Beauty Vs. The Beast. M.J. Rodgers
Читать онлайн книгу.
pretrial motions are scheduled for this Friday. The trial is scheduled to begin a week from today.”
She leaned forward. “This Friday? A week from today? Why did you wait so long to seek legal representation?”
“I didn’t. I’ve been relying on the lawyer who represents my malpractice insurance company. After months of answering my frequent questions with vague assurances that he had everything under control, he finally called me into his office last week to tell me he was going for an out-of-court settlement.”
“What reason did he give?”
“He said that the publicity a suit like this could generate would only open a Pandora’s box of new suits against the psychologists that the insurance company represents.”
“Which he naturally wanted to avoid, being their legal representative first and yours second.”
“Yes. He was eager to approach the plaintiff with a settlement offer. In fact, he told me there was no way he would let a case like this get anywhere near the publicity of a trial.”
“Obviously you disagreed.”
“I have no doubt that what I did for Lee Nye was right, Kay. I’m neither apologizing nor paying off.”
“I take it the insurance company is no longer in the financial picture?”
“They’ve told me I’m on my own.”
“Without the insurance company’s resources, you realize this type of litigation could cost you quite a bit of money?”
“Adam discussed that aspect with me thoroughly. I have no intention of backing down.”
He felt her eyes assessing him. No surgeon’s knife could have been more precise in its careful probing. Yes, as he suspected from the first, this woman’s soft appearance and manner were quite misleading.
“I agree,” she said finally. “Backing down only invites others to advance. What we need is a good aggressive line of attack. I already see several possibilities we can pursue.”
Damian rose to his feet. He knew he had to stop this before it went any further. His curiosity and strong reaction to her had already let it go on far longer than prudent.
He extended his hand for a shake and set a small smile on his lips.
“I appreciate your listening to my story, but on reconsideration, I would be more comfortable engaging another attorney to represent me in this matter. Thank you for your time. Please send me your bill.”
She shot to her feet, but not to take his hand. Blue-white heat flashed in her blueberry eyes.
“You’d be more comfortable with another attorney? How can you possibly make such a decision without first hearing my ideas on the case and my strategy for your defense?”
He let his lips spread into his most soothing, reassuring smile, the one he’d been using for years on agitated patients.
“I’m certain your ideas and strategy are fine. My decision has nothing to do with your legal competency.”
She continued to ignore his outstretched hand. She did not return his smile. Her hands balled into fists. She rested her knuckles on the desk and leaned toward him menacingly.
“If you don’t doubt my legal competency, why are you dismissing me?”
He dropped his hand since she obviously wasn’t going to take it. He tried an earnest look and a calming tone, his most successful combination for difficult-patient situations.
“I don’t mean to offend you, Kay. I appreciate your reputation. Please understand that this decision is based purely on a personal idiosyncrasy.”
He followed his words with his most winning smile. Once again, she did not smile back.
“Rejection under the vague umbrella of personal idiosyncrasy, is offensive. I would hope you would at least afford me the professional courtesy of saying what you really mean. Don’t let my small size delude you. I’m not a child. I’ll be thirty in a few months. You don’t have to baby me.”
Damian’s smile faded as his eyebrows rose in surprise for the second time that morning.
So she was demanding the truth from him, was she? All right. He’d give her the truth. He looked her up and down. Deliberately. Not like a psychologist. Like a man.
“I have no illusions about your being a child. Far from it. It is precisely because I find you far too desirable a woman that you will not do. I’m facing a difficult lawsuit. I am not going to risk the possibly disastrous complications of getting personally involved with my attorney while I’m fighting for my professional life. Good morning.”
He pivoted sharply on the carpet and strode purposefully toward the door.
Her voice carried quite well considering its innate softness.
“Not so fast, Dr. Steele.”
He stopped and swung back to face her, irritated to be so strongly summoned by such a soft, yet clearly minatory, manner. That irritation crept into his words.
“There isn’t anything left to say.”
She moved quickly around her desk and marched toward him. She stopped directly in front of him, arms crossed over her chest, her chin up, her eyes sparking blue-white fire despite the saccharine smile that drew back her lips.
“I have two things to say. One, it takes two to get involved. And as difficult as it may be for you to imagine, I am fully prepared to struggle against succumbing to your charisma and live up to the ethical standards of my profession.”
She was so smug in her sarcasm. So damn smug. His irritation grew.
“I didn’t say you couldn’t—”
“The second thing I’d like to say is this,” she interrupted deliberately, still in that far-too-sweet tone. “If you, a psychologist, cannot control your impulses, then, Doctor, perhaps you’ve been spending your time on the wrong side of the analyst’s couch. I can get you the name of a good therapist if you don’t know one.”
Damian clenched his hands at his sides as an unwelcome heat rose in his chest and flared through his nostrils. How dare this pint-size attorney tell him that he needed psychological help and offer to find him a good psychologist. His voice lowered into a deadly warning hush.
“I have no trouble controlling my impulses,” he said, although at the moment he knew he was having a lot of trouble.
She took another step toward him, obviously ignoring the warning in his tone, her voice still too sweet, her eyes still too blue-white hot.
“Then we have no problem here, do we, Doctor? I will give you my word of honor that I will abide by my ethical code of having no personal involvement with a client, and you will give me your word of honor that you will not fire me for the duration of this case as long as I perform my legal services competently.”
Damian watched her silently for a moment, newly stunned by her challenge, wondering how she had managed to maneuver him into this untenable position.
How could he say no? He’d be admitting that he couldn’t keep his attraction for her under control. Which was absurd. Of course he could. At the moment, he was far more inclined to wring that slim neck of hers than kiss those soft-looking lips.
“So what’s it to be, Dr. Steele? Are you going to hire me, or are you going to spend some much-needed time on another analyst’s couch?”
She was so damn cool and confident and sure of herself. Behind that soft, feminine facade, he could clearly see a fierce feline with claws and a considerable set of sharp teeth.
What had ever given him the impression that this lady lawyer could be vulnerable?
Damian suddenly found himself smiling, the