Authors: Deirdre Martin

Tags: #Women lawyers, #Contemporary, #Legal, #General, #Romance, #Hockey players, #Fiction

Icebreaker (28 page)

BOOK: Icebreaker

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She contemplated tiptoeing out of the room to call Maggie, then thought better of it. She’d wait until the weekend was over and save up all the news to tell her sister at once.

As if he knew he was being watched, Adam opened his eyes with a groggy smile. “What are you doing? You should be resting your muscles.”

“I can rest them and look at you at the same time.”

“Your multitasking skills impressed me from the get-go.”

Sinead fit herself into the crook of his arm, resting her head on his chest. They lay there quietly. Finally, Sinead asked, “What are you thinking?” Her head popped up. “No, wait: men hate that question, don’t they?”

“Pretty much, but I’ll answer it, anyway.” He paused. “I was thinking about retirement.”

Sinead was perplexed. “Why?”

“Because when I retire, this is exactly the kind of place I want to live in.”

“The house?”

“The house, the setting, all of it. I want to wake up and hear nothing but the birds and the breeze. I want to be able to walk out my front door and take a hike, or hop in my jeep and in five minutes, be able to hunt or fish.”

Sinead let out a careful breath. “Kind of early to be thinking about retirement, isn’t it?”

“Not for a professional athlete,” Adam said, his expression slightly bitter. “I’m thirty-five; that’s about eighty in hockey years. I don’t want to be one of those guys who just won’t let it go and winds up playing only on power plays for some European team. I want to go out on a high note—unless I end up in jail.”

“You’re not going to jail,” Sinead scoffed. Even so, she was beginning to feel perturbed. “So that’s all you’d do all day? Hike and fish and hunt?”

“For a while,” Adam mused. “Until I figured out what’s next.” He studied her with interest. “You?”

“Me?”

“What do you picture your retirement to look like?” Sinead lay flat on her back, looking at the high-beamed cathedral ceiling. “Actually, I don’t see why I should retire. As long as I’m active and alert and enjoy what I do, why retire?”

“I wish I had that option.” He was studying her intently. “But if you did retire, you’d want to come here, right?”

“God, no,” Sinead blurted. She backpedaled. “I mean, I love it here, don’t get me wrong. But twelve months a year? I think I’d go crazy. There’s really not much to do up here.”

“Isn’t that kind of the point?”

“If that’s your personality,” Sinead reasoned. “But it’s not mine.” She turned to look at him. “I’m a city girl, born and bred. I really can’t imagine ever living anywhere but Manhattan.”

“Even if you had a kid?”

The question took Sinead by surprise. “I don’t know. I’m sure the schools here aren’t very good—at least not compared to Manhattan.”

“But wouldn’t you rather have your kid grow up here than surrounded by steel and glass?”

“I grew up surrounded by steel and glass, and I seem to have done okay for myself,” Sinead replied testily.

“True.”

Sinead grew uneasy. On the one hand, she couldn’t help thinking that since he was feeling her out about something light-years away (at least for her), then he was picturing their relationship long-term. But on the other hand, it was glaringly obvious they weren’t on the same page, and it worried her.

“Bit early to talk about those things now, don’t you think?” Sinead pointed out, hoping to lighten the mood a little bit.

“I suppose.”

“Let’s just go with the flow.”

Adam looked amused. “Those are words I never, ever expected to hear come from your mouth.”

“Believe me, I know,” Sinead agreed dryly. “But maybe I’m starting to learn you can’t control everything.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“Look who’s talking,” said Sinead, snuggling up against him. “Maybe together we can take the intensity down a notch.”

“Deal.” Adam rolled toward her with a wicked grin. “You look like you need another massage . . .”

Sinead’s state of
relaxation lasted until she set foot in the office Monday morning. She had no sooner grabbed a cup of coffee than her assistant, Simone, frantically waved her over to her desk.

“What’s up?”

“The partners came down on Oliver. He showed up here drunk out of his mind on Friday. They told him either go into rehab or he’d be fired.”

“Please tell me he chose rehab. Please.”

“He did, but only after making a major scene.”

“I had my own go round with Oliver. Maybe this is the kick in the butt he finally needs.”

“Maybe. Anyway, I e-mailed you the address and phone number of where he is.”

“Thanks, Simone,” said Sinead, patting her shoulder. She started for her office. “One more thing,” Simone said.

Sinead turned. “What’s that?”

“Mr. Kaplan said he wants to see you as soon as you get in.”

“Right,” Sinead said grimly as she started down the hall to Jeff’s office. She was glad she didn’t see Oliver’s melt-down. She made a mental note to call the rehab facility as soon as she could.

She knocked on Jeff’s door and then poked her head in. “You wanted to see me?”

“Yes.” Jeff’s tone was serious. He didn’t even look up from his desk as Sinead walked in. A bolt of panic hit her. What if he knew about her and Adam?

Sinead sat on the couch opposite her boss. He looked troubled as he lifted his head to look at her.

“How was your weekend?” he asked solicitously. Sinead could see how hard he was working not to take his bad mood out on her, and she appreciated it.

“Nice.”

“Do anything special?”

Oh, God, he knows. No, he doesn’t. He asks you this all the time. Relax.

“I went up to the house in Bearsville,” Sinead said evenly. “You?”

“Junior high soccer game. Howard did well.”

“Good.” Sinead sipped her coffee, waiting.

“I assume you heard about Oliver,” he said carefully.

“Simone told me. How awful was it?”

“Pretty awful. He trashed his office.”

Sinead winced.

“But he agreed to go to rehab, which is good,” said Jeff, looking relieved. “However, it does leave us with a problem.”

“Yes?”

“Oliver’s pending cases. We don’t know yet how long he’ll be in there. In the meantime, we want you to take over two of his cases.”

Sinead wasn’t stunned, but she
was
surprised, especially after he’d requested she take on the Joyce Toys lawsuit.

“And those are—?”

“High-profile divorce case and a fraud case.”

“The one where the Realtor failed to tell his client that he owned the property the client was buying?”

“Yes.”

“I see.” It was a complicated case that had been going on for months. As for the divorce case, that one was ugly as hell, with outrageous, damning accusations flying back and forth. Oliver had been getting a kick out of that one.

“You don’t look enthused,” noted Jeffrey.

“I’m just surprised, that’s all.” Sinead took another sip of coffee. “Actually, I’m flattered.”

“You’re incredibly capable. And now that you’re wrapping up those smaller-billing cases, that should free you up to work on these, yes?”

“Definitely,” Sinead fibbed. Those cases were still open; Sinead wanted to give her less affluent clients some time to pay her back. But she knew that eventually, she was going to have to collect.

Jeffrey looked pleased. “We knew you’d be up to the challenge. Plus it’ll up your billing that much faster.”

“I appreciate the vote of confidence.”

Jeffrey splayed his hands on the desk, his expression much lighter than when Sinead had walked in.

“Anything else?” Sinead asked.

“Nope, that’s it for now. We put Oliver’s files in your office. Didn’t want you to have to deal with the carnage in his office.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

He went back to the paperwork on his desk. Sinead left the office, quietly closing the door behind her.
Be careful what you wish for,
she thought.
Oliver’s cases on top of the Joyce Toys lawsuit . . . shit. You can do it. You’ve had this much on your plate before; you can do it again. Just take it as it comes.

“I’m doing all
I can, Adam. You know that.”

Sinead was working at home when Adam unexpectedly showed up. Her brain was about to burst: first Jeff pressuring her to wrap up the smaller-billing cases, then being handed Oliver’s cases on top of her own, and now Adam telling her she needed to push the DA on his case, as if she didn’t know that already.

It didn’t help that Oliver had given her a laundry list five miles long of stuff he needed her to bring to the rehab facility, another chore on her plate. Not that she’d be able to see him until he detoxed, but she was allowed to drop stuff off for him, all of which would be searched. It was like he was moving in; she half expected him to ask her to bring his humidor.

At least she’d figured out how to wrap up the small cases around her neighborhood quickly: she used her own money to pay what they owed her. She had the cash, many of them didn’t, and she refused to bug them for money they didn’t have, especially since she’d known most of them since childhood. She should have done them pro bono, anyway.

She couldn’t believe Adam was now getting on her case as well. When he’d called and asked to come over, her immediate assumption was negative: he’d had time to think and he’d decided to break up with her. All her life, her first instinct had always been to assume the worst. She mentioned it once to Quinn. His reply? “Welcome to being Irish.”

She was honest with Adam, telling him she could only see him for a bit, and he was okay with that, or he seemed to be until she told him what he didn’t want to hear.

Adam looked frustrated as he ran his hand through his hair. “You sure you’ve thought of everything?”

Sinead stared at him in disbelief. “Are you questioning my competence?”

“No, of course not. It’s just that now, in addition to being scapegoated by refs and hounded by the NHL commissioner, I’ve got Ty bugging me, telling me to push you. He’s really worried about this following us into the playoffs. So am I.”

“And so am I. Look, you just have to deal with things being on hold for now. I can’t magically wrap up the case. Yes, I can be a total pain in the ass to the DA, but apart from that, there’s not too much I can do. And I hate to tell you this, but right now, your case isn’t my number one priority.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m not saying it’s
not
a priority,” Sinead explained. “It is. But the partners just handed me a huge case, and I’ve taken on two of Oliver’s.”

“What’s wrong with Oliver?”

Sinead blew out a relieved breath. “He’s in rehab. Finally.”

BOOK: Icebreaker

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