Tangled Web (19 page)

Adam shook his head. “Hunky, huh?” His light
brown eyes moved from Angela to Samantha. “What? Did he ask you out
on a date?”

Samantha almost felt like she was being
questioned by her father. “No!” She sighed, starting to feel a
little irritated. “That would be inappropriate. But just as Angela
said earlier, I’m not blind.”

Adam smiled slightly and shook his head.
“Well, I just got off the phone with Braden. She’s not budging on
the Newman case.”

“No plea bargain?”

Adam scoffed. “A lame one.” He paused,
running his hand through his black hair. “Shit. I hate going to
court.”

Angela opened a large black book on her
desk. “Need me to clear the rest of this week’s schedule?”

He sighed. “Yeah, I guess you better.” He
looked at Samantha again. “Would you be able to cover me this week
if you need to?”

“Always got your back, partner.”

He smiled, finally a little calmer. “I know
you do.” They had done it for each other for ten years now. They
made a good team--Samantha sometimes had to remind herself of that
on those occasions when she was tempted to jump ship and work for a
large firm. She and Adam had met in law school, both fiercely
independent. They knew, being new lawyers, that opening their own
office would be hard if not stupid, but they didn’t like the idea
of putting in one hundred hours a week just trying to impress
someone else; they didn’t want to have to bow to anyone else’s idea
of what was right. So when Adam had inherited a small sum from his
grandmother during their last year in law school, he’d sunk the
money into the business and asked his best friend Samantha to be
his partner. They had been young and idealistic, ready to change
the world. Time had changed that some, however, as the first three
years had been difficult. Their clientele was small, and they
couldn’t afford any office help. They wound up putting in the same
hours that they would have for a big firm, simply because there
were only two of them there. Today their office was still in the
same building they’d started in, but finally, five years ago,
they’d remodeled because they could at last afford to. As their
reputations grew, so did the business. And they began to prosper.
After the first three hard years, they were able to afford an
assistant, and Angela had proven herself to be worth more than her
weight in gold. She hadn’t been the first, though. Their first
assistant had been a disaster, and both Adam and Samantha breathed
a sigh of relief when she quit because she’d said it was too
“stressful” to work for such “demanding” people.

But Adam and Samantha’s history was much
more than just their partnership. After being good friends their
last two years in school and during the first two years of their
partnership, they had become lovers. In the early days, they had
simply had no time--or energy, for that matter--to pursue
relationships. One night, though, they’d been working late on a
particularly difficult case together, trying to decide a strategy
for court, a case Adam had been handling. Samantha had given him an
idea that he’d said was “absolutely brilliant.” He’d been smiling
at her, weariness beginning to show in his eyes…but the fatigued
look had slowly changed, the smile had slowly faded…and just as she
could register what that new look was in his eyes, he was leaning
all the way across the small table in the “conference room” in the
back of the building, and his lips were pressing hard on hers. She
didn’t even question her response. She’d leaned back into his kiss,
and before she knew it, they were ripping each other’s clothes off
and pushing the papers aside to make love on the table. To this
day, she still remembered his hairy chest, his firm, toned body,
the cute little dimples in his ass. He was normally clean shaven,
but that night, she remembered, he’d had some stubble that kept
scratching her chin and cheeks, and it hadn’t bothered her a bit.
But he’d been a great lover…and they hadn’t realized it until then,
but all the unleashed passion and feelings they’d had for one
another rose to the surface. And they stayed together for the next
two and a half years until Adam had finally ended it, telling
Samantha that their relationship interfered with their work. She’d
been hurt, more deeply than she would have imagined--Adam had been
her best friend for so long, and when he’d wanted to end the
relationship, it had felt as though a part of her life was being
ripped away. It took a while, but she got over it. Their friendship
was strained for quite some time, but Samantha tried to be an adult
about it. The worst part was when, several months later, Adam
started seeing someone else. So Samantha decided to try to get over
it and dated a few men as well. But none were satisfying…none were
Adam. Over the last year, she’d decided she didn’t need a man, and
she dated once in a while, but she didn’t search for a
relationship. Most men just didn’t interest her. The truth was
that--deep in her heart--she still had feelings for Adam, and maybe
part of her still hoped that they could pick up where they’d left
off. But today, for the first time in seven years--since she and
Adam had first made love--she’d met someone…Ryan…and Adam hadn’t
entered her thoughts once. She hadn’t mentally compared Ryan to
Adam like she had with every other man she’d dated or slept with
since they’d broken up. She hadn’t wondered what Adam would think
of him; she didn’t care. Samantha felt a small smile creep on her
face with that realization. She was finally over him.

Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jade-C-Jamison/180245168694632

Smashwords:
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jadecjamison

Blog:
http://jadecjamison.blogspot.com/

Twitter:
http://twitter.com/@JadeCJamison