Practice Makes Perfect

  Not that it was a competition between them.

  Not at all.

  Four

  PAYTON REVIEWED THE schedule of events for the Gibson’s executives a second time.

  To say she was displeased would be an understatement.

  She had been swamped this week, preparing for both the Gibson’s pitch and a sexual harassment trial that was set to start the following Wednesday. And J.D. had caught her at a particularly bad time when he stopped by her office yesterday to discuss the agenda for wining and dining Jasper Conroy and his in-house litigation team. She’d been arguing all morning with opposing counsel over last-minute additions to the exhibit list. She had hung up the phone, spotted J.D. standing in the doorway, and sensed her morning was only about to get worse. But instead, in a rare moment of apparent helpfulness, J.D. had offered to take the lead in setting up the Gibson’s schedule.

  And, in a just-as-rare moment of receptiveness to anything J.D. related, as her phone began ringing off the hook and she saw the familiar number of her opposing counsel on the caller ID and realized she was about to begin Round 137 with him, she accepted J.D.’s offer.

  Big mistake.

  Clutching the agenda in her hand, Payton looked up at her secretary with a mixture of frustration and trepidation.

  “Is this really the agenda?” she asked.

  Irma nodded in the affirmative. “J.D.’s secretary just dropped it off.”

  “Okay. Thanks, Irma.”

  Payton pretended to resume typing at her computer as Irma left her office. She watched as her secretary headed back to her desk, waited a moment or two more, then casually got up and walked across the hall to J.D.’s office.

  J.D. peered up from his desk when he heard the knock on his door.

  “Got a sec?” Payton asked pleasantly. One never knew who was watching.

  “For you, Payton—anytime. How can I be of assistance?” he asked.

  Payton stepped into his office and shut the door behind her. They both instantly dropped the charade.

  She held out the agenda accusingly. “You told me we were having dinner with the Gibson’s execs tomorrow evening.”

  J.D. eased back in his chair, gesturing to the agenda. “And as you see, we are.”

  “But you’re also playing golf with them tomorrow afternoon. Why wasn’t I invited?”

  “Do you play golf?”

  “No, but you didn’t know that.”

  J.D. grinned. “Actually, I did. I overheard you mention it to Ben last summer.”

  Stunned by the overt snub, Payton opened her mouth to respond. She clenched her fist as she searched for some response, some insult, anything, and a moment passed, and then another . . . and—

  Nothing.

  J.D. smiled victoriously. “Tell you what—why don’t you think about it for a while? Come back when you’re ready—make it a good one.” Then he ushered Payton out of his office and shut the door behind her.

  She stood there in the hallway. Staring face-to-face with that stupid nameplate, J. D. JAMESON, which she was seriously tempted to tear off the wall and chuck straight at his face.

  It was true, she didn’t know squat about golf; she had never even swung a club. Her avoidance was purposeful. She had distinct opinions regarding the sport and, more important, those who played it.

  Payton considered her options. On the one hand, she hated the idea of J.D. getting the better of her. And she really hated the idea of looking like a clueless novice playing golf in front of Jasper and the Gibson’s team.

  On the other hand, the thought of being left out for the entire afternoon was not appealing. With the partnership decision looming, she needed to ensure she was an integral part of the effort to land Gibson’s as a client. And she simply didn’t think she could stomach playing the part of the little woman sitting back at the office while the men talked shop at the twenty-fifth or whatever tee.

  So as far as Payton could see, she had no choice.

  Despite the fact that she was already worrying over how she was going to squeeze in a quick at-least-I-won’t-look-like-a-total-jackass golf lesson that evening—she strode confidently into J.D.’s office.

  He glanced up from his desk as the door opened, surprised by her sudden entrance. “That was fast.” He leaned back in his chair and beckoned with his hand. “Okay, let’s hear it, Kendall. Give me your best shot.”

  Payton saw the stapler near the edge of his desk and had to fight the urge to take him up on his offer.

  “I’ll do it,” she declared. “Count me in for tomorrow’s game.”

  J.D. appeared surprised.

  Payton nodded in response to his silence. “Good. That’s settled, then.” She turned to leave, her mind already running in a hundred different directions. She needed to find a set of clubs; perhaps Laney had some she could borrow. And of course there was the matter of attire—should she wear shorts? A polo shirt? A jaunty little cap, perhaps? Were special shoes required? The details surrounding this event were—

  “You can’t go.”

  J.D.’s words stopped Payton right as she reached the door. She turned around to face him. “You can’t be serious. You’re that desperate to get some alone time with the Gibson’s reps?”

  “No, that’s not it,” J.D. said quickly. He hesitated, and for the briefest second Payton could’ve sworn he looked uncomfortable.

  She put her hand on her hip, waiting for him to finish. “Then what, exactly, is it, J.D.?”

  “We’re golfing at Butler,” he said.

  Butler? Oh . . . of course, Butler, Payton thought sarcastically. That meant bubkes to her.

  “And?” she asked.

  “Butler National Golf Club?” J.D. said, apparently believing this should ring some sort of bell with her.

  Payton shook her head. No clue.

  J.D. shifted awkwardly. “My family has a membership there. Ben suggested it because it’s a nationally ranked course. But, as it happens, it’s a private club.” He emphasized this last part.

  Payton failed to see what the problem was. “But if you can get the Gibson’s people in as guests, I don’t see why I can’t come, too.”

  J.D. cleared his throat uneasily. He shifted in his chair, then met her gaze.

  “They don’t allow women.”

  The words hung awkwardly in the air, drawing a line between them.

  “Oh. I see.” Payton’s tone was brisk, terse. “Well then, you boys have fun tomorrow.”

  Not wanting to see what she assumed would be the smug look on J.D.’s face, she turned and walked out of his office.

  “WILL I SOUND like a total crybaby if I say it’s not fair?”

  Laney patted Payton’s hand. “Yes. But you go right ahead and say it anyway.”

  With a frustrated groan, Payton buried her head in her arms on top of the coffee shop table they had just sat down at moments ago.

  “I hate him,” she said, her voice muffled. She peered up at Laney. “This means he’s going to get twice as much time with the Gibson’s reps.”

  “Then you will have to be twice as good when you meet them for dinner,” Laney replied. “Forget about J.D.”

  “Screw him,” Payton agreed. She saw Laney’s eyes cast nervously around the coffee shop at this.

  “I mean, it’s bad enough he plays this card with the partners,” Payton continued. She lowered her voice, doing a bad male impersonation. “Hey, J.D.—you should come to my club sometime. I hear you shoot a two-fifty.”

  “I think that’s bowling.”

  “Whatever.” Payton pointed for emphasis. “The problem is, getting business is part of the business. It’s like a ritual with these guys: ‘Hey, how ’bout those Cubs’ ”—the bad male impersonation was back—“ ‘let’s play some golf, smoke some cigars. Here’s my penis, there’s yours—yep, they appear to be about the same size—okay, let’s do some deals.’ ”

  When the woman seated at the next table threw them a disapproving look over the foam of he
r jumbo-sized cappuccino, Laney leaned in toward Payton. “Let’s use our inside voices, please, when using the p-word,” she whispered chidingly.

  Ignoring this, Payton took another sip of her vanilla latte. “In the business world, what’s the female equivalent of going golfing with a client?”

  Laney gave this some thought. Payton fell silent, too, contemplating. After a few moments, neither of them could come up with anything.

  How depressing.

  Payton sighed, feigning resignation. “Well, that’s it. I guess I’ll just have to sleep with them.”

  Laney folded her hands primly on the table. “I think I’m uncomfortable with this conversation.”

  Payton laughed. It felt good to laugh—she’d been very cranky since her encounter with J.D.; she couldn’t believe he had managed to exclude her from the golf outing with the Gibson’s reps by taking them to a club that didn’t allow women. Wait, back up: what she really couldn’t believe was that there was actually still a club around that didn’t let women in. Once the existence of said club had been established, however, she had no problem believing that J.D. was its Grand Poobah.

  But enough about J.D. already. Payton resolved not to let him ruin another minute of her day. Besides, she saw a prime opportunity to engage Laney in one of their “debates.” The two of them couldn’t have been more opposite on the social/political spectrum. Having herself been raised by an ex-hippie single mother who was as socially radical as one could get while staying inside the boundaries of the law (most of the time, anyway), Payton found Laney’s prim-and-properness fascinating. And strangely refreshing.

  “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, Laney. I guess being a conservative means you don’t believe in free speech,” Payton teased.

  “Don’t get on your liberal high horse—of course I believe in free speech,” Laney said, toying with the heart locket she wore.

  “Then I should be able to say anything I want, right? Even the word ‘penis’?”

  Laney sighed. “Do we have to do this right now?”

  “You should try saying the word sometime.”

  “I’ll pass, thank you.”

  Payton shrugged. “Your choice, but I think you’d find it liberating. Everybody could use a good ‘penis’ now and then.”

  Laney glanced nervously around the coffee shop. “People are listening.”

  “Sorry—you’re right. Good rule of thumb: if you’re gonna throw out a ‘penis’ in a public place, it should be soft. Otherwise it attracts too much attention.”

  The woman at the next table gaped at them.

  Laney leaned over. “I apologize for my friend. She gets this way sometimes.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “Tourette’s. So sad.”

  The woman nodded sympathetically, then pretended to make a call on her cell phone.

  Laney turned back to Payton. “If you’re finished with the First Amendment lesson, I thought maybe we could turn back to the subject of J.D. Because I do have a suggestion as to how you can solve your problem.”

  Payton leaned forward eagerly. “Great—let’s hear it. I’m open to anything.”

  “Okay. My suggestion is . . .” Laney paused dramatically. “. . . learn how to play golf.” She let this sink in a moment. “Then you’ll never have this problem again.”

  Payton sat back in her chair, toying with her coffee mug. “Um, no.” She brushed off the suggestion with a dismissive wave. “Playing golf is just so, I don’t know . . . snooty.”

  Laney gave her a pointed look. “You know, when you make partner, you’ll have to get used to being around people who grew up with money.”

  “I don’t have any issues with that,” Payton said huffily.

  “Oh, sure, right. You don’t think that has anything to do with why you’re so hard on J.D.?”

  “I’m hard on J.D. because he’s a jerk.”

  “True, true . . .” Laney mused. “You two do seem to bring out the worst in each other.”

  In each other? “I hope you aren’t suggesting that I somehow contribute to J.D.’s behavior,” Payton said. “Because if so, we really need to get this conversation headed in a sane direction.”

  “It’s just kind of odd, because J.D. has lots of qualities that you normally like in a guy. A guy who maybe isn’t quite so, you know . . .” Laney gestured, trailing off.

  “So what?” Payton prompted.

  “Rich.”

  Payton rolled her eyes. “First of all: please—like I said, I don’t care about that. Second of all: What are these alleged other ‘qualities’ J.D. has?”

  Laney considered her answer. “He’s very smart.”

  Payton frowned and grumbled under her breath. “I changed my mind—I don’t want to talk about this.” She grabbed the dessert menu sitting next to her and stared at it intently.

  Appearing not to hear her, Laney kept going with her list of J.D.’s supposed attributes. “He’s also passionate about the law, interested in politics—albeit on the opposite side of the spectrum. Which, interestingly, doesn’t seem to bother you about me.”

  Payton peered over the top of her menu. “You have charm.”

  “That’s true, I do.”

  “It’s quickly fading.”

  Laney went on. “And J.D. works hard, just like you, and he can be funny in that sarcastic kind of way that—”

  “I object!” Payton interrupted. “Lack of foundation—when has J.D. ever said anything funny?”

  “This isn’t a courtroom.”

  Payton folded her arms across her chest. “Fine. Total crap—how about if I just go with that instead?”

  “Gee, sorry, Payton—I didn’t mean to make you so uncomfortable,” Laney said with a grin. “I won’t say anything else.” She picked up her menu. “Let’s see . . . now what looks good? That flourless chocolate cake we split last time was divine.” She glanced up at Payton. “Except just one last thing on the subject of J.D.: he’s totally hot.”

  Just in time, fighting her smile, Laney put her menu up to block the napkin that came flying at her face.

  “Hot?” Payton nearly shouted. “That smarmy, prep-school-attending, pink-Izod-shirt-wearing jerk who’s been handed his career on a silver platter?” She covered her mouth. “Well, look at that—maybe I do have one or two issues with money.”

  Laney nodded encouragingly, as if to say they were making progress. “But you’re about to be named partner. I get why you’ve been guarded in the past, but you’ve made it. You don’t have to keep trying so hard to prove that you fit in with these guys.”

  Payton was surprised by this. “You think I come across as guarded?”

  “At work, you can sometimes . . . have a bit of an edge,” Laney said carefully. “Like this thing with J.D., for example.”

  Payton tried to decide whether she should be offended. But as much as she might not want to admit it, a part of her knew that what Laney was saying wasn’t completely off base.

  “I suppose this ‘thing’ with J.D. has gotten a little out of hand,” she sniffed reluctantly. “You’re right—I should be the better person in this.” She smirked. “That shouldn’t be too hard in comparison to J.D.”—she caught Laney’s look— “is exactly what Edgy Payton would’ve said. But the New Payton won’t go there.”

  Laney tipped her coffee mug approvingly. “Good for you. To the New Payton.”

  “The New Payton.”

  Payton clinked her mug to Laney’s, wondering what she was getting herself into.

  Five

  BE THE BALL.

  J.D. focused intently. His eyes never left the tee.

  Be the ball.

  He pulled back, then—swoosh! His swing was effortless. With one hand raised to block the sun’s glare, he watched as the ball landed on the green 240 yards away, within inches of the hole.

  J.D. smiled. God, he loved this sport.

  Hearing the whistling and clapping coming from behind him, he turned around to face his companions.

&nb
sp; “Nice shot,” Jasper called out in his lazy Southern drawl. “A man who bills three thousand hours a year shouldn’t have time for a swing like that.” Their three companions, representatives from Gibson’s legal department, nodded in agreement.

  J.D. walked over and took the beer Jasper held out to him. “Does this mean we’re talking business?”

  Jasper grinned. He had the bold smile of a man completely at ease with the power he held. He glanced down at his beer, then took in the beautiful tree-lined scenery of the eighth hole. “Tell you what. Wait till the fifteenth hole. Then we’ll talk.”

  Following Jasper’s lead, J.D. soaked in the warmth of the blue-sky summer day while admiring the view of the river that flowed just beyond the green. He tipped his bottle at Jasper. “Make it the seventeenth.”

  Jasper chuckled. “A man after my own heart. But are you sure you want to wait? I heard the back nine of this course brings a man to his knees.”

  “Maybe a lesser man, Jasper.”

  Jasper laughed heartily at this. “I like your style, Jameson.”

  Grinning, J.D. took a sip of his beer. So far, his afternoon with the Gibson’s team had been going very well. He was comfortable here, in his element—which undoubtedly was one of the reasons Ben had chosen him for this assignment. J.D. had grown up around men like Jasper all his life and was familiar with the “good-ole boy” routine. He understood the lingo, the game, the role he was supposed to play. Ben wanted to do a little showing off—that’s why he had specifically asked J.D. to bring the Gibson’s team to this course. He was trying to impress them, but didn’t want to look like he was trying to impress them. The fact that J.D. just so happened to have a membership at one of the most exclusive clubs in the country was the perfect way to accomplish this.

  The only blemish on the afternoon was the nagging feeling he got whenever a vision of Payton sitting back at the office popped into his head. He kept trying to brush these feelings aside. Why should he feel guilty that she had been left out? After all, he was just doing his job, what Ben had asked him to do. And, had the shoe been on the other foot, he was quite certain Payton would’ve had no problem leaving him behind.