Christmas Pet

Confusion filled her face, and she pressed a hand against her stomach. “What? Wait? Daniel? Daniel, I need you.”

Pearl stepped onto the porch, guilt filling her eyes and face.

“Pearl? Why are you here? I don’t understand.”

“This is my boss, James Matthews, Attorney at Law. He’s been searching for Daniel for a while. Erin has filed for a divorce on the grounds of adultery.” She paused for a few seconds. “You’ve been named a party in the divorce case and have been served with a complaint.”

“But they were separated. He said their marriage was irrevocably broken.”

“They weren’t separated,” I said.

“I don’t understand any of this.”

“It’s simple. Erin wants a divorce. Daniel has been avoiding her calls and mine. She’s serving him with divorce papers and naming you.”

“Daniel,” she called out again. “Can you please come down here?” She massaged her stomach in self-soothing circles. I felt a twinge of sympathy for her. She obviously had no clue about the mess she’d stepped into.

Perhaps she wasn’t the gold digger Erin thought she was.

She rubbed her fingers along her furrowed brow. “I need to sit down.”

Daniel thundered downstairs, taking them two at the time, fury filling his face. “Get the fuck off my property, you blood-sucking vampire.”

I held out the papers. “Take these, and I will.”

“Enough.” He snatched them out of my fingers. “Fuck off before I call the cops.”

Pearl crossed her arms. “Want to tell me why your wife thanks my friend is a stripper?”

Sophia’s eyebrows shot to the sky. “Stripper? I’m a screenwriter. I work as a script doctor. I helped Daniel polish a screenplay. That’s how we met.”

“I can explain, babe.”

She turned on him, her lips an angry slash. “Don’t call me babe.”

Pearl reached out and rubbed a hand up and down Sophia’s arm. “Sweetie, I’d say you could come home with us, but I don’t think you’d make it down the driveway in your condition. It’s none of my business. But—”

“—you’re right. It’s not your business,” Daniel bit out. “I’m calling the cops and having you both charged with trespassing.”

James held up his hands. “We’re leaving. Let’s go, Pearl. We did what we came here to do.”

“But what about Sophia?” She took her friend’s hands in hers. “Sophia, do you want us to stay?”

She shook her head and snatched her hands away. “I’ll be fine. Daniel and I have to have a serious conversation. And besides, I’m pissed at you. How could you do this to me, Pearl? I know we aren’t close, but this was shitty.”

“I know,” Pearl said quietly. “I’m sorry.”

Sophia slammed the door in our faces.

“Do you think it’s safe to leave her?” she asked. “You don’t think he’ll hurt her, do you?”

I shook my head. “Daniel is many things, but in all the years I’ve represented his ex-wives, he’s never raised a hand to them. His mouth is his weapon.”

She didn’t seem convinced. “Let’s go home before we freeze to death. I’m ready for a hot shower and some sleep.”Chapter Eleven - PearlAt the office on Tuesday, James behaved as I thought he would—professionally and cold. It was as if nothing had happened between us. What had I expected him to do? Get down on his knee and propose in front of everyone. Take my hand and declare we were now a couple? A man like James would save his affection for private. PDA wasn’t his thing.

The other associates and I worked on Erin and Daniel’s case while James went to meetings with the other managing partners. If anyone wondered why we were together over the weekend, they didn’t ask any questions. No way would it have crossed their minds that he and I got naked.

On Wednesday, he emailed saying he would pick me up at six. That meant I had to take the afternoon off work to get ready.

After trying everything in my wardrobe, I settled on a long, silky crimson dress with red, sparkly heels and simple silver jewelry. The dress’s cut accentuated all the good bits of my body and hid all the bad bits. Everything I wore cost less than a hundred bucks, but I looked the part. I was sure the women at the party would take one look at me and know everything I wore came from TJ Maxx.

At seven exactly, the bell rang. Pressing a hand against my stomach, I opened the door.

Oh, wow! James wore the heck out of his tux. He was a breathtaking vision. I snapped my mouth shut to stop from drooling over my dress.

His dark hair fell across his forehead, and salt and pepper stubble shadowed his jaw. Usually, James was clean-cut and freshly shaven, but tonight he was all tousled and enticingly sexy.

He grinned, and my nipples swooned. “You look very fuckable, pet. Simply amazing.”

The compliment left me simpering and blushing. Any second now, I would fall to the ground and kiss his feet.