Page 46 of Friends With Benefits

“Want to talk about it?”

He nodded and sat down on a stool at her counter. The words came pouring out, and he told her about Bob Sinclair and the frustration he’d felt about that. Kerri looked at him sadly, knowing how that must have affected him, still listening as he went on to talk more about other cases and all the aggravation he’d been experiencing lately with delays in the court system, ridiculous, selfish clients and greedy counsel.

Something expanded inside Kerri, warm and soft. Mitch was her best friend and she’d never known this stuff had been bothering him so much. It said so much about him.

She capped bottles and cleaned up as she listened to him talk, and talk some more, occasionally interjecting questions.

“So what is this collaborative law you mentioned?” she asked, putting the big pot into her sink.

“It’s a new alternative to dispute resolution in California. It’s a third resource, after litigation and mediation. Like mediation, it uses non-adversarial techniques.” He paused. “After this one case a while back, I felt like shit. I was just doing what the client wanted but afterward I knew I couldn’t keep doing that kind of thing forever. So I started trying some mediation. I was hoping it might motivate me, give me the satisfaction I wasn’t getting from those long court battles.”

“And collaborative law?”

“It’s something new I’m trying.” He shrugged. “It’s great, but the lawyer on the other side has to be on board with that. With collaborative law, each spouse hires their own collaborative lawyer, and we conduct settlement negotiations with them in four-way meetings. The lawyers act as advisors to the clients instead of taking charge of the process. If they can’t reach agreement, the lawyers have to both withdraw, and neither of them or any other members of their firms can represent the couple in divorce litigation.”

“You’re kidding,” she said slowly, closing up packages of fragrant but strange-looking herbs. “So if you don’t agree, you don’t get the case, and neither does anybody else in your firm.”

He nodded. “It means all four participants have to be committed to reaching a reasonable settlement.”

“But that sounds risky. Isn’t litigation where the big bucks are? How did you get your firm to agree to that?”

“I have a decent track record. I suggested we try it and see how it goes. I have a pretty good idea which ones we can settle and which ones we can’t.”

She gazed at him for a long moment, then looked away. “You shouldn’t do work that is making you unhappy,” she told him. “It’s as simple as that, Mitch. You should do what makes you happy.”

He tipped his head to one side. “Huh. Yeah. I guess.”

“So this collaborative law…why don’t you pursue that more? It sounds like something that would be better for you…and for everybody.” She hesitated. “Is the money an issue? I would think it would be for your firm.”

He considered that. “Not for me. Money’s nice but it’s just money. But yeah, for the firm, money can be an issue.” He shrugged. “Like I said, they trust my judgment and they’re willing to take a chance on me.”

“Then what’s the problem? If it’s going to be less stressful and give you more satisfaction, that’s what you should do.”

“Yeah. You’re right.” He looked at her and there was something warm and appreciative in his dark eyes. “Thanks, Kerri.”

She leaned across the counter to plant a kiss on his surprised mouth.

“I take back every lawyer joke I’ve ever said,” she told him, and dammit, her voice choked up. He kissed her back, hard.

“You know, you should have told me about this sooner. Keeping stuff bottled up inside you isn’t healthy. It knocks your chakras out of alignment.”

He laughed. “You’ve been a little preoccupied lately.”

“I’m sorry, Mitch.” She nibbled her bottom lip. “You should know better than anyone, if I start acting a little princessy just give me a smack back to reality.”

“Sweetheart, your reality is just a little different than everyone else’s.” His smile held so much affection she didn’t take offence. “I’ve wanted to talk to you about it. Actually last night, I really wanted to talk to you about it. I guess that’s why I was so pissed about Liam being there.”

She nodded. “I kind of had the feeling you weren’t too happy about that.” She waited, but he said nothing more.

“Wanna order some pizza?” he asked.

“Sure.”

He picked up the phone and ordered pizza while she finished cleaning up her laboratory-slash-kitchen.

“Next weekend, Miguel and Hailey have booked rooms for the wedding party so we can stay at the hotel that night,” he told her as they ate.

She nodded and caught a piece of drippy, stringy cheese. “I know. Isn’t that great?”

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