Elastic Hearts (Hearts #3)(49)

I SHOULD BE awarded a medal for dealing with imbeciles. First, the metal detector kept going off and I kept having to go back through it, even though Jean was the one securing the place and had seen me walk through these doors a million times. I wanted to say, “I’m pretty sure I left my shotgun at home this time, Jean.” But with all of the mass shootings I couldn’t really make a joke out of it. I told Nicole as much as I put my jacket back on and she laughed.

“That and your temper,” she said.

“You’re the only one who thinks I have a temper,” I said, picking up my briefcase and glancing at my watch.

Nicole scoffed. “Maybe I’m the only one who tells you that you have a temper.”

I waved at my friend Ezra as he walked by going the opposite direction with his client.

“Golf this Sunday?” he asked.

“And miss the Lakers game?” I shot back. He laughed, shaking his head.

“Maybe sometime next week then. I have a case I want to discuss with you.”

I nodded and continued walking. “See? People like me.”

We stopped outside the doors and I propped my briefcase on the piece of crown molding on the wall so I could look for the file I needed. As my fingers sorted through the tabs, I chuckled, thinking about the day I found Nicole’s panties inside. We hadn’t talked about it at all, mainly because there hadn’t been a good time to bring it up. If I asked her about it when we were alone, we’d be charting troubled water. As it was, things were choppy, lines were blurring, if they’d even been there in the first place. When I found the file I was looking for, I took it out and shut my briefcase.

“Maybe it’s because you only let them see one side of you,” Nicole said. I frowned. What the hell was she talking about? I looked at her.

“Are you talking to me?”

She shot me a look. “No shit. Who else is standing here?”

I looked around, and sure enough, we were the only ones in the hall. I shook my head. “What are you talking about now? Your voice box hasn’t taken a break all day.”

She laughed and pointed at me. “You see? So grouchy. Like Oscar.”

I rolled my eyes and put the file under my armpit. “Be an adult, Nicole. Stop talking about cartoons and fantasy shows for a moment.”

“Oh yeah, let me just sit here and quote rappers so you can keep up with me.”

I sighed. She wasn’t going to shut up. Maybe it was her nerves. Everybody had a coping mechanism. As long as hers wasn’t open-mouthed chewing, we’d be all right. Hell, as long as her mouth was on me, we’d be all right. I shook my head and blinked out of my thoughts.

“Nic,” I said.

“Hmm?” She tilted her head slightly to look at me.

“Can you please be quiet for a little while? I need to think and I can’t if you make me keep looking at your lips.”

She smiled and put her hands up. “I won’t even make a joke out of that.”

I wanted to take her face in my hands and kiss that smirk off right there in the middle of the courthouse that was practically my second home. Instead, I walked until I reached the room and opened the door. Lewis was sitting at the conference table with the phone to his ear, taking notes of something. He looked up and nodded in greeting.

“I’ll have to call you back. Okay. Sure.” He hung up and stood, offering his hand for me to shake. “Good to see you again.” He looked at Nicole and did the same. “Unfortunate circumstances, but good to see you.”

We sat down across from him.

“Where’s the prince of Hollywood?” I asked.

“Running a little behind. Thanks for agreeing to meet me here. I have a case ten minutes after this one and there was just no way I’d make it here with the traffic.”

“The f*cking traffic is unbearable. Is it me or is it getting worse?” I asked.

“It’s getting worse,” Nicole said.

Lewis smiled slightly. “We’ll try to do this as fast as possible. Gabriel said you’re amicable.”

She scoffed. “Did he? We seem to have a difference of opinion in more things than I realized.”

I looked at her. “This is off the record right now, but when he walks in here and we start our meeting, I can’t have you jumping in when he says anything.”

“So I just stay quiet?”

“If you can,” I said, hoping she understood it was for the best.

I got along with Lewis, until we were put on a case against each other. Then the gloves were off, mainly because he was damn good at his job and I took no chances.

The doors opened and Gabriel walked in with a little kick to his step, looking like a man who was ready to be single. It gave me a vote of confidence because we’d be closing this sooner than expected, which meant soon I’d have his ex-wife in my bed. I’d always heard the saying, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure” and took it at face value, but it was the first thing that came to mind. The problem was, now I was in the situation, I realized that in reality it wasn’t one man’s trash. Women weren’t things you could discard. Much less a woman like Nicole.

“Sorry I’m late,” he said, looking around the room. I didn’t miss the way his eyes stayed on Nicole. A man walked in behind him. At first I thought it was the mediator, but I knew all of the mediators and I’d never seen him.