Love Proof (Laws of Attraction) - By Elizabeth Ruston Page 0,37
laughed. “It’s just . . . I wasn’t looking. At anyone. But then that day in Federal Tax Law . . . ”
Now it was Joe’s turn to laugh. “So that impressed you?”
“Do you know what I’m talking about?” Sarah asked.
“Of course I do. Didn’t you see me look at you? I was showing off for the redhead across the room.”
“No, you weren’t. You didn’t even know me,” Sarah said. But inside she really hoped it was true.
Although a part of that smart brain he claimed to admire also reminded her that she had seen him with plenty of other women since that day, so if he was pining for her, he found a way to deal with it.
But why should she think about that, she asked herself, when she was naked in his arms and he was already tasting her again, flicking his tongue over her body in that way that had already driven her mad?
She dove away from him in one quick move and rushed into the bathroom. Then she locked the door behind her, tucked her hair into the hotel shower cap, and washed away the evidence of their afternoon.
Wishing they didn’t have to go anywhere, and could just stay in his bed until their flight home on Sunday.
Fifteen
Was it Sarah’s imagination, or did Ellen look a little disheveled herself?
Sarah glanced from Ellen to Mickey, then dismissed the idea.
No way he’d do anything with her. No matter how drunk he might have gotten.
And from what she could see right now, that was plenty drunk.
“Mickey, maybe you should just have water for a while.” The two of them stood off to the side of the room, both dressed in their suits again, or maybe still, in Mickey’s case, and all around them were the various superior court, appellate, and supreme court judges who had listened to the preliminary round of arguments all day long.
Sarah saw one of hers and Mickey’s judges over by the bar. He was a short, balding man with thick-rimmed glasses and an easy smile. Sarah never minded his questions, because he nodded as she spun out her answers, encouraging her, it seemed, rather than staring at her stony-faced the way the other two judges did.
“So I heard a rumor,” Sarah said to Mickey.
“Yeah, what?”
“That you’re married and your wife is pregnant.”
He looked at her, eyes not nearly as focused as they’d been earlier in the day. “Yeah, I guess that’s right.”
“You guess that’s right?” Sarah said, laughing. “How far along is she?”
“Seven months.”
“Congratulations.”
“Cut the crap,” Mickey said. “Did you sleep with him?”
Sarah took a sip of her drink. And decided not to lie. “Yes.”
“Why?”
That question was harder to answer. And she wasn’t sure it was any of Mickey’s business.
“Did you sleep with Ellen?” she asked.
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive,” Mickey said.
“Did she try?” Sarah asked, looking over to where Ellen stood gesticulating and monologuing to one of the judges, obviously hoping to impress him.
“You heard what she said,” Mickey answered. “All those horny students. Happens every year.”
“But not you,” Sarah said.
He swallowed what was left of his drink. “Maybe with you, Sarah, but not with anybody else.”
“Somehow I doubt that’s true.”
Mickey shrugged. “I’m a good Catholic boy. Do I wish I was single? You bet. People should be more like animals. Come together to mate, then leave and go out on their own until next year.”
“How long have you been married?”
“Summer between college and law school. So I’m a third-year there, too.”
Mickey swirled the ice cubes in his cup, then tipped it back again to suck up the last drops.
“We should probably mingle,” Sarah said. “Go talk to our judges or something.”
“Why? You know I crashed and burned today.”
“No, you didn’t,” Sarah said. “You were a little nervous at first—”
“A little nervous?” Mickey chuckled in a way that sounded both sarcastic and miserable. “I had no business signing up for this, Sarah—you know that. You probably saw it at our very first practice. You could have told me, you know. Saved us both a lot of embarrassment.”
“You’re blowing this way out of proportion,” Sarah said. “Let’s wait and hear the scores, all right? I guarantee you didn’t do that badly.”
“I’m going to get another drink,” Mickey said. “Want anything?”
“No. Thanks.” She looked across the room. Joe and Ellen stood talking to another one of the judges.
No, Ellen stood talking, Sarah corrected herself. Because Joe wasn’t even paying attention. He waited until Sarah locked eyes with him, then subtly raised his glass.