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He huffed a breath of laughter and tried not to think about the way her arms were looped around his neck, bringing that delectable body even more flush against him. “So what’s the prize?”
“We’re going to start over. You don’t scout for a major television network, you never came to my office. I’ve just met you and learned that you’re from New Mexico, you love your family, and you play the trumpet and want kids to enjoy music the way you do.”
“You left out the fifth thing.” What was it his dad used to say? In for a pe
She shrugged, and flashed that enchanting triangular smile. “Your body’s very honest, too,” she said. “I like that in a man.”
JENNA HAMILTON read the brief one more time in the cab: Ski
And she wasn’t sure she could do it.
No, no. Scratch that. She’d learn as she went, and get the best advice she could find. She’d already read every scrap of case law in the online library-and she’d branch out to libraries in other states if that’s what it took to win this case.
As the station’s corporate lawyer, and a junior lawyer at Andersen Nadeau who had her eye on a partnership some day, this was her chance to shine. Eve and the others expected her to pull it off, and she wouldn’t disappoint them if she could possibly help it.
The cab pulled up outside the offices of Kregel, Fitch and Devine, which had once been a brick warehouse but was now part of the trendy Decatur district. She paid the driver and took comfort in the knowledge that she knew the details of Liza Ski
When the receptionist caught sight of it a moment later, she straightened and a
A tall man crossed the room, his hand outstretched.
Nice suit, was her first thought.
Nice hands, was her second, as Kevin Wade shook hers.
“Thanks for coming, Ms. Hamilton,” he said, his voice a smooth bass that tickled something deep inside her. “My client and I appreciate your willingness to be flexible.”
His café-au-lait skin was just a shade lighter than hers, and his brown eyes held a male appreciation that made her body sit up and take notice. No, that wasn’t it. Her spine was straight to give the impression of control, not because it would throw her breasts into prominence. Nuh-uh.
“We might be at this for a while,” she replied, “so please call me Je
“And I’m Kevin to my friends.”
She didn’t bother to point out that friends was the last thing they were-or were likely to become. Too bad. But with this much money at stake, it was far more likely they’d wind up on either side of a courtroom, each doing their best to grind the other into defeat.
Instead of seating himself in the power position behind the desk, he waved her over to an area by the window that contained a couple of couches facing each other across a low, square coffee table. Some case law and several manila folders already lay on it, as though he’d been doing the same thing she had in the cab.
As they went through the points of Liza Ski
She reined in her errant thoughts with a stern hand. “Kevin, I’m afraid that’s not going to be acceptable to my clients,” she said after he reiterated Liza Ski
“They were friends,” he reminded her. “Would you make your friends sign something before you gave them tickets, say, for a birthday gift?”
“This wasn’t a gift,” she said. “They all played the same number each week and they all went in on it together-except for Ms. Ski
“It can’t be groundless if there was a verbal agreement,” he pointed out. “She may not have told them she was leaving town, but she never told them she was leaving the group.”
“Regardless of whether she told them or not, I think her departure managed to state it pretty effectively.”
“But metaphors don’t stand up in court.”
He smiled at her, and Je
“The members had a verbal agreement, and Ms. Ski
“They won after her monetary contributions ran out,” she reminded him, pointing to the paragraph that countered his in the brief she’d filed that week. “My clients may have played what she’s calling ‘her’ number out of a sense of friendship, but in practical terms, she herself was not a party to the win. She can’t own a number.”
“The fact remains that they threw money in the pot in her name, playing the number she played consistently-as you pointed out-over a period of time. She was a virtual member of the group, whether she was there physically or not, and deserves a share of the wi
Of course she had. She’d read every single piece of case law co
He leaned back and extended an arm along the top of the couch, for all the world as if he were giving her an invitation to join him.
Which was crazy. Focus, girl.
“Bradley v. Tillman, Morton and Ramirez, on the other hand, sets a precedent for our case.” She riffled papers until she found the one she wanted. “It was proved conclusively that unless all the group members agree in writing that they’re going to play their numbers together, the money can’t be distributed to anyone else.”
“Mr. Bradley, unfortunately, was a resident of another state that doesn’t allow lotteries,” Kevin said. “There wasn’t much the judge could do about that one.”
Okay, so she just hadn’t found a precedent that applied point for point to their case, but she would. Just give her time.
“So where does that leave us?” Je