The Wedding Pact Box Set - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,148

a smile as she moved to the table. “No. Of course not.” She extended her hand to him over the table. “Blair Hansen. I hear you’re taking Philip Lopez’s place.”

He leaned over and shook her hand. So she wanted to play it like they were strangers. He understood the reasoning—he’d probably do the same thing in her situation—but it felt odd to pretend he didn’t know her when he’d held her in his arms the night before. “Garrett Lowry.”

“Have a seat, Mr. Lowry.” She waved toward his chair and waited until he took a seat before she did the same. As soon as she was settled, she placed a legal pad with neatly written notes on the table in front of her. He wasn’t surprised. She’d always preferred to handwrite her notes in law school versus using a laptop.

She studied her pad for several seconds, then reached for the water pitcher in the middle of the table and poured a glass. He saw a tremor in her hand as she lifted the glass to her lips. She was obviously shocked to see him, but she’d looked shaken up before she even stepped into the room. Something else had happened, something unrelated to the realization that they’d be sparring partners this week. She needed time to recover, and he was going to give it to her. He turned to the reporter.

“Do you have the physical address and email address of my office in San Diego?”

She looked up in surprise. “Of course.”

“Could you read it off to me so I can make sure it’s correct? We’ve recently moved offices.”

She rattled off both, then looked up at him with raised eyebrows.

“Thank you.” He smiled and caught a glimpse of Blair out of the corner of his eye. Most of her color had returned, and she looked more prepared.

She took a deep breath. “Let’s begin.”

In many ways, it was a routine deposition. Rowena Norfolk was accusing her husband of philandering with multiple twenty-something-year-old women. Garrett had read Lopez’s notes. She was right. Now Mr. Norfolk wanted to divorce the current Mrs. Norfolk and marry version 2.0. The current Mrs. Norfolk wanted to make him pay for his indiscretions, and Blair Hansen was pushing hard to make that happen.

There wasn’t much Garrett could do to discredit her story. Hers was the vanilla side of their divorce, and both attorneys knew it. For all intents and purposes, Mrs. Norfolk was the victim. The juicy details would come out when Blair deposed Lopez’s client and his girlfriends.

While Rowena Norfolk came across as the victim, it was Garrett’s job to find any discrepancies that might discredit her innocence, which meant he had to act like an ass. Fortunately for him, he was fairly good at it. He had a few nuggets to dig into from her answers in discovery. Rowena’s husband had suggested his soon-to-be ex-wife had hidden money before the separation, and what was more, had committed an indiscretion of her own. Garrett was fully prepared to weasel the information out of her—if there was any grain of truth to it—but try as he might, his usual tactics didn’t work. Blair and Rowena stonewalled him at nearly every opportunity. Blair was protective of the woman, stopping him multiple times when she thought his questions went too far.

Sisco left halfway through the deposition, and Garrett could see some of the tension leave Blair’s shoulders. Was this why she’d seemed so upset last night? Was she in trouble at work? He couldn’t imagine why. She’d sure as hell convinced Lopez she was a hard ass—the most coveted reputation an attorney could earn. He also knew Blair enough to know she was not the type to break rules or skirt the edges of morality. What could she be in trouble for?

When he finished his questions, he thanked Blair’s client and stood to leave. He wanted to talk to Blair, but he couldn’t do that in front of Mrs. Norfolk. He walked out of the conference room, taking satisfaction in the way Blair’s gaze followed him.

It was a little after noon now, and their next deposition was at three. Maybe he could convince Blair to join him for lunch. The Country Club Plaza was only a couple of blocks away, and they’d have time to talk and get back for the meeting. If Blair was like any other professional, the best way to get in the figurative and literal door was through her assistant. Good thing he knew who her assistant