Free Steamed (Steamed #1) by Nella Tyler Page B

more proud of him; he was part
of the reason why I loved food so much. If you have a chef in the family then
chances are you will learn to love quality food. He was well known in the area
for his cooking and his restaurant was only gaining popularity. And my friends
wondered why I was a foodie. My god, it was practically in our genes to
appreciate good food. Our family was big into successful food preparation.
    “Jared, what's wrong? I wouldn't be slamming down your
phone. They aren't cheap. Tell me what's going on. Why am I here?”
    Jared looked up at me from his phone. He looked pissed.
“Someone is trying to screw me over. I am really having a hard time not losing
my cool completely here.” He started pacing the room.
    “Why? Who is trying to screw you over?” I couldn't have been
more confused. I rarely saw my brother angry. “How can I help? Just tell me
what's wrong and if I can help, then I will.”
    He stopped pacing and threw his hands up in the air. “Do you
know any good lawyers?”
    My mouth fell open. What the hell kind of trouble was he
into anyways? “What are you talking about? Are you in trouble? What on earth do
you need a lawyer for?” The questions peppered out of me like a machine gun.
    A grin formed on his face, as he looked me over. Oh great,
what was he up to now? It was never a good sign when a mad Jared started to
smile.
    “Actually I think you could be my lawyer.”
    I rolled my eyes heavenward. “What? What are you talking
about?”
    “I need you to impersonate a lawyer for me. Be my lawyer.
It's brilliant actually.”
    “Are you high? I'm not doing that! If anything you need to
start explaining what's going on here. Why on earth would I want to pretend to
be a lawyer?”
    “Come on Gemma, you are already dressed the part. Hell you
could already be a lawyer looking like that.”
    I looked down at my charcoal pantsuit and appreciated my
appearance all over again. I did look good, professional too, but that wasn't
the point. My job was not as a lawyer and I certainly didn't want to pretend to
be one.
    “I'm not impersonating a lawyer for you. I'm not a lawyer
for crying out loud and I would get caught. I'm a financial consultant for god’s
sake, how would I get away with someone believing that I was a lawyer?”
    “Please, I really need you right now. I don't have anyone
else and I don't need to be screwed over. You look the part and on top of that
I don't know anyone with a better vocabulary than you do. It would be a slam
dunk for you.”
    I sighed. “Jared, I don't want to. I can't even believe you
are asking me to do it. Like seriously, what is wrong with you?”
    “Please Gemma.”
    “Jared, just hire a real lawyer. It's a piece of cake; I can
probably refer you to a dozen good lawyers in the area. I know you can afford
it, so money can't be the issue here. Tell me what is going on.”
    “Nope, money is not the issue. I just need you to be an
awesome sister right now and help me out. I won't ask you for another favor
again, I swear.”
    “Oh yeah, that's likely...”
    My brother was acting completely weird. He seemed to have
this plan up his sleeve and I wasn't sure that he was giving me the whole
story. There was more to that issue, I just knew it. I didn't know why I needed
to be involved in that scenario when he could just pick up the phone and get a
professional. It was all very suspicious. Could he really be in some trouble?   I wanted to help him if I could. Maybe it
wasn't the end of the world if I just pretended to be a lawyer for a few
minutes. What was the big deal anyways?
    “Fine, I'll do it but you better start spilling.”

 
    Chapter Three

 
    I left my brother's restaurant and headed east towards
another restaurant. That would be three different restaurants in one day; I was
really on a roll. I should probably have quit while I was ahead. I still had
some reports I had to fill out for work but there I was heading off to some
restaurant to do my