Anything You Can Do(8)

"Heard the opposition brought in reinforcements," Bailey said, sliding into one of the client chairs in front of Margaret's desk.

"Yeah, that was kinda strange. Some heavy hitter from the branch office in St. Louis."

"I thought this case was pretty routine. Why did they have a heavy hitter here? What did he do in there?"

Margaret shuffled the papers on her desk. "Mostly he just watched everybody, like he could see right through us. But then sometimes he'd come up with a question we'd never thought of. He got Candy really flustered a couple of times."

Bailey leaned forward. "Do you think he's planning to take this thing to trial? Is the insurance company a major client for them? Is our client's credibility bad?"

"I don't know. Candy's okay. She's not real smart, but that doesn't have anything to do with her legal rights."

But in the hands of a slick lawyer, it might have a lot to do with the way she came across to a jury, Bailey reflected. And if Austin was as good in the courtroom as he was on the track—

"What's next on the agenda?" Bailey asked. Margaret checked her desk calendar. "Depositions for the insurance company and their investigator next Monday morning, nine o'clock."

"If you'd like me to go along for a little backup, I'd be happy to," Bailey offered, trying to sound nonchalant, as though she could care less what Margaret's answer was. Leaving Margaret to go up against Austin alone was like throwing a Christian to the lions. Bailey owed it to her firm to see that they were adequately represented, she assured herself virtuously.

Tiny tension lines on Margaret's face suddenly relaxed. "If you have time, that would be great."

Bailey stood to leave. "Fine. Get me the file as soon as you can, and the deposition the minute we receive it."

A heavy hitter, Bailey mused as she strode down the carpeted hallway. A big gun. A big egomaniac. That's what he was. Come to town and get involved in an insignificant case. Try to intimidate her firm's client, not to mention the attorney from her firm. Well, if he wanted intimidation, she'd teach him the meaning of the word.

"Bailey!" Gordon greeted, appearing beside her and breaking into her thoughts. "I think there's a law against looking that happy while you're still at work."

"Happy?" She tried to scowl away the smile, though she couldn't deny to herself that she was looking forward to another encounter with Austin Travers.

She turned into the kitchen, followed by Gordon, and selected a soda from the vending machine. "Why is Austin Travers involved in the Miller v. National Service Insurance case?" she asked.

"I didn't know he was." Gordon poured himself a cup of black, dense coffee and added several packets of sugar.

"I can't believe you're going to drink that."

"I'm not," Gordon assured her. "I'm going to eat it. Speaking of which, what are you doing for dinner tonight?" He stirred his nauseating concoction and actually took a sip.

"Nothing. Want to grab a bite?" Bailey tilted her head back for a long drink of her cool, effervescent cola.

"Sure. Austin's meeting me over at Reilly's at seven-thirty. Even you should be finished working by then, and you can ask Austin whatever it is you want to know about him."

Bailey almost choked on her drink. "Oh, no. I wouldn't intrude on your evening with your friend." Racing with him, meeting him in the courtroom—that was one thing, but no way did she want to be in a social setting with the man.

"You're my friend too," Gordon assured her, "so you'll be Austin's friend."

"Maybe another time."

"You're not feeling awkward about going out with two men, are you, Bailey? Hey, I always think of you as just one of the boys, you know." He winked and punched her shoulder in mock camaraderie. "See you tonight, buddy." He strolled away.

"Don't wait dinner on me," Bailey called after him. Still, as the day wore on she found herself questioning her decision. She'd gone out with Gordon and his friends before. She was never uncomfortable dealing with men on a friendship basis. Why did Austin make it different?

Irritably she thumped the eraser end of a pencil on her desktop. Why was Austin different?

She didn't still resent him for using her to get next to Paula since he didn't seem to be making any real efforts in that direction. And the days were long past when she'd been prone to losing the power of speech if a good-looking male smiled at her.