Practice Makes Perfect

by Carsen Taite

  “In a minute.” Campbell replayed Wynne’s words, and she stuck on the way Wynne had said “popular” like it was a bad word. “You thought I was stuck-up, didn’t you?”

  “Maybe a little. You guys were definitely the in-crowd. I don’t think you even knew the rest of us existed.”

  Campbell looked down at her hands and thought back. Almost every memory she had of school was of her and Abby and Grace and their group of friends. They’d studied together and partied together, cried on each other’s shoulders, and planned their futures together. She knew plenty of other people in her class, but she hadn’t formed close relationships outside of her group. But hadn’t everyone else been that way too? “You didn’t have a group of people you hung out with?”

  “Sure, but much smaller, and we were never part of the in-crowd. You and Grace and Abby were at the center of everything. Everyone wanted to be part of your study group, or just hang out with you. You were like law school rock stars.”

  “Talk about an oxymoron.” Campbell laughed, but she had questions. Lots of them. Topping the list was whether Wynne had wanted to hang out with her back then. But the bigger question was whether she would’ve wanted to hang out with Wynne. Back then, probably not. She remembered Wynne, always serious, always studying. She never joined them at happy hours, never showed up for parties. In her mind, Wynne had always been too studious, maybe even judging them for having fun. “I remember you always hanging out with Seth Greer. You and he were always studying together in the library.”

  “Yep, me and Seth, the center of our own little universe.”

  Campbell heard the sadness in Wynne’s voice. She wasn’t sure of the source, but felt partly responsible. She reached over and grasped Wynne’s hand. “I’m sorry we weren’t friends back then.”

  “I’m sorry I said anything. It’s silly really,” Wynne said. “That was a long time ago.”

  “Five years isn’t that long.”

  “I guess not.”

  “We can be friends now,” Campbell said hopefully.

  “Friends who are trying to kick each other’s asses in a battle to the death for the client of the year?”

  “Yes, that kind.”

  “Yeah, okay, that works for me.”

  Campbell smiled, but she was the tiniest bit conflicted between being happy they’d reached a truce of sorts and the settling for just friends status, but she knew this was for the best. Now that the angst was out of the way, hopefully, the strange attraction she had to Wynne would go with it. They would be friends, working hard on a case together. If only they weren’t working against each other too.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “You were at her house? Where does she live? Is it beautiful? It is, isn’t it? Tell me everything.”

  Wynne swatted Seth with a copy of the state bar magazine and put a finger over her lips. “Stoltz is lurking. Shut the door.”

  Seth complied and settled into a chair, leaning forward expectantly. Wynne took her time arranging things on her desk, stalling for something to say and wondering why it seemed so hard to slip into their usual gossip mode. Before he’d walked in, she’d been staring off into space thinking about Campbell. Which was a big problem since she should be thinking about the case. But every time she opened a file and tried to focus, the images of Campbell, comfortable and casual in her element, popped into her head, and she replayed every moment of last evening, including Campbell’s very kissable lips and how close they’d come to crossing a very uncrossable line.

  Seth tapped his fingers on the desk, breaking her out of her dreamy state, and she scrambled for words. “Not much to tell. She lives near South Congress, and her house is about the same as mine.”

  “Oh, I guess I expected she would have someplace palatial. Word on the street is that she’s bankrolling her firm, and they don’t even need the Leaderboard business. They want it mostly for PR.”

  “Don’t believe everything you hear. That doesn’t even make sense. Why would they need PR if they didn’t want new business?”

  Seth shrugged. “Just telling you what I heard. If the rumors are true, you should be on the lookout for her to break out something really flashy to impress Brax.”

  The idea of friendly, kissable Campbell from last night surprising Braxton with a litigation version of a flash mob left Wynne feeling agitated, and she cast about for a new subject that didn’t have anything to do with Campbell Clark. “How have you been? Working on any big cases?”

  “Matter of fact, we just signed a new digital services client. They’ve got a bunch of new patents, and Lane’s going to be working with me on getting them licensed.” He leaned back in his chair. “Speaking of Lane, want to fill me in on your big date before I see her and get her side of your budding romance?”

  Wynne resisted protesting the term “budding romance,” because she didn’t want to get Seth started on a litany of all the reasons why Lane was perfect for her. She decided to keep her response simple and partly true. “Uh, it was nice.”

  “Didn’t you go to Eddie V’s? I love that place. Their ahi tuna appetizer is my kryptonite.”

  Wynne fiddled with some papers on her desk, avoiding eye contact. She remembered how Lane had gushed over the tuna appetizer, and she felt a slight twinge of guilt that she’d fled the restaurant before they’d even ordered. Lane probably thought she was a total flake. She’d texted her the next day to apologize and Lane had replied asking her if she was feeling better, but neither contact was prolonged, and Wynne figured Lane was as done with her as she was with Lane. She toyed with making something up to tell Seth, but they’d always been honest with each other no matter the consequences.

  “I didn’t stay for dinner.”

  “Was it just drinks then? Sort of a reconnaissance mission?”

  “I didn’t exactly stay for drinks either. I left early. I said I had a bad headache.”

  “But you didn’t?”

  “Nope. Well, kind of. I mean sometimes listening to someone drone on about themselves gives me a headache.” She sighed. “And in the interest of full disclosure, I left and that’s when I met Campbell to work on the Leaderboard case.”

  “At Campbell’s house. At night. With wine and snacks.”

  Wynne raised her hands. “All true. I confess there were snacks. And wine. Probably not as good of snacks as there were at the restaurant, but snacks they were.”

  Seth crossed his arms. “Hmm.”

  “You obviously have something to say. Out with it.”

  “You realize she’s off limits, right?”

  “Who?” Wynne tried not to wince at her own insincerity.

  “You know who. Campbell Clark is not our kind of people.”

  Wynne wanted to protest and tell him he didn’t really know Campbell, that the Campbell Clark they thought they knew in law school wasn’t that person at all, but she didn’t want to risk raising his suspicions by protesting too much. “You’re imagining things. There’s nothing going on between us.”

  “You keep telling yourself that. In the meantime, you should remember that you never liked her and you’re competing for the same client. Only one of you can win, and trampling your enemy doesn’t make for a very good start to a relationship.”

  Wynne turned Seth’s words over slowly in her mind. Trampling. Enemy. Relationship. She wasn’t trampling anything. More like she’d been won over to Campbell’s easygoing style. And enemy was a strong word for what should be a professional competition. But it was the last term—relationship—that had her hung up the most. As long as she and Campbell were working together on this case, they’d have a working relationship, but she was certain that wasn’t what Seth meant. She started to set him straight, but something kept her from it. She had a feeling that something was Campbell’s smile or the way her legs looked in her short shorts. Either way, she was in trouble for sure.

  * * *

  Campbell balanced the cake box on her hip and shoved her way through the door of their law off
ices.

  “Hey.”

  She looked up to see a handsome, dark-haired stranger sitting behind the reception desk. “Who are you?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Who are you?” she repeated, her irritation growing as the box started to slip from her grasp. She dropped her briefcase to the floor and managed to catch the box with both hands, while handsome guy stared at her like her little show was solely for him entertainment.

  “I’m Graham Bunn, with two n’s, the new head of client management for Clark, Keane, and Maldonado.”

  Campbell shook her head, wondering which of her pals had hired this one. “Well, Graham, I’m Campbell Clark, yes, that Clark, and I don’t need to be managed, but I do need you to get out of that chair and help me carry this stuff into my office.”

  He hesitated, casting a glance back toward the interior of the office as if he thought he should check with someone to make sure she was really who she said she was, until Campbell stamped her foot in frustration. “Right, then,” he said, “Let’s get you all tucked away.” He strode over and easily handled the cake box and her briefcase. Campbell led the way to her office, scowling at Abby whose open door she passed on the way. She pointed at her desk, and Graham obediently set her stuff down. He’d barely left when Abby appeared at her door.

  “So you met Graham?”

  “You mean the new head of client management? I wasn’t aware we had enough clients to manage.”

  “I told him to stop saying that. I’ll talk to him again. You’ll be happy to know he can spell and appears to be able to speak in complete sentences.”

  Campbell sank into her chair. “That’s an improvement from the last one. Please tell me you’ll talk to him about the title? And maybe he doesn’t have to tell everyone his name is Bunn, no matter how many n’s it has.”

  Abby laughed. “I’ll talk to him, but please let’s give it until the end of the week before you decide you can’t stand him. If I have to interview one more wacko, I’m going to go back to my old firm where at least I didn’t have to deal with a parade of crazies.”

  “I thought Grace was in charge of this little project,” Campbell said.

  “I think we broke her. She’s meeting with the landlord to go over the list of things that still need to be fixed around the office. How goes all things Leaderboard?”

  “Okay, I guess.”

  “That doesn’t sound great. What’s up? Any way I can help?”

  Campbell glanced back toward the door to make sure Grace hadn’t suddenly appeared and that Mr. Client Management wasn’t lurking. “It’s a lot harder than I thought it would be to work with Wynne.”

  “Really? I mean I know she’s super focused, but she seems friendly enough.” Abby ducked her head and narrowed her eyes. “Do you feel like she’s out to get us?”

  Abby’s remark was loaded with layers of meaning. Campbell figured it was unintentional, but she needed to share what had happened between her and Wynne, even if it was just to get the crazy feelings out of her system. “We almost kissed.”

  “What? Who almost kissed?”

  Cursing her for being momentarily dense, Campbell said, “Focus. Me and Wynne.”

  “You and Wynne? There was kissing?”

  “Almost kissing. Completely different than actual kissing.”

  “Right. I’m going to need more details.” Abby made a show of looking at her watch. “And a drink. Stat.”

  “It’s barely lunchtime.” Campbell pointed at the box on her desk. “Will profiteroles do?”

  “You brought cream puffs?”

  “Correction, I made cream puffs. I used that mixer that Justin gave me. It’s kind of amazing.”

  “You must really like this girl.”

  “What did you say that for? I didn’t make her baked goods.”

  Abby reached into the box and pulled out a perfect profiterole. She gazed at it lovingly for a moment, and then sank her teeth into its crusty layers, emitting a soft moan. “This is perfection. You can pine away after all the girls you want if it means you’ll keep bringing stuff like this to the office.”

  “There’s no pining.”

  “Right. I forgot. There was actually kissing.”

  “There wasn’t any of that either. But it was close.”

  “How close?”

  Campbell closed her eyes and relived the moment. “Lips parted, breath bated, dreamy eyes close.”

  “But no actual flesh on flesh?”

  Abby’s question inspired a rather graphic image of Campbell’s lips pressed against Wynne’s, and her mind roved to other places. Where were their hands? Were their bodies pressed together? Eyes open or shut? The room suddenly seemed really small and super warm. Shit, she needed to get her mind off Wynne, and fast. “No. No actual touching occurred.” She paused while her mind cycled back through the evening. “I may have touched her hand once.”

  “Casually or all hey, baby, let’s take this a little further?”

  “Eww, I’m not a cast member of Baywatch. I’m sure it was casual. But it was nice.”

  Abby wagged a finger. “I’ve seen that look. You’re in trouble.”

  “Am not.”

  “Exhibit A: Nina Hawkins.”

  Campbell sighed. Nina Hawkins had been in her third year when they entered law school, and she’d been assigned to Campbell, Abby, and Grace as their mentor, which was how she and Grace had met Abby. Nina had captured her attention from the moment they met, and Campbell had an unrelenting crush on her for the rest of the school year. She wanted to protest, tell Abby that this wasn’t the same thing at all. Wynne wasn’t a mentor, and she wasn’t a starry-eyed first year law student, but she couldn’t deny the hazy, dreamy feeling whenever she thought about Wynne was pretty much the same as the one she’d felt about Nina. Damn. “Well, you’ll be pleased to know that just like with Nina, this isn’t going anywhere.”

  Abby reached out and clasped her hand. “Probably for the best. Wynne seems nice, but it would complicate things. I promise there’s someone out there for you, and when things settle down, I’ll do whatever I can to help you find Ms. Right.”

  “Promise me you won’t use the same set of skills you used to hire the new head of client management.”

  “Deal.” Abby rose and grabbed another cream puff before she left. Campbell watched her go, torn between being grateful she had such good friends and feeling regret that she hadn’t told Abby everything, because although there’d been no touching, she’d wanted there to be, and she was still disappointed she hadn’t taken advantage of the moment when she’d had the chance.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Wynne paced the conference room at her firm for the tenth time, making sure every chair at the table had a water glass, a pad of paper, and a pen. Today’s deposition, the first in the case, was a show of power, not just to the wedding planner who they were about to depose, but to Braxton who’d decided to attend. Campbell’s small firm might have a stylish table, but stylish wasn’t formidable. Stylish didn’t convey the weight of dozens of years of experience being brought to bear to crush the claims of the unrighteous.

  Okay, maybe that was a bit much, but Wynne was determined to show everyone involved in this case that her law firm was the one best equipped to take down the opposition. She’d spent hours preparing meticulous lists of questions, and she was ready to show Braxton that his business belonged with Worth Ingram.

  But this fierce determination, which usually filled her with excitement, was bittersweet because the opposition was Campbell, and she knew she’d made a mistake by mixing personal and professional time with her. You shouldn’t have cozied up to her. Big mistake.

  The voice in her head was right, but she wasn’t sure what to do about it now except maintain her distance. Hard to do when they were about to be sitting next to each other for the entire day.

  “They’re here.”

  Wynne turned around at the sound of Jennifer’s voice. “Did Rhea come with them?” The pa
rties to the suit didn’t have to be present, but she wanted to be prepared just in case.

  “No, just her fleet of attorneys. Mr. Keith, the court reporter, and Campbell are here too. Do you want me to show them back?”

  Wynne nodded, but as Jennifer turned to walk away, she changed her mind. “Actually, send Rhea’s lawyers to the library, and ask Campbell to wait in my office while the court reporter gets set up in here.”

  A minute later, Brian, the court reporter, entered the conference room, and she walked him through her seating arrangement so he could set up accordingly. When she was done, she smoothed her skirt, straightened her jacket, and marched to her office, prepared to put all of her pesky, unprofessional feelings about Campbell Clark behind her.

  It wasn’t easy. Campbell was standing in her office looking like she’d walked off the pages of a fashion magazine called Glamorous Lawyers or Legal Legs for Days in a mid-thigh black skirt and white suit jacket with black trim around the lapel and pockets. In contrast, Wynne felt like an undertaker in her plain, no frills, black suit. Campbell looked up as Wynne entered the room, and Campbell’s face broke out into a wide smile, but Wynne resisted the urge to fall into the warmth of it. She took a deep breath and shut the door behind her. “We need to talk.”

  Campbell grinned like she thought Wynne was teasing. “Sounds ominous.”

  “I know I was the one who showed up at your house, and ate your snacks, and asked about your parents, and…” She looked at the wall past Campbell’s shoulder, then the floor, anywhere to avoid direct eye contact for fear she would lose her nerve. “But we need to keep our relationship strictly professional.”

  “Okaay.” Campbell drew the word out. “Have I done something to offend you?”