HOW TO TEMPT A CROOK

Chapter 6

"Take it back then," A.J. dared her. "It's not like my hair's going to fall off if I use regular soap."

"We're not taking it back," Kelly said in an effort to cool the tension in the table. On the inside, however, she was firmly in Sin's corner.

Although most times, she appreciated A.J.'s no holds barred honesty, this wasn't one of those times. When Kelly had told her friends her story, both A.J. and Sin had agreed with her that Spencer was a dick who deserved to be hung, drawn and quartered. However, after Spencer had worked to get Kelly out of prison, A.J. had unapologetically switched sides. Another lawyer would've tried to bury their mistake, A.J. had calmly offered, but Spencer had done all he could to rectify his. He deserved a break.

Kelly liked A.J., and maybe she had a point. However, the lady was bonkers if she thought that Kelly was just going to let Spencer go scot-free. A.J. often claimed that she was just being objective which was okay, but one could afford to be objective when they were not in the victim's shoes. If she'd suffered at Spencer's hands and lost her only remaining family because of his incompetence, Kelly doubted she'd be so cool-headed.

Still, it wasn't worth the argument. A.J. had her opinions, and Kelly had learnt to live with them. She didn't want her friends angry with each other just because of differing worldviews. She changed the topic to something safer; Sin's newest job. In addition to her 'job' as the face of Lani's, she was now providing fake girlfriend services.

"Do you need a pretty girlfriend to take to your ex's wedding? Need a beautiful woman to show off at your graduation reunion? Trying to show up your bros? Hire Tamsin Jacobs today," Sin pitched enthusiastically. Preening to show her pretty features, she added, "She'll leave everyone burning with jealousy."

Both Kelly and A.J. burst into laughter, but it was A.J. who voiced what they were both thinking. "Isn't that basically providing escort services?"

"Escorts provide sex on the side, I won't." Sin paused for a moment. "At least I don't think I will."

"You don't think you will?" Kelly stared at her friend in wide-eyed shock then shook her head. "I can't with you."

If it was someone else, Kelly would've said something, but this was Sin. The woman had unconventional opinions about sex and relationships. Though she was only twenty-seven, she'd already been married three times, with the youngest of her ex-husbands being thirty-five years older than her. Her body, she often said, wasn't soap. It wasn't going to disappear just because she rented it out once in a while to lonely men. What could one say to that?

The three ladies were debating the pros and cons of being a girlfriend-for-hire when Kelly's phone rang, interrupting their conversation. A quick glance at the screen revealed that it was Marie. Why was Marie calling her on a weekend?

Frowning, Kelly swiped her finger over the screen then pressed the phone to her ear. "Hello."

"Kelly, hi," Marie's cheerful voice filtered through. "I hope I'm not interrupting your weekend."

Of course, she was but Kelly said, "No, you're not. What's up?"

"Lawrence wants to see you in his office."

Kelly blinked. "Sorry?"

"Lawrence wants to see you in his office," Marie repeated.

"But it's Saturday."

"He knows it's Saturday." Marie asked, "How fast can you get there?"

How fast can you get there? What about asking her if she could get there? Weekdays were brutal at Chambers & Quinn. Since she'd started working there, she'd never left the office before seven p.m. and not for lack of trying. Something urgent always came up to keep her in the office on weekdays, which was why she was extremely possessive of her weekends. But this was Lawrence, managing partner. She couldn't say 'it's a weekend'.