It Should Be a Crime (26 page)

Parker bit back the sharp retort hovering on her lips. Would there ever be a time she and Skye could talk about things that mattered without battling?
You didn’t fight when you were talking about love.
Parker shook away the thought and focused on the topic of the moment. She knew Skye well enough to know once she was this worked up, she would only get more agitated if Parker persisted. Holding up a hand, Parker gave in. “I hear you. Let’s forget I asked.” Noting Skye’s surprised look, she realized Skye fully expected her to put up more of a fight. “I have a lot to do, so I’m going to head out. Thanks for talking to me.” Parker left, smug with the knowledge Skye wasn’t getting the battle she was armed to fight.

“Is this a date or did you feel obligated to go out with me because I’m the best realtor in town and you’re desperate to find a house?”

Morgan stopped fiddling with her salad and looked solidly into Aimee’s questioning eyes. “Honestly?” She waited for Aimee’s nod. “I don’t know.”

“I get the impression you’re distracted.”

Morgan reached for words to express how she was feeling, a task made difficult by the fact she didn’t know what she was feeling. “It’s this case we’re working on,” Morgan lied. “It’s complicated and all-consuming.” She struggled to deliver the statement without betraying its untruth.

“Uh-huh.” Aimee’s tone conveyed clear disbelief.

“And I have some personal things going on right now.” Morgan’s voice trailed off.

“At the risk of prying, Yolanda told me the reason you’re in the market for a house is because you recently broke it off with a longtime partner.”

Had she broken it off, or had things between her and Tina merely broken? Once she might have been annoyed with Yolanda for sharing such personal information, but tonight she was actually relieved since it gave her the perfect out. Try as she might, she wasn’t up for dating, and as appealing as Aimee might be, she wasn’t… Morgan quit the thought with full knowledge she planned to insert Parker’s name.

“It’s true I recently went through a civil, but nonetheless nasty breakup.” Morgan declined to add more, thinking it was safer to let Aimee fill in the blanks.

“Too bad. You’re stunning, and smart too. I was hoping you were available.”

Morgan laughed at her frank assessment of the situation. She liked Aimee Howard. She was a competent professional and cute and funny to boot. But even pushing aside the allure of the handsome Parker Casey, she could envision only friendship with Aimee. “Sorry to disappoint. I could use a friend, though.”

Aimee sighed dramatically and grabbed the bread basket. “Friend it is. Pass the butter. Now that I’m no longer trying to impress you, I may as well eat what I please.”

*

“She’s a great catch.”

Morgan hid her surprise at seeing Yolanda standing in the hall outside her office. She had returned to the law school after her date with Aimee and didn’t think anyone else was in the building “She is. If you’re fishing.”

Continuing the metaphor, Yolanda tossed back a line. “Or depending on what you’re fishing for. You don’t have to marry her, for crying out loud, but you could at least have a good time. You’re back too early to have had a good time.”

“Spoken like a true old married lady.”

“I am not a lady. Please, allow me to live vicariously through you. Now that you’re single, you’re bound to have a ton of great adventures and I want to hear about every one. Don’t shoot me for speeding things along.”

Morgan sighed and resigned herself to Yolanda’s good intentions. “Tell me your own life isn’t so boring you waited here to find out about my dinner.”

Yolanda’s features rearranged into a more serious expression. “Actually, no. I need to talk to you about something and I wanted to get it out of the way. Can we talk now?”

Morgan gestured Yolanda into her office. “Okay if we talk in here?”

As Yolanda took a seat across from her desk, Morgan wondered if the Burke family had gone over the dean’s head to try to keep Morgan and her students from working on the case. She had told Yolanda about the incident with Teddy the day after it happened. The day after she and Parker downed a bottle of Scotch, she remembered. Yolanda told Morgan not to worry about Teddy’s outburst. She had made it clear to his father the university had to be free from monetary influences when it came to student projects. She had told him she regretted this particular project would have an impact on his daughter’s case, but their grief did not give his son, Teddy, free rein to threaten one of her valuable and popular professors. Morgan hadn’t heard from Teddy Burke since, but she wondered if perhaps he found a sympathetic ear on the board of regents. She was completely unprepared for the real reason behind Yolanda’s late night visit.

“Are you romantically involved with Parker Casey?”

Morgan looked at the earnest expression on her face. Frantic thoughts raced while she fought to hide a telling reaction. She made a snap decision to deflect. “What in the world would give you that idea?” She struggled not to wince at the insincerity of her response. Yolanda was her friend. She had shared years of life’s ups and downs with her, yet she couldn’t bring herself to answer the question directly. Should she share her feelings or the reality of the situation? She had decided nothing was going to develop between her and Parker, but she couldn’t deny the steady pull of attraction whenever she thought about her. The allure extended beyond the desire to touch. Her glimpse of Parker’s vulnerable side tempted her to seek out the bigger picture of her heart and soul, but she was firmly set against giving in to temptation.
Aren’t I?

Yolanda waited through the silence as if giving Morgan time to reconsider her initial response. Morgan took the cue. “No. And yes.” Noting Yolanda’s raised eyebrow, she pressed on. “Remember at the beginning of the semester, you and I had brunch at La Duni?”

“Yes,” Yolanda replied, hesitantly.

“We talked about the first night I arrived back in Dallas? I went out to surprise Tina and I was the one who got surprised?”

Yolanda nodded as she recalled their beginning of the semester brunch. “Of course. Yes. I remember—Tina was all over some other woman right there in front of you.” She stopped as if waiting for Morgan to say more, but Morgan merely widened her eyes, urging Yolanda to remember more details. Realization dawned in shades. “Wait, I remember! You met some hot woman, had mind-blowing sex, and went home the next morning with nothing but a smile to commemorate your night of wild abandon.” She smiled when Morgan confirmed her recollection, then frowned. “What does your night of passion have to do with my question?”

Morgan dove in. “The hot woman with whom I had mind-blowing sex? Well, that would be Parker Casey.”

“Fuck.”

“Well said.”

“Seriously, Morgan. This isn’t good.”

“What was I supposed to do? It wasn’t like I knew who she was.”

“Tell me this—have you had sex with Parker since you found out she was one of your students?”

Silence. Morgan knew her lack of response spoke volumes and she waited for Yolanda’s judgment.

“Shit.”

“Language. I don’t think I’ve ever heard you cuss so much.”

“I’m upset. This is a grave situation and you don’t seem to be taking it seriously.”

Morgan considered her assessment and decided Yolanda was wrong. She did take the situation seriously. After all, wasn’t she the one who had been so adamant with Parker about their inability to see each other anymore, once they discovered their respective roles? Why was she so resistant to let Yolanda see how seriously she considered these circumstances? Well, for one thing, she wasn’t used to having a boss. For years, Morgan ran her own show and was used to operating by her own set of rules. Plus she and Parker were both adults. She knew her assessment was shallow and Yolanda considered this a serious situation. She held a position of authority over Parker and even though her strong ethics enabled her to separate personal feelings from her professional ones, the mere appearance of impropriety would be enough for someone to question any grade she gave Parker, high or low.

“Morgan?”

“I heard you. I don’t know what to say without making you mad. Maybe I’m not cut out for this teacher gig after all. All my life, my every move has been calculated toward a specific end. I have one spontaneous tryst and next thing you know, I’ve thrown off the balance of the universe. If I were back in practice, this never would have happened.” Even as she spoke the words, she cringed at her lapse of logic.

“What, you never would have slept with her?”

“I don’t know. All I know is things wouldn’t be so complicated if I hadn’t.”

Yolanda looked long and hard at her, then said, “You haven’t acted like things were complicated. I never would have known if someone hadn’t said something.”

“Who?”

“Who what?”

Glaring, Morgan asked, “Who said something?”

“I can’t tell you who.” As Morgan’s face become heated with anger, she held up a hand. “I can’t tell you, because I’m required to keep anonymous the identity of anyone who reports a violation of the honor code.” She continued deliberately as if willing Morgan to hear beyond her words, “Because, if you knew the individual’s identity, you might be inclined to retaliate against him,” she paused for a few beats, “or her by taking some action like,” long pause again, “giving whoever it is a bad grade.” Yolanda’s long, hard stare punctuated the obvious meaning of her words.

Morgan turned through each phrase carefully and considered.
So, a male student in one of my classes ratted on me. He must be in the Advanced Evidence class because it was the only place he would have seen us together. He chose to report me, not Parker, so he must be mad at me for some reason.
The answer was crystal clear. She could see him now, fuming over his assignment to make trial notebooks for the team, while the others handled more substantive work. What in the hell could he have witnessed and why was he so sure his story would be believed? Like a flash, Morgan recalled the day she offered subtle comfort to Parker in class. Gerald’s eyes had watched her, full of rancor.

Morgan stored away the knowledge that Gerald Lopez had it in for her and directed her attention to dealing with Yolanda. “So, what are you going to do about this?”

“I guess it depends on what you’re going to do.”

“What kind of answer is that?”

“A reasoned one.” Yolanda sighed. “I don’t know what to do, but I have to figure out something. I have no doubt if I don’t deal with this, I’ll have another formal complaint to deal with”

“And I’ve been the cause of all of them.” As Yolanda started to protest, Morgan waved her off. “Seriously, Yo, it’s true. I don’t mean to cause so many problems. I’m not cut out for the politics of academia and, frankly, I don’t want to be. You better start looking for my replacement.”

“Whoa, there. I’m not replacing you, but we do need to figure out how to handle this. Go, do your trial, and when it’s over, we’ll figure this out.”

“What about Parker? Are you going to talk to her about this?” Morgan silently willed Yolanda to wait until after the trial. She didn’t want her action to rob Parker of the ability to work on the case, and she knew whatever Yolanda decided, she would be better equipped to deal with the fallout if this case were behind her.

“I do need to talk to her and I intend to. This situation affects her most of all.” Yolanda looked hard at Morgan, reading her plea. “It can keep another week. Go get ready for trial.”

*

Morgan stewed in her office for another hour after Yolanda left. She didn’t accomplish any real work, but did manage to work up quite a storm of anger over the complications caused by Yolanda’s late-night visit. She had half a mind to pack up her office and leave university life behind. Then she could see whoever she wanted and everyone else could be damned.

Did she want a relationship with Parker so badly she would pull up roots here so soon after having found a place to settle? The question sent her spinning. She could name a few things she knew she wanted, but none of them answered the larger question about a relationship. She wanted to crawl up next to Parker and trade whispered versions of their most intimate secrets. She wanted to run her fingers through her thick, unruly hair while listening to her share her favorite color, her favorite food, her favorite music. She wanted to gently slide her hands along the buttons of Parker’s jeans and feel her passion on her fingers while they shared their dreams and fears.

Strong knocks jerked Morgan from her thoughts. She scrambled to compose her heated thoughts and croaked “Come in” toward her office door.

“Burning the midnight oil?”

She was surprised to see Jim Spencer. Though their offices were next door to each other, she’d been too busy over the last few weeks to do more than give him a quick wave as they passed in the hall. Ever since their outing at Rangers Ballpark, he made a point of stopping by her office each week to renew his offer to help her with anything, anything at all. While she appreciated his earnest desire to make her feel at home, she had actually settled in on her own. Other than asking him to judge the competition to determine who would work on the Chavez trial team, she brushed off his regular offers of assistance. Seeing him here, late at night, she felt a twinge of guilt at not having reciprocated with some goodwill of her own.