by Erin Lyon
“You should probably go.”
For a second I didn’t think he was going to listen, but then he pushed himself up to his feet and headed for the door. I followed him. He stopped at the door and faced me.
“Good-bye, Kate.”
I looked up at his beautiful face and gave myself kudos for somehow managing to push him away before I was completely in over my head. Because I wasn’t yet. I think.
I wrapped my arms around his waist and hugged him tightly for a minute. He did the same. I stepped back and he released me.
“Good-bye, Adam.”
After a beat, he went out the door, closing it behind him. I leaned my forehead against the cool wood panels of the door and the tears started. I suspected they would last a while.
* * *
By noon, I’d stopped crying. I’m going to call that a win. I’d called Logek and asked her to come over. She asked no questions, just said she’d be over in an hour. I showered, did my hair, did my makeup. I looked in the mirror when I was done.
Whenever I cry, my eyes look too light, because they contrast against the red around them. Basically, I looked weird. Thankfully, not quite zombie-esque, but not too far off. The makeup helped, but it wasn’t magic.
Logek knocked twice and walked in. She came into the bathroom as I was putting my makeup away and unplugging the flatiron.
She gave me a pouty face. “Uh-oh. What’s up, Kitty Kat?”
“I’m okay.”
“You’ve been crying.”
Yep. Anyone who knew me could tell.
“I broke up with Adam,” I said, following it up with a decisive nod.
She smiled, amused. “You broke up with your friend?” I nodded again. “And how did he take it?”
“Well, we almost had sex on the couch.”
“And?” she asked, loud and animated.
“And I stopped it. I’m falling hard without all the intimacy and mind-blowing sex. Could you imagine if I actually slept with him?”
“How do you know it would be mind-blowing?”
I gave her my best what a stupid question expression.
She held up her hands. “Fair enough. So, did you tell him why you were ending it?”
I gave her a nod. “There is absolutely no way for me to stay friends with him without ending up completely…”
Logek nodded in agreement with my unfinished statement.
“So,” I said, raising my chin up. “My friend, we are officially saving each other from ourselves. Since clearly neither of us has the sense God gave a goat, we are going to stop each other from jumping into the fire.”
“Well, you managed to kick your problem child to the curb. I haven’t been able to do that.”
“Have you slept with him since you left here eleven hours ago?”
“I have not.”
“There you go. You’re a walking success story.”
“I’m supposed to have dinner with him tonight.”
“I’ll go with you.”
Logek had a brief moment where I think she wanted to strangle me. Luckily it passed quickly. “Fine. Derek won’t think your tagging along is strange at all.”
“I could bring a date?”
“Who?”
Sort of a silly question. There were only two possibilities. And I still didn’t trust myself to spend an evening with Jonathan without having a contract signed by the end of the night. “Dave?”
“What is his deal?”
“I have no idea.”
“Do you think he’s serious about the relationship thing?”
“He’s certainly persistent as hell. But who knows. I guess he could be completely faking it.”
“But you’re usually pretty good at detecting bullshit.”
“Usually. Doesn’t mean always.”
“He definitely treats you like his girlfriend.”
“Whether I agree to it or not.”
“He’s the exact opposite of Adam.”
“Tell me about it.”
“So, if you love Adam—you know—at least a little, then I’m guessing you are not falling for Dave?” she asked.
“I am not. Although I have brief moments when I think I am falling in like with him. He’s tall, good-looking, good job.”
“Adores you.”
“Or is pretty good at pretending he does.”
“And has a knack for irritating the shit out of you.”
“Oh, that’s right,” I said. “Sometimes that slips my mind.”
“But he also makes you smile.”
Just the thought of that did make me smile. I laughed. “True. When he isn’t acting like a spoiled brat.”
“Have you talked to Jonathan?”
I shook my head.
“Maybe you should bring Jonathan tonight and we can both sulk over our good loves gone bad while they attempt to woo us back into the spider’s web.”
I laughed. “Woo us? Well, that’s tempting, but I think Dave is the easier choice. Uncomplicated. I don’t worry about it blowing up in my face, like everything else lately.”
“Ah. The only one that can’t hurt you because you don’t care enough. That doesn’t sound like much to build a relationship on.”
“Good point. But I could start to care. I mean, it’s not completely implausible that Dave could eventually get under my skin.”
“Then he might stop being the uncomplicated choice.”
I shrugged. “I can ram that iceberg if I come to it.”
“That’s the spirit.”
“All I know is that I managed to end one very complicated relationship today. I’m spent. I can’t think about spending the evening with Jonathan—I don’t have the energy.”
“Works for me. Sold to the lowest bidder.”
I scowled at her. She deserved it.
* * *
Dave and I were on our way to the restaurant to meet up with Logek and Derek. When we were close, he started looking around for parking spots. No way I could parallel park this beast. I have enough trouble with my little car. He glided into a snug spot that didn’t leave much room in front or behind, but I guess they really don’t make spots that would leave much room for this truck.
I turned around and looked over my shoulder at the car behind us. “That’s a pretty tight fit,” I said.
“Just the way I like it,” he said.
I rolled my eyes. “Charming.”
“You bet your cute little ass I am.”
And I had no response to that so I just got out of the truck.
When I met him around the other side of the truck, he immediately reached out and grasped my hand, smiling down at me.
“You’re in an awfully good mood,” I said.
“You asked me out on a date. A double date with your friends. Of course I’m in a good mood.”
I laughed. “Settle down. You didn’t win an evening with the Backstreet Boys. Just me.”
“Then I did win.”
Ugh. So sweet. Too sweet. It was starting to give me a headache.
We walked into the restaurant and headed over to the table where Derek and Logek were already seated. I made the quick intro for Derek and Dave and we all sat down. Derek and Logek, sitting next to each other, had a distinct Barbie and Ken quality, in that they were both blond and surreally good-looking. Derek’s hair hung down to his shoulders and he was just as fit and annoyingly perfect as when he cheated on Logek and breached their contract. Tonight, neither of them seemed able to keep their eyes off each other.
“We took the liberty of ordering a bottle of red and a bottle of white. Hope that’s okay,” Derek said, as the waiter returned to the table and started uncorking the bottles. He did the typical splash in a glass and waited for Derek to approve. Derek sipped from the glass, uncomfortably, and then nodded at the waiter. Apparently Derek hates that little ritual as much as I do. All I know is that the bottle would have to be pretty bad for me to tell the waiter to take it back, so instead I just feel put on the spot while
he stands there waiting for me to taste it.
After the waiter poured the wine for the rest of us, he said he’d give us a few minutes with the menu and left.
There was a tap on my shoulder and I turned to see a familiar face smiling down at me. Neatly trimmed beard, Brawny Man face … Oh crap. He was familiar because he was the cheating ex of our client Mario, who (inadvertently) decked me on my first day at the firm, while taking a sloppy swing at this guy. Note to self: when you’re in a room negotiating a breach between an angry couple, be ready to duck.
“Ms. Shaw, right?”
“Um. Yes. John?”
John nodded and extended his hand and I shook it. Pretty sure this is a no-no. Opposing counsel, represented party. Definite no-no.
John gestured to a handsome Middle Eastern man next to him. “Fared, this is the attorney Mario punched in the face.”
Pretty sure my jaw was hanging open at that intro. Yeah, John. Right after you admitted to screwing this guy. And now we’re all up to speed.
“Glad to see he didn’t cause any lasting damage to such a lovely face,” Fared said in a deep voice. Wow. Mario and John weren’t kidding—Fared was a gorgeous man. He looked past me and his eyes settled on Dave. “Aren’t you Dave Hunter?”
Dave immediately went into TV mode and stood, smiling, extending his hand. They shook.
“You are the sole reason I watch channel forty,” Fared said. Hm. I wonder how Dave’s gaydar is. Is he going to take it as the flirty comment I know it to be or assume Fared is just a die-hard sports enthusiast?
Dave’s face was unreadable, but he gestured to the table and asked if they wanted to join us. Damn it all.
All my newbie-lawyer alarms were going off. “Oh, I’m sorry guys,” I said, putting up my hands in an attempt to stop everyone in their tracks. “We really can’t socialize.” I looked at John. “You’re represented, and I’m opposing counsel … sort of. We really aren’t supposed to talk at all without your lawyer present.”
“Okay,” John said. “I understand. I really figured after punching his own attorney he would have settled this rather than dragging it out longer.”
I shrugged. Can’t have this conversation with you, John. Pretty sure I covered that.
“You didn’t press any charges or anything after he knocked you out?”
“He didn’t knock me out.”
“You were still on the floor when I left.”
I cringed. Really? Tact, John. Look it up. “I was fine. It was an accident.”
“Well, hitting you was an accident.”
Sigh.
John leaned in close to me and lowered his voice. “Maybe you should tell him that if he doesn’t drop this case and waive the damages for breach, I’m going to go to the DA and tell them I want to bring charges for assault, since he was trying to hit me.”
I touched my finger to the corner of my eye, because I’m pretty sure it was starting to twitch. “That’s sort of extortion,” I said quietly.
John frowned at the word extortion. Most people would. “Well, I’m just saying—”
I cut him off. This was getting out of hand. “Just don’t say, John. We can’t talk. This really isn’t appropriate.”
He made a slightly disgruntled sound and turned and walked away. Fared gave Dave one more long look, smiled at me, and followed John across the restaurant.
I looked at my dinner companions with wide eyes. Turning to Dave, I said, “If it ever seems like I know people through my job, please don’t ever ask them to join us.”
“Sorry, babe. I guess I didn’t think.” He reached out and covered my hand, which was resting on the table.
Logek was grinning. “I’m so glad you went into signing law. You were never this much fun to bring out in public before.”
* * *
Two hours later, Dave was pulling up to my apartment.
“That was fun,” he said.
It was. The four of us got along great. Dave and Derek were both funny, and Dave was only minimally overbearing tonight, so that was a plus.
Dave leaned over and started kissing me, but before he got too far into it, I turned my face to the side a little. Adam was too fresh in my mind to be kissing another guy tonight. After I turned my face, he started trailing kisses along my jawline, and he whispered, “Maybe we should go inside.”
Pretty sure that is a bad idea. “Things tend to escalate quickly when we’re alone, Dave.”
“Mm-hm.” He continued his slow, sensual path to my ear before moving to my neck.
“Dave.” I pulled back slightly.
He sighed. “I’m crazy about you, Kate, but I can’t wait forever.”
That made me uncomfortable in an unidentifiable way … part pressure, part threat, part compliment. Mostly it pissed me off.
I tilted my head at him. “Excuse me. I’m pretty sure I’m not begging you to hang out with me. If you aren’t getting what you need, you are free to do whatever you want, with whoever you want. I didn’t think I needed to remind you of that.”
“Well, joke’s on me then, because I only want you,” he said, narrowing his blue eyes at me.
I raised my eyebrows a little. “It is really irritating the shit out of you to find a woman that’s immune to you, isn’t it?”
He frowned. “First off, you so are not immune. Second, can we drop that bullshit? Yes, I wanted to get you into bed, but I’ve been pretty clear since then that I have very real feelings for you.”
“I don’t know what ‘real’ is to you, Dave.”
He shook his head, looking wounded, and I felt bad.
“I’m sorry. That was uncalled for,” I said, putting my hand on top of his. “But don’t pull that ‘can’t wait forever’ shit on me. I don’t appreciate it.”
“Fine. I’m sorry, too.”
I climbed out of the truck, and by the time I reached my front door, he had driven away.
After climbing into bed, I stared at the ceiling for an hour or so. About ten minutes of insomnia was devoted to Dave’s unpredictable temperament, and the rest was a heartbreaking, repetitive replay of my morning with Adam. Good times.
CHAPTER 3
Monday morning at the office I did my typical booting up and logging in and then I went in search of my coworker Brad. He represented Mario, so I figured I should let him know that John had ambushed me at the restaurant last night, plus Brad had agreed to help prep me for taking my very first deposition. I’d been at the firm, Manetti Markson and Mann, for two weeks. Aside from my law school internships, I was an excruciatingly green attorney, so pretty much everything I did was a first for me.
As I reached his office, he was just setting his things down.
He looked up and smiled, pushing his oversized glasses further up on the bridge of his nose. “Hey, slugger.” Yet another nod to his client clocking me my first day on the job.
“Hey. How was your weekend?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Uneventful. I’m kind of a homebody.” Mags, my paralegal (and friend), had mentioned that to me, when she finally came clean last weekend about her former liaison with Brad. “How was yours?”
“Interesting. I went to dinner with friends last night and Mario’s ex started talking to me in the restaurant.”
Brad chuckled. “Uh-oh.”
I grimaced. “Is that a major problem? I told him we shouldn’t talk, since he was represented and all.”
Brad made the universal eh expression and shrugged again. “As long as you told him you shouldn’t be talking. I’ll let Beth know when I speak with her again.”
“Okay. And he sort of suggested that he wanted me to tell Mario to drop the case and waive the damages or he’d go to the DA and try to press charges for Mario taking a swing at him.”
Brad raised his eyebrows. “Nice.”
“Yeah. I may have mentioned that that could be considered extortion.”
Brad laughed. “Okay. In that case, I’ll give Beth a call today and let her know what her cl
ient is up to.”
“That was my thought.”
“So, when is your depo?”
“Oh. Tomorrow morning.”
“Okay. You want to spend some time this afternoon going over it?”
“That would be great.”
“Okay. We’ll use your office. Your view is better.” Pretty sure he’s talking about my secretary and not my skyline.
I got back to my office and started going through my email. By the third time I checked my phone to see if I had any texts, I gave myself a mental head slap and put my phone in my purse. In my desk. Stop the madness.
My desk phone buzzed.
“Kate, Rochelle Britton is on the phone,” Mags said.
“Okay.” Rochelle was my first client, who I was supposed to represent at her child support hearing against her serial philanderer ex, until they suddenly made up. Five minutes before the hearing. Up against the wall outside the courthouse.
I put on my phone headset. “This is Kate.”
“Hi, Kate. This is Rochelle Britton.”
“Hi, Rochelle. How are you?”
Pause. Uh-oh. I think I heard a sniff. “I don’t know. Am I an idiot?”
Pretty sure I’m going to need a little more detail to answer that question. “What’s going on, Rochelle?”
As an afterthought, I went into my time sheet and started Rochelle’s clock running. I hate billable hours, by the way. Me and every other attorney out there who has to clock and charge for every minute of their time.
“I’m worried Richard is cheating.”
That’s got to be a record, right? One week after getting back together? And thinking that is probably naïve.
“Have you signed a contract?” I asked.
“No. Did Richard’s attorney email you a draft?”
“I haven’t received anything yet.”
“Well, he moved back in, and he always has his phone with him.”
“Okay,” I said. “But lots of people have their phones at all times.”
“No, like always, Kate. He brings it in the shower with him. He tucks it in a towel and puts it on a shelf so it won’t get wet.”
“Odd.”
“Exactly. He’s afraid to leave it lying around where I could look at it.”