Out Of Order

by Barbara Dunlop

  Abercrombie’s face wrinkled into a mask of rage. His hands tightened on the arms of the chair and, for a second, Dallas thought he might come right out of the witness stand.

  “The witness will answer the question,” said the judge.

  “I was instrumental in the hiring of many people,” Abercrombie ground out.

  “I’m talking about these three, specifically,” said Dallas.

  “I don’t remember.”

  “Are you aware that they were embezzling money from Perth-Abercrombie at the same time and in the same manner as Mr. McQueen?”

  There was a sudden buzz of conversation in the courtroom. Dallas didn’t dare turn around. While he’d never been crazy about Abercrombie, he liked and respected Eamon Perth. And he’d just betrayed the man’s trust.

  The judge’s gavel came down again and the room turned silent.

  “No, I was not,” Abercrombie lied.

  Dallas could feel pinpoints of sweat forming beneath his suit. Not a good sign. He realized at that moment that he hadn’t fully considered the price of not proving Abercrombie guilty.

  “You are saying,” Dallas continued, “under oath, under penalty of perjury, that four brokers which you personally hired—and I have the human resources records to prove that they were the only staff members you ever hired except for your personal secretaries and one employee who had left the firm—were involved in a conspiracy to defraud the company and you knew nothing about it?”

  Abercrombie hesitated. His gaze shifted to the left for a split second, and the confidence left his tone. “No.”

  “No, you’re not saying that. Or, no, you knew nothing about the conspiracy?”

  “No. I knew nothing about any conspiracy.”

  Dallas took a stab in the dark. “Would you change your answer if I introduced personal checks from the four brokers to you? Called witnesses that put the four of you together?”

  Calloway jumped to his feet. “I object.”

  The judged blinked at Calloway. “When did Mr. Abercrombie become your client?”

  Calloway blanched as he realized his error.

  The judge turned her attention to Dallas. “Mr. Williams, I caution you that Mr. Abercrombie is not on trial here.”

  “I understand, Your Honor.”

  “In light of that fact, I will ask the witness to step down…”

  Dallas saw his entire law career flash before his eyes, crashing and burning in this moment, this exact second.

  But then the judge continued. “…and I will call for closing arguments in the case of Mr. McQueen. However, I am also recommending Mr. Abercrombie be tried for fraud, conspiracy and embezzlement.”

  Dallas nearly staggered as a great weight came off his shoulders.

  He sailed through his closing arguments. He knew he should be upset about blowing his corporate law career, but he wasn’t. The expression on Abercrombie’s face when the judge decided to bring him to trial was worth ten corporate law careers.

  He understood now that his dad was a justice junkie. He didn’t care about the money, he went for the rush. Not that Dallas had stopped caring about the money. He was still going for a career that paid the bills, though maybe not to the exclusion of the rush.

  Calloway finished his closing arguments and the judge found for the plaintiff in the amount of three-hundred-thousand dollars plus court costs. Dallas had won.

  By the time he loaded his briefcase and turned around, most of the spectators, including Eamon Perth, had left the courtroom. Just as well.

  There was only one lone man still sitting in the back row.

  Dallas did a double take. “Dad?”

  His father stood up.

  Dallas hustled down the aisle. “What are you doing here?”

  “Greg invited me to the wedding.”

  “He did?”

  Jonathan Williams nodded at his son. “Thought I’d stop here on the way and see you in action.”

  Dallas didn’t know what to say. His brain was a clanging whirlpool of emotion and implications. He’d just blown apart his old life, and he had no idea where the new one was going to lead. At the same time, he was reevaluating everything, including his relationship with his father.

  His father smiled. “I have to say, I’m proud of you, son.”

  The cacophony inside Dallas’s head stilled. “You are?”

  He father nodded. “That was a gutsy move. You do realize this is going to hit the press.”

  Dallas hadn’t thought of that. He sure hoped the publicity wouldn’t hurt Greg and Allan.

  His father’s nod changed to a shake. “Calvin Abercrombie up on charges of embezzlement? You might want to change your phone number.” Then he slapped Dallas between the shoulder blades. “Or come and stay at my place. Nina wouldn’t mind.”

  “Nina?”

  “She and the kids moved in with me.”

  “They did?”

  “We’re thinking about getting married.”

  BY THE END of Allison and Greg’s wedding ceremony, Shelby was a basket of nerves. Walking down the aisle was the first time she’d seen Dallas since their fight. He looked gorgeous and sexy and strong, and she could almost feel his arms around her.

  She’d kept her face front while the minister spoke and Allison and Greg exchanged vows. She was overjoyed for her friend, but she could feel Dallas’s presence sizzling in the background.

  Now the organ music swelled and the couple headed back down the aisle. Shelby turned, focusing on Dallas’s chest before turning again and taking his arm for the recessional march. The heat of his body seemed to burn into her. The smiling faces of the wedding guests blurred in front of her as memories of Dallas crowded in.

  She didn’t know how she was going to make it through the evening, or how she’d ever attend a social function with Allison and Greg again, if Dallas was going to be around.

  Maybe the town wasn’t big enough for the both of them. Maybe she’d have to leave Chicago altogether. She didn’t have a new job yet. Maybe this was the time to make a whole new start.

  They walked through the church doorway, following close behind Greg and Allison. As they emerged outside, flashbulbs snapped and reporters stuffed microphones in front of their faces.

  Wait a minute.

  Microphones?

  “I am so damn sorry,” she heard Dallas say to Greg.

  “Forget about it,” said Greg, hustling Allison into a waiting limo.

  Dallas’s strong arm went around Shelby’s waist and he all but carried her across the sidewalk to the second limo. The shouts of the reporters were a jumble in her mind. She thought she saw a news van with a satellite dish on top.

  “What on earth—”

  Dallas slammed the door behind her, and hustled around the back of the limo, reporters dogging his every step.

  She peered through the tinted windows, feeling like a rock star. Why would the media be interested in Greg and Allison’s wedding? Was Greg secretly a European prince or something?

  Dallas made it inside the door and wrenched it shut. He reached forward to tap on the glass, signaling the driver to leave. The car inched its way from the front of the church.

  Shelby blinked at Dallas. “What was that all about?”

  “The hearing,” said Dallas, straightening his tux.

  “The Perth-Abercrombie hearing?”

  Dallas nodded.

  Shelby turned to stare out the back window at the crowd of reporters in front of the church. They grew smaller as the limo picked up speed.

  “I put Abercrombie on the stand,” said Dallas.

  Shelby whirled her attention back to him. “You questioned him?”

  “Yeah.”

  Shelby tried to control the butterflies taking over her stomach. “About Johnson, Larkin and Platt?”

  Dallas shrugged. “A retainer from Perth-Abercrombie is out of the question now. And it’ll mean dissolving my partnership with Greg. I’m sure sorry about that, but I can’t drag him
and Allan down with me—”

  “What do you mean, drag them down?”

  Dallas stared into her eyes. “No corporate entity in the world is going to hire our firm now. I just destroyed the life and the business of one of my own clients.” He gave a harsh laugh. “But truth and justice took the day. The judge is issuing an indictment.”

  “We were right?” asked Shelby, her heart going out to Dallas.

  “You were right.”

  “Oh, Dallas.” She wanted to put her arms around him and tell him everything was going to be okay. But what did she know? Maybe he’d ruined his own life. Maybe she’d ruined his life. “I’m so sorry.”

  He gave her a crooked smile. “Now, why would you be sorry?”

  “You just said—”

  “I didn’t do it for you, Shelby.”

  Okay. Now she was embarrassed. “I never thought…”

  “I did it because it was the right thing to do. You were right about the honor and principles argument, but it was my decision.”

  “Of course.”

  Dallas unexpectedly reached for her hand. He lifted it to his lips and kissed her knuckles.

  Shelby felt a jolt of desire, a jolt of sympathy, and a jolt of regret.

  “I know our affair is over,” he said.

  Shelby gripped the edge of the limo seat. She didn’t want their affair to be over. They had six more chances to make love, and she wanted them all. It took every ounce of willpower she possessed not to launch herself into his lap and beg him to keep the affair going.

  Instead, she nodded.

  “Yeah,” he sighed, still holding her hand, his thumb absently stroking her palm, ratcheting up her arousal. “And I know we can’t do a relationship.”

  Again Shelby nodded, but inside she wanted to cry. All she wanted was a relationship with Dallas. A long relationship with Dallas. A relationship where she could hold him, laugh with him, fight with him and love him.

  Though her body didn’t move on the limo seat, her heart quietly cracked in two.

  “I know I shouldn’t even be thinking about this today,” he said. “Since today seems destined to create problems in my life, not solve them.” He drew in a long breath. “Do you have any idea how many problems I created at the courthouse?”

  Shelby shook her head, afraid to try to speak.

  “It boggles the mind. I don’t do things like that, you know. I don’t leave chaos and destruction in my wake. I don’t blow multimillion dollar contracts for my firm.”

  He put Shelby’s hand to his lips again. “And I don’t fall in love with wild-and-crazy women who wear sexy dresses and drive me out of my mind.”

  Shelby’s breathing stopped. Her battered heart clunked once against the inside of her chest. Her mouth went dry and sweat burst out on her palms.

  “I was thinking,” said Dallas.

  She tried to speak, but her vocal chords had shut down.

  The limo pulled into the circular driveway of the reception hotel, and Shelby could see Allison and Greg emerging under the portcullis.

  “Since we blew the one-night stand,” Dallas continued. “And we blew the affair. And we don’t want a relationship, for a bunch of very, very good reasons.” He chuckled to himself, then sobered and stared deeply into Shelby’s eyes. “Why don’t we skip all the complicated stuff and just get married?”

  The limo came to a halt.

  Before Shelby could answer, or rather before Shelby could ask what on earth Dallas was talking about, a bellman opened the door and reached for her hand.

  “Think about it,” said Dallas, opening his own door as the bellman helped her out. “I’m going to be here for a few hours.”

  Marry Dallas? Marry Dallas?

  Flash bulbs went off in her peripheral vision and reporters yelled questions from behind the hotel staff’s barricade, adding to the air of unreality.

  Allison appeared and linked her arm through Shelby’s. “This way for the official wedding pictures.”

  Since it hardly seemed appropriate to discuss Dallas’s proposal during Allison’s wedding photographs, Shelby kept her mouth shut. Along with the flower girl and ring bearer, Allison’s and Greg’s parents joined them in the hotel’s small photo studio.

  First they took the bride and her attendants, then the groom with his, then the couple and the parents and finally the entire party. Shelby kept half an eye on the proceedings, and half an eye on Dallas as she tried to sift through her shock.

  He looked gorgeous in his tux, which was no surprise. As he interacted with those around him, she was reminded that he was intelligent, witty, generous and successful. So, why on earth would he want to marry her?

  Sleep with her, okay, yeah. She wasn’t stupid, and she’d had plenty of propositions in her time. Maybe she’d misunderstood what he said. How had he phrased it?

  Why don’t we skip all the complicated stuff and just get married?

  Nope. Not much chance she’d misunderstood that. There weren’t a whole lot of generally accepted interpretations for the word marriage.

  “Ladies’ room?” asked Allison, startling Shelby. “Before we go into dinner?”

  “Yeah. Sure.” Shelby smiled and nodded.

  “You holding up okay?” asked Allison as they crossed the lobby to the interested stares of dozens of hotel guests.

  “I’m fine,” said Shelby, desperately trying to recover her sense of equilibrium. “How about you? Those reporters were wild.”

  “Can you believe Dallas did that? He made the national news.”

  “He says he’ll have to leave the law firm,” said Shelby.

  Allison waved a hand in dismissal. “Greg’s not going to let him do that.”

  “Won’t he drag the firm down?”

  “Greg doesn’t seem worried. You know what else I can’t believe?”

  “What?”

  Allison raised her eyebrows and gave a crooked frown. “That Greg and I were actually talking business in the limousine between our wedding ceremony and the reception. Doesn’t that man ever learn?”

  “This does not bode well for the rest of your life,” Shelby deadpanned.

  “No, it does not,” said Allison. “I may need more pictures for his luggage.”

  Shelby laughed.

  “That’s the first time I’ve heard you laugh all week,” said Allison.

  Shelby sighed, realizing she felt light again. “It is, isn’t it?”

  Allison nodded. “Are you having a particularly good time at my wedding, or did something happen?”

  There was no point in lying. “Dallas proposed.”

  “He what?” Allison shrieked, turning heads in the lobby.

  “Proposed,” Shelby whispered as they headed into the powder room. “I can’t figure it out.”

  “Did you say yes?” asked Allison.

  “I didn’t answer. There wasn’t time. Why would he propose?”

  “Maybe because he’s in love with you.”

  “How could he be in love with me? I’m not classy and sophisticated and intelligent. I have no money. I have no job. What is there? What would attract him?”

  “Shelby. Not that I couldn’t answer any and all of those questions at length. But you should be having this conversation with Dallas.”

  “You may have a point.” If he did love her. If he did love her…

  Allison nudged her. “You love him?”

  Shelby bit her bottom lip.

  “Go on,” said Allison with a grin. “You can say it.”

  “The thought of being with him…Every day, every night, for the rest of my life…”

  “Yeah…?” Allison prompted.

  “Is so great, I feel like I can’t even hold it all.”

  “You love him,” said Allison. “You definitely love him.”

  “I love him,” said Shelby. “I sure hope he was serious.”

  Allison laughed out loud.

  After they left the ladies’ room, Shelby practically floated her way acro
ss the reception hall. A string orchestra played in one corner, and the room was alive with flowers, balloons, crepe paper and glitter. The guests were chatting over predinner drinks, milling around in the muted light and perfumed air.

  She found Dallas near the head table, coming up behind him, desperately wanting to slip her arm through his and feel the heat of his body against her.

  “You love me?” she whispered instead.

  “Yeah,” he replied, reaching down and linking his fingers with hers.

  “Why?” she had to ask.

  “Beats the hell out of me,” he responded with a trace of laughter. “Though it could be because you’re gorgeous, funny, intelligent, hardworking and sexy.”

  “You think?”

  “Or maybe it’s because you’re flip, sarcastic and argumentative.”

  “Or maybe it’s because I’m always right.”

  “Hadn’t thought of that one.”

  Shelby felt a glow building inside her. “And you want to marry me?”

  He leaned down and kissed the top of her head. “That I do.”

  “If I say no?”

  “I walk away. I live forever in abject misery, but I walk away.”

  “If I say yes?”

  She could hear the laughter in his voice. “Then I’m all over you.”

  “And if I say maybe?”

  He snaked his arm around her waist. “Red flag to a bull, babe. I pursue you with everything I’ve got.”

  “Which apparently isn’t much after today.”

  “I guess you haven’t heard.”

  “Heard what?”

  “Perth’s here. He and the other shareholders just turfed Abercrombie and appointed Turnball, Williams and Smith as their permanent counsel. I’ve got plenty to pursue you with.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Yeah.”

  She grinned. “Okay then, maybe.”

  “Perfect,” he nodded. “There’s a hotel room, roses and champagne all lined up for later.”

  Shelby moved to rest her cheek against his broad chest. “I love the way you think, Williams.”

  He enfolded her in a hug, speaking softly against the top of her head. “And I love everything about you, Jacobs.”

  She sighed as every little piece of her life settled into perfection. “Me, too.”