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“Inheritance law. Yikes, that sounds enthralling.”
“More like mind-numbing.” He grabbed his laptop, notebook, and locked his desktop computer. The firm’s policy was to make sure no one could read the files you were working on because there was always so much client personal information in their files.
They made their way up the elevator into the conference room, keeping a safe distance and not touching once. It was brutal. Purposefully, he sat across from her in the conference room and fought every urge to reach for her, lay her on the table, and explore her body with his mouth.
“Tomorrow in court, I think you should take the lead. The defense will try to overpower me, embarrass me with talk about adult toys, and sexual preferences. You can counter that by taking the lead, present the law, and gloss over their attempt to make this about a rich man and poor wife. This was a business Mrs. Tovar created on her own and in spite of her wealthy, stingy husband,” Hailey said with conviction.
“Respectfully, I disagree. You should take point because they will look like children when they try to embarrass you. We’ll use their biases against them from the start.”
She started to argue, but he held up his hand. “Hear me out? Mrs. Tovar hid her business to shield herself and her son from the explicit nature of the toys and people’s judgment. But as you so eloquently said, women do not need to be ashamed of their bodies, their desires, their needs. They can take care of themselves. Mrs. Tovar has embodied that by going out on her own. You do not blush easily, and you’re too stubborn to let them intimidate you with a few sex toys.”
Hailey grinned as she considered his argument.
“Mrs. Tovar did say she specifically wanted something for herself when it became clear her husband wasn’t a real partner in life. He used his money to control her and their family. The business based around pleasure toys for women was her way of taking back control while also saying he wasn’t enough, he wasn’t god’s gift to her, she wasn’t going to just take what he gave her.”
“Bingo. So you lead, and we go with the angle that Mrs. Tovar was never ashamed of her needs not being met, not then or now. She was methodical, smart, and took care of it on her own.”
“What if Mrs. Tovar balks at this?”
“You prep her. She believes in you.”
“Us.”
“It will resonate better coming from you, woman to woman.”
She nodded. The client coaching for court could often be the most difficult part of a case. People reacted emotionally when their character was being attacked in court, it was difficult to separate the theatrics of it, and if they were too good at ignoring it, they looked cold and guilty.
“Let’s practice. I’ll pretend to be the cocky male defense lawyer, and you be your polished, poised, kick-butt self,” Finn said, standing from the table.
“How do you know they won’t also use a woman in their defense?”
“We don’t. It’s just a hunch. Mr. Tovar is a weak man who needs to exert his wealth as his power. He never viewed his wife as an equal—she was an accessory to his life. I don’t think he’d want a female attorney to solve his problem for him. Also, there were only men listed on their firm’s website.”
Hailey laughed, and he enjoyed the sound as it rolled over him. “Good attention to detail. Do you think most men view their wives as partners?”
He studied her. She hadn’t experienced any great examples of healthy relationships growing up. It was the complete opposite for Finn.
“Any real man would expect his wife to be a partner, I would think, based on all the examples in my family. And come to think of it, my mom probably just lets my dad think he has half a say, so maybe the imbalance is skewed in favor of the women. Both my brothers and brother-in-law are fools for their wives. I can’t see them getting away with trying to boss their wives around.” He laughed at the thought.
She fidgeted but didn’t meet his eyes. He took a step closer.
“In all seriousness, a woman should expect to be viewed as an equal in a relationship. Her needs, wants, desires should all matter. And if a man loves her, all her needs will matter more than his own. People should always put their loved ones first.”
“That sounds like a nice sentiment, but I wonder how many people find that kind of love?”
“Well, it exists, so why settle for less?” he asked.
The tension between them was palpable. If Hailey could let down her guard long enough, he would cherish her and put all her needs before his. He’d never wanted to be tied to someone more than in that moment.
“Okay, so let’s get started.” She turned away and cleared her throat.
*
They spent thenext hour sparring and rehearsing different arguments and tactics the defense could use in court. Finn pushed her with more aggressive verbal judo than he’d expect from any respectable attorney, but he doubted Mr. Tovar hired them for their courtside manner. Hailey rose to the occasion and met him every step of the way, with precise, calm rebuttals or redirection. She was exceptional.
“You’re ready, Hailey. We’re ready to win this case.”
“Don’t get overconfident. They may have a few more tricks up their sleeves.”
