10. Skylar
Skylar
“ H ello,” I answered, breathing heavily into my earbud as I entered mile five of my Peloton workout. When there was no response, I said again, “Hello?!”
“Skylar?”
I knew that voice instantly. Thankfully I was already out of breath from my workout. Otherwise, the excitement of hearing Aries’s voice first thing in the morning would have definitely left me needing to get oxygen to my lungs.
Once I forced my hormones to take a backseat, my brain took over. “Aries, is everything okay?” I slowed my peddling and took a seat on my bike.
As much as he complained about me interrupting him without notice, I had enough sense to know that he wouldn’t pull one of my moves on me.
Or would he? I thought. Aries did like to play games, and he was currently behind in this cat and mouse game we have been playing.
“Am I interrupting something?” he asked, his voice taking on a hint of annoyance.
What the hell crawled up his ass?
“Excuse me?”
“If you were busy with someone, you could have just declined the call.”
He’s jealous! Jealous and jumping to conclusions—conclusions that were so fucking far off base.
“Aries, I promise, if I was busy with someone, the last thing I would be thinking about is answering your damn call. If you must know I was enjoying my morning workout.” It was my turn to express annoyance because he had some damn nerve.
“Now that I’ve cleared that up, is there a reason you are calling me on a Saturday morning?
Especially when you were the one who wanted me to leave you alone. ”
I heard a loud exhale on the other end of the line, and my mood swiftly changed from annoyance to worried.
“Aries, what is it?”
“The lawyer for Mr. Simpson called and said that they are filing their lawsuit on Monday.”
“What the fuck! They called you directly when they know you’re represented by an attorney?”
“No, they called my department. Maybe they were trying to reach me, but they reached Dr. Martinez. Oh, also they claim Mr. Simpson was hospitalized last night due to complications of his surgery.”
“There’s no fucking way that whatever he’s in the hospital for has anything to do with that damn hip replacement.”
“I agree,” Aries told me. “But I think it’s a scare tactic. They probably called my department directly because they weren’t expecting me to be in on a weekend, and most likely counted on rumors circulating over the weekend.”
“Give me an hour to get showered, dressed, and to the hospital,” I told him, climbing off my bike and headed toward my bathroom.
“Nah, I have three surgeries today, and I’m not letting this damn case fuck up my surgical schedule today. There will be hours of missed O.R. hours with depositions, court dates, and a plethora of other shit. Today, I am going to cut. Can we meet later… outside of the hospital?”
He sounded so damn dejected that my heart wouldn’t allow me to do anything but acquiesce to his requests.
"Yes, of course," I replied, suddenly aware of how sweaty I was from my workout. "What time will you be out of surgery?"
“I should be done by eight. You want to have a dinner at a restaurant?”
I thought on that, and I came to the conclusion that it wasn’t the best idea for us to meet in public with HIPAA-protected documents on us.
“I will most certainly want dinner, but we can’t be as candid as I would like us to be out eating in public. Can you come to my house?”
I couldn’t believe that I just invited Aries to my house, but the words already left my lips, so there was no pulling them back now. Aries’ thoughts must have been along the same line as mine because he paused for a minute.
“Uh, yeah… sure we can do that. Text me your address and I’ll head over once I’m done with surgery.”
“Okay. Sounds good. I’ll do as much prep as I can, but it won’t be much because I don’t actually have any legal documents, so I have no idea what their arguments will be.
However, I can come up with a game plan to file a motion to dismiss and a motion for sanctions for contacting anyone outside of the legal department on a litigation matter.
I’m going to make Morton Chivy regret fucking with me.
“Well, damn! Let me remember to stay on your good side,” Aries joked.
“Shut up. Get your day started. I’ll text you my address and see you later this evening.”
“Roger that,” Aries replied, then added, “Have a good day, Skylar.”
I was taken aback by the genuine tone in his voice. He sounded like he legitimately wanted me to have a good day, and I didn’t know what to make of that. His parting words didn’t fit our normal back-and-forth interactions, and it left me stumped.
“Thank you, Aries. You have a great day as well.” I reached for my phone and swiftly hit the red button on the screen. I needed to sever the connection.
Once I took my clothes off, and stood in front of the mirror, I stared at my reflection, trying to understand the direction of my life.
First, I had to hand it to an attorney who thought he could fucking play in my face.
His ass had another thing coming. That wasn’t what had me in knots.
No, that was the feelings that were starting to grow for Aries.
Never had I ever been attracted to someone I was representing.
Hell, even if he felt the same way, the hospital would have a conniption.
I definitely didn’t want to risk being pulled off Aries’s case.
No one else would handle this case as good as me.
I continued to take in my appearance as I contemplated life and let the shower heat up.
My hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail, and my face was flushed from exertion.
I looked nothing like the polished attorney who intimidated doctors in conference rooms. It was an uncomfortable place to be in mentally, but I never shied away from a challenge, mentally or physically.
I overcame so much when it came to standing in my confidence.
It was time for me to take over the narrative—regarding my feelings for Aries and this bitch ass attorney who thought he could test me.
The latter didn’t make me feel uncomfortable at all. It excited me. I loved crushing people in the courtroom. It was even better if I could crush them before the case even made it to court.
I stepped into the hot spray, letting the water cascade over my tense shoulders.
As I lathered my body, my mind was already shifting into battle mode.
Morton Chivy had no idea who he was fucking with.
I'd dealt with his type before—ambulance-chasing attorneys who thought they could intimidate hospitals into quick settlements by playing dirty games.
But what really had my stomach twisted in knots wasn't the impending legal battle.
It was the fact that Aries would be in my house tonight.
My sanctuary. The place where I let my guard down, where Coffee Bean roamed free in her elaborate setup, where my wine collection lived, where I walked around in oversized t-shirts and no bra.
I also couldn’t forget his reaction to thinking I wasn’t alone. The way he'd jumped to conclusions about me being with someone was cute. It was definitely jealousy I heard in his voice; it had been unmistakable.
That thought caused me to smile as I finished my shower and wrapped myself in a fluffy towel.
Padding through my bedroom to my walk-in closet to get dressed, I thought of other ways I could get under Aries’s skin.
So far, it has felt like he’s been getting under mine. It was time to turn the tables.
The day dragged. I cooked breakfast, made sure every inch of my house was clean, made a sandwich for lunch, and by six I was pouring a glass of wine to settle my nerves.
McKenzie called, but I ignored her calls, then texted her that I had a litigation emergency to handle. If I wouldn’t have texted her, she would have popped up, and that was the last thing I wanted. She was good for popping up and making herself comfortable.
That would be disastrous.
I also knew that if McKenzie showed up, she would absolutely fall in love with Aries and try to hook us up. That woman had been trying to set me up since we graduated college, and she would probably pass out from excitement if she saw him in my house. I wasn't ready for that kind of drama.
By seven-thirty, I was a bundle of nerves. I had changed clothes three times, finally settling on a pair of fitted jeans and a soft, oversized sweater that fell off one shoulder. Casual but put-together—the perfect balance for a work meeting that wasn't quite a work meeting.
I was just putting the finishing touches on the charcuterie board I'd prepared when the front doorbell rang.
I looked down at my outfit one last time, confirming that I was put together.
I was giving very professional, but comfortable.
It could be viewed as the perfect balance for meeting for work after hours.
Taking a deep breath, I opened the door.
Aries stood there, looking exhausted but still unfairly handsome in dark jeans and a button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to reveal his forearms. He held a bottle of wine in one hand and what appeared to be a bag of takeout in the other.
"I figured you'd be hungry. Wasn’t sure what you liked, but I assumed that you were a woman with great taste, so I picked up Thai.”
I smiled, even though I tried to hold back showing all of my pearly whites. Stepping aside, I let Aries walk past me and into my house.
“What if I’m allergic to peanuts?” I asked, jokingly, knowing a lot of Thai food was made with peanut sauces.
He walked to my kitchen, which was in plain view of the front door, but it was the way he confidently strolled along like he’d been in my house before.
After he sat the bottle of wine down, he turned to me with a bag in each hand. “Peanut-free dishes,” he said holding up the bag in his left hand. “And all the Thai peanut favorites. I’m a doctor, Skylar… of course I thought of allergies.”
Excuse me! I thought.