The Law of Attraction
Page 40

“Yes, sir. Thanks, judge! See you later cutie.” Mr. Davis smiled and winked at me flirtatiously before going off to report to the probation department.
Braden and I were done for the morning and we packed up our files. We had all decided to go out to lunch. Braden officially introduced Cam to Adam and Mark and we all headed for Reading Terminal Market again. When we sat down to eat Mark got the ball rolling.
“So Cameron, I hope you were paying attention to how Gabrielle handled that.”
“The erectric company!” Adam laughed.
“Oh my God. I can’t believe I said that,” I mumbled.
“He’s an upstanding member of the community,” Braden added. “That was great too.”
“You liked that huh?” I smiled.
“See what you have to look forward to, Cameron?” Mark asked. “One day you too can represent horny senior citizens while attempting to sound dignified.”
“Too bad he wasn’t around for that case with the nuns,” Adam said to Jess.
“I would have been happy to hand that one off to you,” she told Cam.
“I should introduce Mr. Davis to Ms. Franklin,” I told Braden.
“That would be some hot date.” He laughed. “They could head down to the senior center, get high and get laid.” Hearing Braden say “get laid” reminded me of the conversation we had recently shared lying naked in bed together just before I had gotten laid very well. It made me feel flushed and sent a jolt of heat to my girl parts. “What?” he asked me quietly. I guess I wasn’t exactly hard to read.
“Nothing,” I said, feeling my face getting even hotter.
“I think Gabrielle wants you to talk dirty to her,” Mark teased.
“Braden’s going to be making a booty call later,” Adam chimed in. “Just make sure you obey the traffic laws on the way.”
Braden looked at me and smiled. He knew perfectly well that I liked it when he talked dirty to me. He probably just hadn’t realized that even saying “get laid” could turn me on when it was him saying it. “You want me to make a booty call later?”
“You’re welcome to call on my booty if you want,” I said, examining my spring rolls with intense interest and feeling like if I blushed any more I would start to glow.
“If you’re going to talk dirty, though, just make sure you do it quietly,” Jess teased Braden. “Let me remind you again that there’s a minor who lives next door.”
“Again?” Mark asked with an inquisitive smile.
“According to Drew, Gabrielle’s the one you should be warning,” Cameron added. Et tu Cameron? Wait a minute!
“What do you mean?” I asked, suddenly feeling very worried. I saw Braden shaking his head at Cameron but it was obviously too late. “What does he mean?” I asked Braden. When confronted with the obvious, not even willful ignorance and denial are enough.
“Uh oh Braden,” Adam laughed.
“Braden?” I was getting really worried.
“Uh, Drew and Beth got home a little earlier than we thought.” He looked a little worried himself, but I had a feeling that he was worrying because he thought that I might have a heart attack. “Beth stayed downstairs to wait for my parents,” he continued. “Drew went up to bed though.”
“I didn’t hear…” Suddenly my spring roll didn’t look very appetizing. “He didn’t tease you about it,” I said weakly.
“Yes, he did. You just didn’t really notice because he was doing it subtly and I suspect that you didn’t want to know. He teased me about it quite openly when we talked alone later though,” he said gently.
“How do you know he wasn’t making it up?”
“He asked me where I got my desk and if I needed help repairing the wall.”
“I see.”
“Your desk huh?” Adam said, glancing at Mark.
“Don’t worry about it, Gabrielle.” Braden said, rubbing my back. “He’s got some pretty wild roommates. He probably hears that all the time.”
“And he was only teasing about everybody seeing you guys go into the pool house. He was one of the only people who noticed,” Cameron put in. I think he was trying to be helpful.
“In the pool house too, huh? Did you guys even make it to the fundraiser?” Adam asked.
“That was during the fundraiser,” Cameron explained.
“During the fundraiser?” Mark laughed. “Wow, you two are like bunny rabbits.”
“Okay, okay. You’re going to traumatize her,” Jess warned. “Honey, it’s no big deal. So you had a good time with your boyfriend in bed, and on a desk, and in a pool house, and maybe you screamed his name a few times and his little brother heard…” She stopped and looked at me. “This isn’t helping is it?” I shook my head. “So anyway, I’ll bet your parents are excited that you’re coming to visit,” she said, nibbling on a French fry. It took me a minute to switch gears mentally but I managed it.
“Uh, yes. Yes, they are. They’re excited about meeting Braden too,” I answered, thankful for the change in subject.
“They are?” He looked happy.
“Yes, they are. Don’t forget, though, that I warned you about Bubbe.”
* * *
That afternoon went quickly as I prepared my cases for the next day. They were pretty unexciting, just some drug dealers, check forgers, purse snatchers, and the usual. There were no burrito assault cases or geriatric booty callers. Cam worked with Jess again and they were laughing and talking like old friends.
“So what are you ladies doing for dinner?” Cam asked.
“I think I’m just going to grab something and take it home with me,” I answered.
“I don’t have any plans,” Jess said.
“Well, Maybe you and I could go out and get a bite,” Cam suggested.
“Sure,” she said. “Maybe we could go out for a drink afterward.” Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jess point to me surreptitiously and mouth “booty call” and giggle quietly. I was so glad that people were so up-to-date with the intimate details of my sex life.
“Sounds great,” Cam said with slightly unnatural-sounding enthusiasm.
They worked until six and then left together. I put in another half hour and then left, picked up some deli, and went home. I had eaten and washed up by eight and there was no sign of Jess. My cell started ringing and I saw it was Braden, calling earlier than usual. I felt a little nervous anticipation as I answered.