dad.”

  I anticipated the call to come at some point in our relationship. His dad’s health was failing fast and he had already lived past the time the doctors expected him to.

  “What’s wrong with him?”

  “He couldn’t breathe; I had to call an ambulance.”

  “Oh Brad, I’m so sorry. Are you at the hospital right now?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Can I come down?”

  “Of course you can come down. I want you here.”

  “Okay,” I said as I threw back my covers and stood up from my bed. “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

  I threw on some suitable clothes and rushed out to my car. Once I got to the hospital I flew through the entrance, just as I had when Suzie was in labor. There was Brad sitting in a chair in the corner, looking down at his phone.

  “Hey,” I called out as I hurried over to him.

  He stood up from his chair; his eyes looked tired and were void of their usual sparkle. “Hey,” he said as he put his arms around me.

  “Where is he?” I asked.

  “He’s in another part of the hospital. I just came out here to meet you.” He squeezed me once more and then took my hand in his as we walked down the eerily empty hall.

  “So what happened to him tonight?”

  “That’s an interesting story in itself,” he began. “I was asleep and I woke up to Kitty nudging me with his nose. I kept telling him to go away but he just wouldn’t stop. He’s never acted like that before.”

  “Wow, that’s crazy.”

  “Yeah, it was. So finally I got the hint and I jumped out of bed and went into my dad’s room. I turned on the light and saw him lying in bed staring up at the ceiling gasping for breath. He couldn’t talk, he was just wheezing.”

  “That’s terrible.”

  “Yeah, it was scary. So anyway, I called an ambulance.” We rounded a corner and he led me into a private room that was muted from the typical fluorescent hospital lighting. “He’s asleep now.”

  In the middle of the room Charlie lay in the hospital bed, his head elevated and an oxygen mask obscuring his face. He looked peaceful at the moment, but I imagined it was only because he was sleeping.

  I went to the side of his bed and stroked the top of his full head of hair, the same as Brad’s just gray instead of light brown. “I feel so bad for him.”

  “So do I.” He sat down in the chair against the wall. “But he wouldn’t want us to feel bad. He’d want us to stay positive.”

  “Man, that’s a hard thing to do.” I leaned down and kissed his forehead, feeling the sting of tears welling up in my eyes. Death was hard.

  “I don’t think I’ll ever forget the look on his face,” Brad said quietly.

  I stroked Charlie’s hair one more time and then came around the side of his bed to Brad. My arms circled around his neck as I sat on his lap. “I’m so sorry this is happening.”

  He wrapped his arms tightly around me and leaned his head against mine. “I don’t know what I’ll do without him. I’ll have no parents left.”

  What a sad truth. I kissed the side of his temple. “Death is an unfortunate part of life. It’s unfair that we have to bury the people that we love. I can only imagine the pain you’re feeling right now, and I’m so very sorry.”

  A light knock tapped on the open door. We looked up to see a man dressed in a white doctor’s coat enter the room. “Hi, I’m Dr. Moore. Are you family of the patient?”

  We both stood up and Brad nodded. “Uh, yeah I’m his son.”

  Dr. Moore held a file in front of him. “Your father is very sick,” he said as he flipped it open and read over a sheet that was inside. “I understand that he has kidney cancer.”

  “Yes, it’s been about three years now since he was first diagnosed.”

  “And it’s also my understanding that it had spread to his lymph glands.”

  “Yes, it has.”

  He closed the file and looked up at Brad. “Well, we ran some tests that included a CT scan. I’m sorry to have to tell you this but the cancer has spread to his lungs.”

  I laced my arm around Brad’s back as he nodded and looked down at his feet. “Yeah, the specialist he was seeing prepared us for that.”

  “Unfortunately it’s something that occurs in the late stages of the disease.”

  Brad let the news sink in for a moment. “So, what do we do now?” he asked, looking back up at him.

  “Well, that’s something you can discuss with the doctor who is currently treating him, but in my professional opinion I have to say that treatment is not possible. It’s just too far advanced.”

  Brad nodded, his eyes glossing over. “Yeah, we, we kind of knew that already.”

  Dr. Moore looked over at Charlie. “He was in good spirits when I spoke with him earlier.”

  “Yeah,” Brad managed a heartbroken laugh. “That’s my dad. He’s always positive.”

  “That’s a good way to be when going through something as devastating as cancer.” He opened the file and scanned the paper once again. “I’m going to call his primary care doctor in a few hours and discuss the next step. I’ll let you know what we decide.” His head lifted from the file and he offered us a down-turned smile.

  “Thank you,” I said. I hugged Brad as the doctor left the room. “You’ll make it through this.”

  He buried his face in the side of my neck as he gripped onto me. “How?”

  I didn’t have an answer. “You just will. You have family; you have me.”

  He let me go and looked down at his phone, trying to hide the tears that were falling to the floor. “I need to finish calling everyone.”

  I brought my hands to his cheeks and lifted his face to see me. His tear-filled eyes were broken and vacant; I had never seen his expression so emotional yet so void at the same time. “You’re going to be okay,” I told him with sincerity. “I know that for a fact.”

  He nodded and closed his eyes tightly as he pulled
me back against him. “That’s my dad over there,” he sobbed against my shoulder.

  “And he’s still here,” I comforted him. “And apparently was in a good mood earlier,” I said with a small laugh. I stroked the back of his hair. “Don’t count him out yet, okay?”

  “I’m trying my best not to.”

  * * *

  The next couple of days were hard for both Charlie and Brad but good news came of it: he was able to have in-home care to manage his illness. That meant no depressing hospital room. Charlie fought hard for it too, saying that if he were going to die in his sleep then he wanted his son under the same roof when it happened. He was taken back to Brad’s house and was assigned a nurse to see out the rest of his days, however long that was to be.

  * * *

  Brad and I walked hand in hand on the sidewalk while window shopping downtown. “Mint and chip is the best flavor,” I said as I licked my ice cream cone.

  “No way,” he argued. “Chocolate is the best.”

  “Chocolate is so traditional.”

  “What, you don’t like tradition?” he smiled, taking a taste of his chocolate cone.

  “I guess not; you’re not the traditional type of man and I like you.”

  “That’s true,” he admitted happily. “So you don’t like tradition . . . hmm.”

  I squeezed his hand. “Well it depends on what we’re talking about here.”

  “I don’t know,” he shrugged. “Just making conversation.” His face became even more handsome as he smiled at me. “You ready for tomorrow?” he asked.

  “No.”

  “You nervous?”

  “Yes.”

  “You’re right to be; I’m gonna beat your ass.” I jokingly tried to release my fingers from his grasp. “Nope,” he said, holding on tighter. “You’re not going anywhere.”

  “I’m holding the enemy’s hand,” I protested with a laugh.

  He pushed me against the wall of a small clothing shop. “Don’t try to get away from me,” he said playfully, his lips inches from mine.

  I welcomed his closeness. “You should kiss me right now,” I quietly begged him.