Barbara Dunlop – The Baby Contract (страница 11)
Right now, Zoey put on a conspiratorial grin. “I might be able to influence him in your favor.”
“
“What are sisters for?”
“Not that.”
Zoey laughed. “You want him for yourself?”
“No,” said Mila, telling herself she had to keep any attraction to Troy under ironclad control.
“Hang on,” Zoey said, studying Mila’s expression. “You are interested in him.”
“Not interested,” said Mila.
But her sister was a lawyer, a skilled cross-examiner. There was no chance of getting away with an outright lie.
“Attracted, sure,” she continued. “I’m female, and I have a pulse. But that’s where it stops, and it’s definitely not going any further.”
“I guess you won’t get him to take you seriously once he’s seen you naked.”
“He’s not going to see me naked.” Mila felt her face heat.
“Okay.” Zoey drew out the word, obviously fighting a grin.
“Stop,” said Mila. “We’re talking about my career, not my love life.”
“Let’s talk about my love life.”
“You have a love life?” Mila immediately realized how that sounded. “I mean, other than the dozens of offers you get every week.”
“I met a guy,” said Zoey.
“A guy, guy?” Mila asked in surprise.
Zoey had an active but very informal dating life. Her career came first, and she’d studiously avoided the demands a serious relationship would put on her. She was already the youngest person in her prestigious law firm to make associate partner.
“Is there another kind?” she asked.
“An honest to goodness potential maybe-you’re-the-one kind of guy?”
Zoey hid a smile behind her coffee cup. “Yes.”
Now Mila was baffled. “Then why do you want to meet Troy?”
“I don’t. I wanted to see your reaction when I asked to meet him. He seems like your type.”
“
“Rough and ready is your type. I know how you feel about those metrosexual guys.”
“Only because I can’t stand aftershave.”
It seemed shallow to discount an entire classification of men. Mila didn’t want to seem shallow. But she did prefer a man with a lot of obvious testosterone, one who looked at home in jeans and a canvas work shirt, one that she couldn’t physically overpower in less than a minute. There was no particular reason for the preference. It was just the way her hormones worked.
“You also hate men in skinny jeans and cardigans,” said Zoey.
“That’s just good taste.” Then Mila stumbled. “Wait. Your new guy, he’s not into cardigans, is he?”
“Business suits. Silk ties.”
“Not bow ties.”
“Designer suits. Business formal.”
“He’s a lawyer?”
“He’s a judge.”
“Are you allowed to date a judge?”
“Sure. Of course, I can’t date him and argue in front of him at the same time.”
“But, otherwise...?”
“Otherwise, it’s fine. Well, technically fine, from a professional standpoint, anyway.” Zoey worried her muffin.
Mila might not be an experienced trial lawyer, but even she could tell her sister was holding back something important. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“It’s Dustin Earl.”
“Dustin
“Yes.”
Mila gave her head a little shake. “Are there two of them?”
“No, just the one.”
“You’re
Zoey pursed her lips. “That building was over two hundred years old.”
“That would be Preservation Society’s point.” Mila had heard it all from her mother.
“It was condemned,” argued Zoey.
The structural integrity of the building—or even the merits of the decision—wasn’t really Mila’s point. “Mom’s going to have a cow.”
Their mother, Louise Stern, was also a superior court judge. She called Judge Earl a brash, maverick upstart with little appreciation for the long-range impact of his decisions. They disagreed on almost everything, but nothing more stridently than the fate of the Turret Building.
“Tell me about it,” said Zoey, popping another bite of her muffin into her mouth.
“Are you going to tell Mom and Dad?”
“I’m not telling anybody.”
“You just told me.”
“You don’t count.”
Mila couldn’t help but smile at that. “Gee, thanks.”
“You know what I mean. You’re not going to tell Mom or Dad, or Rand or Franklin.”
Their oldest brother, Rand, was a decorated captain on a Navy cruiser somewhere in the Mediterranean. Franklin’s Green Beret missions for the Army were secretive. But he was probably hunkered down in a jungle on some mountainside, monitoring drug kingpins or rebels.
Zoey continued, “And I knew you wouldn’t freak out.”
“True enough,” Mila said as she worked her way through the oversize muffin. “I’ve got far too many other things pinging my worry meter.”
Zoey’s clandestine love life would have to take a backseat to Troy’s reluctance and Kassidy’s security.
“Things like Troy Keiser,” Zoey said, the glint returning to her eyes.
Mila refused to take the bait. “If I don’t get him to hire me permanently, I’ll have to explain a professional failure to the family.”
Zoey lifted her coffee cup. “If you fail, it’ll take the pressure off me.”