Counselor Undone (23 page)

Jordis blushed.

Michael stepped over to Brandt and introduced himself.

“Michael, it’s good to finally meet you in person . . . I
think.” Brandt got another plate from the cupboard and set it in front of the
empty chair next to Jordis. “Would you like a glazed or a chocolate donut?”
Looking back at his sister, he added with a smirk, “I’m guessing chocolate.”

The glazed donut Jordis had half way to her mouth stopped in
mid-air as she glared her disbelief at her brother. She looked quickly up at Michael
when he passed behind her and fingered the waves of her ponytail. He was trying
to hide his amusement, but the corners of his mouth gave him away.

He looked down into her eyes. “Works for me,” he said then
strolled over to help himself to a cup of coffee from the disposable carafe of
gourmet brew Brandt had brought with him.

Jordis rolled her eyes at them before refocusing on her
glazed ring of carbohydrates. Surviving the morning with these two was going to
be more than interesting.

Michael enjoyed watching the interplay between the siblings.
Jordis was clearly chagrined at the timing of her brother’s arrival, and Brandt
was flabbergasted to catch his sister entertaining a man. He planned to stick
around awhile to see how the dynamics played out.

After breakfast, the three chatted a bit then talked about
the computer forensics work Brandt was doing on their case. Eventually, Jordis
decided she’d gone long enough without checking her email and went to the back
room to get on the computer.

She’d been gone only a few minutes when Brandt said, “Well,
this is a surprise.”

“Is it?” Michael rose to refill his coffee mug then leaned
against the counter facing Brandt.

“So, you decided to use my sister’s transportation issue to
extort a little weekend entertainment?”

Michael’s eyes narrowed. “It’s not like that.”

“Isn’t it?” Brandt gave him a dubious smile. “So, you’re
telling me you just happened to show up this morning before I got here?”

Michael stared at him for a few seconds, holding back the
smart-ass reply on the edge of his lips. He thought about Jordis’s reference to
how he’d feel if this situation were reversed. He’d be conducting just such an
interrogation. An odd sense of irony shrouded the moment. This is what it felt
like to be on the receiving end of a protective brother.

“Uh, no.” He raised his mug to hide his amusement at the turnabout.

“So, what did you promise my sister to earn your extended
visit?”

A muscle jumped in Michael’s jaw. “Nothing. Your sister’s
smart enough not to let herself be used like that.”

“You think so?”

“You don’t?”

“Well, I’d think my sister would be smart enough not to
sleep with her boss, but here you are. So, I’m wondering what’s the deal. You
make a habit of sleeping with your associates, Remington?”

Michael sat his coffee mug on the counter then turned back
to Brandt, keeping a tight lid on his rising ire. “As a matter of fact, no.
Never, in fact. This is a first.”

Brandt leaned back in his chair. “What made my sister so
lucky?”

Michael gave him an incredulous look. “You really have to
ask me that?”

Brandt sighed. “Look, I know my sister is a beautiful woman,
and I realize the effect she tends to have on men. I also realize they tend to
focus so much on the outer package they fail to appreciate the inner one. You
wouldn’t be the first colleague who thought his position could be used to manipulate
special privileges.”

Michael rubbed the back of his neck. He didn’t usually feel
the need to explain himself, but he understood Brandt’s position. “I know what
happened between me and Jordis this weekend crossed a serious line. It’s not
something I take lightly. In all honesty, I tried with everything in me at
first to avoid this situation. Nothing worked. I’m not here on a whim, Brandt.
I respect your sister a great deal. I’d never do anything to hurt her. You’re
going to have to trust I’ll do everything in my power to manage our
relationship in a way that has no negative repercussions for your sister.”

Brandt rose to get more coffee and a second donut. “I’m
going to have to take you at your word, counselor. For now. But know this,
Remington.” Brandt turned to look at him. “You fail and your ass is mine.”

They silently took each other’s measure. They were the same
height and stood a few feet apart meeting each other’s gazes directly.

Finally, Michael nodded. “Understood.”

Taking a bite of a caramel Long John, Brandt chewed then
said out the side of his mouth, “Just one more question.” He swallowed, took a
sip of coffee. “Two weeks ago, you were
persona non grata
. Exactly how
did you go from arrogant, domineering jerk to sleeping with my sister?”

Michael grinned. “I didn’t.”

Brandt raised a quizzical eyebrow.

“She still thinks I’m an arrogant, domineering jerk. She’s
just stopped fighting the fact that she finds that irresistible.”

Gut-deep laughter shot from Brandt, eradicating the tension
in the room. From that moment on, he and Brandt were at ease with each other.

Jordis rejoined them later, and the three ate leftover pasta
for lunch. Late that afternoon, Michael headed out to take care of some
business of his own and leave the siblings time to visit. On his way out, he
asked for Jordis’s car keys, promising to have her car delivered by Monday
morning when she needed to leave for work.

Jordis walked him to the door. He reached for her after she
opened it, but she hesitated, looking over her shoulder at her brother. She
turned back and touched her hand briefly to Michael’s chest. She whispered,
“I’ll see you at the office on Monday.”

Michael looked past her at Brandt who had parked himself
across from them on the arm of the couch, making no pretense of giving them any
privacy. Michael leaned in and gave her a long, slow kiss that said so much
more than goodbye. When he pulled back, he whispered, “You didn’t seriously
expect me to leave here without a kiss did you?”

“Uhm . . .”

He tapped her nose with his index finger. Keeping his voice
low, his tone turned serious. “We’re going to have to talk about this, you
know? About what this means . . .” He pointed his finger from her chest to his.
“. . . you and me.”

“I know.” Resignation laced her voice.

“Okay, then.” He gave her a peck on the lips. “Back to your
brother.”

Jordis sighed. Michael laughed as he walked away. He could
tell she wasn’t looking forward to what was coming now that her brother had her
alone.

* * *

The minute Jordis shut the door, Brandt asked, “Do you know
what you’re doing?”

“No.” She turned to face her brother.

Her honesty surprised Brandt. “Jo, this goes against everything
you’ve ever said about the inadvisability of an office romance.”

“Don’t you think I know that, Brandt?”

“Then what’s going on?”

“I don’t know. I just needed . . .”

“You just needed what?” Brandt watched her face closely.
“Don’t you dare try to tell me you needed to get laid. That’s not you, and I
know it. There’s more to it than that.”

“Maybe there is. Don’t worry about it.”

“Come on, Jo. Talk to me.”

She pushed off the door and took a seat in the living room
across from him. “Really, Brandt, it was an impulse kind of thing. It’s not as
if this is a long-term deal.”

“Does
he
know that?”

She stayed silent.

Brandt rose from his chair. “I need to get some shut-eye. I
didn’t sleep well the last two nights waiting for someone to call me back.”

“Sorry, bro.”

“It’s okay. I’m just glad you’re all right.” He kissed the
top of her head as he passed by. Before he entered the hallway, he stopped. “I
did tell you you needed to get a man. Maybe I should have been more specific.”

She grabbed a pillow from the couch and threw it at him.

Listening to Brandt’s chuckles fade down the hallway, Jordis
grabbed another pillow off the couch and clutched it to her chest. Despite her
resolve only a few days ago, she’d had sex with her supervising
attorney—marathon sex . . . over several days. To make matters worse,
she’d done something stupid. She’d fallen for him. She’d fallen head over heels
for a man she couldn’t have. For a smart woman, she really wasn’t acting too
bright.

She’d told Brandt this wasn’t a long-term deal. It wasn’t
because it couldn’t be. She couldn’t have Michael and maintain her current
position at the firm. At this point in her career, another lateral move would
reflect negatively on her. It would appear she didn’t have what it takes to
make it at a firm regardless of the extenuating circumstances that had nothing
to do with her legal skills. Even if she stayed at RHM, if it took her too long
to make partner, the same negative implications would apply. Her years of
seniority would become a red flag.

The situation caused a major dilemma. After this weekend,
she didn’t want to give up spending time with Michael—in bed or out. She
wanted to believe she could trust him to make this interlude work between them
without risk to her reputation or career.

What if she could have her cake and eat it too? Men did it
all the time. Of course, the dynamics of most office romances rarely had the
male in the subordinate position. She’d known, from the start the potential professional
consequences were higher for her than him. No sense pretending that would magically
change through wishful thinking. She needed to stay grounded and realistic.

With a sigh, she unfolded her legs. She needed to find her
phone then she’d head for her home office. She’d uncovered some interesting
medical information about the failure of the opponent’s drug in what seemed
like a significant number of adolescent cases. She wanted to review the details
again and contact a biochemist she knew to help her understand some of the
physiological implications.

Phone finally located, she settled down with her laptop and
pushed all thoughts of Michael Remington from her mind. She spent the remainder
of the weekend alternating between analyzing the new information she’d
uncovered about the opponent’s drug and hanging out with her brother.

When Brandt left Sunday evening to return home, she noticed
her car hadn’t yet been returned. She decided not to worry about it. Michael
said he’d make sure it was returned by the time she had to go to work Monday
morning, and she could count on him to get it done.

As she closed the door behind her brother, the magnitude of
her blind faith in Michael hit her. She was a control freak. Normally, she’d be
immediately on the phone checking on the car situation and making plans to get
it done herself. What did this say about her? About him? Or more particularly,
about what he’d done to short-circuit her independence-wired brain cells?

She slumped against the door. Her mind wandered through
everything he’d done to her body this weekend. Her lips curved upwards with the
memories.

She’d have to face him in the office tomorrow morning.
Hopefully, she’d be able to do so without a tell-tale goofy grin on her face.
That would certainly blow all efforts to keep their weekend encounter under
wraps.

He’d said they needed to talk about this. Her gut told her
nothing they’d say to each other would make a difference. Her heart whispered
the completely opposite message, telling her to quit trying to control
everything and take a chance. Just once, she wanted to believe in fairy tales,
particularly one featuring an Italian Prince Charming.

In an uncharacteristic Scarlett O’Hara moment, she decided
she’d think about it tomorrow. She owed it to herself to at least hear what he
had to say. This didn’t have to be forever. Maybe they could have a little bit
of happy until.

* * *

Michael strolled into the kitchen of his mother’s Ward Parkway
home. Sofia Remington looked up, pleasure written all over her face. “Michael!
You’re early. I wasn’t expecting you for another hour.”

“Hello, gorgeous.” Michael bent to kiss his mom on the
cheek.

At five foot six, Sofia was the shortest member of the
family. Having married a man who was over six feet tall, she’d ended up with
children who were all taller than her.

“I did some shopping on the Plaza so I was close by. Didn’t
make sense to go all the way home then come back. So here I am.” He reached for
a few sliced black olives in a bowl on the counter.

She swatted his hand then turned back to stir the pot she
had on the stove. “What were you shopping for?”

“Nothing in particular.” Michael stepped to the refrigerator
and took out a bottle of Coke. “It was a spur of the moment sort of thing.” He
leaned against the counter, twisted off the cap, and took a sip. He stood
silently, watching her bustle around the kitchen.

She allowed him to stand in his silence. She glanced at him
from time to time, no doubt analyzing the pensive look on his face. She always
told him he was exactly like his father. He knew she sometimes found it strange
to look at Michael and see his father’s features beneath her olive coloring and
coffee hair. He was a constant reminder of the greatest love of her life. He
knew the reminder sometimes brought sadness along with the joy.

He missed his father immensely. He suspected she missed him
twice as much. Although it had been years since Austin Remington had been
killed by a driver who’d lost control of his car during a snowstorm, the pain
slipped in fresh for both of them at the oddest moments. Like now, he needed to
talk through what bothered him with his dad, but he stood in his mother’s
kitchen putting up a front.

“What’s on your mind tonight, sweetheart?”

“Huh?” He looked up from his daze. He should have known
better than to come here before he’d finished wrestling with his thoughts. The
downside of being like his father was that she could read him like a book like
she always could his dad. Hiding things from her was like trying to keep scent
from a bloodhound.