Page 1 of By Invitation Only
CHAPTER ONE
Peyton
“So, this bitch gets in my face and demands I tell her what thefuckI’m doing with her man.Demands! Who the fuck is she, thinking she can demand I tell her shit?”
“And let me guess. You need an attorney now?” I took a sip of my cosmo.
My best friend Lorelei, and I had gone to the bar down the street from our work that we frequented almost every Friday night and sometimes for happy hour during the week. Rick’s was everything you would expect from a bar in Beverly Hills. The food was great, the atmosphere was on point, and the drinks were always perfect and made with the best liquors. But what set Rick’s apart from other bars in the area, and what kept Lorelei and I coming back, was the vodka tasting room.
It wasn’t just a room. It was a walk-in glass freezer designed solely for vodka in its purest form. They gave out faux fur coats to wear in the twenty-eight degree box, and a vodka expert spent around fifteen minutes giving tastings and information regarding the hundred or so different vodkas that were lined along white leathered shelves. It was a neat experience. Lore and I had only done it once, but since it was a glass case, we watched people do it all the time.
Lorelei waved me off. “No, I don’t need an attorney. Before I could do anything, Tom got in her face and told her to back the fuck up.”
“Oh. Doesheneed a lawyer now?”
“No.” She rolled her chocolate brown eyes. “You don’t even practice criminal defense.”
“Fine,” I agreed. “Continue.”
“This chick burst into tears.Tears! In the middle of the club.”
“Wow…” I breathed, flipping my long, dark hair over my shoulder. “Why did she cry?”
Lore shrugged. “I guess they recently broke up and she’s still in love with him. Funny thing, I don’t care. I’m never going out with that dude again. I don’t need that shit in my life.”
I chuckled. “Gotta love online dating.”
“Right?” She took a sip of her cosmo. “And what guy takes a girl to a club on their first date? I mean, I like to dance and drink as much as the next girl, but I’m not putting out unless they at least feed me.”
“You’re too much.” I laughed.
“That’s why you love me.” She grinned and smoothed her hair down.
“I love you because you save my ass on a daily basis.”
“I do save your ass daily,” she agreed with a laugh.
We had been working for a family law firm in Beverly Hills for over five years. We met the day she was hired by Chandler & Patterson, LLP as my paralegal. She was my eyes to make sure I didn’t screw up any pleadings, and my paper pusher, making sure my client files are in date order and pristine—among other things. And she’s my best friend. Some firms frowned upon attorneys friending “lower” colleagues, but not C&P. When an assistant worked well with the person they were assisting, it was like a well-oiled machine.
Chandler and Patterson was a high-profile law firm that represented well-known famous actors/actresses, directors, musicians or other people in the limelight getting divorced and/or had custody issues. Given our clientele, we also specialized in prenuptial agreements and tried to do mediation when we could. Most of our clients didn’t want the public to know what was going on in their marital lives.
I got into law because of my father. Before he retired, he was a criminal defense attorney for twenty plus years, and then a judge in Los Angeles. I wanted to follow in his footsteps, and while I didn’t practice criminal defense, my ultimate goal was to become a family law judge one day.
“So, did the chick leave or what?” I was interested in hearing the end of the story since my dating life was shit. Shit meaning I went on dates that never led anywhere. I either didn’t like the dude, or once he found out what I did for a living, it turned him off because he assumed I’d take him for all he was worth if we ever got a divorce in the end. Sure I knew what to do and what not to do when it came to the financial aspects of a marriage, but not all marriages ended in divorce. Needless to say, those guys weren’t the right ones for me.
Lorelei snorted. “I don’t know. She ran off crying, and I didn’t see where she went. Tom bought me a few more drinks, we danced, and then I went home.”
“Alone?” I smirked.
She furrowed her eyebrows. “Yes,alone. The guy had no potential. He was cute and all, but I don’t have time for girlfriend drama. I’m too old for that shit.” I was two years older than her thirty, so I was too old for that shit too.
“At least you have men interested in you.”
“Pey,” Lorelei leaned forward and grabbed my hand, “you have men interested in you. You’re just not interested in them.”
It was my turn for my eyebrows to raise. “No, I don’t.” I knew that wasn’t exactly true. I was picky.
She blinked slowly, shaking her head as if she couldn’t believe what I’d said. “See that guy over there?” She nudged her head at the bar.
