Page 37 of Destined To Fall

V: Get back to work. Ass.

J: I do have to go. I’ll talk to you later?

V: If you’re lucky.

J: With you, how could I not be?

V: Lame, Jer, even for you.

J: ;)

I shake my head and drop my cell on the seat beside me with a stupid grin on my face. I come back to my senses, and my smile dies instantly. Well, this is just dandy. I’m all worked up, and with no—hmm.

“Sorry, can you take me to the Peninsula instead, on Fifth?”

The driver nods and takes a right instead of a left up ahead. I’ll be a few hours early, but I have a feeling Lewis won’t mind in the least if I show up at his hotel instead of mine. I need toworkthis out of my system, and the hotshot attorney is just the ticket.

Ah, Lewis, Lewis, Lewis…What’s there to say about him? Not a hell of a lot. He’s your average, slightly balding, middle-aged man with more money than sense. Maybe that’s not entirely true. Lewis keeps himself fit—how he finds the time, I don’t know. He’s also ridiculously good at his job, having only lost a handful of cases in the seven years I’ve known him. Each time I’ve been at his service to work out the tension. It’s how he found me that first time, and how he became a regular. I was in LA with…God, what was his name? Matt. No, James? Some weirdo. Laura booked me for this crazy-ass job of being the arm candy to some no-name actor wanting to make an entrance.

“You don’t have to sleep with him if you don’t wanna.” She giggles.“He’s throwing down two large ones.”

“Tonotsleep with me? What, is he gay?Impotent? Asexual? Deranged and demented?”

“No. Like I’d set you up—”

“You have, and you would.”

“Whatever. Go make some easy money, party like a porn star, and enjoy an easy weekend.”

Famous last words. He was a total knob-knocker.Dyedmy hair crimson, cut it in a super-short, jagged-edged bob, and wore black leather spandex the whole time. I made more of an entrance than he did, but then, that was why he hired me. I also chafed in places I hadn’t known existed. Baby powder saves lives, people. Don’t forget that. I wished I’d remembered mine.

“Miss?”

“Huh?” I startle, lost in thought.“Sorry, what?”

“We’re here.”

“Oh, right.”

I hand over the fare and let myself out, waving off his offer to help. I scroll through my phone until I find the text from Laura with the room number and head for the elevators. Twenty-seventh floor. I should have guessed.

“You came with that asshole?” I turn my head to find a bemused face staring at me. The bleary eyes tell me he’s well past baked.

“Only because I was paid to.”

His eyes light up, and I chuckle.

“Yes.” I smile, answering his unspoken question.

“Well, I’ll be damned. Now it all makes sense.”

I smirk.“What doesn’t make sense is what you’re doing in a club like this, other than getting wasted. You don’t look like you’re in the rich-and-famous business.”

“I’m definitely in the rich business.” One side of his mouth curves up.“But I just lost my first three-million-dollar lawsuit.”

“Ouch.”And hello!

“So, my client”—he nods toward a tall, blond, beefy-looking guy by the bar—”thought this place would be a good idea.”

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