Lawful Lover (Eternal Bachelors Club #2) (12 page)

“I feel like your dealer. First you need a corporate lawyer, then an escort, and now you need a civil litigation lawyer. Speaking of, how is the lovely Sabrina?”

“She’s absolutely wonderful. In fact, she just got a job with Yellin, Vogel, and Winslow.”

“Oh, that’s fantastic news. I’ll be sure to tell Holly.”

“I’m sure she already knows.” Even though Daniel hadn’t talked to Sabrina about it, he was sure that she would have told her best friend about her good news.

“So, why the need for a lawyer?”

“That dirty bastard Hannigan, the attorney Sabrina used to work with, is suing me. I need the best lawyer immediately so I can quash this lawsuit before it becomes a serious problem.”

“I’d say a lawsuit
is
a serious problem,” Tim pointed out. “What’s he suing you for?”

“Remember when I found out that Hannigan had managed to get Sabrina fired from her job after he found us together at that Bed and Breakfast in Sonoma?”

“How could I forget? Guess that was the moment that slime ball realized that he wouldn’t get her into bed.”

Daniel shuddered at the thought of Hannigan’s dirty paws on her. “That bastard was harassing her from the moment she started working there! Anyway, I was mad as hell and told the asshole what I thought of him.”

“Told him?” Tim asked. “So he’s suing you for defamation?”

“Not exactly. I told him with my fists.”

A laugh burst from Tim’s mouth. “You beat the guy up? How come I’m only hearing about that now?”

“It’s not exactly something I’m proud of. I haven’t even told Sabrina. I don’t want her to think I’m a savage. So, don’t you dare tell Holly.”

“Hey, hey, no worries, it’ll be between you and me. But, whoa, I would have liked to play fly on the wall when that happened. So it’s his word against yours, huh?”

“Unfortunately not. Half the office saw the fight.” Which was why he needed a good lawyer.

“Danny, Danny! Have you no idea how these things are done? You don’t beat a rival up in plain view of a bunch of witnesses who’ll testify against you. You do it in a dark alley.”

Daniel shook his head. “You watch too many bad movies.”

“Okay, so he’s suing you for assault and battery.”

“Among other things. I told his boss, Merriweather, that he fabricated lies about Sabrina to get her fired and insisted that Merriweather get rid of him. He complied and fired Hannigan on the spot. The assault charge would be a cheap one to settle. Unfortunately, he’s also suing me for the loss of his job and future earnings: five million dollars.”

“The guy is delusional.”

“Be that as it may, I need to deal with this.”

“Okay, let me get on this and call my old flame. I’m sure he’ll be able to help. He’ll probably want to depose Sabrina about the circumstances of her firing and—”

“No,” Daniel interrupted. “You can’t get Sabrina involved. She doesn’t know about the lawsuit and I have no intention of telling her.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t want her to worry about it. Hannigan did enough harm. I don’t want her to be reminded of how he treated her. It’s hard enough for her to adjust to living in New York.”

“So you guys are having problems already?” Tim asked, his voice serious.

“No, we don’t have problems!” Daniel shot back, his voice harsher than he’d intended.

“Oh, that sounds defensive though.”

“Damn it, Tim, we don’t have problems! It’s just that Sabrina doesn’t really have any friends here and I work all day. It’s not easy for her.”

“I get that. You do know that if she finds out you’re hiding the lawsuit from her, she’ll be furious,” Tim added.

“She won’t find out.”

“Famous last words.” Tim chuckled. “So you’re still working like a dog, huh?”

“Just until this deal is finished.”

“Where have I heard those words before? Have you learned nothing from the Audrey fiasco? You can’t just neglect a woman like Sabrina. She won’t take it for long.”

As usual, Tim was right.

“I know.” Daniel ran his hand through his hair and shifted in his chair. “I’ll have more time for her soon.”

“Don’t wait too long, or this one is going to slip through your fingers.”

And that was something Daniel couldn’t allow to happen.

14

Sabrina leaned over the counter in the jewelry department at Bloomingdale’s to get the sales clerk’s attention.

“Excuse me, please,” she called out to the man who leaned against a sales display, the phone clutched to his ear and a grin on his face as he spoke quietly into the phone.

From the few words she could pick up, she realized that he wasn’t talking to a customer, but was having a private conversation.

“In a minute,” he said to her, displeasure in his brusque tone.

Sabrina refrained from groaning loudly. It would only make the sales clerk even less willing to help her.

Instead, she inspected the brooch in her hand again. She’d bought it the day before as an accessory to pin to the front of one of her favorite blouses, which unfortunately had a neckline that plunged too deeply. Since she wanted to wear the blouse in her new office, where she’d noticed that the staff dressed more conservatively than at her old job, she’d decided on finding the right items to make adjustments to her wardrobe.

Unfortunately, the stone that sat in the middle of the brooch had come loose from its setting.

She glanced around the department, wondering whether to go to another counter, but knew it was better to talk to the same person who’d sold her the brooch in the first place. It would make returning and exchanging it for something else easier.

Impatiently, she tapped her foot on the floor, until finally, the sales clerk put the phone down and approached her.

“How may I help you?” he said coolly.

She held the brooch out to him and pointed to the setting that had held the stone. “I bought this here yesterday, and the stone came loose. I need to return it.”

“Do you have the receipt?”

She nodded and fished it from her handbag, handing it to him.

He took it and gave it a quick glance. Then he frowned. “Oh! It was a sale item. You can’t return items on sale.”

“But—”

“Says here clearly on the receipt,” he interrupted her and pointed to a spot on the receipt.

“I understand that. But the item is faulty. Clearly, you have to take merchandise back that’s faulty.”

The snooty sales clerk raised his eyebrows. “As I said, you can’t return sale merchandise. Besides, the brooch was fine yesterday. You probably handled it too roughly or knocked it against something so that the stone came off.”

Outraged at his insinuation, she braced her hands at her waist. “I did no such thing. It came loose when I pinned it to my blouse. I didn’t knock it against anything.”

“We can’t take it back.” He pushed the receipt back over the counter.

“In that case—”Sabrina narrowed her eyes and focused on the name tag on his vest. “Ian, I’d like to speak to your supervisor.”

He huffed indignantly, when behind Sabrina, a man’s voice interrupted, “Sabrina?”

She whirled around and found herself face to face with Paul Gilbert.

“Hi! Paul, what a surprise.”

He gave her a wide grin, then bent toward her and kissed her on the cheek. “You look lovely.”

Not wanting to give him any encouragement, she took a step to the side. “Thank you.”

Paul motioned to the item in her hand. “Is there a problem?”

“The brooch broke a day after I bought it here, but they won’t take it back.”

Paul turned to the sales clerk. “Surely, that’s a misunderstanding, Ian, isn’t it? Can’t you do something for my friend here? I’d
really
appreciate it.” Paul smiled warmly.

Flustered, the sales clerk actually blushed, his eyelids fluttering like those of a high school girl who’d just run into the hottest guy at her school. Sabrina suppressed a grin: Ian clearly had the hots for Paul.

“Mr. Gilbert, so nice to see you again. I didn’t realize this lady was a friend of yours. Of course, we’ll replace the brooch. No problem at all.”

Sabrina noticed that his hand was almost shaking when he took the brooch from her.

“Would you like to exchange it or receive a straight credit for the purchase price?”

“I’d love to get a similar brooch,” she said to him.

“Absolutely, let me bring you a few comparable ones,” Ian said eagerly and disappeared to one of the other display cases.

Grateful, Sabrina turned back to Paul. “Wow, thank you so much. You must be a frequent customer here.”

Paul smirked. “I like to shower my girlfriends with gifts. What can I say? I’m a romantic.”

Sabrina laughed and dropped her voice to a low whisper. “And it’s absolutely shameless how you’re leading this poor guy on and making him believe you’re batting for his team.”

Playfully, Paul nudged his elbow against her. “He’s going to fantasize about this encounter all night. Who am I to stop him? Sometimes you have to employ dirty tricks to get what you want.”

Sabrina nodded slowly. She was sure Paul was exactly the kind of guy who’d use whatever means were necessary to get to his goal, be that getting a woman into bed or a business deal struck. And with his charm, she figured that most people wouldn’t even fault him for it.

“So, what brings you to the city?” she asked, changing the subject.

“Oh, I thought you knew: I work in the city. In Midtown.” He winked. “Occasionally, I manage to pry myself away from my office and prowl the streets of Manhattan for easy prey.”

Sabrina laughed. He didn’t seem to take himself too seriously. It was refreshing. “Well, then I shouldn’t keep you any longer. I’m sure the prey is waiting and will be disappointed when you don’t show up.”

He made a dismissive gesture. “They can wait. It’ll make their hearts grow fonder. How about I help you choose another brooch instead?”

She couldn’t come up with a reason not to accept his offer, though she would have preferred to have Daniel by her side instead.

When the sales clerk returned with a velvet-covered tray carrying a dozen other brooches, she leaned over them and perused them.

“They’re gorgeous,” she said.

“Beautiful,” Paul murmured and moved closer, his hand brushing hers as they both reached for the same brooch.

Sabrina picked it up.

“That’s my favorite, too. It’s the same color as your eyes,” Paul claimed.

The green stone sparkled under the bright store lights.

“I love it.” Sabrina avoided looking at Paul, uncomfortable about his direct compliment and stared at the sales clerk instead. “I’ll take this one.”

He smiled, taking it from her hand. “It’s a little bit more expensive than the other one, but I think I can probably give you a discount.” Ian glanced at Paul.

Shamelessly, Paul put his hand on the sales clerk’s forearm for a brief moment. “That’s so kind of you.”

When Ian turned away to wrap the item and ring it up, his face red as a beet, Paul smirked at her.

She shook her head.

“You’re terrible,” she said under her breath.

Paul was a shameless flirt.

“I know. Ain’t it grand?” He laughed, a twinkle in his eyes. “So, how about lunch? Are you free?”

Sabrina quickly shook her head. Even if she wanted to have lunch with Paul, she didn’t have time. “I’m on my way to the library.”

“Library?” he asked, his eyebrows snapping together.

“Yes, I have to study for the New York bar exam. I just got a job offer, and I won’t be able to start until I pass the bar. So, I’m cramming every single minute I have time.”

“Poor Daniel! Guess he doesn’t get to see much of you right now.”

Sabrina suppressed a sigh.

Daniel wasn’t home enough to have noticed that she was barely home herself, spending most of her days at the law library to prepare for the exam. Was this what being a couple was like? That they lived together, yet at the same time had such separate lives that they only passed each other in the night like trains going in opposite directions? Somehow she had to change the direction their relationship was heading in and steer it back to what it was like when they’d met in San Francisco: passionate and all-consuming.

15

The sun had already set when Daniel bent his head over the papers he’d received from Meyer, the lawyer Tim had dated. He went through his suggestions of how to rebut Hannigan’s suit point by point. One of the suggestions was of course to get Sabrina involved, but Daniel had no intention of doing so. He didn’t want to upset her by reminding her of what she’d had to endure the entire time she’d worked at Brand, Freeman, and Merriweather.

The sound of his door opening caused his head to lift in surprise. He blinked and stared at the person who now took a step into his office and shut the door again.

“Sabrina?” Was he hallucinating?

“Daniel, we need to talk.” Her voice was serious.

A ball of dread the size of Texas landed in his gut. Whenever a woman said “we need to talk” it wasn’t good. And he’d heard those four words more than he cared to—usually when a woman was ready to break up with him. He swallowed hard and rose from his chair.

“Okay.” His voice shook. This couldn’t be happening.

“I’m feeling neglected, Daniel, and I think it’s time you did something about it.”

She slowly opened her trench coat, slipped it off her shoulders, and let it pool around her feet—her legs were naked, her feet clad in black high heel sandals.

Daniel’s jaw dropped, and his eyes widened.

Sabrina was dressed in a pink silk teddy that revealed more than it concealed. The neckline was cut so low that it practically reached her navel, and the fabric over her breasts was thinner than tissue paper and ultimately more transparent. He could clearly see her erect nipples press against the flimsy fabric, and wondered whether they were a result of the cool temperature in his office or a sign of arousal.

He swallowed away the panic that had gripped him for a short moment and allowed relief to spread through his body. Sabrina hadn’t come to break up with him; she’d come to seduce him.