Legal Briefs

“Hi mom,” I said with a sunny smile.

“What do you know,” she said with a smirk. “Maybe you’re actually my kid after all.” She turned and went to go talk to her client.

“What the f**k was that?” Adam demanded, stalking over and glaring at Jacob.

“What?” Jacob said defensively. “I wanted to make sure that everything was out in the open and that nobody objected since, you know, she and I are on opposite sides in this? Why did you feel the need to point out that you’re sleeping with her when the two of you are on the same side?”

“To make it clear that there’s no romantic connection between you. Why did you feel the need to point out the fact that you were banging her four years ago?” Adam retorted.

“Will the two of you stop it?!” I demanded.

“Lily, honey, are you okay?” Jess called over from the defense side of the court, where I noted that Braden had joined Mark. They were both looking rather amused.

“Yeah, I’m good Jess, thanks. I’ll tell you about it later,” I said with a smile.

“Adam Roth? Is that really you?” my mother chimed in. “Are you the one responsible for getting her to actually use her law degree? If so, my husband and I owe you a debt of gratitude.”

“Where is dad?” I asked, ignoring her sarcasm.

“In Florida.”

“Why aren’t you in Florida too?”

“I got bored,” she answered simply. “Didn’t you two used to fight all the time?”

“We’re getting along better,” Adam answered. “You’re not going to be handling any more cases are you?” he whispered to me suspiciously.

“Not yet, but if I’m going to be working for the DA’s office, I expect to handle some.”

“Well, maybe you’ll have a trial,” Jacob said with a sarcastic smile.

“You think I can’t try a case? And why is that exactly?” I asked furiously.

“Uh oh. You’re in trouble now.” Adam laughed, obviously delighted that he wasn’t on the receiving end of my wrath for a change.

“Because you don’t have any experience trying cases,” Jacob replied, intentionally letting his eyes drop to my body. I knew he was pushing my buttons on purpose, but it was working.

“Actually that’s not true,” my mother decided to contribute. “Lily won several acquittals in the Criminal Defense Clinic at Penn. She also captained a winning moot court team.”

“This isn’t moot court, Judith,” Jacob replied. “I can’t believe I didn’t know you were her mother, by the way.”

“I can’t believe I didn’t know that you slept with my daughter.”

“Wait, has he slept with the mother too?” some guy called out from the crowd of people waiting for cases.

“NO!” Jacob, my mom and I answered in unison just as Judge Channing came back out of chambers.

After getting a date to argue our motion my mother left without a backward glance, and Jacob left with a glance at my tits. Maybe he wasn’t just pushing my buttons after all. My challenging him seemed to be firing up his libido. I probably wasn’t the only girl in Philly who would be getting some ‘phenomenal sexing’ that night from a tall, dark, and handsome prosecutor.

Chapter Twenty-Three

When the morning court session was over, Adam, Braden and I grabbed some take-out and then headed for the DA’s office. I didn’t have an office of my own, so I just sat on the other side of Adam’s desk for the time being.

“Well, that was different,” Braden said. “You guys are going to O’Malley’s tonight, right? I’m sure that Jessica has filled Gabrielle in by now, and she’ll want a debriefing.”

“I’m okay with going there for a while,” I answered, looking up at Adam. “We shouldn’t stay late, though. We have a lot to do this weekend.”

“I don’t want to stay late. We have a lot to do tonight,” Adam said, giving me a sexy smile that filled my stomach with butterflies and made me squeeze my thighs together.

“When word gets around that you said Sachs was unprepared for court, there’ll probably be a few people wanting to buy you drinks,” Braden noted.

“Try to stay off Mark’s lap this time please,” Adam added.

“Very funny,” I said, feeling my cheeks heat up.

“Actually, Sachs will probably be there,” Braden went on. “He’s been there a lot lately.”

“Well, he missed out last Friday,” Adam pointed out and I felt my face heat up even more. I think that Adam was literally the only guy who could make me blush.

There was a knock on the door and someone came to escort me to meet the attorneys who would be teaching me how to be a prosecutor. I started cleaning up my lunch.

“Don’t worry about that,” Adam said, grabbing my hand. “Go get your training. You’re going to need all the help you can get if you want to beat your Mr. Zealous Representation and Mommie Dearest.”

I spent the afternoon meeting with the trainers, who were exceptionally pleased with how quickly I learned. At the end of the day, they sent me to set up my own office, loaded down with copies of the Pennsylvania Crimes Code, the Vehicle Code and the Sentencing Guidelines. I met my office mate, Olivia, who was new herself, having recently moved to Philadelphia from Pittsburgh. She seemed kind of serious at first, but I realized quickly that she had a wicked sense of humor, and I liked her immediately. At six, we called it a day and Adam and Braden and I headed off to O’Malley’s.

When we arrived at the pub, I saw that the place was already hopping. Friday night it typically filled up with lawyers. I saw Gabrielle Jessica, Cameron and Mark sitting at a table together, and I started to walk toward them, but Adam caught my arm.

“You, Ms. Adler, are a prosecutor,” he reminded me. “Come and meet your colleagues before you run off to the defense side.”

“The defense side? What is this, a courtroom?”

“People usually start out the evening sitting with their colleagues here. For example, there are a bunch of federal prosecutors directly behind you, including Mr. Zealous Representation himself. I don’t believe he’s noticed you yet, though, as he’s busy being felt up under the table by a blonde,” Adam said snidely. What was he getting on his high horse about?

“Felt up under a table by a blonde. Now, why does that sound so familiar?” I asked, sarcastically. He gave me a genuinely clueless look. “The night at K2? The blonde resting her hand affectionately in your lap?” Suddenly, understanding dawned.