CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Filling out the Order to Show Cause, getting it signed by a judge and filed with the court, takes up most of my morning. I’m feeling very accomplished by the time everything is in place. Teller calls to let me know they are not releasing his grandmother any time soon, so it’s a good thing I’ve gotten the ball rolling.
Adam bounds into my office a little before noon.
“Hey. I got called into court this afternoon. Want to take my place at a CLE?”
I’m woefully short on credits, but the thought of sitting through some boring legal education class all afternoon is very unappealing.
“Come on, your buddy, Judge Oak is one of the lecturers. It’s already paid for.”
“Oh, okay. I need the credits. How much do I owe you?”
He waves his hand in the air. “I just don’t want it to go to waste. Starts at one, so you might want to head down now.”
Dammit.
Packing up my stuff, I grab a granola bar and head downtown. Miraculously, I find a parking spot right in front of the building where the class is. The woman in charge of checking us in hassles me a bit as I try to explain I’m taking Adam’s place. Judge Oak comes over to say hello and smooths things over for me.
“Thank you, Damon.”
“No problem. Good to see you.”
“Is Mara coming?” It would be nice to be able to sit with someone I know.
He chuckles and shakes his head. “No. She refuses to come to my lectures any more.”
Crap.
Feeling supremely awkward and out of place, I grab a seat near the back of the small classroom. Too late, I realize it’s a panel of four lecturers. They’ve got Judge Oak, a public defender, a district attorney from Empire County, and a criminal defense attorney who is in private practice. My eyes almost bug out of my head when I see who the defense attorney is. Tony Cain. Former Slater County District Attorney. The guy I went up against when I represented Rock in his last drug possession case. The case where he humiliated me in court by asking to have another lawyer represent him.
Before we were together.
Before my husband died.
Horrible, sickening sensations slither through my belly as I remember that day. All of my thoughts and emotions are tangled together with my feelings of grief over Clay’s death. My guilt over my inappropriate feelings toward Rock at the time.
I end up not hearing much of the two-hour class.
In a hurry to leave afterward, I don’t bother to say goodbye to Damon. He’s surrounded by sycophant attorneys peppering him with questions, and I don’t have the patience to get in line.
I want to go home and crawl into bed.
To my utter confusion, I find Rock waiting outside for me, casually leaning up against my car. His gaze flicks up and down the street, keeping an eye out for me, I assume.
Is this a coincidence?
Whatever it is, I’m already so rattled from the Tony Cain sighting that the first thing I do is snap at Rock. “What the hell are you doing here?”
A frown settles over his face as he turns to look at me.
“What’s wrong, Hope?”
No, I’m not going to be dissuaded by his handsome face or his sexy damn mouth. “Why are you here?”
He cocks his head as if it’s an absurd question. “I wanted to see you.”
“How did you know I was here?”
He pauses. Something flashes in his eyes, but I can’t fathom what it is.
Finally, he reaches out and pulls me to him. “Your calendar,” he answers.
My head is aware this can’t be true, but my body is distracted by his lips on mine. Before I can question him further, I’m wrapped in his arms, snuggled against him. The lingering bad feelings from the lecture melt away as I take shelter in his arms.
“Rock?”
We’re rudely interrupted, and I jump back. It finally dawns on me how embarrassing it is to be making out with my boyfriend when about forty of my colleagues are about to empty out of the building behind me.
Why do I have so little self-control around him?
The unease on Rock’s face surprises me. I’ve never seen him look uneasy in any situation.
I turn to see who interrupted us, and almost fall down when I realize it’s Tony Cain. His eyes skip right over me as his mouth breaks into a grin. They perform a manly handshake ritual that suggests a certain familiarity. The kind of handshake people who know each other in a personal, friendly way do, immediately setting off alarm bells in my head.
“Hey, Tony. How are you?” Rock asks evenly.
“Good, man, just got done teaching a class. What the hell are you doing down here?”
Rock jerks his chin in my direction, and Tony finally glances over. He’s having trouble placing me. I haven’t seen the guy in at least two years, so that’s not surprising. The Capital Region is, after all, crawling with attorneys.
Finding some glimmer of professionalism, I stick out my hand. “Hope Kendall. I just took your class, Mr. Cain.”
Now he seems to recognize me, and his gaze darts back to Rock.
“Nice to see you again, Ms. Kendall. I hope you got a lot out of the class.”
“Oh, absolutely,” I answer with a straight face. “It’s been quite an education.”