Page 4 of Boss with Benefits (Boss of Seduction #6)

Sitting in the lawyer’s office with her purse on her lap and her fingers digging into the leather, Jessica waited for his conclusion.

They gave her one lawyer to talk to, not the whole team like Brady thought they would.

Mr. Haverdash assured her talking to one of them was the same as talking to all of them.

She had already laid out the details for him, including how her son was conceived in a one-night stand.

If that reflected poorly on her, it should also make Randy look bad.

Worse, in fact, since he was a musician with a reputation for sleeping with groupies.

Mr. Haverdash had stepped out to call her ex, saying he wanted to get a feeling for his opponent.

He wanted the name of her ex’s attorney, but she had no idea since no one had contacted her yet.

When Mr. Haverdash returned, he looked grumpier than before. He sat at his desk and shuffled around papers before speaking. He didn’t appear to be putting them in order, more like it was a nervous habit. Unlike Brady, he had a disorganized workspace and a cluttered office.

“I’m going to be honest with you,” he said.

He shifted in his large swivel chair behind the intimidating desk, and smoothed a hand over his bulky mustache.

“I got the name of your ex’s attorney from him, and it isn’t good.

The guy is a heavy-hitter with a reputation for hiring private detectives.

In fact, he’s probably already got one following you and digging into your past.”

“F-following me?” Her cheeks burned hot at the memory of leaving Brady’s place that morning. What if they already knew she was sleeping with her business partner? How would it look to a judge?

“This guy was a one-night stand, right?”

She nodded.

Haverdash asked, “Was there a paternity test?”

Again, she nodded without making a verbal comment.

“Is his name on the birth certificate?”

She sighed. “Yes. Even though Randy didn’t want to be a father, I listed his name in case my son wanted to see it someday. I didn’t want Axl to feel like he never had a father.”

“That was a mistake.” Haverdash glared at her. “And you let him have visitation without seeing an attorney first? Is that correct?”

“I didn’t see the harm.”

The statement seemed to make Haverdash grumpier than before. Shaking his head, he mumbled under his breath. “Didn’t see the harm.” Then he full-on glared at her. “Kindness may be your downfall. You set a precedence by letting him have a visit. Two weeks, was it?”

“That’s right. This last time was two weeks, but he saw Axl every other weekend here in Seattle for a few months.”

“Be honest with me.” His eyes narrowed. “Will they find anything your ex can use against you in court? Anything scandalous in your past?”

She skimmed over the events of her life and came up nearly empty.

As a teenager, she had worked as a model at her mother’s insistence.

She’d been a wild teen, but they couldn’t possibly hold that against her.

The only thing she came up with that might hurt her case was her lack of family.

A judge might see it as a failure on her part and a lack of stability for her child.

“My mother isn’t in my life anymore,” she said. “And I never knew my father.”

“So what you’re saying is you got your penchant for bed-hopping from your mother.”

“Hey!” She shot to her feet.

The lawyer held up a hand. “No offense intended. Simply playing the devil’s advocate here. If you think his lawyer isn’t going to seek out every little fact of your past, think again. My guess is, he already knows everything there is to know about it, and he’s digging into your present now.”

Scary thought.

Her hands curled into fists. “I can’t help who my parents were. Nobody can.”

“Indeed. However, parentage affects us long into adulthood, and the judge may fixate on that point. Most people become their parents in later years.”

She shook her head. “My mother spent my childhood jumping from man to man, and I was left to raise myself. Yes, I was a problem child. But when Axl was born, everything changed. I changed. I made sure my son always came first, and he will always come first with me. Randy didn’t want anything to do with him until this summer.

No judge can possibly look at the two of us and think Randy would be a better parent for Axl. ”

The lawyer set his large chin on his folded hands. “Your ex claims he couldn’t see his son because you wouldn’t let him.”

“WHAT?!” The lying bastard. She shook her head hard. “Randy never wanted to see Axl. When I found out I was pregnant, I told him right away. He wasn’t interested... until a couple months ago.”

The lawyer stared at her with dark, unforgiving eyes. “From this moment on, you need to live the life of a nun. Don’t let them catch you doing anything untoward, not even jaywalking. Be a saint.”

“Done,” she said.

It wouldn’t be hard considering she focused all her energy on her son.

She worked and took care of Axl. That was her normal day to day routine.

With the exception of the last two weeks, she hadn’t had sex since getting pregnant nearly six years ago.

It was too bad the detective hadn’t been following her then.

Mr. Haverdash went on. “To be honest with you, the ideal situation would be you married to a stable young man and living in a nice house in a good neighborhood. If your son already had an acting-father, it would make things easier on us.”

“Well, I’m not married, and I live in a condo. It’s going to have to be good enough for the court.”

He glowered at her. “Do you want to keep custody of your son?”

“That’s why I’m here.”

“Then listen to me, and heed my advice.” Mr. Haverdash leaned over his desk to stare her in the eyes. “You may not be able to get married in the next few days, but you need to find a better home with a big fenced in yard. Just do it.”

Jessica gripped her purse tighter and went over her options.

Sinking back down in the recently vacated chair, she considered her finances.

She had a fair amount saved up in the bank.

Maybe she could move into something nicer.

Although, it might take time to find the right place and put in an acceptable offer.

Wouldn’t the judge see right through that sort of obvious manipulation?

“Do you have any other questions?” Mr. Haverdash asked.

“Be straight with me. What are my chances of keeping sole custody of my son?”

He shrugged his burly shoulders. “In the old days, judges generally ruled in favor of the mother, but things have changed. Your ex’s attorney will try to make you look unfit.”

“Let him try.”

“I understand he recently got married? Your ex, I mean.”

She nodded.

Mr. Haverdash sighed. “He has a strong case. He is married with a house that is paid for, and he’s got a steady job. I doubt he could get sole custody, but he’ll probably wind up with joint custody.”

She blinked. “Randy has a steady job? He’s a musician traveling the country ten out of twelve months.”

“Actually, he says he is a music producer now with a steady income. Add that to the fact he’s married and has a home in a good neighborhood, and his case is looking better than yours. Do yourself a favor and buy a new home. Fast. Level the playing field. Take away his advantages.”

She left the law office with those fatal words ringing in her ears.

No matter what she had to do, she would not lose her son.

She couldn’t lose him.

∞∞∞

Brady told Jessica to go home after she called from the law firm.

She should be there when her son arrived, because that was where her heart was at the moment.

If she had Axl on her mind, she wouldn’t be able to get anything done anyway, and Brady had already met with their new client.

He, on the other hand, worked late rather than go home to an empty apartment.

The sheets probably still smelled like her.

In two short weeks, she had become more important to him than he cared admit.

Of course, it was just sex. Their time had been cut too short.

That was the problem. If they had been able to enjoy each other for a few more weeks, maybe a few blissful months, their relationship would have run its natural course.

One or both of them would have gotten bored.

He talked to his new clients and did a photo shoot with one of his favorite models.

This time they were doing a layout for Love Life magazine, showing off an expensive new line of original jewelry.

The French model, Greta, wore skimpy lace lingerie and a white feather boa around her bare shoulders. Her idea.

Their clients wanted to make sure nothing distracted people from looking at the jewelry.

Because her near nudity would be a distraction to most, he took close-up shots of her throat with just her jawline and mouth visible.

If they did the photo in black and white with her lips red and the ruby necklace in color. ..

Brady lost himself in the zone. Nothing existed for him outside of the artistic content he caught on film. He took some digital shots as well.

The hours flew by. Before he knew it, they were done, and he had several great photos the clients would undoubtedly love. He looked forward to seeing his work in the popular magazine.

Although he wouldn’t admit it to another living soul, taking photos of models for ads wasn’t doing it for him anymore.

He yearned for freedom and danger. In his youth, he had traveled the world and taken brilliant pictures of wild animals.

In fact, he’d caught some photos other photographers only dreamed about, and he had gotten some shots of dangerous places the average person would only see in photos.