Appeal to the Heart

by David Horne

  God, he was really messed up. This was a reason he didn’t do one-night stands. They ended up being very messy.

  “Look,” Alex turned back, “if it makes you feel any better, I think your ex is mentally unstable. She needs therapy and medication to become relatively normal. There,” he threw up his hands, “I’ve broken the privilege of confidentiality. Want me to do it again?”

  “Save it.” Joe turned away. “Just leave me alone. We had sex, and it’s not going to be more than that.”

  Why did those words hurt him? Joe was surprised that it did. How could he have brought feelings into this? From the way he was acting, Alex had let his feelings take over, and it was making him look like a lovesick fool. Joe wasn’t going to let his emotions take over. He was going to leave and keep his distance from future meetings with Alex. Seeing as he would be standing at a different table next to Tracey, that would be easy to do; Joe didn’t want to be anywhere near Tracey.

  He was at his car when he was grabbed from behind. Joe was spun around and pressed up against his car. He tried to protest but was cut off by Alex grabbing his head and kissing him. Pinned against the car, Joe couldn’t move. But from the moment Alex kissed him, pressing his hips against Joe’s, all thoughts of keeping himself distant left his head. All Joe wanted to do was keep kissing him.

  He tasted really good. Even better than the night before. Joe wrapped his arms around Alex and pulled him closer. His arousal flared back to life and he rolled his hips against Alex’s. His erection throbbed against Joe’s thigh, and Alex groaned as he reached between them and cupped Joe’s cock.

  Were they really doing this in the parking garage? There were cameras. Someone could easily come by and see them. But, just for a moment, Joe didn’t want to think about that. He wanted to feel good in the arms of a man who made him feel good, even if he was in the wrong camp.

  Alex briefly broke the kiss, moving his hand away from Joe’s erection as he grabbed Joe’s head, his fingers sliding through Joe’s hair.

  “Look me in the eye and tell me last night didn’t mean something.” Alex whispered. “If you can do that, I’ll believe you. And I’ll leave you alone. I promise.”

  He said that after what just happened? Joe wasn’t sure whether to kiss him again or punch him. How could he say that he didn’t want Alex after what they just did?

  The bastard was manipulating him again. Joe wasn’t having it. Not again.

  Pushing Alex away, Joe took a swing. His fist caught Alex under the eye and had Alex stumbling back, tripping over his feet and falling onto the ground in a heap. For a moment, Joe wanted to go to him, but then he remembered what Alex had just done. He wasn’t going to fall for that.

  They needed to keep well away from each other. Or Alex might be tempted to do it again. Joe knew he wouldn’t be able to resist, and it would just make things worse.

  Fumbling with his car keys, Joe managed to get into his car and locked the doors. He turned on the engine and hesitated, glancing over at Alex. Alex was just sitting up, rubbing his cheek where Joe had punched him. He looked dazed.

  Joe looked away and put his foot on the gas, his car shooting out of its space. He was not going to wait around. Not anymore. Alex needed to know that they were done. It was not happening anymore.

  If that was the case, why did that sentiment leave a nasty taste in Joe’s mouth?

  Chapter Four

  Alex’s cheek was still smarting several hours later. He had tried to forget what had happened between him and Joe that morning, but it was practically impossible. Especially when he went to the bathroom and saw his face in the mirror. He had a very impressive bruise coming up under his eye, which everyone in the office and in court had noticed. Alex had to play it off as a former client sucker-punched him.

  Not exactly the response he wanted from Joe, but he probably deserved it.

  When Joe had said the one-night stand was a mistake, Alex had been very hurt. He thought it was a regrettable decision. They hadn’t been planning on anything beyond just having a few hours fun. Joe and Alex had sensed an instant attraction and decided to make the most of it. That was all.

  Except Alex had not expected to feel something so intense even hours later. Emotionally, he found himself wanting more. Joe was showing himself to be a good parent, and Alex was sure he would be a good partner. But that wouldn’t be shared with Alex, especially not now. Getting together with your ex-wife’s male lawyer was not likely going to go down well.

  Why not? It’s not anyone’s business, and no one needs to know that you two got together for a sweaty session.

  That’s the problem. People need to be told. I did a bad thing.

  Even though Alex hadn’t been aware at the time, he had still done a bad thing. He didn’t regret the sex, but he did regret the timing. If it had been a few months later, this might have worked a little better. Then again, a few months later and Joe wouldn’t have anything to do with him.

  No matter which way Alex looked at this, the situation was a mess. He was developing feelings for a man who was the opposing party, and from what he could tell, Joe had the same feelings in return. But he was doing his best to hide them. He was ashamed of it.

  From what he felt when they were kissing, Alex knew that Joe wouldn’t be able to hide his feelings from him. They both knew this mutual attraction was going to make it a mess. And it told him that if they ended up in a situation where they could get into bed together, both of them would take it.

  They were stuck, and neither of them liked it.

  Alex tried to keep himself busy for the rest of the day, which was easy enough. He had meetings with other clients in the morning, while the afternoon was spent in court dealing with cases that went from completely reasonable to downright ridiculous on both sides. It was enough to give Alex a headache, and he was often able to block it out. But after what happened and his encounter with Joe, Alex wasn’t able to let all of the insults thrown his way and the abuse spat at each party wash over him. He was close to snapping, and he almost did at the last client. She had been arguing about the pettiest of things while trying to get her two girls away from her ex because he had no idea how to raise girls simply because he was a man. She had twisted it all to make it sound like her ex touched little girls. Alex knew it was bullshit the moment he saw it and he had tried to keep it out of court as it wasn’t relevant. But she would just not shut up.

  Alex had had to tell her, rather sharply, that he would not tolerate her shouting out as she did and if she tried that again she would need to find another lawyer because he would not deal with her dramatics. That had silenced her long enough for Alex to walk away before she could respond.

  It could have gone a bit better - Alex liked to be firmer with his diplomacy - but he didn’t have the patience for it anymore. Everything between him and Joe was affecting his work, and people were beginning to notice. Mary had been giving him odd looks throughout the morning or when they stopped to briefly chat on the way to and from meetings, but she didn’t say anything. If it had been one of the other senior partners, they would have called him up on it. Alex was glad he didn’t have to interact with them unless he absolutely had to. Being a junior partner, he was a little lower down the ladder and mostly left to his own devices. But if his behavior got back to them, they would certainly take notice.

  Alex needed to do something about this, but he wasn’t sure what. He did know one thing for certain; he needed to get away from this case as much as possible. Take himself out of the equation. Then maybe he would be able to talk to Joe and focus on them without anything else getting in the way. The more Alex turned it over in his head, the more he knew that this attraction could not be ignored. He wanted to find out how far it would go, if Joe was agreeable.

  From the way Joe had been earlier, he wanted the same. He just didn’t want it to be the case.

  As soon as his final appearance in court was over, Alex headed through the building to Judge Harvey’s office. He needed s
ome advice, and maybe to tell Craig that he wouldn’t be able to do his job properly. Craig knew him, and there was a mutual respect for each other. Craig would be surprised at Alex’s actions, but he would be able to help Alex figure out what he needed to do next.

  Alex had a general idea, but he wasn’t sure exactly how to go about it without upsetting everyone in the process.

  Craig’s personal assistant was in the outer office, her dark hair streaked with blue and red and tied up in a messy bun on her head. She looked up and grinned as Alex came in.

  “Hey, Alex.”

  “Hey, Zoe.” Alex gestured at her hair. “Do you go to the same salon as Mary Gregg?”

  Zoe laughed.

  “I’m sure we both had a great stylist.”

  “You, maybe. I’m still trying to figure out with Mary.”

  “You’d better not let her hear you say that.” Zoe glanced toward the closed door beyond her desk. “If you want to talk to Uncle Craig, he’s not taking any visitors at the moment. This is his time to wind down after court.”

  “I get that, but this is important.” Alex took a deep breath. He didn’t like begging, but this was important. “I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important, Zoe. You know that.”

  Zoe hesitated, gnawing at her lower lip. Then she sighed and nodded, heading toward the door.

  “Fine. I’ll ask. I just hope that they’re not naked. I don’t want to get an eyeful.”

  “What?”

  Then Alex realized how Craig used his wind-down time. With Alistair. Oh, God, they actually did it at work?

  Alex was in two minds to leave and give Craig a call at home later on, but then Zoe was already leaving the room, giving Alex an approving nod.

  “You’re in luck. Uncle Craig’s alone right now. You can go in, providing you don’t take up too much of his time.”

  That was something. Alex didn’t really want to deal with a couple of half-naked men. Especially when one of them was the judge. He stepped around Zoe and went in, finding Craig coming around his desk, an easy smile on his face. Alex couldn’t help but smile back. When he wasn’t in the courtroom at his bench, Craig was one of the most amiable people Alex knew. And the most level-headed. When he was a lawyer and Alex was just starting right out of law school, he was the person Alex went to for advice. Craig never seemed to mind. Even now when he was meant to be presiding over pretty much all of Alex’s case, he offered to help out when he could, providing he wasn’t put in a difficult position.

  If Alex kept on with this case, he would be putting himself in a difficult position.

  “Alex.”

  “Craig.” Alex shook hands with his friend. “Thanks for seeing me. I know you don’t like meetings right after court…”

  “Well, when you want a meeting out of the blue, I know it has to be important.” Craig gestured toward the couch. “You’re not one to go outside the rules.”

  “Yeah. Outside the rules.” Alex grunted. He slumped onto the couch and buried his head in his hands. “I used to obey the rules.”

  “What does that mean?”

  Alex hadn’t given a thought about how to go about the conversation. He just knew what he needed to get out but getting to that point was something else. Alex had no idea how to broach it. Not even to his friend.

  Craig was not going to be impressed at all.

  “Alex?” Craig leaned against the desk and folded his arms. “What’s going on?”

  Alex groaned and lowered his hands. He still couldn’t look up at Craig.

  “God, this is embarrassing.” He muttered. Aloud: “I need to recuse myself.”

  Silence. Alex risked a glance up, and saw Craig looking at him in genuine bewilderment. Alex knew why; he had never recused himself from anything. No matter what, he ploughed through.

  “I... you... wow.” Craig shook himself and frowned. “Why do you need to recuse yourself? What’s happened to you?”

  Here it came. Alex took a deep breath.

  “I had a one-night stand, Craig.”

  “Okay.” Craig still looked confused. “Unless you had an affair with your client…”

  “I’m gay, Craig. You know I don’t sleep with women.”

  “Just checking. But if you didn’t sleep with your client…”

  “I slept with her ex-husband.” Alex blurted out. “Stephen Roney’s client.”

  Craig was the family court judge for their custody case. He knew exactly who was on which side. And from the look dawning on his face, he knew a lot quicker than Alex was intending.

  “Ah, I see.” Craig’s eyebrows were almost at his hairline. “You slept with the opposing counsel’s client. The defendant.”

  “I did.” That confession didn’t make Alex feel any better. If anything, they made him feel worse. Especially considering who he had just confessed it to. Unable to sit still, Alex got up and began to pace. “I don’t know if that is a conflict of interest, but it’s certainly not good practice.”

  “I won’t argue with that.” Craig grunted.

  Alex turned to him. He had never seen his mentor look so disappointed in him. Alex cringed.

  “Please believe me, Craig, when I say I had no idea who Joe Swarbrick was when we met. We were in a bar, things got hot and heavy really quickly…”

  “Save it.” Craig held up a hand. “It’s best that I don’t know the details. Both for the case and for my own sanity.”

  Alex huffed.

  “I wasn’t going to give you the intimate details, just that it went deeper than I expected.”

  “I get that, but I still don’t want to know.” Craig lowered his hand and crossed his arms again. Now he didn’t look happy. “Does Mr. Roney know about this?”

  “Unless Joe’s told him, no.”

  Alex doubted that Joe had said anything. He was not willing to admit to Alex that he wanted more, never mind telling his lawyer what he did with the opposing counsel the night before. Joe would certainly keep quiet about it. And keep his distance.

  Alex resisted the urge to touch his cheek. His eye was still throbbing from the punch. Craig glanced at the bruise and gave him a bemused look, but he didn’t say anything.

  “And your client doesn’t know that her ex sleeps with men?”

  “As far as I’m aware, she has no idea that her ex-husband is bisexual. And she certainly would have brought it up if she knew about it.”

  Tracey certainly would. She would pounce on it as another reason why her ex-husband couldn’t be a good father and legal guardian to their children. Anything out of the ordinary, and Tracey would say it wasn’t right, that Joe was a dangerous person to be around for anyone, especially kids. Alex knew that would be laughed out of court, but Joe would be humiliated if Tracey brought it up. It was not fair on him to be treated in such a way.

  You’re representing the ex-wife and you’re sympathizing with opposing counsel? Some lawyer you are.

  “Fuck, Craig!”

  “I’d rather not. Alistair gets jealous.”

  Alex scowled.

  “Bastard.”

  He went back to the couch and kicked it hard enough to make it move and hit the wall.

  “Hey, careful!” Craig pushed to his feet. “We may be friends, Alex, but I do object to you kicking my furniture around.”

  “It’s been a while since you did any objecting.” Alex quipped. He slumped onto the couch again, leaning back to stare up at the ceiling. “This is a fucking mess, Craig. I can do my job, but I can’t do it when I’ve compromised my client’s case. I’m already on Stephen’s side about things, yet my client refuses to be reasonable about it at all. Now Joe thinks I slept with him to get the dirt on his side of the case to use for my advantage.”

  Hearing that from Joe had been painful. He might as well have shoved a knife into his gut. That was not fair. Alex had done a few things in his time, but he had never seduced someone so he could get information. That was definitely not his style. If he had known Joe was the defendant, Alex would ha
ve kept away.

  He hadn’t, genuinely believing this was a genuine attraction that needed to be explored for some fun. Now Alex was stuck between doing his job and ignoring his feelings for someone who would be in the same room, or doing something about it.

  He loved his job, but after last night…

  “Look, Alex,” Craig rubbed his eyes with a heavy sigh, “I know what you’re like. That’s not your style. But your judgement did go out the window last night.”

  “I just wanted some no-strings attached fun.” Alex flung his hands up. “I can’t believe the one time I try to do something out of character I end up getting myself into more trouble.”

  “Well, you do have a habit of doing that. It’s Murphy’s Law.”

  “Fuck Murphy’s Law.” Alex grumbled. He was definitely asking for a name and social security number next time. If there was a next time. He was off one-night stands now. Alex lifted his head and looked at Craig.

  “I need to step back from this. Would I be permitted to switch Ms. Banfield over to one of my associates?”

  “You know you can. Same law practice. And from what I hear, I doubt Ms. Banfield would be able to find legal counsel by Monday if you kick her now.”

  Which meant delaying it until Ms. Banfield had a lawyer, and it would drag out more for Joe. Alex didn’t want that. He frowned.

  “Hang on, how did you know about Ms. Banfield’s track record?”

  Craig grinned.

  “I may be a judge now, but things do filter back to me. I have friends everywhere, so knowing that you gave yourself a handful with Ms. Banfield...I was surprised you guys didn’t drop her as soon as you realized.”

  “Tempted.” Alex rubbed the back of his neck. “But we thought we could keep her on an even keel. We’ve dealt with crazy clients before.”

  “Not like Tracey Banfield.”

  He did have a point. Although Alex was trying to get rid of her for another reason. If Tracey did manage to find out what Alex did with her ex, all hell would break loose. And Alex would be in the firing line instead.