Page 17 of Bonus Daddy
“Lo,” I called over the walkie-talkie Cal had insisted we use when we needed our paralegal’s assistance.
I’d cleaned up quickly, slipped back into my Oxford, and gotten back to work, and already, my frustration was growing again.
A moment later, she appeared in my doorway with Murphy at her side. Both looked at me with austere expressions, though it was difficult to take them seriously when Murphy’s mouth was tinged blue.
“Slushy today?” I asked.
Murphy nodded. He looked just like Cal, with the same dark hair and blue eyes, but his personality couldn’t be more different. His dad was the most easygoing person I knew. Life was all fun and games for my friend and business partner. Murphy, on the other hand, was more stoic than any seven-year-old had the right to be. Though he’d loosened up a bit in the nine months or so since he’d come to live with Cal.
“When are we going to finish the Dark Falcon?” he asked.
One of the benefits of our communal living arrangement was that T.J.and Murphy loved building with Legos as much as I did. Growing up, we’d never had money for them, but I’d found my love as an adult. If I was too tired to run or hit the bag, I’d sit at the ping-pong table and focus on a set to unwind.
“Soon.” I grimaced. “I’m a bit swamped.”
He nodded. “That will make it easy to finish before you. Then you’ll have to wear the crown again.”
I winced. The stupid tiara. The day Jess walked into my office, I’d been wearing it. For months, we’d had competitions. If the boys built a set faster than I did, they forced all sorts of ridiculous things on me. I’d worn reindeer antlers around the holidays, and honestly, I’d happily trade the tiara if I could have them back.
“How about this?” I asked. “If you and T.J. help me out and finish theStar Warssets we’ve started, I’ll go pick up the Infinity Gauntlet this weekend.”
His eyes bulged, but the kid didn’t make a sound. This was actually a pretty big display of excitement for the typically aloof boy. Without a word, he turned and ran out of my office at a speed that easily could have left holes in the gold carpet.
Lo shook her head as she watched him go, her blue-tinted lips twitching. When she turned back, though, her expression was serious. “When were you gonna tell us?”
I lifted one shoulder. “What was the point? Sully already told everyone.” He and I were roommates in law school, and he’d been my best friend since. So, naturally, he knew about Jess. More than once, I’d confided in him over one-dollar beers, giving him far too much information about the one that got away. And he had been reminding me of it ever since.
“But I would have liked to hear it from you,” she replied, her expression one of genuine disappointment.
Lo was by far the best paralegal the firm employed. It’s why I’d literally begged her to move to Jersey with us. I couldn’t imagine another person in her position taking on the work required to keep up with not only my caseload, but Sully’s and Cal’s. But more thanthat, over the years, she’d become a friend. And I trusted her with my life.
Yet here we stood, staring at one another, caught in a standoff I had no hope of winning.
“Ms. Mosely and I dated in college,” I explained, going for casual. “I was a bit… surprised when she walked in.”
She raised one eyebrow, silently urging me to get on with the full story.
“It never hit me that the yoga teacher you’re always raving about?—”
“Was your first love?” she interrupted.
My heart lurched. “Um. No,” I sputtered.
“What are we talking about?” Cal appeared in the doorway, draping an arm around Lo’s shoulders. “Brian’s new client and how she’s the college girlfriend he’s been obsessed with forever?”
I glared at him. I was not obsessed. And just because my dating history had been less than stellar since didn’t mean I’d been pining for decades.
As Lo smiled up at Cal with goddamn hearts in her eyes, I waved a hand to shoo them out of my office. I could deal with only so much today.
“I’ve been going through the details of this case. We’ve got to file quickly, but first, we need several pieces of information. Can you schedule another meeting with Ms. Mosely? We need to talk strategy.”
She snorted. “Talk strategy? Is that what the kids are calling it these days?”
Cal practically melted into a puddle beside her. He was so smitten. It didn’t matter what she said—every time she spoke, he was enraptured.
My blood pumped with frustration, but I ignored her comment. “Her ex-husband is a piece of shit.”
“Most of them are,” she said easily. “How are we going to buryhim?” The gleam in her eye was what made her my most valuable employee.
