Free Finally by Lynn Galli Page A

guess. I knew how she’d react to someone telling her she had an anger problem. She loved accusing me of my short temper with her, but push it back and she’d go ballistic.
    “Got it in one.” He tapped a fi nger to his nose. “Should I call Thad to see if he can reason with her or do you want to tackle this yourself?”
    I leaned back in my chair, contemplating the choices. A sense of serenity settled over me as I realized I didn’t need to be involved. “Neither. She’s a big girl. If she wants to be a moron, let her.”
    His brown eyes bugged out at me. “Really? Is Thad on board 62

    Objection
    with this? You’re really not going to get her out of this?”
    “I honestly couldn’t care less anymore. Did the ADA say how bad it was?” I hadn’t bothered to ask Valerie since she kept insisting it was nothing more than a sting.
    “The woman has a bruise, so I’d say she landed a good one.”
    I let another long breath escape. “Can you even imagine?
    Chatting with some guy and someone comes over and slaps you?
    She had to be wondering if she’d stumbled into a reality show somehow.”
    “Yeah, I’m not looking forward to having this go to trial.
    There is no defense I can put up.”
    Nodding my head, I knew he’d have his work cut out for him.
    “She might come to her senses before the trial date. When is it?”
    “Eight weeks. That new judge who keeps catching all the crap cases got it. If I didn’t have a ton of clients to defend in front of her, I’d feel bad for her.”
    My eyebrows shot up at the mention of Judge Brooks. She’d tracked in and out of my mind all weekend. I was hoping to bump into her again soon. Maybe I’d have to make up a reason. “What’s the gossip on her?”
    His eyes pinged back to mine and a teasing twinkle formed.
    “I was wondering when you’d get around to noticing her.” His hours made it so that living vicariously through his friends was the only viable relationship he could maintain. Mine weren’t a lot better, but at least I’d had a date in the past three years.
    Folding my arms, I pushed back against my chair. Classic and very telling defensive posture, but I didn’t care. “I ran into her on Saturday. I didn’t even recognize her. That’s all.”
    “Oh, that’s all. You can’t fool me, Linds. You don’t gossip, and you don’t ask about someone unless it directly relates to your job, orrrr,” he dragged out, “you’re interested in her personally.”
    “I’m just asking. She seemed to know who I was. I didn’t want to be caught off guard again.”
    63

    Lynn Galli
    “Uh-huh,” he placated. Annoying little bastard. “We’ve got eight to one odds she’s gay.”
    I let a snort escape. “You guys actually place wagers on stupid crap like that?”
    “We place wagers on whether the boss will sneak a cigarette before or after the morning meeting. Of course we’re keeping book on something as big as the possibility of a lesbian judge who could completely upend the tone of the court.”
    “There are conservative lesbians, you know.”
    “She doesn’t look conservative to me.”
    No, she didn’t, nor did she sound conservatively minded, either. Crap, now he’s got me thinking about her sexuality, which shouldn’t be something I have time to think about. The lingering glance at the check in my back pocket on Saturday should tell me everything I need to know about her sexuality, but it was possible she really was just looking at the check.
    “Stop thinking about how not conservative she is. I know you.”
    “You know me well enough to know I hate when people say they know me.”
    “Yep,” he smirked, rising out of his seat. “Let’s grab lunch and go dangle you in front of the courthouse.”
    “You really need to get cable.”
    “Waste of money. I get all the entertainment I need out of my single, clueless friends.”
    Like he was much better. “Really not liking you, right now.”
    “Wait till I scribble your number on each of the