Page 88 of Tequila Tuesdays

“I’m not lusting on him, but I’m not dead either.”

“Okay, fair enough.” I smiled. “I also trust him. Damien would never make a bet with his friends about sex.”

“That’s a very specific and bizarre reason to trust him.” Olivia leaned forward. “Harley, did that happen to you?”

My eyes shifted away.

“Harley,” she said sharply.

I sighed. “Ollie, I should have told you a while ago, but something happened at my work.” I finally told her about the bet. She was sputtering and red-faced by the time I finished.

“You have got to be fuckingkiddingme! Who does that?” she was practically yelling, and a few customers glanced over at her.

“Is that a rhetorical question, because it’s obvious there are more than enough men who’d do something like that.”

“Well, they shouldn’t, damn it. It makes me so mad!” She studied me closely. “How have you not nut-punched any of these assholes yet?”

Olivia knew I had a temper, and it wasn’t exactly a secret I had a few run-ins when I’d played college volleyball.

“When I first heard about it, Ididwant to nut-punch them. I was devastated that some of my colleagues—people I worked with every day—would do that.”

Olivia nodded jerkily. “Very normal reaction.”

“But then I got thinking. I could cause a big stink and try to get them in trouble, but I’d probably appear weak in a profession that isn’t kind to people who aren’t tough. And when you swim with attorneys all day, you can’t appear weak.”

“The saying is, ‘when you swim with the sharks,’ I believe,” Olivia corrected me.

“Same thing. That’s a disservice to sharks though.”

She smirked, then sighed. “Have you doneanythingabout it?”

“Yes. I’ve worked my ass off to be the best damn criminal defense attorney I can be. And I make sure I’m always courteous and professional with the court staff and other attorneys.”

She nodded. “Dad would come back and haunt you if you weren’t.”

“True, and it was a good lesson he taught me. A court bailiff is the one who told me about the bet. So that’s my best revenge I think—to make them look petty and cruel.”

She slowly nodded. “You’re taking the high road. Damn it, the high road isso hard.”

I smiled. “It’s gotten under their skin.”

“Does Damien know about it?” she asked.

I grimaced. “Yes. He was in court the other day and saw one of them asking me out and harassing me. He wanted to rip the guy’s balls off when I finally told him.”

“Good! I can’t believe you didn’t tell anyone before now.”

I rolled my shoulders. “They’d just deny it if I tried to get them in trouble or fired. I’m handling it on my own.”

She didn’t like it, but she let it go. “If you ever want a partner in crime to go break some kneecaps or slash some tires, I’m your ride or die.”

I grabbed her hand. “I know, Ollie. That’s one of the many things I love about you.”

I planned to meet Damien at his house for a quick lunch—and other things—on Christmas Eve before he and his brother took off to spend the night with their dad in the afternoon.

He texted me a few minutes after I left his house yesterday morning. My vagina had still been pulsing, and I buzzed with leftover endorphins from our morning in bed.

Damien: You’ve been gone for 10 mins, and I already want you again. Lunch here tomorrow before I take off?

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