CHAPTER 1
The tousled blond well-built guy of twenty-eight listened to the wasp-tongued judge slam into him before passing sentence. It was near the end of the day and Judge Willis was tired, the arthritis in her right hip was biting and she was just in the right mood to, figuratively, bury her teeth into some poor jerk's butt.
Finn Walsh was the unfortunate. Normally he might have escaped with yet another mild rebuke had the minor matter that had landed him in court been dismissed on a technicality yet again, such as one judge declaring a man with $80 sleeping on a park bench cannot be considered a vagrant. But this time Judge Willis thought perhaps five days in prison might turn around this guy who appeared on route to wasting his life. For goodness sake, he had a master's in fine arts. How could he achieve that and have spent the past three years being a bum? He needed a shake up.
She lashed the guy with verbal brimstone causing a young woman, probably his ex-fiancée, run from the court in tears and his parents had the terrified look of knowing their son was about to go to jail.
Judge Willis shuffled papers wondering if perhaps she should make that seven days incarcerated; the tough jerk had just stared at her expressionless as she'd blasted him and now was examining the ornate ceiling of her courtroom. Miss Keys his attorney, acting in place of her father Morgan who'd been at law school with Judge Willis, asked to approach the bench. The judge looked at the prosecution attorney who waved away the unspoken invitation to join the impromptu conference.
"Judge Willis," said Alice Keys a little breathlessly. "It worries me I might not have represented my client with the skill acquired from experience my father possesses."
"Well that's scarcely surprising my dear. You have been practicing what two years?"
"Three years your Honor."
"Go on."
"It would appear from your comments that a short spell in jail is your only option."
"Virtually my only option dear."
Alice looked horrified at making that error. "Of course Judge Willis. Virtually your only option, hence my submission. I appeal to you to declare the defendant bound over to me for ninety days during which time I shall endeavor to reform him. I live with my father so I'll not be living alone with the defendant and shall have my father's reforming spirit to assist with my cause."
"Worried about your level of representation you say. Could it be the defendant is your age, is rather handsome and is obviously intelligent have not have escaped your attention?"
Alice smiled sweetly. "Guilty Judge Willis but those qualities have motivated my desire to arrest his senseless derogation. I shall take my role very seriously indeed should you give me the chance and decide to give my client the chance."
"Return to your position young lady."
Judge Willis bound the defendant over to his attorney Miss Keys on a ninety-day good behavior bond. The judge had the satisfaction of watching the dependant's mouth open in shock and the obviously relief sweep over the faces of his parents. She could be making a mistake but sniffed and thought judges often make mistakes. She rose and went through into her office and completed the paperwork.
The court official explained the document to Albert Finnegan Walsh. Finn was to work and live as directed by Miss Alice Keys for ninety days and be of good behavior. Any breach and he could be called back to the court for sentencing. "In your case pal, sentencing could mean from three to ten days' behind bars. Stopping the mayor's wife on the street and asking could she give you a bed for the night was not the smartest thing to do. You scared the crap out of her."
"How was I to know she was a VIP? They ought to have a VIP nameplate around their necks."
"Women don't modify their behavior for the likes of you pal. The main entrance has closed for the night. Go out the side door along that passage over there," the official pointed.
Finn held out his hand to be shaken by his attorney, but she ignored it. "Good work babe. Thanks for pulling the wool over the judge's eyes. Be seeing you."
Alice looked him in the eye. "Albert Finnegan Walsh, get into my blue BMW over there. If you dare disobey me or leave my home without permission or stay away longer than the time I have given you to be away you'll be behind bars within twenty-four hours and be left to rot."
"You wouldn't pretty one."
"I would and I suggest you be careful how you address me otherwise you will be confined to your room for four hours and dinner for you that night will be bread and water."
"You wouldn't."
"Try me!"
Alice stared him down.
He muttered, "Well you are pretty and no amount of bullying will change the way I think."
Alice turned to hide her blush and he waited with a mocking grin for her to unlock the car.
"Want me to drive?"
She snapped no but watching the shutters come down on his face thought just because he'd spent a few years without a home wouldn't mean he'd forgotten how to drive. "Well okay, but drive carefully."
She handed him the keys and told him to look at her.
"Albert Finnegan Walsh, you are my prisoner for ninety days. During that time I'll make a man out of you."
Alice received back an indescribable look that left her nonplussed. But as he drove them off she considered the look devoid of surprise was a mix of disbelief, contempt and hope. She could be wrong but that was the best she could do and she'd been trained to read people's expressions and desire for concealment.
Alice Keys had lived alone with her father since she was twelve. Her mother Angela had run away with her lover and that was the last time Alice had spoken to her. She knew where she lived and she and her father had seen her when Alice turned seventeen. At that age her father considered her old enough to handle the sighting emotionally. She'd also spent an hour two years ago observing her mother and lover and their son in a restaurant. She'd felt emotion of course. Heaps of it, but similarly when she was seventeen at that earlier sighting had controlled it. After her mother had disappeared her father had hired a private detective to trace Angela and then was just content to know where she was and that she was safe.
Angela maintained just the slightest contact with her daughter, sending Alice a present for her July 11 birthday. Over the years the presents had gradually become more expensive and that told Alice more money was probably coming into her mother's home now that her much younger partner was gaining promotion as a business manager. It was eerie for Alice knowing she had a half-brother, aged about ten, and had seen him and yet had not spoken to him. She'd thought of sending him a Christmas present but figured her mother might regard that as an invasion of privacy.
Her father Morgan had contact with some women -- Angela had no idea how many -- to take out dining or to functions and probably receiving back what he desired in return. Never had he pushed himself at his daughter, being an honorable man. She occasionally met him at functions when he was with a woman and he would introduce her as his daughter without embarrassment.
During her teenage years Alice had received some mothering from the mothers of her girlfriends who apparently found her very likable. Her father's lone wolf attitude towards women had rubbed off on Alice because rarely did she go around with a guy for longer than four weeks -- two weeks to get to know him, two weeks going to bed with him and then she'd find a reason to move on. She knew she never planned that to happen. It just become habitual and she saw no reason to change it. But in court that very afternoon she felt when meeting the client her father had handed on to her because of conflicting appointments she was at last looking at Mr Right. She had no idea why she thought that and would do nothing about it. The guy was a jerk. But then in the courtroom when seeing his parents looking so distraught her mind changed and she became proactive. The guy was now technically her prisoner.
* * *
"Great car to handle."
"Thank you Finn. Thank you for driving carefully. Being an attorney I am obliged to keep within the law."
"I assumed that. Do you live in an apartment or a house?"
"A house, why?"
"I'd feel imprisoned in an apartment, probably inside alone all day and forbidden to go out."
"I'll not make a man out of you if I left you feeling you were imprisoned, physically and emotionally. When I am at the office you will be free to run circuits of the big park near us, to go to the mall and I'll pay a quarterly gym membership for you; it is a classy one with an all-year swimming pool attached. Either running or at the mixed gym you'll have the chance to make contact with females. What you do with those contacts is your business providing anything you do takes place during my office hours."
"Why would I want another woman when I have you?"
