“Nothing.I’m fine.”Or I would be by the time the Gulf Enterprises team arrived.I might have to work harder than Jared at some things, but confidence wasn’t usually one of them.
“First you’re dropping cases and now you’re twitchy before meetings.Get it together.”
That answered the question about whether he’d heard about the recusal and added to the long list of things I didn’t want to talk about.I couldn’t bullshit Jared.He might not figure out the truth but he’d smell the lie.
“Stop being an ass.The client’s here.”Grateful for the diversion, I stood as the hostess led the small group to our table.The fact that I thought of the reason for the meeting as a diversion illustrated how screwed-up my priorities had become.
I managed to make it through the small talk over appetizers and worked my way into the meat of the deal during the entrees.By the time the server set the blood orange-infused custards in front of us, I’d hit my stride.Jared had relaxed back into his chair, clearly confident in my ability to close.
“We’ll take good care of you,” I said, standing and clasping the owner’s hand after the coffee cups were empty and the papers had been signed.
“I’m sure you will.”The older man gripped my elbow and squeezed my hand, clearly intending to convey a dominance over me he didn’t have.
He could knock himself out if it made him feel more secure.I knew how good I was.I didn’t need to white-knuckle the old man to prove it.The deal would make the firm a lot of money, but there was nothing one-sided about it.With the potential pitfalls involved in navigating international markets and regulations, Gulf Enterprises was lucky to get us.At any price.I was feeling pretty damn satisfied.And then my phone buzzed with an incoming text.
I always turned my phone off during meetings but I’d been so caught up waiting for Alex to text, I’d forgotten.
“Do you need to get that?”asked the older man, arching a brow.
I glanced at our joined hands and realized my grip had involuntarily tightened at the sound of the incoming message.
“No, of course not,” I said, relaxing my hand and reaching up to clap him reassuringly on the back a second before my pocket started to talk.
Fuck.I’d left the text-to-voice app open.Losing what was left of my cool, I reached inside my pocket to silence the phone but not before it broadcast its message to everyone within earshot.
“I came again.In the tub this time.”
The computer-generated voice did nothing to hide the meaning of the message.If anything, it made the whole thing that much worse.
“Client?”asked the company’s PR person, not bothering to hide his grin.
The owner didn’t look amused, and I could see Jared in my peripheral vision looking like he’d be happy to take a bat to my Porsche.I couldn’t blame him.I shut off the phone but the damage was done.
“No, sir.That was personal.I apologize.”
The older man nodded but it was clear from his expression exactly what he thought about his attorneys having personal lives.At least we still were his attorneys.Despite my colossal lapse in judgment, I could still spin this as a win.
He made a noncommittal noise, and I said a silent prayer of gratitude that Alex’s text came in after the papers had been signed.Of course, if I hadn’t had my head up my ass and remembered to turn off the app, it wouldn’t have mattered either way.
Jared circled around the table, submitting to his own round of Vulcan death grip handshakes before walking the team to the top of the stairs.I took the opportunity to slip the phone from my pocket and open Alex’s message, without the sound this time.The picture was worse.
“Who do you have waiting for you in the tub?”asked Jared from too close behind me.“And here I thought your problem was blue balls-induced stress.”
I stuffed the phone in my pocket, not caring that I looked guilty as hell.There was no way on God’s green earth I was sharing Alex’s photo with Jared.
“No one.”He wouldn’t buy it, but I had to try.
“Fuck you.”
“Nice talk.We did it.”I tapped the signed contract still sitting on the table, hoping to distract him.
“Yeah, yeah, we get to learn international shipping regulations.Woo-hoo.Who’s in the tub?”He collapsed back in his seat and pinned me with his courtroom glare, the one he used with hostile witnesses.“Wait a minute.It’s Dr.Smithson, isn’t it?The Dom trainer.She’s the reason you ditched the case.”His eyes went so wide his eyebrows hit his hairline.“Dom whisperer is more like it if she’s got you this fucked up.”
I pressed my lips together.Unless I looked him in the eye and lied my ass off, he was going to find out about Alex.
“Holy shit!”he said, loud enough to make other diners glance in our direction.
“I don’t think they heard you on the other side of the Quarter.”
