“Bullshit. I am just beginning to play,” Alex responded.
“I love the way you degrade women. I wish Jess could hear you talk about her like she is a game.”
Jess smiled. She was hearing every word.
“Don’t give me that; it’s a game to you, too.”
“Not this time,” Dean said.
“Oh, what? You expect me to believe that Dean Clark — Hugh Hefner of the law business — is ready to settle down?”
“I’m not saying I want to settle down, but there is something different about Jess. She isn’t just some random girl. She is smart, ambitious, and has a great future at this firm, if you don’t blow it.”
“Me? What about you?”
“What about me?” Dean asked.
“Is it normal company policy to bang associates in the copy room after hours?”
Dean was silent for a moment. “Oh, so that’s what this is about? You are mad because I made love to her first.”
“God, you have to get over yourself Dean. I don’t care about a game. You think I just want to play with this girl. I know how special Jess is. The truth is, I haven’t felt this good around a woman in so long I can’t remember.”
“Really? I’m not sure I buy that. I know you too well, Alex. You are still the same playboy cad I knew in law school.”
“Oh, I love the way you think you know me. Please continue to tell me how I feel, because I don’t spend twenty-four hours a day inside my own head.”
“Ok, so you have feelings for her. So do I. What do you want?” Dean asked.
“I want you to back off. I saw her first.”
“And we’re back to this again,” Dean replied. “Look, neither one of us has dibs on her. She isn’t an object. She has the right to decide who she wants.”
“You are so slippery. That’s what makes you such a good lawyer. You are the quintessential voice of reason and you have everyone fooled who think you are just a nice, down to earth guy. I’ve seen the things you’ve done and the lives you’ve destroyed. I know who Dean Clark really is.”
“I’m not denying that I’ve made some mistakes. I’ve offhandedly hurt people without considering the consequences of my actions. I’ve been reckless and impulsive, but so have you. I have changed. I’ve grown up a lot in recent years and I don’t know why you refuse to believe that.”
“You refuse to believe it about me, too.”
“Ok, well I hope that you will prove me wrong just as I am sure to prove you wrong. But that doesn’t change what you are arguing about here. Jess is a grown woman and if she decides either of us are privileged enough to be with her then she will choose. You will have to wait for that to happen.”
“We are both in the same boat. The only reason I didn’t ask her out before was because of the pact we made. We both agreed that we wouldn’t ask out coworkers anymore.”
“But you broke the pact first. You asked her out.”
“You asked her out and you didn’t know I had. So you had no problem with breaking the deal.”
“I know, you are right about that.”
“So, we are just supposed to wait it out then?” Alex asked.
“What else can we do? It is ultimately going to be her choice.”
“Well, I have to go. I have a date this evening,” Alex said.
Jess quickly walked down the hall and turned the corner. As she walked away she thought she heard Dean say “Good luck”.
She smiled. It was flattering that the boys were fighting over her. She had never expected the game to go this far and she felt like she should really come clean and tell them both that she wasn’t looking for anything serious, but the truth was that she had felt close to both of them when she was hearing that conversation.
She had not realized it until then, but both of them were exactly the type of man she had always dreamed of meeting. That was most likely why she had decided to not commit and play the game with both of them; it was easier than allowing either one into her heart.
As she drove home, she could not shake the feeling that she was doing something wrong. After hearing the conversation she was a mixed bag of emotions. On the one hand it was exciting having these two amazing men fighting over her, but she also felt that she was getting in over her head and one of them was probably going to be hurt when she was eventually forced to choose between them.
But did she want to choose at all? It was not the right time in her career for her to get seriously involved with anybody, but life was unpredictable. That was something that she had learned long ago.
The fact that she had overheard that verbal sparring match between Alex and Dean was definitely going to shadow her date with Alex that evening. She knew that it shouldn’t matter, but it was going to be odd for her to try to ignore what she had heard.
Dean and Alex knew each other better then she knew either of them, but she saw beyond the flashy alpha male behavior to what lay beneath the surface of both men. She could see right through the cocky bravado that Alex displayed so openly and she knew that deep down he was a good person. He would never let most people ever see that because he was firmly convinced it was wrong to show weakness to anybody. Maybe she might be able to eventually get him to drop his guard, but it was unlikely.
Dean on the other hand seemed like a warm and gentle guy, but Jess knew that no one got to be who he was by being warm and gentle. She had seen him turn on the tiger when enduring tough negotiations. So there was definitely more to him than meets the eye.
Jess went inside her home and immediately got dressed. She was supposed to be at Alex’s house in an hour. She should have left the office earlier, but she was a reverse procrastinator — she could not stop working on time ever. It was ok, because she had found herself at a comfortable stopping point in her work preparing for court the next day, and she had been in the right place and time to hear the little verbal exchange between Alex and Dean. It was almost like it was meant to be for her to hear that.
She put on one of her newest and sexiest dresses. She wasn’t planning on sleeping with Alex, but she wasn’t planning on turning him down either. She had tasted the fruits of one and now she wanted to taste the fruits of the other. She needed to see which one was sweeter.
When she arrived at Alex’s house she was shocked by the size of the place. He was definitely living the rich bachelor lifestyle to the hilt. He had a huge yard, a big swimming pool with an ice sculpture of an electric guitar, and a mansion that made the houses on celebrity cribs look small in comparison.
He greeted her at the door and escorted her through the humongous living room and into the large kitchen. He was just finishing up dinner and she watched in amazement as he placed everything on the table in a very systematic manner. It was like watching a real world chef serve you in a private setting. The fact that he had prepared the dinner and then set it up on the plate to look like something out of a five star restaurant was so romantic. Her plate looked so beautiful that she didn’t want to eat because it would mess it up.
“I can’t believe you did this,” Jess said.
Alex smiled. “I’m a man of many talents, my dear.”
“That you are. Where did you learn to do this?”
“My aunt is a chef and she took me under her wing when I was young and groomed me to be one too. I was all set up to go to culinary school when I decided to ditch it all and become a lawyer.”
“What happened?”
“I just found that as much as I enjoy cooking, I didn’t want to make a career out of it. So in college I was undecided the first year, but I was taking all my general education stuff, to get it out of the way, when I took my first political science class. This led me to take an interest in political science as a major. That in turn eventually led me to law school. It was kind of a natural path.”
“Well, it is delicious. Although it’s nice to know that if you ever get tired of fighting legal battles then you have another path to turn to.”
“Yeah, I don
’t think that will ever happen. I don’t know too many chefs who get to live the way I do. Plus I love getting my hands dirty and I love the challenge of law. With food there is no challenge. You learn how to make things and then you kind of run on autopilot the rest of the time. That wasn’t for me.”
CRASH!
The window exploded behind them as an object hurled itself into the dining room. Jess jumped out of her chair and hit the floor on pure instinct, covering her head. Alex jumped up ready for the attack.
The object landed on the floor only a few feet from her, she kicked small shards of glass off herself. Jess winced as she turned her head away, fearing for her face.
Alex was instantly beside her.
“Are you ok?” He asked.
Jess looked around. She heard nothing and saw nothing.
“I think so. What the hell is going on?”
Alex picked up the object from the floor and looked at it. It was a red brick.
“It’s ok. There is no one there now.” Alex looked through the hole in the window.
Jess rose to her feet slowly, not sure if everything was as ok as Alex seemed to think. He was hardly even rattled from the fact that a brick had just flown through the window. He was just staring at it intently, as if it was going to give up the identity of who had thrown it.
“Any idea who would do this?” Jess asked.
Alex was pensive for a moment. Finally he spoke.
“I know who did it. And they are going to pay…”
Jess swallowed hard as Dean’s face flashed in her mind.
Couldn’t be… Could it?
End of Part 1
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Jess Bilson finished the brief she was working on and sat back in her comfortable office chair to have a mini celebration. She hated typing up legal briefs; it was by far the most tedious and time consuming facet of being an attorney. She could have had a legal aid or paralegal do it, but truthfully most of them did not have the experience and expertise to do it properly. You would think that was something they were supposed to be taught while obtaining their degree, but it seemed that more and more of them developed amnesia when it came to this menial and boring chore.
She was fairly certain that when their employer asked them to do a brief, most paralegals slopped it up so they would never be asked to do it again. Jess wasn’t sure why the incompetents were not just fired and solid replacements put in their place. But then again it had come to the point that so many of them had chucked this vital part of the job that now it was almost impossible to find one that was able to turn in a solidly researched and well written brief.
She picked the document up from the printer and smiled with satisfaction. That was one of the best parts of the job; the feeling of accomplishment she got after she had done some exhausting chore she hated. Now she was prepared for the next day in court.
Jess’ mind was now free to think about other things, besides a Netflix binge and several cups of hot tea—like the rock that had crashed through Alex Mathers’ window on their date the other day. She could not get the fear out of her mind and the loud crashing noise as the brick exploded through the window and sailed mere inches from her head. If it had hit her she might have been killed.
And she couldn’t understand Alex’s somewhat cavalier manner in dealing with the whole thing. How was it that nothing ever rattled the man? She could tell that he was very angry. He had that look in his eyes. His eyes were normally very sexy and she could find herself lost in them for days at a time, but that night there had been a darkness in them and a coldness in his face as he said he knew who threw the brick.
Jess’ first thought had been Dean. She was afraid she had started a bit of a rivalry between the two men, and while it was flattering that they were fighting over her, she really did not want to start a war between two alpha males. It was bad for the business they owned and had built together. She certainly never wanted to come between two friends.
But she had to admit a part of her found the whole thing exciting. It was very much the same sort of excitement that little girls dreamed about when they were planning their wedding to prince charming. That was the fantasy; to have several strong men fighting for your affections and waiting to see which one you would choose.
She realized it was childish and it was now starting to get out of hand. She needed to put a stop to it soon, but she was conflicted; she had no idea which man she wanted to pursue or even if she wanted to pursue anyone. She had done so well by just being by herself and focusing on her career for so long that it was tempting to tell them both that she wasn’t interested. It sounded so easy.
So, why couldn’t she bring herself to say it? Why couldn’t she bring herself to make a decision on this? Jess had always been proud of her ability to quickly make a decision based on instinct and to stand firmly behind it and accept the consequences, good or bad. She wasn’t used to being indecisive. So, why was she having this problem now?
It was all starting to have an effect on her work and her sleep. She had never been one to sleep much, but now the sleep she was having was so interrupted that she found herself tossing and turning and waking up every forty-five minutes to an hour. When she had to drag herself out of bed, it was a huge chore. She was used to bouncing up out of bed, ready to take on the world. She missed that version of herself.
What if it wasn’t Dean?
That thought had also crossed her mind. She had wondered about that woman who had accosted her in the restroom at the restaurant on her first date with Alex. That woman was clearly out of her mind and she could have thrown the brick or had someone throw the brick for her. Throwing a brick that hard and that far was not easy. It required someone with a certain amount of physical strength. The woman did not appear to be that powerful, physically, but Jess had heard that the mad often possessed great strength. When the adrenaline was flowing it was not impossible for ninety-five pound women to lift cars up off of their children. It was an idea that scared her to death. Did Alex really have that many enemies?
Then there was Dean. There was so much about him she didn’t know, but he seemed so much more down to earth than Alex. Was he really that sweet? Or did he have a dark side that he easily hid from view?
Jess packed up her things and started to leave for the night. She had just passed Dean’s office when he called out to her. She wondered if he wanted to have another in-office rendezvous. That was not happening tonight. She had given in because the idea excited her, but to do it here again was just a bit tacky and Jess hated repeating herself; she had to do enough of that in court.
She walked into his office to find him diligently at work, although most would not know it to look at him. He was sitting with his feet up on his desk, the computer’s keyboard resting on his lap, drinking a glass of whiskey, and watching a news program on his flat screen plasma TV that was mounted to the wall. It was almost as good as being home, she thought.
“Hey, Dean. How are you?”
“I wanted to ask you that same thing. Alex told me about what happened the other night. That’s insane,” Dean said.
“Yeah. It ranks right up there on my list of most shocking things that have happened to me.”
“Do you believe Alex actually vaguely implied that I might be behind it?”
Jess paused a moment, unsure of how to answer. She didn’t want him to know that she’d had a lot of the same thoughts.
“I swear I felt like decking the guy. How crazy is that?”
“It’s pretty crazy,” Jess said.
“Well, I just wanted to make sure that he hadn’t put weird ideas into your head. I know you are a lot more level-headed than he is, but I was just checking in with you. And I wanted to make sure that you weren’t too traumatized by what happened.”
“I’m fine. You don’t have to worry about me,” Jess said.
“That is great. So, other than that, how have you been? How is the Jones case coming along?”
“It’s fin
e. I’m fine. I’ve been working hard on it and I think it’s going to turn out ok.”
Dean looked at her for a moment without saying anything as if trying to size her up for something.
“What are you doing this weekend?” He finally asked, refilling his whiskey glass.
“Nothing much, probably just work.”
“You are so boring,” Dean joked. “You have to get out more. We appreciate how hard you work, but you have to put 'living' in there somewhere, too.”
“Well, you can’t have it both ways. Either you want me to rock out in court or you want me to have fun,” Jess said. She realized that it had come out a bit snottier than she had intended.
“Right you are,” Dean said. She was unsure which he was referring to or which way he preferred her to go. “But this weekend I was hoping you would accompany me to my cabin up North in Chesterville.”
“What?” Jess asked. He was asking her to go away with him for the weekend?
This was all coming very fast and she was almost offended at the gall that he had, but she was also a bit attracted to it. He had a way of making the ridiculous and absurd sound perfectly plausible. That was why he was so good.
“Yeah. I want you to go away with me for a romantic weekend. They have a great ski lodge not far from my cabin up there and I was intending on doing some skiing and maybe some snowboarding. Do you ski? Or snowboard?”
Jess swallowed hard.
“Yes, I do ski. I haven’t done any snowboarding though.”
“Well, it’s no big thing; I’ll teach you.”
“I’m sure you will, but I don’t think I can blow off work to run away with you for the weekend.”
“You can bring your work with you; I will as well. That way we can both work and play. It’s kind of my mantra.”
Jess smiled. The guy was so slick. It was almost impossible to say no to him. It had been forever since she had been away anywhere for a weekend. And the thought of hitting the slopes again sounded like a blast. She used to go skiing all the time with friends from her sorority when she was in college.
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