The Home Court Advantage
Page 34
At one point I smacked into Drew who caught me in his arms and then asked me if it was good for me, earning him a glare from Braden. Jess jumped up to hit the ball and wound up on top of Cameron who was also going for it. It was rather humorous watching them try to extricate their slippery limbs from each other while laughing their asses off. I had a feeling that Cameron would be going for something else very soon. He seemed to be enjoying the extrication process immensely.
Then Lily jumped back quickly and crashed into Adam who instinctively put his arms around her to catch her, and after a tense moment they retreated to opposite sides of the pool like oil and water. Yeah, that one was just a matter of time too. I hoped that they both survived. I had a feeling that it would soon just be Mark and Drew, with some scantily clad club girls, the Phillies, a case of Bud and a box of Trojans.
Later we sat and dried out in lounge chairs, listening to music while Braden and Drew brought out cold beer for everyone. The male majority voted for classic rock and so we were listening to the Rolling Stones. Braden had put out a soft towel especially for Bruno next to his water bowl and he was blissfully napping in the shade. This was good, very good. No crazy shoplifters or elderly potheads or naked drunk drivers, just my good friends, my beautiful Braden and my dog.
“So, Lily, why won’t you tell us your pen name?” Mark asked with a cute smile.
“Because I don’t think you’re true fans of the genre,” she answered.
“Fans of romance novels or fans of real erotica?” Adam asked, giving her an intense look that seemed to hit her like a wave of heat.
“She’s not talking about p**n , Adam,” Jess said, rolling her eyes.
“Did I say p**n ? I was just asking her if she was referring to novels by Nora Roberts or novels by Nabokov.” He took a swig of his beer. He could even manage to look cocky sitting in a lounge chair. He was like the King of Swagger.
“Adam’s a big Nora Roberts fan,” Mark deadpanned which made Braden and Cam laugh out loud. Adam glared at them malevolently.
“She’s obviously embarrassed by her own writing. Must be some great works of literature that she’s produced,” Adam said.
With that Lily turned to him with her eyes blazing. “You think I’m embarrassed just because I have a pen name? Has it ever occurred to you that a single woman living alone who happens to write erotic books may want to protect her privacy? Plenty of novelists much greater than me have had pen names. In fact, V. Sirin was the pen name of ….”
“Vladimir Nabokov,” Adam finished for her. “I’m not illiterate, you know. In fact, I majored in English, for your information.” He was still looking at Lily as he got up and headed for the house. “I’m going to take a nap before dinner,” he added and shot her a backward glance that I could have sworn held an invitation. I saw her let out a deep breath, put her head back and close her eyes.
“Is there something going on between you and Adam?” Drew asked her suggestively.
“Yeah, an epic battle,” she answered. She went in herself a few minutes later, though, and I wondered if she might be taking him up on that invitation.
Eventually the rest of us decided to go in to shower and get out of the sun. When I went up to our room, for a second I thought I heard quiet voices around the corner, but whoever it was stopped talking when I made it to the top of the stairs. Braden had gone to check with Theresa and he let everyone know that dinner would be at six. It was four at that point so we settled in to wash off and change our clothes.
“I’m looking forward to hearing all of the different kinds of music tonight,” I said, laying down on the bed and stretching out to pet Bruno who was lying on his back asking for a belly rub again. So far Bruno was enjoying this weekend immensely.
“Yeah, there are a couple of performers in particular I’d like to check out,” Braden said, joining me. “There’s a violinist I want to see playing later and there’s a blues group playing that you would probably like.”
“Sounds good.” I smiled. Bruno flipped back over and went to nuzzle Braden’s hand. I didn’t blame him. Braden had talented hands. I wondered if that would work for me.
“Then we’ll come home and check out the Jacuzzi when all of them turn in.”
“Mmm.” I sighed. “That sounds very good.” We were lying on our sides with our heads propped on one hand facing each other and he looked deeply into my eyes.
“Don’t worry about anything, Gabrielle. It’ll be okay.”
“I won’t worry if you’ll stop worrying about me so much at work.”
“I’ve been trying to think of a plan for us like you said. The thought of you being locked in a cell with a killer scares the hell out of me. I just wish you didn’t have to do that.”
“But it’s part of my job and not all of my clients are killers or naked drunk drivers, Braden. I help homeless people who get busted for trying to keep warm. I help poor single mothers busted for stealing diapers. That means something to me. I was so lucky to be born into a happy and wealthy family. This way I feel like I’m giving something back in a very real way.”
“I feel the same way when I help an elderly person who got ripped off in some scam or some guy who got beaten up just for trying to walk to work in a bad neighborhood. That’s one of the reasons I fell in love with you so quickly. Because I saw that inside you and I recognized it.”
“So, we both want to make a difference. What else can we do besides what we’re doing?”
“Like I said, I’ve been giving it some thought. We both have money of our own and together we have a lot of money. Maybe we should start our own non-profit and you and I could run it. We could work together. We could help people who really needed us to defend them but we could choose the cases we thought were most important and that we wanted to handle. We wouldn’t represent anyone violent.”
“That’s not a bad idea! You would be willing to do defense work?”
“If it were a just cause – like a case where we thought an innocent person was being prosecuted. Or even if maybe it were just a poor homeless person busted for trying to keep warm – like your friend Stan.”
“You knew that he had been one of my clients?”
“Yeah, I recognized him. And I also recognized the waitress at the kabob place too. I’m glad to see she’s got a job now. I hope her baby’s okay.”
Then Lily jumped back quickly and crashed into Adam who instinctively put his arms around her to catch her, and after a tense moment they retreated to opposite sides of the pool like oil and water. Yeah, that one was just a matter of time too. I hoped that they both survived. I had a feeling that it would soon just be Mark and Drew, with some scantily clad club girls, the Phillies, a case of Bud and a box of Trojans.
Later we sat and dried out in lounge chairs, listening to music while Braden and Drew brought out cold beer for everyone. The male majority voted for classic rock and so we were listening to the Rolling Stones. Braden had put out a soft towel especially for Bruno next to his water bowl and he was blissfully napping in the shade. This was good, very good. No crazy shoplifters or elderly potheads or naked drunk drivers, just my good friends, my beautiful Braden and my dog.
“So, Lily, why won’t you tell us your pen name?” Mark asked with a cute smile.
“Because I don’t think you’re true fans of the genre,” she answered.
“Fans of romance novels or fans of real erotica?” Adam asked, giving her an intense look that seemed to hit her like a wave of heat.
“She’s not talking about p**n , Adam,” Jess said, rolling her eyes.
“Did I say p**n ? I was just asking her if she was referring to novels by Nora Roberts or novels by Nabokov.” He took a swig of his beer. He could even manage to look cocky sitting in a lounge chair. He was like the King of Swagger.
“Adam’s a big Nora Roberts fan,” Mark deadpanned which made Braden and Cam laugh out loud. Adam glared at them malevolently.
“She’s obviously embarrassed by her own writing. Must be some great works of literature that she’s produced,” Adam said.
With that Lily turned to him with her eyes blazing. “You think I’m embarrassed just because I have a pen name? Has it ever occurred to you that a single woman living alone who happens to write erotic books may want to protect her privacy? Plenty of novelists much greater than me have had pen names. In fact, V. Sirin was the pen name of ….”
“Vladimir Nabokov,” Adam finished for her. “I’m not illiterate, you know. In fact, I majored in English, for your information.” He was still looking at Lily as he got up and headed for the house. “I’m going to take a nap before dinner,” he added and shot her a backward glance that I could have sworn held an invitation. I saw her let out a deep breath, put her head back and close her eyes.
“Is there something going on between you and Adam?” Drew asked her suggestively.
“Yeah, an epic battle,” she answered. She went in herself a few minutes later, though, and I wondered if she might be taking him up on that invitation.
Eventually the rest of us decided to go in to shower and get out of the sun. When I went up to our room, for a second I thought I heard quiet voices around the corner, but whoever it was stopped talking when I made it to the top of the stairs. Braden had gone to check with Theresa and he let everyone know that dinner would be at six. It was four at that point so we settled in to wash off and change our clothes.
“I’m looking forward to hearing all of the different kinds of music tonight,” I said, laying down on the bed and stretching out to pet Bruno who was lying on his back asking for a belly rub again. So far Bruno was enjoying this weekend immensely.
“Yeah, there are a couple of performers in particular I’d like to check out,” Braden said, joining me. “There’s a violinist I want to see playing later and there’s a blues group playing that you would probably like.”
“Sounds good.” I smiled. Bruno flipped back over and went to nuzzle Braden’s hand. I didn’t blame him. Braden had talented hands. I wondered if that would work for me.
“Then we’ll come home and check out the Jacuzzi when all of them turn in.”
“Mmm.” I sighed. “That sounds very good.” We were lying on our sides with our heads propped on one hand facing each other and he looked deeply into my eyes.
“Don’t worry about anything, Gabrielle. It’ll be okay.”
“I won’t worry if you’ll stop worrying about me so much at work.”
“I’ve been trying to think of a plan for us like you said. The thought of you being locked in a cell with a killer scares the hell out of me. I just wish you didn’t have to do that.”
“But it’s part of my job and not all of my clients are killers or naked drunk drivers, Braden. I help homeless people who get busted for trying to keep warm. I help poor single mothers busted for stealing diapers. That means something to me. I was so lucky to be born into a happy and wealthy family. This way I feel like I’m giving something back in a very real way.”
“I feel the same way when I help an elderly person who got ripped off in some scam or some guy who got beaten up just for trying to walk to work in a bad neighborhood. That’s one of the reasons I fell in love with you so quickly. Because I saw that inside you and I recognized it.”
“So, we both want to make a difference. What else can we do besides what we’re doing?”
“Like I said, I’ve been giving it some thought. We both have money of our own and together we have a lot of money. Maybe we should start our own non-profit and you and I could run it. We could work together. We could help people who really needed us to defend them but we could choose the cases we thought were most important and that we wanted to handle. We wouldn’t represent anyone violent.”
“That’s not a bad idea! You would be willing to do defense work?”
“If it were a just cause – like a case where we thought an innocent person was being prosecuted. Or even if maybe it were just a poor homeless person busted for trying to keep warm – like your friend Stan.”
“You knew that he had been one of my clients?”
“Yeah, I recognized him. And I also recognized the waitress at the kabob place too. I’m glad to see she’s got a job now. I hope her baby’s okay.”
