Page 19 of Mr. Flirt

“The big one to me is turning forty, but I still have a ways.” She smiled and let out a blissful sigh. “How did it work out for your sister and her friends?”

I nodded. “They are all married now.”

“Happily?” she prodded as an attorney would.

“Extremely so.” I nodded.

“That is quite an experiment.” She whistled. “Maybe love is an equation, after all.”

“Nothing else? Just plug in two willing participants, shake ’em up a bit, and voila.” I didn’t believe for a minute Lucy thought that. She knew feelings were involved—raw emotions that twisted the heart and made men piles of mush and women balls of fire. Those emotions equaled revenge, and Lucy was the conduit.

She shrugged, smiling. “Why not? I mean, the truth of it is that I have never met a spouse who didn’t believe their marriage was going to be forever. They walked down that aisle with the best of them. They knew they’d beat the odds and—wham!” She punched her palm. “The husband flies off with the nanny, or the wife sneaks upstairs with the UPS man.”

I choked on her words and slapped my knee. “No way. Your cases can’t all be doom and gloom and full of soap opera antics.”

She laughed, and the softness from earlier filled her gaze. “By the time it gets to me, it’s usually pretty bad. Often couples start the divorce process with the best of intentions, and the untwisting of two lives begins, and that is when the secrets come out like old dust bunnies. They cling to every part of a person with such an elasticity that it colors and controls their behaviors. They can no longer see the good in the person. They just think of the most recent and sickest of situations.”

“So amicable isn’t really something you see a lot?” I felt a cold sweat tickle my neck. I knew I’d been right about not saying I do.

Lucy laughed and shook her head. “Rarely.”

I had my own reasons for staying single. I didn’t feel like I needed a partner to make me happy. I was already happy. But my goal in life was never to hurt a person I cared about. It didn’t always work, but I gave it a valiant effort. To make life easier for me, it was best if I stuck to what I did best.

Flirting with a dash of fun on the side.

Then I didn’t have to worry about emotions, hurting people, or creating some mess that I had to use Lucy to legally get me out of.

“It sounds like your sister lucked out.” It was Lucy’s attempt at assuring me that my sister’s fate would be different than her clients.

“I’m sure of it. In fact, I’d bet my business on it.”

Lucy sucked in a breath with a cute, puckered lip. “Ooh, don’t do that.”

I laughed and shook my head. “Nah. They are meant for one another. They equal each other out.” Our eyes rested on one another, and a pulse of electricity bounced between us. On some weird cosmic level, it almost felt as if I were talking about Lucy and me. “Hey, have you ever played Jingle Berry Balls at Christmas?”

Lucy blushed and nodded. “It’s my guilty pleasure. I play the game all year.”

Pure happiness flitted through me. “That’s one of our apps. We got into mobile gaming a few years back.”

“You’re kidding.”

I pretended to crack my knuckles and kicked my feet out in front of me. “So, while you’re busy kicking butt in the courtroom.” I winked at her. “I’m busy coming up with ways to squash balls on Christmas.”

Lucy giggled, and the same sweet innocence escaped her lips. That was the real Lucy. I just knew it. Being a lawyer and seeing the dirty side of love wasn’t her, but it seemed to be defining her.

“I kind of feel like I met a rockstar just now,” she gushed. “That game is so addictive, and it’s such a stress reliever. It’s like mind-numbing goodness.”

I laughed and scratched my chin. “Well, I am an expert when it comes to mind-numbing pleasure.”

“I said goodness.”

“I know.”

She smiled wider and nodded. “You are full of surprises.”

“So are you.”

She looked intrigued. How so?”

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