“Let me put Josh on the witness stand.”

“For the hundredth time, no. Besides, if he’s going to answer questions for anyone, it would be me,” Olivia said without looking up from the newspaper she was reading.

It was Friday afternoon, and our two weeks of prep time were up. Ready or not, the trial started Monday.

“Olivia, you have to trust me on this. The kid is our secret weapon.” She set the newspaper down and glared at me.

“Why are you so convinced we need a secret weapon? My case is solid...”

“Our case,” I corrected her. She waved her hand and dismissed the idea.

“Whatever. The case is solid. We don’t need to call Josh as a witness.”

“Let’s make a deal.”

“I don’t make deals with the devil.”

“I guess it’s not really a deal,” I said. “More of a suggestion.”

‘I also don’t take suggestions from the devil.”

“I’m pretty sure you thought I was a god last night,” I smirked. She half-snorted, half-laughed and shook her head.

“Are you going to tell me your suggestion or deal or whatever it is, so I can tell you no and we can move on already?”

“Let’s just table the idea of using Josh as a witness. Let’s see how the prosecution’s case plays out, and then we can decide.”

“Fine. I won’t tell you no right now. But you should know my answer will probably still be the same once the prosecution rests.”

“That gives me at least two weeks to break you down, maybe longer depending on how many more witnesses Jason Drew adds before Monday.”

“You can count on at least five. That is Drew’s favorite thing to do. Add as many last-minute witnesses as he can. It’s like he thinks if he doesn’t give me the full witness list until Monday morning I won’t be prepared.”

“It’s not a terrible strategy.”

“If your opponent is a shitty attorney maybe. I can guarantee I’ve got every single person he adds on my list of potential witnesses already.”

“Not everyone can be as good as Olivia Roberts,” I said sarcastically.

“Don’t forget it either, Mr. Beck,” she drawled. She’d made it a habit to lean heavily on her Southern accent whenever she called me Mr. Beck. I found it both annoying and sexy.

“Tell me more about Drew.”

“What about him?” she asked.

“You seem to know him pretty well,” I said. “I always like to know my opponent.” The truth was, I was just curious about their history. The remarks she’d made about him made it clear they knew each other well, beyond the typical prosecutor/defense attorney relationship.

“We sat by each other in our very first class in law school. Both of us were nervous and felt out of place...” she paused. “He spilled his coffee on my notes, and we’ve been friends ever since.” She finished in a hurry, obviously leaving out some of the details. “Drew’s dad had pushed him into the family business, and he was still pissed about it. He wanted to play baseball, and from what I heard, he was pretty damn good until his dad railroaded him into law school.”

“How does a kid who doesn’t want to be there get into and successfully complete law school?” I asked. Law school was not for the faint of heart.

“Drew is smart and it only took him a few weeks before he decided he actually did like it.”

“Why did you feel out of place?” I asked, bringing the conversation back to Olivia.

“Law school wasn’t my first career choice. I had wanted to be a painter, like I told you. I wasn’t sure if being a lawyer was right for me,” she said in a tone, like she’d rehearsed it a million times. What wasn’t she telling me? I could tell she was shutting down, so I steered the conversation back to more comfortable territory.

“It seems to suit you now,” I said.

“I was twenty-three and stupid. I’ve grown up and learned a lot since then.”

“Were you and Drew ever a couple?” I wasn’t sure why I cared, but I did.

“Nope, just friends. For a long time, I would’ve considered him my best friend.” I couldn’t explain, but for some reason, I felt a twinge of jealousy. Drew obviously knew Olivia better than I did, knew about her past, probably about her childhood, all the things I wanted to know.

“What happened? Did you both get really drunk, sleep together, and ruin it?” She blushed, and I knew my question had hit a nerve.

“Not exactly. We grew apart when he took the DA job and I started at Hugh and Roscow. It was hard to work against each other so often and still be close. Neither of us had any life outside of our jobs and we had nothing to talk about but work, and we couldn’t share any details.”

“So you didn’t sleep with him?”

“Why do you care so much?” she asked.

“I just like to have all the facts.”

“Are you jealous, Jameson?”

“Jealous of what? That he got to sleep with twenty-seven-year-old you? I guarantee what I get is better. You’re a sexy, confident woman, who isn’t afraid to go after what you want, and I fucking love it.”

“You’re a pig.”

“How does that make me a pig?” I asked, then let it drop. I didn’t want a side argument to distract us from the real conversation here. “You still didn’t answer the question. And before you ask, no, I’m not going to drop it.”

“Fine. We did sleep together. Once. After our very first case against each other. It was a mistake, we both knew it, and it never happened again.”

Even though I had guessed it, I didn’t like this new information. I didn’t like the thought of Drew and Olivia together, even if it had only been once. I tried to pinpoint the source of my dislike but couldn’t put my finger on it. Why did I give a shit what they did years ago?

“Are you done with the questions now?” Olivia asked. “Can we get back to work?”

I pushed my unexpected feelings of jealousy aside; there was no room for them in our relationship. We had to get through this trial as a team and convince the jury that Josh Delaney was innocent. Then there was the partnership. There was no team when it came to that. It was either her or me. One of us would win and one of us would lose. Emotions and feelings and jealousy didn’t fit into that equation.