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“I thought it was insane as well, which is why I asked that very question. They said it was because of the framework of the book pitch.”
“Which is what?” I hold up my hands in a stop sign fashion. “You don’t have to tell me.”
“Of course I do. I’m wearing your T-shirt in your house, and I’m not writing a book on this trial anyway. Nor have I signed any confidentiality agreement. The angle will be ‘what the jury wasn’t allowed to know.’ They wanted me because it would be more scandalous if it was written by someone skeptical about the guilt of the accused.”
My brow furrows. “What the jury didn’t know? What the defense attorney didn’t know, apparently. I have no idea what that’s about. Do you?”
“No. In hindsight, I wish I would have asked while I was with him. Dan is just such a jerk that I couldn’t get past hello and goodbye. But I can find out from my agent.”
I study her a moment. “I heard you talking with your agent. Of course I heard you, since I was sitting in front of you. I don’t want you to turn down this book deal because of me.”
She doesn’t immediately respond, her expression unreadable, as if she’s sitting in front of a jury, not me. “Right,” she says. “I should go.” She twists around and starts to get up.
I catch her arm and close the space between us, turning her to face me, my legs trapping hers. “I was not implying that we are not important. You have to know that.”
“One and done, Reese. I get it. We agreed. And don’t worry. I’m not making life decisions based on getting naked with you.”
“We didn’t agree on one and done.”
“We said—”
“You said, sweetheart. Not me. I simply confirmed your position, but never stated mine. And if I have my way, one night is the beginning and not the end. And why would you say no to that book deal?”
“My God,” she says dramatically. “You’re such an attorney. You just threw a snowball at me and then hit me with a loaded question while I’m trying to recover.”
“Recover with me this weekend. And yes. I am an attorney. I’m curious as to why the word attorney is an insult to you, especially since you are one as well.”
“Because every challenge in my life that spiraled to a place I didn’t intend involved that profession.” She looks away. “And I don’t know why I even told you that.”
“I’m glad you did,” I say, and, having no intention of letting her run or even look away, I take her down on the couch with me. Settling her on her back and me on my side, I rest on my elbow, my leg between her legs. “Tell me more about these challenges,” I urge, my hand under her T-shirt, on her belly.
“I can’t think when your hand is under your shirt on my body.”
“I’ll provide leading questions,” I say. “It’s the only time I can get away with it. I assume at some point you wanted to be an attorney, since you graduated from one of the toughest schools in the country?”
“I didn’t want to go to law school at all,” she says, rotating to her side to face me and grabbing a pillow to rest under her head. “It was expected. I know you know who my father is, and I have two brothers who are also corporate attorneys. I also have a third brother, an engineer, who went to Texas to go to law school, and changed majors without telling our father.”
“How angry was your father?”
“He was a hurricane. I stayed in law school.”
“But went your own direction. Is that why you chose criminal law? Because your father and brothers are corporate?”
“Yes and no. I mean, yes, I wanted and even needed my own identity, which makes another field of law logical. But I also wanted to make a difference, which is how I ended up at the DA’s office with Lauren, but you know what I found out. Politics rules, not justice. You’re doing more than I was in public service, and you’re getting paid.”
“You could go into private practice.”
“I don’t need a lot of money. If that’s what motivated me, I’d be working for my father like my two brothers, raking in five hundred thousand a year. And I like what I’m doing now. I still get the high of the courtroom energy and the challenge of solving each case. And I’m actually able to bring attention to the right and wrong in a courtroom in the justice system.”
“How does your family feel about your new career?”
“Daniel is supportive. He’s the brother that started the hurricane. He takes pictures with my book every time he sees it in stores and tells everyone that his big sister is a New York Times bestselling author. He’s proud of me and happy for me. My older brothers think I’m throwing away a career.”
“And your father?”
“Paid for law school for nothing.”
It’s the answer I expect, and I shift gears, wondering who else in her life has affected her decisions. “Why haven’t you ever been married?”
