Thursday Teaser

Continuing with the 7, 77 game, this time tagged by Anne Tenino :-)

I've got to tell you guys, I suck at doing this. I went to page 7 of one of the manuscript and did the counting things, and what I read didn't make sense. I didn't like it. So, you are getting around 700 words from the work in progress I'll be finishing after Six Degrees of Separation. It isn't edited by any stretch of the imagination, so you all be gentle, k? Okay. *g*

Title: Hearsay

“I just told Tyler I’m going to represent him.” Was all he said, refusing to discuss his feelings over Roman Bradford’s alleged departure with Tashana or anyone else. They didn’t make any sense.

“You said before you couldn’t take on a criminal defense case.”

“I know! But Pro Bono hasn’t gotten back to me and the backlash after the child molestation allegations became public has already started. What am I supposed to do? Let him fend for himself?” he asked with a dramatic gesture of his hand. “I could never do that to my friend.”

“I know that, hon.” Tashana walked over to him and hugged him tight.

“And that’s not even the worst part,” he mumbled against her big breasts. “I agreed to come over tonight.”

“Come over where?”

“Tyler’s place.”

“What?” She pushed him away, studied his eyes, swatted him on the head and hugged him again. “Didn’t we agree it isn’t a good idea to have sex with your ex?”

“We did,” Derrick whispered, not really caring that Tashana was probably about to lecture him on the subject one more time. He just took a deep breath and settled in on her breasts. It was comfy there. Her bosom felt like a safe place. “But we’re both single and a little desperate right now and he has such a nice dic—”

Tashana swatted him again.

“You know every time you go and get your rocks off with the guy you avoid each other for the next four weeks,” she said. “How’s that going to work now that you’ve decided to represent him?”

“It’ll be the last time.”

“That’s what you said three months ago,” she reminded him. “You were doing so well, too. Why’d you go and ruin it, boo?”

“He’s under a lot of stress.” Derrick looked up at her. “He needs to blow off some steam… and you know what? So do I! This week’s been hell and if the guy thinks that sucking me off and fucking me through the mattress will help him, who am I to object? Plus I’m horny. I’m so horny I could fuck a tree. Do you have any idea when’s the last time I got laid?” He shot her a warning look. “Don’t answer that.”

“Why not let her answer?” The unexpected voice was husky; the tone scolding and dripping with derision at the same time. “After all, isn’t that what this firm pays its employees for? Discussions on all sort of personal, intimate subjects while on the clock?”

Derrick’s voice caught in his throat. He didn’t dare to breathe, but he slowly moved his head from Tashana’s bosom to her shoulder until he was able to take a peek.

This was not the kind of things that happened to him. He didn’t suffer from foot-in-mouth syndrome, and as daring as he could be at times, he’d never been caught with his pants down. But today his luck had obviously taken a turn for the worse because, lo and behold, that was Roman Bradford looking at them from his office door.

All of a sudden the atmosphere changed and the office seemed to be brightly lit, as if the clouds had moved to give way to the sun right outside his window. Derrick felt a hot burst of electricity run through his body and a buzzing in his ears. He hadn’t felt this energized in years.

“Please, tell me that’s not him.” Tashana whispered in his ear.

“Afraid I can’t,” Derrick whispered back.

He was incapable of looking away from Roman… incapable of processing in how much of a predicament they probably were. Incapable of even feeling embarrassment over that bit of too personal information his boss had overheard. He couldn’t. He was too busy worrying about what the other man would make out of it. He knew it was presumptuous on his part to think Roman would care, but he didn’t want for this man he admired so much to have a bad opinion of him.

“I’m not as much of a slut as that statement made me sound.”

Shit.
Looked like he was also incapable of filtering his words.

Tashana winced.

Derrick groaned.

Roman didn’t even blink behind the thick, black framed glasses he wore.