All In: Raising the Stakes Read Free

calls," he says, pulling out his cell phone and pushing some buttons.
    "Hey, Tyler. How's the family?" he asks.
    I barely refrain from yelling at him to quit the chitchat, we’re running out of time! This is a disaster. Judge Woods would lose his shit if I ask for another continuance.
    "Good. Yeah, I'm good," Joe responds into the phone. "Uh-huh. Lacy, well, she's…doing okay considering. You know how that is."
    Ah fudge, so he is still seeing Lacy Pierce, not that it's any of my business. The petite blonde is absolutely gorgeous in a way that makes every other woman automatically hate her. Of course she also has to be all sweet and nice, too, making you hate her even more. Okay, maybe I'm the only one who hates her, and only because she knows what this bastard looks like naked.  
    "So, I'm calling because I need a favor," Joe says, then looks up and asks me, "Who's the cop on this case?"
    "Jarrett."
    "Yeah, the victim from one of Jarrett's cases has gone missing and the trial's set for tomorrow. You mind doing a search for her or asking him to do it? She needs to be in court by nine-thirty. Name is Barbara Donaldson, and her date of birth is…" he flips through the file in front of him, "January eighteenth, nineteen seventy-nine. Her ex-husband is the defendant, Mark Donaldson, charged with assaulting her. Great, thanks Ty, I owe you."
    "The GPD will find her in no time," Joe assures me with a wink when he ends the call.
    My body doesn't know whether to throw up or swoon at his flirty gesture. Unfortunately, swooning is winning that race by a mile.
    "Thanks," I say, forcing the gracious word from my lips. I’m surprised when there’s no witty comeback or smartass remark in response. Joe simply stands up and grabs his suit jacket from the back of his chair.
    "Ready to go? I can call or text you on your cell after I hear back from Evans."
    "You called Tyler Evans for a favor? The police officer who was shot by the asshole you defended? Oh, and the guy you dumped all his dirty laundry on while he was on the stand?" I ask in amazement. Of course I also know Police Officer Tyler Evans. How could I forget him, when he was one of the officers who showed up on my family's doorstep telling us the devastating news that my sister had finally been found after she'd been missing for thirteen months, but that she'd died minutes later in childbirth.  
    "Yeah," Joe nods in the affirmative and waves a dismissive hand through the air. "He's a friend, and Jess, my former legal assistant’s, husband. All the rest is ancient history."
    "Oh, so you didn't sleep with that assistant?" I ask, then almost slap my palm over my mouth in shock at the words leaving it.
    Joe's arm, that he was in the process of slipping into his jacket, freezes in mid-air. Blinking his beautiful eyes at me, he too seems rather surprised by my question, but only for an instant. "I didn't know you were keeping a tally of who I sleep with, but no, Jess has never been on that list. And Lacy wasn't really my assistant. She was just…a temporary fill-in."
    "Sorry, it's none of my business," I say quickly.
    "Right," he replies in agreement. "Now give me your number, so I can let you know when I hear back from Tyler."
    I rattle off the digits and he enters them into his contacts as we walk together to the elevator. When the door shuts behind us, I could kick myself in my own ass for getting in a confined space with him. His wonderful cedar and citrus smell is all I can breathe, and it causes some sort of strange, warming sensation in my lower belly.
    To distract myself from looking at him I pull my phone out of my purse and text Candace that I’m on my way, asking her if Drew has already had dinner. Thankfully, the elevator ride from hell finally ends moments later and I’m on my way out of the courthouse door to my car.
    "Have a good night, Katie Kat," Joe says when he goes in the opposite direction. For a split second I let myself think about what it would've been