Page 38 of Legal Passion
And Stone knew it, because he didn’t even try to stop her from dialing.
So she dropped the phone back onto its cradle.
He quirked a brow. “Change your mind?”
“Just remembered he’s out of the office.” And she probably wasn’t lying. It was after hours, so he had to be gone by now, probably to some function where he could kiss the ass of everyone who might help him achieve his political aspirations. She hoped he’d brought along some lip balm.
“What?” he asked, and he grinned at the look that must have crossed her face.
So she enlightened him and he laughed heartily. “You work for a jerk.”
She sighed. “I know. But I didn’t vote for him.”
Stone shook his head. “Me neither. You going to run?”
“You believing your own press?” she asked. “I have no intention of ever doing that.”
“You should,” he said. “You’d be good.”
She shrugged. “I’d sooner consider that bench-thing you mentioned.”
“Doling out justice.” He nodded. “That sounds more like you. You’ll get a worse reputation than Judge Harrison has for being a hard-ass, though.”
“Hey, I like Judge Harrison.” At least she did when she was trying a case where Stone was representing the defendant—because Judge Harrison did not like Stone.
“Bullshit,” he said.
She laughed. “Just because he’s not a fan of yours...”
“I’m not a fan of his, either,” Stone said. And for a moment, a look crossed his face, one of such sadness that Hillary jumped up from her chair and came around her desk.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“Yeah, yeah, fine.”
“What is it?” she asked. “Do you have a personal history with Harrison?” She forced herself to chuckle, even though that emotion she’d teased him about feeling the other night rushed over her. Jealousy. “Did you date his daughter?”
Judge Harrison was considerably older than them, even older than her boss.
“...or granddaughter?”
Stone shook his head. “No. He presided over a few cases with people I knew a long time ago.”
“Who?” she asked.
He glanced at her and then away again. “My parents.”
She gasped. “They were criminals?” That might explain why he’d chosen to represent them instead of making sure they were brought to justice. “But you said you really were a teen runaway.”
“That was why.”
“You ran away from a foster home or relatives?” she asked. And she remembered a few moments she’d thought of running away. But she’d had no place to run.
“I ran away from my parents,” he said. “The lives they chose to lead, selling and using drugs.”
She gasped again, feeling like something had squeezed her heart. She wanted to reach for him, throw her arms around him and offer comfort. But she wasn’t sure she knew how to do that when it had never really been shown to her.
But he saved them both the trouble when he stepped back, unwilling to accept her sympathy.
