BEAUTIFUL HONESTY Part 01
Long smolder between co-workers bursts into flame.
Author's Note:
My first in the Romance category. This started as a stand-alone story but became more. I'm putting the finishing touches on the next part as I submit Part 01.
I hope you enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it.
MP
~~~
Ben Mikkala savored the burn of Scotch snaking down his throat. He reclined in the hot tub and looked at the night sky as the bubbling jets soothed his muscles. Even through clouds of rising steam the stars sparkled brightly. He was at Loon Dance Lodge in the far northern part of the state, at a continuing education seminar for county prosecutors. As always, the DA's asked him to teach because he was a top gun in the state Attorney General's office. He exhaled to release some of the tension locked in his body and was once again grateful to be up there.
I really needed to get out of our home
. He took another healthy sip.
Well, my home...now
.
The lodge door opened and three other attorneys from the AG's office emerged. They were also here to teach sessions. Sandy Simpson, bubbly as the hot tub, was from the appellate unit. She'd be leading a session in the morning. Her husband, Frank Simpson, had the afternoon. His dry delivery perfectly counterbalanced her effusiveness.
Zoe was the third person.
Zoe Ballistreri.
Zoe Balls
to some of the male prosecutors because she "
had a set"
in the courtroom. Zoe, who was the other top gun in the Major Crimes Unit. They were close friends and the only attorney either was willing to co-chair a case with. Their styles differed,
a lot
, but complimented each other.
Zoe, who was so fucking beautiful that Ben physically ached when he made the mistake of really looking at her. Like right then, when she opened her wrap to reveal a bikini that only covered the essentials.
Barely
. Almost obscenely skimpy.
As if perfection could ever be obscene
. Sandy and Frank also looked at her, but not like Ben did.
She sees how I look at her. And it doesn't bother her.
Didn't matter.
She's sort of engaged and my coworker
. And Ben knew she was casual about nudity. Not that he'd seen her nude -
Oh God
- but because she vacationed at clothing optional resorts with Ken.
Ben struggled to look away as Zoe walked around the communal hot tub to where he was sitting before stepping in to sit next to him. Her bare leg and arm slid against his.
She's fucking silk.
His cock stiffened under the water and he forced his gaze to the other two. "You guys ready for tomorrow?"
"Sure." Sandy said. "But we're wishing we were done so we could kick back tonight. Like you."
The bartender came out to take drink orders. The D.A.'s were at their banquet so it was quiet in the bar. The Simpsons both ordered beers and Zoe looked at Ben, wondering what he was drinking. He held his glass high and said, "Scotch rocks please. A double this time."
"Same for me." Zoe said and wondered what was up with Ben.
Something
.
"You guys were great today." Frank said. Ben taught a session on "Effective Courtroom Tactics" and Zoe covered "Recent Decisions and Changes to State Law".
Sandy nodded her agreement and added, "I really like when you're up there together. There's a special energy."
"Like today when you talked about controlling a courtroom." Frank added, addressing Ben.
They all recalled the question Ben got. He'd been talking about how to control the pace and focus of a courtroom more effectively than the judge, all from the prosecutor's table. The question came from a young, newly elected female DA, who'd said, "That's fine for you because you project a dominant male presence. You command attention, but that won't work for me." Ben's reputation was state wide and attorneys from both sides of the aisle often came just to watch him in action.
He'd smiled at the questioner and said, "The perfect question." Then he'd gestured at Zoe. "I present the master of courtroom control." Zoe blushed. "All charm." She hadn't expected this but played along by comically batting her eyelashes. "She comes at you softly and low key and before you know what's happening she has disemboweled your case and it's a mess sitting in your lap." Everyone smiled and there were a few chuckles. "She does it in her style and by knowing her case inside and out. Every angle and potential bump. She's thinking about the next five things and when the evidence jumps the rails she knows her case well enough to prevent a crash.
"Your way. Know where you're going with your case and move it there, your way. Stay in front of the witnesses, the evidence, potential objections and rulings, so you're not reacting to what defense counsel or a witness or the judge throw at you." He'd looked at Zoe. "Have a plan, like Ms. Ballistreri."
She'd been embarrassed then. When the whole room looked at her she thought,
well
...
I didn't plan this
.
The bartender returned with their drinks and took Ben's empty glass away. "How many was that?" Zoe asked.
Something's up with him. I feel it.
"My first." Ben replied flatly. "Of many to come." He raised his glass and they all took a drink.
"How's your fiancée?" Sandy asked Zoe.
"We're not
really
engaged," she replied, "but Ken is fine." Sandy raised an eyebrow so Zoe continued. "He asked me to marry him and I said probably, someday, and now he gets a kick out of telling people we're engaged."
"Sounds engaged to me." Frank said. "You're buying the condo together, right?"
"Yes"
"Engaged." Frank declared.
For his part, Ben noticed how the topic irritated her and thought that was new.
Then they all turned to the approaching sound of an obnoxiously loud voice. "And here we have the best and brightest." The voice belonged to Bradley - not
Brad
thank you - Ashman, and he was obviously drunk. Behind his back they knew him as "Ass-man." All four attorneys disliked him but still nodded in greeting, except for Ben who ignored him. Bradley's forte in the Department was administrative hearings and earlier he'd been scheduled to teach a seminar titled, "Representing Your County in Administrative Hearings before State and Federal Agencies." He cancelled the seminar when no one showed up for it.
He stopped next to the hot tub and swayed as he leered at Zoe and Ben. "You two are always together." He proclaimed. "Beauty and the beast." Sandy and Frank were invisible to him. Zoe felt Ben grow still next to her. It wasn't a calm still. He was like an animal poised to spring. Bradley continued obliviously, addressing Ben. "My wife Ann talks about seeing your girlfriend around the hospital and how beautiful she is, but here you are in a hot tub with Zoe." He spoke
as
if he was making a big joke.
Ben still hadn't turned to him.
"Annie said she sees her in the cafeteria a lot with another cardiologist, the new one. She thinks they make the most attractive couple she's ever seen in real life."
The thought that occurred to Zoe was superficial but undeniably true, and probably shared by all of them.
The new doctor is handsome, and Ben isn't.
The simple truth.
Ben looked at Bradley then.
"Just saying," Bradley continued in a drunken slur, "I'd be nervous being away for several nights." He smiled effusively to continue the charade that he was joking. "Especially if I was in a hot tub with another woman and all."
Sandy smiled then too, relieved to believe this was all a joke.
Nobody else did.
"Tell me
Brad
," Ben spoke softly, "do you decide it's time to be an asshole or does it just bubble on out of you?" He also smiled like he was joking.
Anger flashed on Bradley's face. He started to reply but stopped and stumbled back when Ben suddenly stood up in the hot tub. Zoe grabbed Ben's hand. Bradley finally saw the genuine menace on Ben's face. He spun around so quickly he almost fell over before reeling off in a muttering, drunken gait.
Zoe felt Ben deflate as he dropped back into the soothing water
. This is so unlike him
. She became genuinely concerned.
"Sorry guys." Ben mumbled before taking a sip that almost finished off his drink.
The conversation resumed but was uncomfortably reserved. After sufficient time passed to keep it from being awkward, the Simpsons stood and stepped from the tub, saying they had to get ready for the next day. Zoe asked them to stop in the bar on their way and tell the bartender to bring another pair of doubles.
When they left, Zoe stayed alongside Ben in the bubbling jets. "What's going on?" she asked.
"Nothing."
"Fuck you, Ben." They were always
very
direct with each other. "You never let The Ass-man get to you but tonight he played you perfectly, and he's falling down drunk."
Ben looked at her. The tub bubbled and foamed. He tipped his head back and watched the steam rise into the night sky. He sighed and took a healthy sip. Still looking into the sky he said, "The new Cardiologist's name is Sam, or 'Samuel' as Celeste calls him. I met him the day before coming up here and he really is as handsome as Cell is beautiful."
"So what?" Zoe said, "That's not the sort of thing that's ever bothered you."
Fuck
. Zoe realized.
I may as well say "you've never been handsome so why let it bother you now?
" Ben reminded her of the actor, Sam Elliot. The hair, the mustache, and the voice - just not the looks. Elliot was ruggedly handsome. Ben was ruggedly...rugged. Out of the courtroom you'd guess he was a carpenter or farmer or something like that,
never
a trial attorney.
He lowered his gaze to look at her again. "Mostly I'm pissed at myself." He said. "I mean what was I doing with her in the first place? I knew it would never work, so what was I after?"
Zoe understood then. "Was?"
"Celeste left five weeks ago. She moved to her sister's to 'figure things out.'" His voice became matter of fact, like he was done pining. "She asked me to bring the rest of her things over there before I came up here." His face took on a self-deprecating look that really didn't suit him. "I met
Samuel
... He was there to move Cell's stuff to his place."
"Well...fuck all." Zoe said softly. "She hadn't told you?"
"No." Then he smiled. "It was all quite awkward. Cell and her sister and brother in law and
Sam
all got red faced." He shook his head with the memory. "I was the one getting his pants pulled down in public,
and
the only one who wasn't embarrassed. As soon as I understood what-was-what, I realized I'd been waiting for something like that to happen. All the time we were together - we weren't, quite? You know?"
Zoe nodded. She
did
know.
