Shame on Him (Fool Me Once #3)(16)

Sliding my legal pad and pen into my bag, I turn and begin walking down the aisle of the courtroom.

“Lorelei, wait!”

I wipe the smile off of my face and turn to Dallas.

He stands there looking at me for several long minutes as defendants for the next case start filing in around us.

Really, is it that hard for him to say thank you?

“I just . . . um, well . . .”

Rolling my eyes at him, I start to turn around and walk away again, but he stops me with a hand on my arm.

“Look, I just . . . what’s with the outfit?”

He nods at my black Armani pencil skirt and white button-down.

“Seriously? I just prevented you from spending time in jail and you’re asking me about my clothing?”

He runs his hand through his hair and shrugs. “I thought maybe with that sexy getup the other night you were turning over a new leaf. Trying to break out of the boring lawyer mold.”

I swear to God this man’s mood swings are going to be the death of me.

“This boring lawyer just saved your rear end,” I remind him.

He laughs and shakes his head at me. “You know, you can actually say the word ‘ass’ out loud. You had no problem telling me—what was it again? That I’d be sitting there with my dick in my hand?”

My cheeks flush in embarrassment. I still can’t believe I actually said that to him.

“So what did you say to the officer who gave you the ticket that made him so angry?” I ask, moving the talk away from his nether regions.

Dallas laughs and the corner of his mouth curves up, showcasing a dimple. “He was taking his sweet-ass time walking back and forth between his car and mine while he checked my background. I may or may not have told him that if he laid off the doughnuts he’d be able to move faster.”

I shake my head at him in disapproval.

“Hey, you can’t fault me for being honest,” he says.

“Well, as thrilling as this was, I have a meeting in five minutes. Oh, and don’t worry about thanking me or paying me for the time I just wasted bailing you out. I’ve already decided how you’ll pay me back.”

This time, I turn and walk away quickly before he can stop me.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he yells to my back.

Without turning around, I raise my hand in the air and give him a finger wave.

“We’ll be in touch soon, Mr. Osborne.”

As I push through the courtroom doors, I hear Dallas shout my name, but I ignore him and continue walking.

I made a deal with the judge that Dallas would do twenty hours of community service by giving talks to a few of the local high schools on the dangers of speeding. I think for now, I’ll keep that little tidbit to myself. First, I plan on making Dallas pay me back by forcing him to work with me on this murder investigation . . .





CHAPTER 9




Hello, darling! How’s work?”

I sigh into the phone. “Doug, please stop calling me ‘darling.’ It’s uncomfortable.”

My ex-husband huffs and I can tell he’s pouting. “Oh, Lorelei, don’t be like that. I was just calling to see if you’ll be bringing a date to the wedding in a few weeks. You’re coming, right? We never got your response card.”

If you ask Doug, he’ll tell you our divorce was one hundred percent amicable. He assumes we should still be best friends even though he failed to mention he was gay. When he MARRIED ME. I tried to remain mad at him, but it’s difficult. He really does make a wonderful friend.

“And just so you know, it’s perfectly okay if you’re coming alone. Gary has a single cousin who is just dying to meet you,” Doug adds.

Perfect. My gay ex-husband is trying to set me up. Is there anything more humiliating?

“Of course I’ll be at the wedding, but if you put me at a table with anyone’s single cousin, I will wear white and ruin your entire color scheme,” I tell him.

“Well, now you’re just being cruel. I’ll put you down for a plus one just in case. We’ll talk soon. Kisses!”

I end the call and throw my cell phone down on my desk a little too forcefully.

“You know, in this instance, it’s okay to call him an *,” Kennedy tells me as she walks over and drops a file on my desk.

“I can’t call Doug that. He means well, I guess.”

Paige walks through the door with a tray of coffees in her hand. “Who means well?”

Kennedy pulls a cup off of her tray. “Doug. He just called to talk about the wedding.”

Paige rolls her eyes and sets the tray down on my desk. “Screw him. He’s an *.”

“See? I told you.” Kennedy smiles. “Come on, say it. ‘Doug is an *.’”

Grabbing my own cup of coffee, I open the lid and blow on it. “Doug is not an . . . *. He’s happy. He’s getting married. I can’t be angry at him for that.”

“The f*ck you can’t!” Kennedy argues. “He married you when he knew all along he was gay. Asshole. You caught him screwing a man in your living room. Asshole. He still invited you to his wedding. HUGE *.”

I take a sip of my coffee. “Can we talk about something else, please? I don’t want to think about this wedding until absolutely necessary.”