Practice Makes Perfect

Thinking it was best to keeping moving, J.D. guided Payton toward an empty office. Once inside, he shut the door behind them and locked it.

  Payton moved away from him, toward the vacant desk. “Thanks. Do you think you could possibly draw any more attention to us?”

  “I think I probably could, sure.”

  She turned around. “Haven’t you pretty much lost the right to be sarcastic with me? Or maybe you think I’m supposed to just stand here while you—”

  J.D. put his hand over her mouth. “Normally, Payton, I would love to do this with you. But I’ve got several things I need to say, and you’re not making this any easier. So for right now, I need you to just sit down and shut up.” With his hands on her shoulders, he pressed her down into the desk chair.

  Payton stared up at him. “Well, I never,” she said in her most indignant tone.

  But interestingly, J.D. noted, she said nothing further. Although she really didn’t need to—the look in her eyes said more than all the choice profane words out there.

  Not particularly encouraging.

  He began pacing the room. He felt Payton’s gaze on him as he moved back and forth.

  “All right, let me start with the thing I told Ben. I know that was inexcusable—I regretted it the moment I said it. I panicked.” J.D. glanced over at Payton. “Apparently, I have this way of looking at you that gives it away.”

  He stopped before her. “Maybe you could just nod your head yes or no if you understand what I’m saying.”

  Payton shook her head no. Still with the glare.

  J.D. went back to his pacing. “You drive me crazy, you know. The way you snap around here in your heels and your little skirt suits and your sassy quips and comebacks and the way you always, always have to challenge me on everything I say and do, and for eight years I have tried to get ahead of you, I’ve tried to break away from you, Payton, and I can’t.”

  He stopped before her hopefully. Again. “Now do you see where I’m going with this?”

  And again Payton shook her head no. But she dropped the glare at least.

  J.D. nodded. Crap. He took a deep breath.

  “I’m in love with you, Payton.”

  Her mouth fell open. Then shut again.

  J.D. figured there was no turning back. “I’ve been in love with you since the very beginning. You asked why there isn’t anyone else in my life, and the reason . . . is you.” He cleared his throat. “I know I’ve acted otherwise. I know I’ve been terrible to you at times. That’s just a defense mechanism. Because the truth is, every single day for the past eight years I’ve wanted you to look at me the way you did when we first met.”

  He waited for her to say something. “If this strikes any sort of chord with you at all, feel free to jump in.”

  Payton nodded. She seemed shell-shocked, and for J.D. the silence was agonizing.

  Then the unthinkable happened.

  A tear ran down her cheek. She laughed in embarrassment and wiped it away. “Sorry. I just keep thinking”—she looked down at her hands—“how we’ve wasted so much time.” She glanced up at him. “Why didn’t you ever say anything?”

  The tear totally did him in. J.D. got down on one knee before her. “I know, Payton—I wish I could go back, I wish I could take it all back.” He wiped the tear from her cheek. “But I’m saying it now. Don’t tell me it’s too late.”

  Suddenly there was a knock, and Ben’s voice called through the door. “Payton? J.D.? Is everything okay in there? This is extremely unusual.”

  J.D. watched as the door handle turned. He heard Ben call to someone in the hallway. “Call maintenance. Find out if they have a key to this door.”

  Realizing he was running out of time, he turned back to Payton. “You were right when you said that this partnership decision would divide us. Letting the firm choose will never work—we’re both too proud for our own good. That’s why I’m resigning.”

  Payton shook her head. “Too proud or not, I don’t want to make partner that way.”

  “I know. So instead . . . I was hoping you’d want to come with me.”

  Her eyes went wide at the suggestion. She bit her lip anxiously. “I really don’t know that I could do that, J.D.”

  There was another knock at the door, firmer this time. “All right you two—I’d like you to open this door. Whatever this is, it’s getting ridiculous.”

  J.D. held her gaze. “We can do this, Payton. We don’t have to let them separate us—that was their decision, not ours. The best part of this job is that I got to spend every day with you. I don’t want to lose that.”

  “What are you saying, that we try to go somewhere else? Do you really think we could find a place that would take us both on as partners?”

  “Yes. Our place. I want us to start our own practice.”

  Payton laughed. “That’s ridiculous.”

  J.D. shook his head. “No, it’s not. Just look at the Gibson’s case—we work great together. And do you honestly want to go someplace that’s going to be more of the same thing? The same lifestyle? The same hours? Wouldn’t you rather work for yourself and control your own schedule? Maybe even be able to take a vacation for once?”

  “Sure—those things all sound great. But it’s too big of a risk,” Payton said.

  “Is it really? You and I are pretty damn good lawyers. Starting our own firm is probably the smartest move we could make.”

  Another knock. By this point, Ben sounded extremely pissed as he shouted through the door. “I just thought I should let you two know that a maintenance man is on his way up to open this door.”

  J.D. turned back. “We’re out of time, Payton. You said it yourself: the only way we’ll make it is for us to go into this together. I know we can do this. But I need you to believe it. You need to believe . . . in us.”

  Payton didn’t say anything for a long moment, and J.D. could literally hear his heart beating.

  Then she finally answered.

  “It would have to be called Kendall and Jameson.”

  It took J.D. a moment to catch on. Then he grinned. “No way. Jameson and Kendall. It’s alphabetical.”

  “You told our boss that you banged me on top of your desk.”

  “Kendall and Jameson sounds great.”

  Payton smiled, victorious.

  “So we’re really going to do this?” J.D. asked.

  She stuck out her hand. “Should we shake on it?”

  He took Payton’s hand and stood up, pulling her with him. “I want to hear you say it, Payton. Are we really going to do this?”

  She nodded. “Yes.”

  “Good. Then you should know that starting today, I never, ever want to spend another day without you.”

  Payton’s expression changed, and the lighthearted smile turned into something deeper. She moved closer to J.D., taking his hands in hers.

  “Done,” she said softly.

  J.D. brought his hand to her face and kissed her, more gently than ever before, more lingering, because for the first time he felt absolutely nothing hanging over their heads, nothing standing between them. They had all the time in the world to themselves.

  Except for the angry man banging incessantly on the door, that is.

  And the crowd of at least a hundred people waiting impatiently in the hallway outside.

  With all the rumblings coming from the other side of the door, Payton pulled back. “I think we should probably go out there.”

  J.D. grinned slyly. “Actually, there’s something I’d like to do first.”

  “Is that so?” she asked. “Oh, I see . . . did the empty desk give you some ideas?”

  “Just so I have a sense, how long is that going to be held against me?”

  “Longer than a day, I can tell you that.” But she sweetened it with a smile.

  “Well, your mind may be in the gutter, but I had been thinking of something else.” J.D. pulled his cell phone out of his suit jacket pocket and scrolled through to find a number. He held
out the phone to show her. “What do you think?”

  Payton looked at the number on the screen. “If we do that, there’s no turning back.”

  “I know.”

  She grinned. “I really like the way you think, J. D. Jameson. Let’s do it.”

  Twenty-eight

  WHEN THE DOOR opened and Payton and J.D. stepped out, the crowd that had gathered in front of the office immediately quieted down.

  Front and center stood Ben, who walked over to them with a look that said he was thoroughly annoyed. “Are we done with the theatrics now? Can we finally finish this?”

  Payton nodded. “Actually, Ben, we are finished with this. Because I resign, too.”

  She could’ve sworn she heard several people gasp.

  Ben’s eyes narrowed. He glanced between her and J.D. “What sort of bullshit is this? You’re both resigning?”

  “Sorry, Ben. But you forced our hand,” J.D. said. “Payton and I have decided to stay together.”

  Payton heard an “awww” come from the crowd behind her in a voice that sounded suspiciously like Irma’s.

  But Ben was not ready to be outplayed yet. He held up a sealed envelope. His trump card. “I’ve got a letter offering partnership that I think will change one of your minds.”

  Neither Payton nor J.D. moved.

  Ben looked between them, stunned. “Don’t you at least want to know who we chose?”

  Hell, yes. Payton wouldn’t deny that part of her was tempted to grab the envelope out of Ben’s hand and rip it open right there.

  But.

  She glanced over at J.D., who glanced over at her, and she knew he was thinking the same thing.

  Some questions were better left unanswered.

  Realizing that neither of them was going to bite, Ben shoved the envelope into the inside pocket of his jacket. “You’re both fools,” he snapped.

  “Yes. But only for not doing this earlier,” J.D. said.

  “You shouldn’t have let it come to this, Ben. J.D. and I both deserve this,” Payton said. “And if this firm values strategic leveraging over the commitment we’ve shown over the last eight years, then, frankly, you don’t deserve us.”

  J.D. peered down at her with that “amused” look. “Nice speech.”

  “Thanks. I worked on it while you were on the phone.”

  J.D. cocked his head in the direction of the hallway behind them. “Shall we?”

  “Yes.” Unable to help herself, Payton’s eyes went to the pocket of Ben’s jacket where he had stashed the envelope.

  J.D. laughed and held out his hand. “Come on, cupcake—let’s go.”

  Payton threw him a look. “I can’t believe you just called me that in front of the entire office.”

  She took his hand, and side by side they walked through the office corridor, past their offices, to the elevators and the exit.

  J.D. smiled. “I told you, it’s endearing.”

  “No, it’s paternalistic and quasi-sexist. I can’t think of one comparable name a woman can call a man.”

  “I know. That’s what makes it so great.”

  Et cetera.

  AS SOON AS the doors shut, the office broke into complete pandemonium. Of primary concern, of course, was the betting pool, and how to address the issue of the double forfeiture.

  The Kendall camp, led by Laney, duly noted that Payton’s statement to Ben had been “I resign, too,” evidencing that J.D. had, in fact, resigned first, thus making Payton the de facto winner, even if only for a few brief moments.

  The Jameson faction, however—headed by Tyler and relying upon secretly procured hearsay testimony from one of the members of the Partnership Committee who had been inside Ben’s office—argued that although J.D. had attempted to resign first, Payton had demanded that said withdrawal of employment not be accepted, thus her statement to Ben of “I resign, too” was, in fact, the first and only official resignation, making J.D. the winner.

  In the midst of the chaos, Marie, Ben’s secretary, walked up to him and whispered that he had a phone call.

  “Take a message,” Ben barked. Whoever it was, it could wait.

  Marie looked uncertain. “He insisted on speaking with you immediately.”

  Ben wasn’t in the mood. “Deal with it, whoever it is,” he said, brushing past her.

  “It’s Jasper Conroy.”

  Ben stopped in his tracks.

  They couldn’t have.

  He nodded to Marie. “I’ll take it.” Not wanting to waste another minute, he headed into his office. He saw the blinking light on his phone and immediately picked up the receiver.

  “Jasper! Good to hear from you. How are things down in Palm Beach?”

  Jasper’s drawl came over the other end of the line. “Ben—glad I caught ya. Listen, I’ve been thinking lately about doing a little restructuring of Gibson’s trial team . . . I’m concerned that we’re leveraged a little too heavily on the lawyer side. So I’ve decided to take my business elsewhere, to a smaller firm.”

  Ben looked up at the ceiling. “And who might that be?”

  “A new outfit, actually. Just got the call today, sayin’ that they’re open for business.”

  “Jasper, you can’t seriously be con—”

  “Loyalty, Ben—I wouldn’t have gotten where I am today without it. That’s something you might want to look into.”

  “Don’t be an idiot just to prove a point, Jasper. You can’t hand them over a two-hundred-million-dollar case.”

  “Oh, I think I can,” Jasper said. “I told you, I’ve got a feelin’ about those two. I think you’re gonna be seeing big, big things from them.” He chuckled. “Catch you around, Ben. Oh, yeah—and thanks for the introduction.”

  Ben heard the click as Jasper hung up. He set the phone back in its cradle and stared at it.

  They really did it.

  Son of a bitch.

  AS SOON AS the elevator doors shut behind them, Payton faced J.D., rubbing her hands together eagerly. “So. We’re going to have to hire associates right away. How many do you think we need to start? Five?”

  “Ten.”

  “Hmm . . . you’re probably right,” she mused. “I certainly don’t plan for Jasper to be our only client for long. As soon as we file a motion to substitute counsel for Gibson’s, people will want to know who we are.”

  J.D. leaned back against the elevator railing. “We can release a short press statement with our contact information.”

  “Which means we also need office space and an administrative staff,” Payton noted.

  “I’m sure we can get Irma and Kathy to come over—they’ll be enough to cover us for the short term.”

  Payton nodded. “Yes. Good. Okay.” She took a deep breath and smiled. “I can’t believe we’re doing this.”

  J.D. raised an eyebrow. “Any second thoughts?”

  Payton shook her head definitively. “None.” A lot had happened in the last few minutes and she was still trying to process it all. She reached up and tugged the lapels of J.D.’s suit. “You’re so calm.”

  “And I plan to stay that way, at least for the next few weeks. Not that I think that will be particularly difficult, considering where we’re going.”

  “Where we’re going?” Payton repeated. “Ooh . . . where are we going?”

  “Have you forgotten?” J.D. asked. “You made partner—albeit of a different firm—but you said it’s what you wanted.”

  Payton had to think. Then it clicked. “Bora-Bora?”

  J.D. grinned. “And I’m laying down the law right now: there will be absolutely no voice mail, email, BlackBerrys, or laptops.”

  “Wow. What are we going to do with all that free time?”

  J.D. gripped Payton’s suit jacket and pulled her closer. “I’m sure we’ll come up with something.”

  Payton slid her arms around his neck. “As long as we actually make it into the water this time.”

  “I’m sure we can manage that.” J.D. said with a gr
in. “I hear those overwater bungalows are very private.”

  “An overwater bungalow?” Payton asked. Criminy, she had forgotten about the Jameson style of doing things. “I don’t think I even want to know how much something like that costs per night.”

  J.D. pulled back and looked her in the eyes. “All right, Payton—let’s just deal with this now, get it out of the way. You know the estimates as well as I do—Gibson’s legal fees for the first year alone are expected to be somewhere around twenty million dollars. And now, thanks to our brilliant maneuver—which was, for the record, initiated by me—there are only two partners who will split those fees. You and I.” He took her by the shoulders. “Which means that you are going to be a very, very rich woman, Payton Kendall.”

  Payton stared at J.D. as this sank in. Of course she had known that landing Gibson’s as a client was a coup for the two of them. But she’d been so caught up in what was happening between her and J.D. that she hadn’t stopped and done the math on just exactly how great a coup it had been.

  She and J.D. would be splitting nearly $20 million in legal fees in the first year alone.

  Sure, there would be business expenses, associate and administrative staff salaries, office overhead, et cetera. But still.

  Twenty million in legal fees.

  Twenty million.

  J.D. grinned. “Say something, Payton.”

  She closed her eyes and groaned. “My mother’s going to kill me.”

  J.D. laughed at that. “Buy her a thousand carbon credits. She’ll get over it.”

  The elevator came to a stop, and as the doors opened, he took Payton’s hand and stepped out. They cut across the parking garage to J.D.’s car. “And if that doesn’t work, then I will talk to your mother and smooth things over,” he said assuredly.

  They stopped at the Bentley. J.D. unlocked the car and opened the passenger door.

  Payton grinned as she started to climb in. “I love you for your confidence, J.D. As misplaced as it might be in this particular situation.”

  J.D. suddenly blocked her with his arm.

  Payton looked back, surprised.

  He cocked his head. “What did you just say?”

  Payton tried to think. “What? What did I just—ohhh . . .” She covered her mouth. “I said it, didn’t I?”