She walked away with a huge smile on her face as Joel and Mrs. Williams walked up to me. “Are you ready?” he asked.
“Yep. I sure am.” I smiled as we walked into the courtroom.
Joel was the associate who I would be working with on various cases, the Williams case being one of them. He was short, bald, chubby, and a nice guy who was married with two kids. The Williams case was a slam-dunk and Mrs. Williams walked away with half of everything, plus the house in France. Mr. Williams tried to defend the fact that he had sex with prostitutes based on the issue that his wife wasn’t having sex with him due to her medical condition, which caused him distress and mental anguish. The judge didn’t buy into it and thus awarded Mrs. Williams more than what she was asking for.
As soon as I arrived back at the law firm, my phone dinged with a text message from Liam.
“Hope you’re having a great day and court went well. Missed you at the gym this morning. Maybe we could do dinner again some time.”
Missed me? Shit. No. No. No. There will be no missing anyone.
“Won the case so my day is great. As for dinner, I’m pretty busy the next few nights. I’ll call you when I get some free time.”
“Okay, you do that. I have a meeting to get to. Talk to you soon.”
I walked into my office and stared at his response. Okay, you do that. I sensed a bit of attitude in those typed words. I sighed as I sat down at my desk. It was only sex. He promised to leave me alone if I had dinner with him.
Chapter 14
Liam
“Damn it,” I yelled as I cut my hand and got up from the floor. I walked into the kitchen and ran it under cold water. I’d spent the last couple of nights installing my new floor, trying to get my mind off of Avery, which wasn’t easy. She was unforgettable. Especially after the other night. She hadn’t called, texted, nothing. As I wrapped a towel around my hand, I heard a knock at the door. Making my way through the foyer and the half-done floor, I opened it to find Collin standing there holding up a bottle of scotch and a large pizza.
“Greetings, friend. I bring floor-working food.” He grinned.
“Come on in. Be careful where you walk.”
“Wow, Liam. This place looks great. What did you do?” he asked as he pointed to my hand.
“Cut it laying down the floor. I’ll be fine.”
He followed me to the kitchen and set the pizza and scotch on the island. Removing the towel from my hand, I found it was still bleeding, so I ran upstairs to get a Band-Aid. When I came back, Collin had two glasses of scotch poured and the pizza was on the table.
“Thanks for bringing this over,” I spoke as I took a slice of pizza from the box. “Where’s Amelia?”
“She’s with my mom. They’re shopping for dresses for the gala Saturday night. You’re still going, right?”
“Yeah. I’ll be there.” I took a sip of my scotch.
“I know we’ve both been a little busy over the past few days, but how did your dinner go with Avery?”
I sighed as I slowly shook my head.
“That bad, eh?” he asked.
“No. Actually, it was amazing. We had a great dinner, great conversation, and the best sex I’d ever had.”
“Wow. Then why the sigh?”
“Because I think she used me.” I frowned.
“How?”
“I didn’t plan on sleeping with her. She pretty much threw herself at me and it happened.”
Collin picked up his glass and laughed. “And now she won’t talk to you?”
“Dude, she kicked me out of her apartment afterwards and when I texted her the next day telling her we should have dinner again, she told me she was busy and she’d get back with me, which we as men know what that means.”
He continued laughing. “Sorry, bro. I don’t mean to laugh but, yeah, she used you for sex. How does it feel to be on the other side of things?”
“Not good. Not good at all.” I shook my head.
“Don’t despair, my friend. She’ll go out with you again. She’s playing hard to get.” He got up from his seat and rolled up his sleeves. “Come on; I’ll help you with that floor for a while.”
****
As I reached over to turn off the annoying sound of my alarm clock, I could barely move. Between laying the floor last night and polishing off that bottle of scotch, I struggled to get my aching body and head out of bed. I was hoping that when I woke up, thoughts of Avery would be gone, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. She was as much in my head today as she had been since I saw her last. I changed into my workout clothes, grabbed my suit and my gym bag, and headed to the gym.
I stepped onto the treadmill and decided to walk instead of run due to the fact that my aching body was already screaming at me. It was six fifteen and no sign of Avery. In a way, I was relieved because seeing her again would only make me want her more. My relief quickly dissipated as she stepped on the treadmill next to me and smiled.
“Good morning.”
“Good morning,” I replied. “How are you?”
“I’m good. How are you?”
“Good. Thanks. I guess you’ve been busy, since I haven’t heard from you.”
“Yeah. I’m up to my neck in cases.”
“No worries. I’ve been really busy too.” I smiled to let her know that I wasn’t waiting around for her call, even though I was.
“That’s good. Keeping busy is a good thing.”
The question was brewing in my mind and it rolled off of my tongue before I had the chance to think about it.
“Did you use me for sex?”
She stopped the treadmill and stared at me.
“Really? You want to have this discussion here?”
“Why not? Nobody’s listening. They all have their earphones in and their music blaring.”
Cocking her head and glaring at me, she restarted the treadmill and began to run. “Isn’t that what most people do? As human beings, our brains are wired for sex. It’s a necessity, like eating, for example. It doesn’t mean anything and you of all people should know that.”
“Me of all people? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’re rich, you’re way beyond hot, and you can have any woman you want. I can guarantee that you’ve had meaningless sex with more women than double my age.”
Wow. I was insulted. “Double your age is taking it to the extreme and—” I stopped. I couldn’t say anything else because she was right. I did have sex with a lot of women over the years, but she made me out to be some kind of man whore.
I stopped the treadmill and got off. “You don’t know anything about me, Miss Lewis. Have a good day.”
I walked away and went into the locker room to get ready for the office.
****
Avery
He walked away angry. Maybe I shouldn’t have said it, but I needed to make it very clear that what happened between us meant absolutely nothing. That was what I kept telling myself. The more I said it, the more I believed it. I had to believe it. It was the only way to shield myself from any future humiliation. As I was running, I watched him walk out of the gym in his suit. His black, tailored, sexy as hell suit made me ache in areas I didn’t think possible. I shook my head as I turned up the volume of my music and upped the speed on the treadmill. I was running. Running from Liam Wyatt and myself.
When I walked into the office, Ella jumped up from her desk and followed me inside with a cup of coffee in her hand.
“Good morning,” she spoke as she set the cup down on my desk.
“Morning. A good one it’s not.” I sat down and picked up my cup.
“What happened?”
“Had a little run-in with Mr. Wyatt at the gym. I said something, and he got all pissy and walked out.”
“What did you say to him?” she asked as she took a seat.
“He asked me if I used him for sex and I told him yes. Then I guess I practically called him a man whore.”
Her jaw droppe
d. “Why would you call him that?”
“I didn’t actually call him that. But I insinuated by stating that the number of women he probably had meaningless sex with was double my age.”
“Oh, Avery. That wasn’t nice.”
“I know, and I do feel bad for saying it, even if I don’t want to.”
“You better call him and apologize.” She pointed at me. “Or he’ll never call you again.”
“Maybe that’s the point. I don’t want him calling me again.”
“Yes you do. You’re just letting that stupid wall get in the way.” She got up from her seat and walked back to her desk.
Sighing, I opened up a new case file. As I was looking it over, Adam Abernathy walked in.
“Morning, Avery. Don’t forget about the Business, Law, and Leadership Gala tomorrow night at Capitale.”
I looked at him in confusion. “I’m sorry, Mr. Abernathy, but I don’t know anything about it.”
“It’s Adam, and Tim didn’t tell you?”
“No.” I shook my head.
He took a seat across from my desk. “He probably forgot. We normally don’t let first-year associates attend, but we want you there.”
“Okay. Why?”
He stared at me for a moment with pursed lips before answering my question. “You’re an asset to this firm. I know you’ve only been here a couple of weeks, but with your background and intelligence, we think it would be beneficial to you and this firm if you attended. Think of it as rubbing elbows with some of the country’s top CEOs. Maybe ones we’re trying to snag. The way you won the Kilbrand vs. Essex Corp. case back in Danbury was brilliant. Don’t think we didn’t do our research on you before we hired you.”
“Really? Because according to Tim, he had to convince you and Mark to hire me.”
“Ah, he told you that. Well, we were a little skeptical at first because of your age, but upon further investigation, we knew it would be a great decision. So, anyway.” He got up from his seat. “The gala is at six o’clock. We’ll see you there.” He winked.
I pushed the intercom button on my desk phone. “Ella, could you please come here?”
“What’s up?”
“Apparently, I’m attending a gala tomorrow night. Did you know anything about that?”
“I had heard something about it.” She bit her bottom lip. “Actually, you’re the talk of the firm and other first-year associates are pissed.”
Throwing my hands up, I couldn’t believe it. “Great. That explains why I keep getting evil looks and people stop talking when I walk by. How did everyone know about this but me?”
“Don’t worry about it, Avery. They’re just jealous because they aren’t half as good as you are. Pay them no attention.”
“Thanks, Ella.”
She gave me a smile. As she walked out of my office, Tim walked in.
“Avery, we need to see you in the conference room.”
“Sure.” I nervously got up and followed him.
Chapter 15
Liam
As I was sitting back in my chair, thinking about the shit Avery said to me, Oliver stormed into my office.
“We have a problem.”
“What’s going on?”
“We’re being sued.”
“What else is new?” I laughed.
“By Laurel.” His face was stern and full of anger.
“What? What the fuck is she suing us for?”
“Apparently, she was hosting an event at the Regency House and there was an incident.”
“What kind of incident?”
“All I know is she was hosting the event and the ceiling collapsed.”
I couldn’t help the laughter that escaped me. “That’s terrible.” I continued laughing. “Nobody was hurt. Were they?”
“No.” He threw a stack of papers on my desk. “She’s suing Wyatt Enterprises for $5.5 million dollars.”
“What the fuck for?”
“To compensate her for the loss of her event and mental anguish. We need to get over to Finn, Muir, & Abernathy. Let’s go. They’re waiting for us.”
I sighed as I got up from my desk, put on my suitcoat, and headed out the door. When we arrived at the law firm, we were taken into the conference room. I stopped when I saw Avery sitting next to Tim. I was still angry at her for what she said earlier.
“Gentlemen, have a seat,” Tim said as he pointed to the chairs across from him and Avery.
“What’s going on, Tim?” Avery asked as she looked directly at me.
“A situation has come up for Wyatt Enterprises and Mark, who normally handles all their business, is detained with a headache of a case at the moment. So, I’m going to let you handle it. Under my supervision, of course. That’s if the Wyatt brothers don’t have any objections.”
“But, Tim, she’s—” Oliver spoke.
“She’s fine,” I interrupted as I stared directly at her.
She didn’t look too happy and I was loving it. After reading over the complaint, she looked up at us.
“This one is an easy win.”
“That’s what I like to hear.” Tim smiled.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Oliver spoke. “You have no clue who you’re dealing with.”
She cocked her head and smirked. “Do you know this woman?”
“She is Oliver’s ex-girlfriend and, obviously, she’s still mourning over the breakup,” I replied.
“Thanks, Liam.” Oliver shook his head.
“So this is a revenge suit. Okay. No problem.”
“Like I said, you don’t know who you’re dealing with,” Oliver said.
“And she doesn’t know who she’s dealing with. I’ll review the case file and then I’ll need to take depositions from you both. This won’t even make it to court. If it does, we’ll get it thrown out.”
“You seem very confident, Miss Lewis.” Oliver smirked at her.
“I am, Mr. Wyatt.” She looked at the paper again and, instantly, her expression changed. “Tim, I need to speak with you in private.”
“Oliver. Liam. We’ll be in touch soon.” He stood up and extended his hand to us.
After shaking it, I held mine out to Avery. “Thank you, Miss Lewis.”
She was hesitant, but she had no choice as she placed her hand in mine. The electricity that went through me was insane and memories of our night together flooded my mind.
Walking out of the conference room and out of the building, Oliver turned and looked at me.
“She’s a first-year associate. What the fuck is Tim doing?”
“Relax, Oliver. She’s a genius, literally. She can handle this. She graduated law school when she was twenty-one.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“No, I’m not. If it’ll make you feel better, have her checked out. But I’m not. I have confidence in her.”
He placed his hand on my shoulder. “You slept with her. Didn’t you?”
I didn’t respond and I just kept walking until we reached Oliver’s limo.
****
Avery
“What did you want to talk to me about, Avery?” Tim asked as he shut his office door.
“You need to get someone else for this case.”
“Why? What’s the problem?”
I didn’t want to tell him. I couldn’t tell him. I was literally shaking at the thought of having to take on this case.
“The problem is the opposing attorney. Please don’t ask me any more questions. Just get someone else.”
He crossed his hands as he stared at me from his desk. His eyes were searching deep within me for the answers to the questions he so desperately wanted to ask.
“No. You’re the lead attorney on this case and there will be no more discussion about it. Whatever issues you have with John Carrington, get over it.”
“But he’s one of the best lawyers in the state, Tim. How could you put me up against him? I’m a first-year associate. One of the partners should be hand
ling this case.”
“I’m doing it because I believe in you, kid. And you better make sure we win or else the Wyatt brothers may look elsewhere for legal representation and we can’t afford to lose them.”
I sighed as I turned around and walked towards the door.
“Avery,” Tim called.
I looked at him, my hand firmly planted on the door handle.
“You went up against one of the toughest and unscrupulous lawyers in the Kilbrand vs. Essex Case. John Carrington isn’t as bad, so I have no clue why you’re worried.”
I shook my head and walked out the door. It was taking every bit of sense I had not to grab my things and never look back.
“I’m taking off for lunch, Ella, and then I’m leaving for the day. I have a dress to buy for tomorrow and I’ll work better at home.”
“Okay. Have a good day, Avery.”
I walked into my office and grabbed the pile of files on my desk, my purse, my cell phone, and took a cab to my apartment. Setting the files on my dining table, I pulled my phone from my purse and called Willow.
“Hello.”
“Willow, I need you to go dress shopping with me. I have to attend a gala tomorrow night and I have no clue what to wear.”
“I can never say no to shopping. The kids will have to come. I don’t have a babysitter today.”
“That’s great. I’ll be over your place in about a half hour. I just need to change out of my work clothes.”
“Okay. We’ll be ready and waiting.”
Chapter 16
Avery
I held onto Kinsley’s hand as we walked through Bloomingdale’s because she had decided that she didn’t want to sit in the stroller with her sister. We took the elevator up to the floor where the evening gowns were beautifully displayed, not only on the mannequins, but on the silver racks as well. I’d never been to a gala before, so I wasn’t sure what kind of dress to buy.
“How about this?” I asked Willow as I pulled a black short-sleeved dress from the rack.
She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. “Too plain.”
“I like plain.”
She walked away, shaking her head. I pulled some dresses that I liked and she pulled ones she liked. The saleslady took them into a fitting room for me and, as I tried them on, Willow sat on the couch, feeding Hensley her bottle.