Chapter Two
Jaxon
“You and Theo? No way. You’re kidding.”
I found it hard to believe sweet Theo Sweeny would be picking up a strange man. He’d never given me the time of day—not that I was perfect, but Dan was a bit of a dick.
“No, I’m not,” Dan spat, his face flushing an angry red. “Guy led me on until we got to my room, pretending to be all shy and innocent.”
“He is, you asshole.”
“So you banged him already? Guess he wasn’t anything worth repeating. Waste of a night for me.”
Muttering to himself, and before I had the chance to really let him know what I thought of him, Dan strode away.
“Well, that was weird.” Craig Millman tugged at the waistband of my slacks. “Come on, Jax. Let’s go to your room.”
His fingers teased up and down my zipper, leaving no doubt as to where the rest of my evening lay. After my speech, Craig had made a beeline for me and had been pretty damn blatant as to what he wanted.
Or should I say who.
Me.
And I wasn’t about to deny either of us that pleasure. After the long hours I’d spent helping the Manhattan DA prosecute NYPD Chief of Department Michael Starr for a myriad of crimes, plus the trials of our own upstate drug dealers, I was ready to break loose and enjoy my evening.
Craig was the right man to help me do it.
He was a law clerk to one of the most powerful and prominent criminal court judges in the state, and I knew giving Craig what he wanted would help ease my way into the judge’s good graces.
Younger than me by ten years, with big brown eyes and a ripped body, Craig was ready and willing. I could almost taste him.
This was not the time to be thinking about a Boy Scout like Theo Sweeny. And yet…I couldn’t stop. What the hell was he doing here, so far from Appleton Falls? And about to go into Dan Thomas’s room? People might call me a player, but Dan was a man-whore.
How the hell had he ended up with a sweet guy like Theo?
“Jax?” Craig stood with a puzzled frown on his face. “What’s going on?”
I bent down to place a soft kiss on his mouth. “I don’t know. But I have to go find out. I’m sorry. I’ll call you.”
I kissed him again, and he wrapped his arms around my neck.
“You’d better.”
The heavy press of his erection almost had me second-guessing my decision. Long work hours meant nights spent with law books and my staff. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had sex. Craig was hot and primed…but I gave his ass a squeeze and released him.
“Talk to you soon.”
I pushed the button for the elevator and scanned the faces of the people when I got to the main floor. I didn’t see Theo. I mentally smacked myself in the head. Of course. He’d left to drive home.
Unless he had a room here.
I strode up to the registration desk and placed a friendly smile on my lips.
“Hi, Jaxon Polaris, District Attorney.”
The clerk nodded. “I know. I’ve seen you on television. How can I help you?”
I leaned in. “I need to know if a certain person is registered. I don’t want the room number or any other personal information.”
Her eyes grew wide. “Oh. Usually, we can’t give out any information, but since you’re law enforcement, I’m sure it’s okay.”
Thank God. I had little desire to get into an involved legal discussion on the ramifications of privacy.
“The name is Theo Sweeny.”
“Give me one minute.” Her fingers flew over the keyboard. “No. I’m sorry. There’s no one with that name registered.”
That gave me an odd sense of relief. “Thank you. Much appreciated.”
I left her and stood in the lobby, lost in thought. The bar association had comped my room, but I’d gotten stuck in traffic and hadn’t had time to register, so my suitcase remained in the trunk of my car. Theo was safe, so I could return to the bar, find Craig, and have an explosive night.
Except I headed to the parking lot, slid behind the wheel, and started the engine.
I had a mountain of work waiting on my desk, and if I could get through a good portion of it tomorrow, I planned to visit Sweeny’s and talk to Theo.
So, instead of sweating up the sheets with Craig, I drove home and went to bed. Alone.
**
“I heard it was a great speech, Jax.” Martin, my extremely efficient secretary, handed me my second—or was it third?
—cup of coffee. After a restless night’s sleep, I’d gotten to the office before my usual eight a.m. because I’d left my house earlier than normal to swing by Theo’s, located on the opposite side of town.
At the sight of his car in the driveway, I’d breathed a sigh of relief and chided myself for my silliness.
Why was I so worried about a grown man? Theo was perfectly capable of taking care of himself. Besides, we were acquaintances, not friends. Not that I would mind getting to know him better, but he had a protective circle warning me off him, which I found amusing.
They needn’t worry.
Theo Sweeny was a forever kind of guy. He wanted the whole progression of dating to boyfriend, leading to marriage and family.
That made him untouchable in my eyes, so I kept my flirting light and simple, never stepping over the line.
I wouldn’t want him to get the idea that there could ever be anything more.
Still, knowing he was home and safe put me in a better mood, and I drank my coffee and took a bite out of my buttered corn muffin.
“You’ve had calls this morning from other jurisdictions asking for your schedule and if you’d be willing to go to them and speak.”
“Thanks,” I responded a bit absently and wiped my lips. “You can see what my calendar looks like for the next few months, but space them out, please.”
“Sounds good. Are you in the office today or out?”
“In, thank God.” I gestured to my computer. “I need to read through all the new cases that’ve come in, check in with Shane on his cases, and catch up with Mario’s from last night.”
“Lila’s been on top of them. I hope you’ll hire her after she graduates law school.”
“Are you kidding? I’ll arrest anyone who even attempts to interview her,” I joked.
“I already told her I have an office waiting with her name on it.” Martin, my ADAs, and Lila, my paralegal, had kept the office running while I’d been neck deep in the Starr trial, so I made sure they knew how much they were appreciated.
Lila was in her second year of law school, and there was no doubt I was holding a spot for her.
My direct line rang, and Martin nodded. “I’ll leave you to it.”
It was an Albany number—the Court of Appeals. My interest was piqued. Perhaps one of my cases was up on appeal, although I usually kept on top of those things and hadn’t seen anything filed.
“Jaxon Polaris.”
“Mr. Polaris? Please hold for Judge McCourt.”
I blinked as if I’d misheard. Judge Alexander McCourt was in line to become chief justice once the current one retired.
In all my years of practice, I’d only appeared before the state’s highest court once, so I had no idea why someone of Judge McCourt’s stature would be calling me. My heart kicked into overdrive.
“Jaxon. How goes it?”
“Your Honor. To what do I owe…this honor?” I laughed at that, and he joined me.
“Well, first of all, I want to personally congratulate you on the work your office put in on the Michael Starr case. I’m hearing good things about you, Jaxon, and your people.
I’m predicting the arrest and conviction of the drug traffickers and all those others in the NYPD will be studied in law schools for years to come.
It isn’t every day that a major drug cartel is smashed with help from a small-town legal office. ”
“I appreciate the kind words, sir,” I murmured, waiting for the real reason for his call. Nice as it was to get the acknowledgment, I knew there had to be more to this call than congratulations for a case previously decided with no appeal forthcoming.
“How’re you fixed for lunch today? Can you squeeze me in?”
“Of course.” I didn’t hesitate. Whatever was on my calendar would have to be rescheduled.
“Good. I’ll come to you. The Cutting Edge at twelve thirty? I’ll have my secretary make the reservation.”
“Thank you. I’ll see you there, sir.”
Still mystified after he ended the call, I forced our brief discussion out of my mind to tackle the mountain of work.
By the time I slipped my suit jacket on to leave for the restaurant, I’d gone through half my emails, met with my ADAs, and had Lila reviewing interrogatories and settlements in our top priority cases.
“Martin, I’m out to lunch with Judge McCourt.”
“Judge McCourt, huh?” His brows rose. “Moving on up?”
I rolled my eyes. “Ha-ha. Bye.”
I walked into The Cutting Edge and spotted the judge sitting at a corner table.
“I see my party,” I told the hostess as she approached. Several diners stopped me to say hello, so I smiled and shook their hands. Sitting at the dark wood bar was a man with large gray eyes and messy blond hair, who grabbed my arm as I passed by.
“Jax. Where’ve you been? I was hoping we could hook up again.”
Not remembering him at all, I said, “I’m sorry, I have a lunch date I can’t be late for.” I hurried away without giving him a chance to respond.
“Sorry, Your Honor,” I greeted him.
“Not to worry. Let’s order so we can talk.”
The server stood waiting. “Water for me, please.” I scanned the menu. “And the steak sandwich, medium, with fries.”
Judge McCourt sighed. “Ah, to be your age. I’ll have the grilled sea bass and steamed broccoli. Water is fine as well.” He waited for the server to move out of earshot. “Now, I’m sure you’re wondering why I called you.”
“I am, yes.”
“The party has its eye on you. We’re thinking it might be time for you to move on from the district attorney’s office.” He sipped his water. “Are you interested in joining the bench?”
This came as a surprise. I’d come to the DA’s office right out of law school and had worked my ass off to get where I was. Sure, I had higher aspirations, but I always assumed I’d have to put in another five years as DA before thinking of the next step.