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Connie heard the ring tone and came out of the bathroom to grab the phone. She sat down on the bed while answering.
“Hello.”
“You bolted out of here tonight; I didn’t even get to say congratulations.”
“I didn’t bolt out of there. I was running late. After what happened during the trial, I didn’t want to keep Detective Bernard waiting. I told Jack I was going.”
“He told me.” Mike replied.
“What were you going to congratulate me for? No one won, the defendant took a deal.”
“You were a hell of a defense attorney. I have no doubt I could’ve gotten the bastard convicted but you pulled the rug out from under me a few times.”
“Ditto.”
“So we should've celebrated.”
“Celebrated pulling the rug from under each other? That’s not very nice.”
“I agree that we work much better together than in an adversarial position but…”
“But what?” Connie pressed.
“I wanted to take you out to dinner but Jack said you'd gone with Detective Bernard.”
“We didn’t have dinner, just some appetizers and beer. I owed him for how I had to rake him over the coals in the courtroom.”
“Is everything OK?” Mike asked.
“Yeah. Cops have thick skin. Even if it didn’t feel that way at the time, he knew I was doing my job. Bernard’s a good guy.”
“Yeah.”
There was silence on the line for a few moments. Neither of them knew what to say and that was rare. Even when they were bickering, it wasn’t often Connie and Mike were at a loss for words. Mike surely never was.
“So, you were going to take me to dinner?” She picked it up again.
“A really nice place too…Cumberland’s.”
“That’s reservation only.”
“I said it was a nice place.”
“Why were you going to take me there?”
“You go to a restaurant to eat, Connie.”
“We can eat anywhere. We’ve been to greasy spoons, little dives, great ethnic places, and places that serve more alcohol than food. Cumberland’s is somewhere Jack goes.”
“I wanted to take you to a nice place.” Mike said. “I wanted to take you there for a job well done.”
“In the Dresner case?”
“Yes.” He sounded slightly exasperated.
“If it’s a date you can just call it a date you know.” She said.
“I didn’t say it was a date.”
“I know, that’s why I'm telling you it’s OK to call it a date.”
“Its just dinner…that thing people do after lunch.”
“Or at 10 o’clock at night because they're workaholics.” Connie replied.
“That too.”
“Cumberland’s is a lovely restaurant, Mike.”
“I was able to move our reservation to next Thursday at seven. That is if you want to go.”
“I want to go.”
“Do you want me to call it a date?” he asked.
“I don’t want you to do anything you don’t want to. That’s not how this works.”
Connie had no idea how this worked actually. She had no idea what this was. It had never been her intention to fall into bed with Mike Cutter. She surely never meant to fall in love with him. Well, she wasn’t in love yet but Connie knew that feeling. She also knew it was a bad, bad idea to sleep with the boss.
If Mike wasn’t the boss this wouldn’t be a problem. He wasn’t quite her type but Connie still found herself drawn to him. When he wasn’t on, he was witty, funny, and quite introspective. She loved talking to him; she even loved bickering with him. And he was a stallion between the sheets.
Connie liked sex; she always had and she always would. Mike did too; at least he seemed to with her. He was an attentive lover and was able to read what she wanted. There were times it was so soft and luscious, all she could do was curl around him and sleep afterward. Other times he made it a workout, and she had the marks to prove it.
She liked Mike, more than she liked Cutter, though she could say she liked him too. Being a shark of an ADA was not all that he was though, and she found herself wanting to know the rest of the man more and more. He was more guarded than she…Connie didn’t like pulling teeth. But something kept bringing her back and it wasn’t just the sex. Honestly, a woman could get that anywhere.
Connie Rubirosa had never been searching for suitors. This was the most uncertain place she’d ever been relationship wise. She didn’t even know how to define it. Were they lovers? Were they friends with benefits? No, she hated that term. Talk about been there, done that.
“I bought a bottle of champagne too.” He said, bringing her out of her thoughts.
“I think Cumberland’s serves champagne, Mike.”
“Yeah but I thought we could do a toast before going. You know, like being able to continue to work well together after being on opposite sides of the court room. I was going to invite Jack in for that.”
“You can be sweet when you want to be.” Connie said.
“Don’t tell anyone.”
“Your secret is safe with me.”
“I could bring the champagne over to your place…make our toast now.”
“Jack isn’t here.”
“I’ll get over it.” He replied.
Mike smirked on the other end of the line. He never knew how to ask to come over. Connie wasn’t like other women. Not that Mike had much time to date in the past seven years as he shot to the top of the DA’s office. Work came first and the few women who’d been in his life knew that. That’s why he was single.
But Connie was different. He wanted her, badly, but didn’t know how to be the person he thought she might want in return. Strangely, she hadn't rejected him yet. She’d come close, when he pulled the wool over her eyes with that juror, but they recovered from that. Things had been smooth lately; things had been good.
He was nowhere near prepared to tell her how crazy he was about her. That wasn’t Mike’s style, putting his heart on his sleeve that way. He didn’t even think he had a style. Still, something about Connie made him crazy. She was smart, kind-hearted, and generous. She was so beautiful. She was bilingual and that was sexy. She was feisty sometimes and that was very sexy.
She was out of his league, or so he believed, but still she opened the door and let him in. He had to find a way not to screw this up. That was also not one of his strong suits. To the outside world, Mike Cutter had it altogether.
Nothing could be further from the truth. But that wasn’t a side he wanted to show people. He wanted to appear in control of everything. Connie made him lose control. It was good and so bad all at the same time.
“I'm not dressed.” She said.
“That suits me just fine, Sway.”
“So come over.” She couldn’t help but smile at the nickname. He had to know what it did to her.
“Are you sure it’s not too late.”
“It’s not too late, Mike.”
“I’ll be there in a half hour.”
“Don’t forget the champagne. A toast would be nice.”
“What would we toast to?” he asked.
“Mmm...being so good together.”
***