I let out a grunt as I ran into her back as she suddenly came to a stop. I was too busy checking out her ass to notice that she had stopped moving, so I wrapped an arm around her middle to keep my bulk from knocking her over as I plowed into her. I was going to ask her what the deal was when I noticed a tall blond man in a suit and a young woman with bright pink hair having an argument in the center of the sidewalk. It was kind of a funny sight considering how different the two individuals looked until I realized that was exactly how opposite Sayer and I appeared to anyone on the outside watching the two of us walk toward the building.
Their voices were raised, and the young woman was calling the debonair-looking man every filthy word in the book plus some inventive ones I had never heard before. The guy shook his head as the petite young woman, who I now realized I recognized, took a step forward and poked him in the center of his chest with a finger. The blond man threw his hands up in the air in obvious exasperation before turning in our direction. He knew Sayer, which didn’t surprise me at all, everything about the guy screamed litigation and prestige. He made his way over to where we were standing without saying good-bye to his colorful and agitated companion. When he reached us his gaze purposely dropped to where my arm was still wrapped around Sayer. She made a little noise in her throat and stepped out of my hold, which had my hands curling into involuntary fists at my sides. The guy gave me a disinterested once-over and obviously wasn’t impressed with what he saw. He turned his full attention to Sayer, effectively dismissing me.
He pushed some of his hair off his forehead and flashed a smile in a toothy, smooth way that made me want to cram my fist in his face and knock every one of his perfectly straight, perfectly white teeth down his throat.
“I thought women liked you. It doesn’t look like that one is very fond of you, Quaid.” There was quiet humor in her tone, a familiarity between the two of them that grated across my nerves.
The other attorney chuckled. “Yeah, she’s one of my more challenging clients without a doubt. She needs to learn to listen to me or she’s going to have a rough go at it.” His gaze skipped back over to me and I felt my teeth grind together in the back even though I made sure to keep my expression bland. It wouldn’t do me any good to beat the man to a bloody pulp steps away from the front doors of the courthouse my first time before the judge who would determine my son’s and my future. “She’s a pain in my ass and a spoiled brat, but I don’t think she deserves to serve hard time. I just did my damnedest to get her charges dismissed.”
I lifted my hand and ran my thumb down the edge of my mouth and lifted my eyebrows up. “Avett is a good kid; she just fell in with a shitty crowd. She definitely doesn’t deserve to end up in jail for what went down at the Bar. She has a good family that will look out for her. Obviously if they’re paying your bill.”
The other guy reared back a little and Sayer turned around to look at me with wide eyes. I shrugged. “Avett is Brite Walker’s only child. Brite used to own the bar my buddy Asa Cross works at and Avett worked in the kitchen there for a few months. She hooked up with a junkie and somehow ended up driving him to the bar the night he decided to try and rob the place. She got picked up on an accessory charge, and I know Brite freaked out and has been doing everything in his power to keep her out of jail.”
Sayer cleared her throat and pointed between the two of us. “Quaid Jackson, this is my client Zeb Fuller.”
Her client? That was how she introduced me to the slick bastard in the thousand-dollar duds? It made my spine stiffen as I stuck my hand out. It annoyed me even further that the other lawyer had a firm and all-business handshake. I wanted him to be a weasel, mostly because he looked at Sayer the same way I looked at her . . . fascinated and hungry. He wanted under her fancy pants suit as much as I did.
“I actually handled a case for Asa a couple months back. You keep some very interesting company, don’t you, Mr. Fuller.” It wasn’t really a question, so I didn’t bother to answer him. I knew for a fact good people could be found on both sides of the law and that wasn’t something I needed to prove to anyone.
Sayer shifted her weight again and let out a small sigh. “I actually know Asa, too. That case turned out to be a setup, didn’t it? He’s involved with the cop who arrested him now, and I’ve met Brite several times. He’s a lovely man who I’m sure wants nothing more than to help his daughter, which is why you were so highly recommended to him. I’m sure you have her situation well in hand. We really need to head in. It was nice to see you, Quaid.”
She turned to look at me over her shoulder and inclined her head toward the big building. I went to step around the other man when he reached out a hand and grasped Sayer’s arm. He smiled at her again and I really, really had to fight down the urge to physically remove his hands from her.