Page 96 of Who's Your Daddy
“Company policy which was written by a major arse.”
“At least speak English when you’re being an ass,” Brian mutters.
“I am speaking English you big”—I scramble for words—“sod of a man.”
He coughs out a laugh. “Is that an insult?”
“Oh my God, you two,” the beautiful woman still locked to my side huffs and once again tries to push me away.
I shake my head and pull her closer. “No. He owes you an apology and a promise.”
“Oh, now I’ve got to make a promise too?” Brian grouses.
“Yes. Lola is the best paralegal we’ve ever had.”
Brian nods, mouth pressed in a straight line. “I agree.”
“And she’s not at risk of losing her job.” He sucks in a breath, but before he can respond, I hold up a hand and go on. “No matter who she dates.”
With his hands on his hips, he shoots me a glare. “Obviously, but?—”
“No buts. Do you want me to handle this hearing?”
He rolls his neck and stares up at the ceiling. For a moment, he remains like that. Eventually, though, he lets out a heavy sigh. “Yes, Cal, I want you to handle this hearing.”
“Then tell her.”
Lola’s face has gone pale, and she looks like she wants to sink into the floor.
Brian cocks his head to the side, ready to give her shit, I’m sure. But as he takes her in, he straightens, his expression sobering.
Good, he should feel like shite for making her feel anything but good about herself.
“Your job is safe, Lola.” His words are measured, genuine. “No matter what. I’ll fire him before I’d ever fire you.”
“Much better.” I turn to Lola. “Isn’t it, darling?”
Though she shakes her head, she breaks into a light laugh. “You’re insane, you know that?”
“I do.” Cuffing her neck, I pull her in and kiss her softly. For a moment, I soak in just being able to share the same breath. “We’re not done with the conversation from before.” I press one last kiss againsther lips, then pull her out of the cupboard. As I stroll past my brother’s office, I tap out a little rhythm on the doorframe. “Sully, you’re on babysitting duty until I get home.”
It’s after eight before I cross the state line into New Jersey. The judge wasn’t available until after four, and after an hour in chambers, I spent another hour on the phone with Brian and our client, assuring him that all would be well and that his son would be returned at the end of the week. It took another two hours in traffic to get this far.
If I wasn’t so hopped up on thoughts of Lola, I’d be concerned I might fall asleep at the wheel.
This side of family law is rough. I’ll take working on the money side any day. If I lose, then my client is pissed. But how the hell does Brian cope with the possibility of getting it wrong when there’s a kid at stake?
And what happens when both parents’ arguments are legitimate? Not many people set out to be bad parents. But sometimes thehowis what gets in the way of it all.
How do we raise this child? How can we best support the child? How can that parent possibly love this child more than I can? I’m the one who should be making decisions because I know my child best.
It’s utterly exhausting. Today’s events absolutely reaffirmed my choice to work on cases that don’t involve children.
How the hell do Lola and Brian do it? There’s no bloody way I could fight this kind of battle day in and day out.
I suppose Brian’s surly attitude makes a little more sense now. If this is the kind of rubbish he’s always working on, it’s no wonder he’s in a perpetual bad mood. It’s also easy to understand why the bloke has no faith that I’m in this with Lola for the long haul.
I’ll just have to prove to him that Lola and I won’t be like those other couples.
