Struck from the Record Read Free Page B

preamble. She pouted but had enough dignity not to say anything else. She begrudgingly followed him out the office, back down the hall, and outside. He had texted a cab service after hanging up with Andrea, and a cab was waiting for them when they made it into the fresh air.
    “I can’t fucking believe you’re doing this,” she said.
    “Believe it.”
    “Was that even your office?”
    He smirked. “Obviously.”
    “I don’t know who the fuck called that would make you want to spirit me away so quickly.” She looked down at the ground and then back into his eyes. “We could have had a really good time.”
    “We could have,” he agreed. “But it was my girlfriend.”
    Her mouth dropped open. “You’re an ass!”
    She rushed into the cab and glared at him as the cab pulled away.
    Well, that had been easier than he’d thought. That was the normal reaction he would get from people when he told them that he had a girlfriend. No one really understood their relationship, nor did they care to figure it out. It was easier to just let people believe he was a philandering asshole than to explain that they had been in a successful open relationship for the last ten years.
    Easier to let people believe he was the bad boy of the Maxwell political dynasty than to clue them in on his long-term plan—top of his class at Yale, clerk at the Supreme Court, federal judge, attorney general. Thinking of it both excited him and made him feel sick. He wanted to live up to the man his father expected him to be, but following the mold made him crazy. It was a double-edged sword, a line he constantly skirted.
    That girl would have been a treat for completing his clerkship and moving one step closer to the end goal on his path. Another thing completed on a checklist. Finishing didn’t seem fulfilling in the same way it had when he was accepted to clerk. But, tomorrow, he would have to clear out his desk and get serious about deciding on which private practice offer he would accept.
    He had been staring at three offers for over a week now, and since each position began in January, they were expecting an answer by Christmas…maybe New Year’s at the latest.
    But he didn’t need to worry about that tonight. He could have Andrea as a treat instead.
    Clay fished his cell phone out of his pocket again and smiled. Four minutes. Perfect.
    He dialed Andrea’s number and waited for her to answer while he waited outside of the building. It clicked over to voice mail.
    He scowled down at the phone. “What the fuck?”
    Then, it almost immediately lit up again.
    “Can I help you?” she asked curtly.
    Clay cracked a smile.
    “So, where are you? I’ll grab a cab now and meet you.”
    Andrea made a tinkling giggle. “Do you think you’re the only one who can have fun, Clay Maxwell?”
    A smile spread across his face. “You’re bad, and it turns me on.”
    “Well, you’ll have to do something about it by yourself. I have…other plans,” she said breathily—for his benefit, he was sure.
    His body itched from the challenge she was posing. Andrea always seemed to do this. He could fuck so many other girls, and then one little giggle from her would make him want to claim her all over again.
    She was a continual challenge. She was beautiful with long blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and a tall, lean frame that he knew intimately. But every time he thought he had her figured out, every time he was sure she was going to do one thing, she would do something else. She liked to play games, and he liked her games.
    Because, at the end of the day, he knew exactly where her head was in all of this. It wasn’t seeking out a Harry Winston engagement ring. It wasn’t demanding an I love you before bed. It wasn’t a scowl for his philandering or the way he treated his brother or innumerable other reasons. It was just an arrangement for two people who cared about each other…in their own way.
    “Pray tell, love. Who is the lucky bastard?” Clay