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There was nothing plain about Mollie the paralegal.
Or Katie the lawyer.
“And?” I asked, eyebrows up.
“And?”
I leaned in with my elbows on the table and the glass of scotch between my hands. “And do you see anything that might prevent this deal from going through as planned?”
“No, not on the surface,” she said, shaking her head. “Still, I’d like to review it with your team once more before I advise my client to sign.”
“Review it with my team?”
“Yes, whomever you have assigned as the point of contact,” she said. “I’d like to come to your office first thing Monday morning and spend the day reviewing the points that Allen feels are the most critical, just to make sure we’re all on the same page.”
I gave her a slow nod as an idea formed in my head. “Tell you what. Why don’t you come to my house in the Hamptons this weekend? That way, you and I can personally review the finer points of the deal. Really get deep into it. Sink our teeth in, so to speak.”
“To make sure no one gets screwed?”
She said it with a smirk on her face.
“Yes. Exactly. Unless they want to be screwed, that is.” I held up my glass and waited for her to do the same, a little silent toast to seal the deal. “What do you say, Katie the lawyer? Shall we spend the weekend doing little one-on-one negotiating?”
I tossed out the idea just to see how she would react. Would she be offended? Intrigued? Disgusted? Or would she, like me, jump at the chance to spend a little quality time together reliving the glory and fun of New Year’s Eve?
She narrowed her eyes at me for a moment, like a lawyer assessing the finer points of a case.
She bit the inside of her lip.
For a second, I thought she was going to blow.
I glanced at the others to make sure they weren’t listening. Cass was doing a great job of keeping Reed and Allen busy, as per our plan before coming inside. They were enamored by her beauty and hanging on her every word. Cass could mesmerize a charging rhino into submission, so Allen Benson should be a piece of cake to contain.
It was good to know that if Allen wanted to be a thorn in my side over this deal, Cass would be there to pull him out.
No man could resist her.
Including me.
I had told Cass, “You keep Allen and Reed busy so I can have a private chat with this lawyer to see if he is someone we need to worry about. I had no idea at the time that this lawyer— he—was actually a she; and one that I’d slept with. Pulling off this deal should be a piece of cake.
“Well?” I asked after a moment of silence.
“I think Mollie the paralegal would jump at the chance to do a little…” she glanced over to make sure no one was listening. “One-on-one negotiating with you. However…”
I sighed and gave her a pitiful look. I said, “Katie the lawyer is not Mollie the paralegal.”
She picked up the wineglass and shrugged her eyebrows before bringing the glass to her lips. “Katie the lawyer has a fiduciary responsibility to her client to make sure he’s not getting screwed.”
“Very commendable of her,” I said, raising my glass. “But Katie the lawyer must realize, I’m not looking to screw her client.” That made her smile. “Come on, I already have my weekend planned and my calendar is booked solid for the next few weeks. This weekend is the only time I have to go over this contract with you. If we don’t close this deal quickly, it could be put on hold indefinitely. And I don’t think your uncle wants that.”
“Is that a threat?” she asked.
I held up a hand to ease her back into her chair. “No, it’s simply a fact, the way things work in my world. This is one of a dozen deals I have going at this moment. If it looks like this one is not going to work out, I’ll take the money we were going to pay your uncle and need to move on to the next one. It’s just business.”
She stared at me for a moment with hard eyes, like a fighter sizing up an opponent. “Are you having other people out to the Hamptons?” she asked, picking up her wine glass to hide her lips behind so I couldn’t see if she was smiling or sneering.
“Just you,” I said with a shrug. “Honestly, I’m having work done on my house there. I was going to drive up this weekend to check on things.”
