He tilted her face up to his, first kissing her lower lip. Then the top. Then, he smothered her with a deep, passionate kiss. She gripped his back to keep from falling over under the weight of the intensity and desire in that kiss.
Wanting the kiss to last forever, she pushed her tongue slowly over his. She savored the taste of his mouth, traces of coffee and toothpaste mixed together. She moved her fingers along his cheeks, over his ears, through his hair. She linked them together there, in back of his head, buried them in the soft warmth of his hair. His arms circled her waist, and he pulled her closer.
A passerby said, “Don’t they look precious together? Why don’t you ever kiss me like that anymore?”
Whitney smiled against Chace’s lips, but never broke their kiss. Instead, she tightened her hold on him. Maybe it didn’t even need to be said aloud. Maybe saying it in a kiss was enough.
* * *
Rob’s after-party was at an old warehouse that had been converted into a club. It had just opened a few weeks prior and was the newest night spot in the U-Street area. Rob’s promoter friend had worked out the deal for him, getting him the club for the night at a price he could actually afford.
Whitney moved through the dark club, lit only by flashes from the strobe lights, with Chace’s arm around her shoulders. The music was loud, but good. The D.J. was up in his booth, concentrating intently on his laptop screen. A bunch of other equipment surrounded him.
They walked up to Ulrich, who hugged her and shook hands with Chace. He’d made an appearance with his flavor of the week. She was like all the rest of them. He was such a player, but it would catch up with him one day soon—she hoped. He was a good guy, and she wanted to see him settle down with a good woman. But in the meantime, it would be the top-heavy, tiny-waisted, sweet if vapid girls he picked up with his usual “I’m a lawyer” pickup line. When they found out he was one of the few who could actually back up that line, they fell all over themselves for him.
Ulrich said, “You looking good tonight. Real good.”
“Thanks.” She grinned. “I’m glad you made it here,” she said, hugging him.
“Yeah, I dropped in to say hello, congratulate your boy Rob.” He hugged back and said in a low voice, “Looks like he’s good for you after all. About time you found one who is.”
She pulled back from the hug and nodded.
He turned to Chace and slapped him on the back. “What up, Chace?”
“Good to see you again.” Chace shook Ulrich’s hand.
“You, too.”
Chace pulled Whitney close to him in a possessive gesture. It was a little bit of a Neanderthal move. Especially when she’d told him he didn’t have to worry about Ulrich. But it was kind of nice in some small way.
Ulrich put his arm around Ms. Flavor of the Week, and introduced her. Whitney didn’t even try to remember their names anymore. She doubted she would see the woman again after that night. She was just another one of those women with dollar signs in their eyes Ulrich loved to string along.
“Rob will be glad to see you. Isn’t this place crazy?”
“It is. I’m gonna go catch up with him now. We’ll see you two later,” Ulrich said. He went off with his date in tow.
“So this whole day has turned out to be a success,” Whitney said.
It seemed to be turning into a success for Erika as well. Erika and Gi had been inseparable since the opening. Whitney hoped that meant good things. She hadn’t heard one mention of A.J. all day. That was definitely a good sign.
“Yeah. I’m happy for Rob,” Chace said, hugging her close from behind. He rested his cheek against hers.
“Yeah. Me, too.” She smiled, relaxing against him. “Really happy.”
Abbott walked up to them. She’d pinned her red hair up that night with a pair of chopsticks that matched the blue and gold kimono she wore.
“So this party is pretty amazing,” Abbott said.
“Yeah. He’s finally done it. He deserves this night,” Whitney said.
“True.” Abbott toyed with the thin gold chain that hung around her neck. “Everyone deserves something that makes them happy.”
Whitney thought back to her conversation with Abbott at the bar. She knew what Abbott was getting at, but her friend was wrong. Gibson and Grey made Whitney very happy. Success was happiness. There was no better way to prove that than to make partner.
“Erika looks really good tonight, huh?” Whitney nodded in Erika’s direction.
For a moment Abbott looked thrown off by the abrupt change in subject. Then, she looked across the room and nodded. “He was definitely dead weight.”
“Got that right.” Abbott tugged at the collar of her kimono. She obviously didn’t want to drop it. She opened her mouth to say something else, but Whitney didn’t let her.
“Here they come.” She waved to Gi and Erika.
They waved back as they approached the group. Erika was glowing. She’d even changed out of her sweats. Whitney had been worried about that because the club had a dress code and because—well—coming to a party in sweats? No.
Erika wore a simple long-sleeved knee-length dress which flared out a little at the waist with silver jewelry and knee boots. Gi had actually changed out of khakis into dress slacks. Rob must have made him do it. He wore a light blue dress shirt and black shoes.
“Abbott, it’s so good to see you,” Erika said, throwing her arms around Abbott.
“Hi, Erika,” Abbott said, smiling.
“This is Gi.”
Introductions were made all around again.
“Great party, huh?” Gi said.
“Yeah. And there are three more levels to the club.” Erika nodded emphatically. “We haven’t even seen half of it.”
The group got into a discussion about the party, the crowd it’d drawn, and Rob’s new store. The day seemed to have surpassed even Rob’s expectations. It was hard to catch up with him that night. He was all over the place, thanking people, greeting others, and enjoying his well-deserved spotlight.
Whitney slid Erika back from the group a little and murmured to her, “So, you look a lot happier than you did this morning.”
Erika shook her head. “Don’t start. It’s just good to see an old friend.”
Whitney shrugged. “I’m just making an observation. And he’s spent more time with you today than with his brother. Just another observation.”
“Rob’s been busy. This is a big day for him. Not even Delaney can keep up with him. I’ve been keeping Gi company.” Erika smiled. “I never realized he was such an interesting guy.”
“Well, I’m glad you two had a good day.” Whatever the reason, she was just glad Erika was distracted and seeming a lot less close to the ledge than she’d been the night before. Erika had been lost and gone over A.J. for so long. Like no guy ever before, even though he was the biggest loser she’d ever dated. She was very relieved that A.J. was out of their lives forever. At least she hoped he was.
A new song came on and Erika started bobbing her head and grabbed Whitney’s shoulder. “C’mon, we have to get out there.”
“Oh, no. You know I don’t do these choreographed line dance things.” She backed away from Erika.
“I love this song. And the dance is so easy. Just get out here with me, Whitney.”
Chace showed up on her other side and grabbed her other shoulder. “Yeah, Whit. Let’s go.”
Laughing and still half-heartedly protesting, she let the two of them pull her out on the dance floor. She watched their feet for most of the first part of the song, not knowing many of the steps. Eventually, she fell into step and had fun laughing at herself since she still wasn’t great at the dance even after she figured out the steps.
When it was over, Chace pulled her close for the slow song that came on next. She rested her head against his chest. Everything seemed better—more interesting, exciting, full of life—with him around.
After a couple songs, he whispered to her, “You gonna
be ready to leave soon? I want to. I want you. Bad.”
Whitney felt just how much when he pressed close to her. Her thoughts turned to the same place his had obviously gone. They had to get out of there. Soon.
“Yeah, uhm, I don’t think there’s any reason for us to stick around much longer. Rob’s busy, and I don’t think the others will miss us, either,” she said her words quickly, surprised she didn’t trip over them.
“Good.” His eyes were filled with desire for her. She backed away a little, afraid that if they started kissing and touching each other at that moment, they might give the entire club a free show.
“Let me just find Rob and Erika and tell them we’re going.” Whitney straightened out the skirt of her dress.
“Hurry.” Chace pressed his lower lip between his teeth. “You know, this is all your fault. That dress is very…distracting. It’s taking all my concentration to try and keep my hands to myself.”
“You haven’t been doing such a good job,” Whitney said, wetting her lips with an anxious tongue. “Not that I’m complaining.”
“I’m good at other things,” Chace said.
“Yeah?”
“Let’s get out of here so I can show you.”
Whitney smiled, nearly backed into a nearby pillar, and then turned around and hurried off to find her friends so she could say goodbye and get Chace back to her place.
Chapter 23: Gravity
The gravity of not having thought about work all weekend hit her full-force when Bettina reminded Whitney Monday morning that her team had a meeting with opposing counsel that afternoon. They were supposed to talk about the possibility of a settlement. Whitney and her team had finally talked their client into at least discussing a settlement with the other side.
Whitney’s stomach dropped through the floor. She hadn’t done as much prep over the weekend as she should have. She’d spent the weekend actually acting like she had a life. Most of it with Chace and a lot of it in bed. It’d been Valentine’s Day weekend, after all. Not that she expected that fact to matter to the partners. Or especially to Kim.
Bettina walked into the office behind Whitney. “She’s really on the warpath. I just wanted to warn you. I heard her in there with Andersen this morning and I think I heard the words ‘disciplinary action.’ ”
“Crap,” Whitney muttered. That was the last thing she needed.
“She’s a dragon, but you know there’s nothing you can do to get rid of her. So don’t let her get rid of you.” Bettina put a hand on one of her slim hips. “I couldn’t stand this place without you.”
“I’m trying not to,” Whitney said. Her heart sank when she spied a folder lying on top of her keyboard. She clasped her hand to her forehead. “I didn’t have you send anything to opposing counsel Friday afternoon did I?”
“No,” Bettina said.
“No, no, no,” Whitney moaned.
“Don’t panic.”
“Why should I? Except for the fact that my life is over?”
“I know your schedule back and forth, remember? I knew you probably meant to have me fax those over Friday. You spent most of Friday afternoon working on them, after all. So I faxed everything in that folder over to Todd before I left for the day. Then I put the folder back on your keyboard so you’d be sure to have it for your meeting today.”
Whitney sank into her chair, relief flooding over her. “Bettina, I owe you—my life, the world, just everything. Do you know you’re the best assistant in the world?”
“Yep.”
They laughed.
“I better go pre-conference with Kim.” She made a face.
Bettina made a sympathetic face. “She’s looking for you. That’s what I was trying to tell you earlier.”
“Great.” She tapped the folder on her desk. “No use putting it off, I guess.” She stood and dragged herself to the door. Bettina followed.
Whitney went to see Kim and got the tell-tale cold shoulder, but at least it wasn’t the worst it could possibly be. Kim wasn’t happy with her for several reasons that had to do with assignments that hadn’t even reached their due dates yet. The woman just wanted to rage at her. She accused Whitney of not being a team player. However, Kim left her as lead on the first round of settlement negotiations although Kim would be a close second-in-command. Nobody knew the case as well as Whitney, after all. Plus, Whitney had a knack for negotiating settlements that impressed even the partners. Even Kim begrudgingly acknowledged it.
At ten that morning they walked into the conference room where the negotiation was supposed to be taking place. Whitney felt like she was being walked to her execution even though it was just a negotiation. She’d been involved in several dozen during her time at the firm.
Their client, Skylar, arrived just after opposing counsel even though he was supposed to show up early so that they could have a brief conference before the negotiation started. Everyone expected that from him by that point, though. They would just have to talk after the meeting. Or they would have to ask opposing counsel for a break so they could have a side conference with Skylar if things got dicey. They had to work around this guy and his whims and on his schedule and terms. That was just the way it was with him.
Whitney and her colleagues referred to Skylar as their eccentric child billionaire client. That was what they called him when he wasn’t around, anyway. After skipping a couple years of high school and graduating college a year early, he’d started his own software company with a couple of his friends at the age of twenty. He was a tech genius, and he and his two friends had recently incorporated the Bevyx Corporation. They’d named it after a comic character they had created while in college together.
Bevyx was a freakishly tall alien with a bad fake tan who was good at everything he tried, except for school. The comic had apparently been a running gag and a hit in an e-zine they created in college, but had never made it much further than that, yet Bevyx lived on in the name of their giant software company.
It was rumored the Bevyx Corporation was going to grow up to be the biggest thing since Microsoft. And that given a few years, they would dwarf both Google and Apple. That was, if this lawsuit didn’t cripple them first.
They’d been accused of using a woman who worked for one of their rivals for the trade secrets she knew and then forcing her out of their fledgling business before incorporating it. Now, the disgruntled former employee was suing Bevyx and attempting to shut it down before it even got off the ground.
Skylar, their client, had dressed for the meeting in his usual jeans and T-shirt even though he knew it was an important business meeting. At least he’d finally taken their advice about not wearing jeans with holes and frayed threads to the firm. He wore suits to court. It was the best they were going to get, probably. Whitney smiled at the flip-flops on his feet. They reminded her of Chace.
Skylar had propped his Aviator sunglasses on top of his head. He wore his hair in a buzz cut and his face was pockmarked with acne scars. He kept twisting his chair from side to side as if sitting still was impossible for him. This guy made more money than her just by sitting in the chair at the table in the conference room.
The opposing counsel sat on the other side of the table with the plaintiff, Natalie. She was slim and wore rectangular-framed glasses. She wore a skirt suit and black tights. Her black hair was pulled back from her face in a ponytail.
Whitney didn’t doubt for a moment that a kid like Skylar, feeling entitled to everything he wanted, would sit back and let Natalie do all the work and then take all the credit for it. She knew his type. Brilliant yet oblivious to the real world because he didn’t have to live in it. But that didn’t matter. She had to be a zealous advocate for her client.
This case was making her feel for the first time in her life that she was doing something wrong by defending the supposed rights of the guy with the most money.
The opposing counsel was a two-person team from a plaintiff’s law firm. Whitney had spoken with the lead lawye
r, Todd, about the settlement over the phone. A short guy with sandy blond hair, dull brown eyes, and a neutral-colored suit, he easily faded into the background and seemed an odd choice for lead lawyer over his taller, flashier counterpoint. Until he started talking. The guy’s short man complex came across loud and clear when it came time for business, even if he could be quite pleasant otherwise.
Todd and Whitney shook hands. The rest of her team hung back. She could feel Kim’s eyes on her back, though.
“Thanks for coming over to talk with us,” Whitney said to Todd.
“Sure. We were happy to get your call. We want this thing to go away as quickly and painlessly as possible for both parties,” Todd said.
She nodded. “So do we. How was your weekend?”
People from both sides sat in the leather high-back chairs at the conference table. They opened the folders in front of them and began rifling through them. A few people started scratching out notes on yellow legal pads with ball point pens. Skylar was preoccupied with his smart phone. He didn’t seem too concerned about what was about to take place.
Todd smiled. “Oh, it was great, thank you. I spent it with my wife in the Poconos.”
“Oh, yeah?” Whitney opened the leather portfolio in front of her, smoothing her hand over the blank page of a fresh legal pad.
“Yeah. It’s gorgeous up there this time of year. How was yours?”
Kim cut into the conversation. “Sounds wonderful. But why don’t we get down to business? I’m sure everyone here has a busy schedule they need to get back to.” Kim sent Whitney daggers with her eyes.
“Yes. Of course.” Whitney swallowed hard and fought to keep a smile on her face as she turned to Todd, his co-counsel, and Natalie. “Have you had a chance to look over the documents that my assistant faxed to you?” Whitney could still feel Kim’s glare. “I have copies here as well.” She patted the stack of copies that the conscientious Bettina had made.
Holding Her Breath (Indigo) Page 18
