“I ran into Cole.”“What did he want?”“He wanted to tell me that you’re a ladies’ man and so if it doesn’t work out he wanted a shot at me because he might be in the market for a future First Lady.”“I’ll kill him.”“He’s not worth it. He’s a complete fool, Dan. It’s kind of scary that people elected him.”“I think that there are about ten people who live in his district, and nine of them are related to him.”“That would explain it, although I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that it was a close race.”I had a few more close encounters of the annoying kind with Mrs. Mason as the night wore on. I kept feeling like someone was watching me, someone other than the security people. On more than one occasion I caught her sneering at me like I had just popped out of a cake with tassels on my tits. Seriously! What had I ever done to this woman?Dinner was a big hit and the auction went even better than expected, raising plenty of money for the foundation. I had even dug into my trust fund a lit
Mom’s calling me over, I’ll be right back,” Beth said, getting up and rushing off.“So, Hannah, what do you think of the pool house?” Drew asked with a knowing smile. Dan and I both looked at him with surprise.“What, are you stalking us?” he asked. “You need to get some more hobbies.”“And you two need to learn how to sneak off better. You guys just casually strolled off with half the party watching. Here’s a hint big brother, nobody thought you were planning to go swimming.”“Were you selling tickets for a place at the window?”“No, but I should have thought of that!” Drew laughed.“I thought I really did see somebody by one of the windows,” Cam slurred. “But I’ve been seeing a lot of weird shit since I had that last rum punch.”“Are you okay, Cam?” I asked with a bit of concern. Cameron was looking a little green.“Me? Oh, yes.” He sat up straighter. “I’ve just been having a few… dozen cocktails.”“All of the mothers with unmarried socialite daughters have been stalking him.” Drew
I ripped it open carefully and removed a note from inside. Ava leaned over to read it along with me. There was a single sheet of plain white paper on which someone had written a short message in the same sloppy script. It said, “You should not be with him. End it now before you get hurt.”“Who do you think wrote this?” she asked, sounding shocked.“Well, Marla seems like she may not have both oars in the water and she’s certainly nasty enough. She’s also fixated on getting Dan back.”“Okay, there’s a good possibility,” Ava agreed.“Cole was creepy and he was definitely hitting on me. He kept saying that if it didn’t work with Braden I should consider dating him. This letter is so ambiguous. It’s hard to tell if the writer is warning me off for my own good or threatening me.”“That’s a good point. He could be trying to get you away from Dan. I’d say that’s another good suspect.”“Then there’s Mrs. Mason, who was giving me dirty looks all evening. She wants Dan for her daughter but I co
Monday came and went without much fanfare. I visited clients at the jail and caught up on paperwork. Dan made a goodnight call and I was already looking forward to seeing him again. Tuesday morning Ava and I arrived at work as usual, coffee in hand, and we were just sitting down at our desks to start preparing cases for court the next day when Chief Deputy Public Defender, Chuck Collins stopped by our office with Cam in tow. His request had been granted. He would be shadowing Ava and I and sharing our office space for the next few weeks. Jess seemed perfectly happy with that and I suspected that the fact that Cam was a really cute and sexy guy made this assignment a little less burdensome.Before long Cam and Ava were laughing together, which I took as a good sign. I had been so engrossed in my work I hadn’t even heard what they were talking about.“Any interesting cases tomorrow?” I asked, wondering what was so funny.“Nothing spectacular. How about on your“I’ve got a pretty good on
“I think it sounds kind of interesting — sort of Bond.” He laughed. “You’re going to tell Dan though, right?”“Not right away. I’m afraid he’ll get worried and upset and have one or more of them investigated and that could have all kinds of ramifications. I’m not telling my dad either or we’ll have more alarms in this place than Fort Knox before you know it.”“I don’t know if I feel good about doing anything behind Dan’s back,” Cam said significantly.“I promise I’ll tell him. I’m just hoping to have a little something to go on first. I really don’t want to worry him and I honestly don’t feel like I’m in any danger. Public defenders and prosecutors get harassing letters sometimes. I think this is just like that.”“Well, I guess it’s not like I’m sneaking around with you. More like I’m sneaking around with your roommate.” He smiled. “Okay team, I’m in!”“Great! Okay, I have the address of Layla townhouse. I say that this Friday you two just see if you can figure out what kinds of place
“Yes, sir. Thanks, judge! See you later cutie.” Mr. Davis smiled and winked at me flirtatiously before going off to report to the probation department.Dan and I were done for the morning and we packed up our files. We had all decided to go out to lunch. Dan officially introduced Cam to Adam and Fred and we all headed for Reading Terminal Market again. When we sat down to eat Fred got the ball rolling.“So Cameron, I hope you were paying attention to how Hannah handled that.”“The erectric company!” Adam laughed.“He’s an upstanding member of the community,” Dan added. “That was great too.”“You liked that huh?” I smiled.“See what you have to look forward to, Cameron?” Fred asked. “One day you too can represent horny senior citizens while attempting to sound dignified.”“Too bad he wasn’t around for that case with the nuns,” Adam said to Jess.“I would have been happy to hand that one off to you,” she told Cam.“I should introduce Mr. Davis to Ms. Franklin,” I told Dan.“That would b
“Hey handsome.”“Still want me to come calling?”“I would love to be called on. Ava is out with Cameron.”“I’ll be there in ten minutes.”He was there in five. I opened the door to let him in and noticed that he was dressed casually in jeans and a tee-shirt but he had a suit bag with him.“Planning to spend the night?”“Planning to kick me out of bed?” He came over, leaned down and gave me a deliciously minty, yet wonderfully hot kiss.“Mm. You’re always welcome in my bed.”“Good. Let’s go there now and make good use of our privacy while it lasts.”“She could be back anytime. I’m not making any noise tonight.”“Oh, I’ll bet I can get you to make some noise.” He smiled wickedly.“Oh really?” I started backing up toward my bedroom.“Oh really. Besides, I’m not going to be quiet tonight. I’m going to whisper all kinds of dirty things in your ear.” I swallowed hard and felt myself start to sweat. I so wanted him to whisper dirty things in my ear.“Come and get me,” I said in my best saucy
Coffee,” I muttered.“Coffee,” he agreed.We threw on some clothes and wandered toward the kitchen. Ava was there already looking all bright and cheerful. God, I hated morning people.“Morning Hannah. Hello Dan,” she said cheerfully.“Good morning,” Dan mumbled. I said something like “gemnneg.”“Help yourself to some coffee. You’re in the office all day,Hannah?”“Uh huh. I was thinking that if I get enough done I might try to do some research and figure out how we might get those samples we discussed.”“Ah, good idea. The plan at the moment seems kind of abstract.”“I’ll figure it out.”“Is there more?” Dan asked, peering soulfully into his now empty coffee cup. What, had he inhaled it?“God, we’re like addicts,” I replied.“I wish they made a caffeine IV,” he said.“I just drink it for the taste,” Ava said brightly. Two pairs of tired unamused eyes turned on her. “Just sayin’.”We all got ready for work and walked in together, stopping to pick up bagels and muffins on the way. We sai
Then marry me.” Huh?“Did you just ask me to marry you?”“Yes. And believe me, it never would have occurred to me that one day I would be proposing in front of four other people to someone dressed as a dominatrix. Yet here I find myself. And the fact that I’m still standing here extending this offer should tell you something, Hannah.”“It does!” I smiled with incredible, almost irrational, joy as I felt the tears completely filling my eyes. “I thought that my dad was the only guy in the world romantic enough to knowingly marry into pure insanity just because he really loved somebody.”“So is that a yes?”“Yes!” I ran over to him and hugged him tightly. I heard a yip and Bruno ran over and started humping Braden’s leg.“Mazel tov. Does this mean you’re going to convert?” Adam asked.“Who cares about that? Does it mean you’re not going to kill me?”Fred wanted to know.“What it means is that Hannah won’t be digging through garbage or attending underground sex parties anymore. Well, unles
My car!” I cried.“Are you sure this is where you parked it?”“Yes!” I could hear voices in the distance. “What the f**k?! Why are they still looking for you?”“Hannah, this is an illegal gathering and there are important people here. We just snuck out the f**king window. That may cause them some“Well, then we have no choice.” I took out my phone.“Who are you calling?” Cam asked.“The police. We’re about to give them an anonymous tip.” I called it in and we set off on foot trying to get as far away as possible before the cops arrived and raided the place. We ran until we were all out of breath. Finally, we paused to rest in an alleyway.“Okay,” Fred panted. “I say we call a cab from here.”“Hey! Isn’t that your car?!” Ava cried. I looked up. It was the Mini Cooper about three blocks away! Somebody had just boosted it for a joyride! We ran toward it and dove in. I pulled away with my tires squealing and headed home. Fifteen minutes later the four of us, bedraggled and sweating, were
We arrived near the location of the party, an abandoned warehouse down by the docks. It was a rough neighborhood, so I was armed with pepper spray. We took my car and parked it several blocks away as we went over everything one last time.“Okay, you guys have the code and we watched the video of Cole online a thousand times, so hopefully you’ll be able to recognize him,” I said.“I’m going to walk up to him and tell him he’s a bad boy and needs to be punished,” Ava said.“I’ll stay near you the whole time,” Fred assured her“I get him to write ‘I’ve been a bad little boy because’ and then tell him to list the reasons.”“If he won’t do it you tell him you’ll spank him with your ruler,” I added.“We get the sample and we get the hell out of Dodge,” Fred finished.“We’re here if you need us and we can come in to help you if necessary,” Cam offered.“We’ll try to stay in touch by phone as much as possible,” Ava said.“Okay, team. I think it’s go time. I just want to thank you all for doin
“Hey Dan! Are you done with your phone sex yet?”“You can come in!” Dan called out. I thought I heard a door close. “I didn’t expect to see you back here tonight.”“I gotta sleep, man. Besides, I couldn’t remember her name and it felt kind of awkward after she gave me such a great…”“Still on the phone here, dude,” Dan interrupted.“You’re still on the f**king phone? You just saw her this morning. You might as well just hand her your balls right now.” Then in a louder voice he called out, “Hi Hannah!”“Please tell Adam that I said hello and that I can hear him even when he’s not shouting.”“She said hello and she can hear everything you’re saying.”“Terrific. So your girlfriend knows that I’m a dick.”“She knew that that already,” Dan replied.“Did you tell her you missed her?”“I think I got this, Adam.”“Did you tell you love her?”“I really don’t need your help here.”“Ah, Dan’s in love,” Adam teased. “All the women at the G Lounge are probably crying into their vodka.”“Will you p
It took some searching but we finally found what we needed at a place called Tony’s Fantasy Land. It was a little scary finding out what other people fantasized about.“Who has fantasies about being a tampon?” Ava asked, looking over a long white fleece tube.“People are weird,” I answered.“Wasn’t there a member of the royal family years ago?” Cam asked.“Don’t talk about it. The poor man will never live that down,” I replied.“What in the hell is that?” I asked.“I believe that’s a dildo, in size,” Cam checked a label, “men’s extra-large.”“I think I see a pattern here,” Jess offered.“Newsflash, men fantasize about being inside women’s vaginas,” I said dryly.“Oh look! A naughty nurse costume. I think I like that one,” Cam said with a smile.“I don’t think it would fit you.” Ava laughed.“A nun?” I asked.“To a priest that might be pretty enticing,” Cam explained.“Hmm. Here’s your pirate suit, Cam,” I teased.“And here’s a wench costume. Which one of you wants to put it on for me?
It wasn’t dangerous.”“Hannah, anything could be dangerous right now. You know that. And you wound up crawling around in a dumpster. I really don’t want you doing things like that anymore.” He didn’t want me doing things like this anymore? Who was he, my dad?“Oh? And you’ll never go out to a crime scene or go out to interview a witness in the field huh?”“I’m a guy,” he said, like that explained everything.“So. Female prosecutors do it too.”“Yeah, but they’re not my girlfriend and they’re not getting harassing letters.” He was starting to sound annoyed.“They probably get lots of harassing letters.”“Okay, have I mentioned that they’re not my girlfriend?” He was definitely sounding annoyed now.“Even before the letter, you were worrying about me going into lock-up to interview clients charged with violent crimes.”“Because you could get hurt and there are plenty of male public defenders who could do it.”“But I can do it and it’s my job to do it. Next you’ll be telling me that you
Uh, Playboy, Penthouse, cigars, Scotch. Actually, if you find that stuff let me know. I think I want to hang out with that guy.”“Well, what kind of stuff would a woman have that a guy wouldn’t?” I was getting desperate.“Tampons!” Ava yelled and clapped her hands like she was on Family Feud.“Will you be quiet?” I hissed. “The point is we can figure out within maybe five cans which one is hers. It looks like there’s an alley over there and there are street lights. I say we carry the cans back there and figure out which one it is.”“Okay, good luck with that. I’m the lookout, remember?” Cam said, walking away.“I’m the driver,” Ava chimed in.“And I’m the trash picker. Yes, I recall the conversation, but I need your help carrying it back there.” They sighed and both of them went over and picked up a can and hauled it back to the alley. I picked one up too and we soon had five cans back there. We had placed them directly under a street light and I opened the lid and started going throu
“Well, dearest, that sounds like a sound plan for the future.” I felt myself starting to sweat and my panties got damp. The Astros struck out and the game was over within minutes. Our friends stretched and stood up. My heart started racing as they headed for the door.“Thanks for inviting us along,” Cam added.“We do it every Sunday night. Come whenever you want,” Dan said. That was definite progress.“I guess we’ll play it by ear next week?” Fred asked.“We’ll be back in time,” Adam said.“But Dan might be busy making up for the loss of his Saturday night sex.”Cam offered to walk Ava home and we said our goodnights as everyone left, shutting the door behind them.Dan turned to me with his hot look and I was up against the wall in seconds with his mouth on mine, his tongue exploring possessively. His hand traveled up under my shirt and into my bra where he gently squeezed my nipple and cupped my breast. Then the other hand traveled under my skirt and into my panties, where he began s
“I arranged for doggy day care,” he answered.“Doggy day care? Are you serious?”“There’s a place right on the way to work. You can drop him off in the morning and pick him up on the way home. He’ll have other dogs to play with and the people there will walk him.”“Did you check these people out? I mean are they a good place? The bigger dogs wouldn’t pick on him, would they?” I couldn’t help it. I’m a mother.“More importantly, can they get him into the right colleges?” Cam added. Dan and I gave him an unamused look.“I checked them out. They have a good reputation.”“Well, okay, I guess. You’re going to help me take care of him, though, right? It’s not going to be ‘go ask mommy’ whenever he wants something?”“Mommy?” Ava asked, returning with Bruno tucked under her arm and one of her slippers in his mouth.“And are you Daddy?” Cam asked Dan with a smile.“Of course he is! What are you implying?” I asked indignantly. Ava and Cam gave each other a look that clearly said they thought Da