Jinxx's Big BDSM Adventure [The Black Dahlia Hotel 6] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic) Read online

  Bailey took another moment to consider while Gomez kept eye contact with him. Hmmm. It looked like Joe was better at cross-examination than she had given him credit for. “I’m not sure. I believe they both had two beers.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Bailey.” Gomez turned to Samuels and Beasley. “Gentlemen, I believe we will be filing for dismissal from this suit on behalf of Gulf Oil Rigging and Offshore, LLP. Since the operational staff appears to have been under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident, this would seem to be a negligence action between the Plaintiffs and Coastal, and neither the construction nor design of the rig have any bearing on the matter. Therefore, Gulf Oil, as lessor of the rig, is not an appropriate party to the action.”

  Beasley looked discomfited. He obviously would hate to lose a defendant and their deep pockets. Also, it was obvious that Gomez had picked up on a relevant question that he should have asked. “It’s quarter to two, gentlemen. Let’s break for lunch. We have Mr. Tomaselli scheduled for three-thirty this afternoon and Mr. Halloran for nine o’clock tomorrow morning.”

  Jinxx logged off her laptop and closed it down before putting all of her materials into her briefcase and locking it. She twirled the combination wheel. She raised her eyebrow at Gomez, indicating that he should do the same. It would not do for their case materials to be left unattended on the conference room table where the Plaintiff’s attorney’s staff could look it over while they were out to lunch. That would be extremely sneaky and unethical, but certainly not unheard of. They had an obligation to protect their client’s data. Everyone else got up and headed out of the conference room.

  “Jinxx, I have to say that was a good catch and may just get our client out of this boiling pot of stew. Good job. I’m going to call Jim with this news so he can get started on drafting the motion for dismissal and getting a hearing date. Even if we can’t get out of the suit, this will be big at trial.”

  “Thanks. I told you I was here for a reason.”

  “Yes, you did. Will you have dinner with me tonight? I was hoping we could wrap this up in one day, but Halloran’s depo is tomorrow morning. We should be back home by tomorrow night.”

  “Of course.” It wasn’t unusual for teams to eat together and socialize when on the road, but she had a feeling Gomez was heading somewhere she didn’t want to go. He just had a look in his eye. Why not? Joe is a good-looking guy, smart and sexy with a bit of a Latin dominant edge. Does my reticence have something to do with Troy Barnett? That is ridiculous. They hadn’t even met face-to-face yet, but she had to admit that she felt a very strong connection to Troy, and she didn’t want to jeopardize it. She’d had a text from him waiting when they deplaned in Chicago.

  Hey, lass. Good luck today. Knock ‘em dead. Xoxo - Barnett. It had made her smile just like his messages always did.

  Tomaselli’s depo dragged on until after five o’clock. Jinxx was exhausted when they finally packed up their gear and caught a cab to the Hyatt in downtown Chicago. All she really wanted to do was grab a quick dinner and maybe work out in the hotel’s gym before calling it an early night. Tomorrow promised to be another long one and included the flight back to New York.

  “So, where do you want to go for dinner? Or would you prefer to eat here?”

  “I was thinking about something quick, a workout, and bed.”

  “I wouldn’t mind dinner and a workout in bed.”

  Did I just hear that correctly? No. He couldn’t have said that or meant what it sounded like. When she looked up, he was grinning at her and definitely had a sparkle in his eyes. Holy shit!

  “Did I hear you correctly? Because if I did, be aware that I am a black belt.” Not completely true, but she was taking Tae Kwon Do and had achieved a blue belt—not too shabby—and she was perfectly capable of doing some serious damage.

  “Come on, Jinxx. It’s a cold night in Chicago. What’s wrong with sharing some body heat?”

  “There’s nothing wrong with two consenting adults sharing some body heat, Joe. But I am not consenting.” She hesitated while she thought for a moment. The thought that was running through her mind was totally off the wall. Then she spit it out. “I’m in a relationship. It’s in its infancy, but I think it has potential, and I don’t intend to screw it up with an out-of-town quickie.”

  “Who said anything about a quickie? I have no intention of being quick.”

  “Stop now. I’m sorry, but I am not interested.”

  He grinned at her again. He was apparently sure he could change her mind. “Can we still have dinner?”

  “We can have dinner…” She looked him in the eye. “But no dessert. Got it?”

  “Sure, Jinxx. No problem.”

  Why did she not believe that? She was sure she would be getting the Gomez rush before the night was out. All she wanted to do right now was order room service, snuggle up in that big, comfortable bed in her room and text Troy, who was out of town on a job consulting on the construction of a new hotel in Sweden, of all places to be in December. “We can eat at the Olive Garden next to the hotel. I wouldn’t mind a big bowl of spaghetti and meatballs and a nice glass or two of wine.”

  “Sounds good. Let’s go directly there. That way we won’t have to bundle up and come out again tonight. The wind off the lake is a killer.”

  Dinner was pleasant and Joe didn’t sprinkle the conversation with more than a couple of sexual innuendos. He really could be charming and cute when he put his mind to it. She just wasn’t interested right now, not to mention the fact that he was a couple of years younger than she was. That was no big deal. They were adults, not kids, but she already knew her heart was leaning in another direction. It was leaning towards Troy.

  They walked back to the hotel and went up in the elevator to the fifth floor. Joe was in a room across the hall from hers. When they reached her door, she quickly swiped her key card through the reader and turned to him. “I’ll set the alarm on my phone for seven. I suggest you do the same. That will give us time for breakfast and to review the files again before Halloran’s depo.”

  “Okay.” She was totally blindsided when Joe pulled her into his chest and planted one on her lips. His tongue swept into her mouth when she opened it to protest. He ran his hands down her back, cupped her ass, and pulled her tightly into him. She tried to pull away, but he’d wrapped his arms around her, and she was encumbered by her handbag and briefcase.

  She finally was able to pull back. “Cut it out, Joe. I’m not along on this little jaunt to the hinterlands as window dressing. I am here to keep your newbie ass on the straight-and-narrow, not to provide some evening entertainment for you. Maybe that’s how things rolled at your old firm, but let me assure you, Junior, that is not how they roll at Brampton Hamilton.”

  “Wait a minute…”

  “No. You wait a minute. You are cute, and I bet you don’t get turned down too often, but I am simply not interested.”

  “What are you talking about, you crazy woman? I was merely trying to be friendly.”

  “Friendly? Your hand on my ass and your tongue down my throat is not friendly. It’s annoying. Do it again and you might lose them.”

  “I don’t appreciate your smart mouth and attitude. I’m an attorney and you’re only a paralegal. You had better watch your step.”

  “You know, Joe, if this wasn’t a big case for one of the firm’s most important clients, I would let you hang yourself. I didn’t have to give you that heads-up about the alcohol. As it is, I chose to clue you in. If you had reviewed the case files as carefully as you should have before Bailey’s depo and prepared, you would have known the accident took place just after lunch and had a list of appropriate questions ready.

  “Our client is potentially on the hook for a huge settlement. There is the possibility of a finding of negligence and criminal liability that could lead to massive fines and damage awards. There were no deaths in the oil rig explosion, but there were serious injuries. Get your mind off the evening’s entertainment and
onto the case.” Joe started to stutter and she could see that his temper was rising. “I’m going to forget all about this, and you should as well. Good night.” She turned back to the door and slipped through.

  Once she was inside her room with the door locked, she leaned back against the door and dropped her bag and briefcase. Her heart was pounding. She hung her coat in the closet and collapsed on the sofa in the comfortable seating area. Shit. I am getting too old for these young snots. Once she had calmed down, she removed and hung her suit in the closet. She took her iPhone out of her handbag and checked for texts. There was one from Troy.

  How did it go today? I’m missing you, baby. I spent the whole day out on the site with the surveyor. It’s wicked cold in Sweden in December. I wish I was there with you, talking to you, holding you every minute. LOVE YOU CRAZY…Barnett.

  It was seven hours later in Europe now, and too late to catch Troy. She’d just leave him a short message to find in the morning.

  I’m doing well. We may have had a break in the case today. I wish you were here, too. Be sure to eat and get some rest. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Love you, too. Jinxx
  She didn’t know when they had started saying the “L” word. She would have to look back in her message history, but it had just seemed to happen. He had started saying it first, and she had resisted saying it back. The situation was just a little strange, after all, but soon it just felt like the right thing to do. She was still confused by the intensity of the long-distance relationship that had sprung up between them. She wasn’t sure how she really felt, but she knew there was something real here, something she had not had in a long, long time, if ever. It felt good. It felt right.

  Jinxx walked into the bathroom. She had been looking forward to this hot bath for what seemed like hours. She dumped a measure of the hotel’s luxurious scented bubble bath into the Jacuzzi tub. She really needed to relax and think. She lit a jasmine travel candle and lowered the overhead lights. Once she was neck-deep in the sweet smelling bubbles, she leaned against the curved back of the tub and turned the jets on low. Her mind began to drift as she reviewed some of Troy’s e-mails in her mind. His disclosure that he was a Dom with the Los Angeles Le Club had been interesting in light of her own recent interest in the lifestyle.

  Sometimes he was funny and sexy and made her laugh, and other times his dour Scottish personality came to the fore, and she could see that he was still hurting over the loss of his wife. He certainly was a paradox of conflicting moods and emotions. As the swirling water did its work, Jinxx began relax, and her eyes began to get heavy.

  When she was almost asleep, Jinxx realized her hand had drifted of its own accord through the water to the delicate skin of her closely trimmed pussy. She was not surprised to feel the slick evidence of arousal between her thighs. Something about Troy lit her fire, and just thinking about him had her panties damp when she had undressed. Memories of what he said he wanted to do to her when he finally got her into a dungeon flitted through her mind as her fingers glanced over her clit and slid down to her aching center. Although she had not yet even met him, she found Troy to be extremely sexy. He had starred in more than a few nocturnal fantasies over the last few months.

  Maybe she responded to the dominant nature that came through the e-mails. It was definitely a puzzle. As she thought about Troy, her busy fingers continued to play in the slick folds of her pussy. She wished she had brought her vibrator along on this trip, but she hadn’t anticipated that she would have time for such an indulgence. She slipped back into her fantasy, embroidered now with Troy as her Master. She pictured herself tied to a bed and Troy leaning over her as his fingers played with her pussy. She continued her wet caress until her toes curled, her pulse quickened, and she slid over the edge with a deep sigh.

  As the water cooled, Jinxx stood up, toweled off, and threw on her sleep shirt, then wrapped herself up in the hotel’s thick, white terrycloth robe. She padded to the bed. She climbed onto the high, soft mattress. Jinxx slipped between the sensuous sheets and settled back against the fluffy pillows. This wasn’t the fanciest hotel in Chicago, but it had all the bells and whistles.

  Jinxx opened the laptop she had left on the bed. Maybe she could get a chapter or at least a few scenes written on her latest steamy BDSM erotic romance. Her writing career didn’t pay the bills yet, but it sure did add a few of the fancy touches to life. She giggled. Troy didn’t know it, but she had modeled her latest hero after him. She glanced through the last couple of pages to reorient herself in the story, but it just wouldn’t come to her tonight. She was tired. Her fingers didn’t want to move on the keyboard. Right now, she wanted to sleep. Tomorrow was another day.

  Before she drifted off, she picked up her cell phone again and looked thought the collection of pictures of Troy on her photo log. One had a serious, stern expression, but another had a big, open, wide smile where his eyes crinkled up and sparkled. He had a scruff of dark beard on his face that was edged with some gray below his sideburns That was her favorite—except for the one in a bathing suit on Ipanema Beach in Rio with Sugarloaf Mountain in the background. You could see the muscle definition in his abs, arms and legs. The man had a serious body. She had to admit she would love to get her hands on it.

  * * * *

  Jinxx and Joe met for breakfast at the hotel’s buffet. She couldn’t wait for that first cup of coffee. They both loaded up their plates and grabbed a table. Joe looked at her for a moment and said, “Jinxx, about last night…”

  “Let’s just call it a brain fart and forget about it, Joe. Stuff happens on the road. It’s not a problem. If I didn’t have something else going on, I might have been interested.”

  “Thanks. I’d hate to have ruined our working relationship with a stupid stunt like that.”

  “Like I said, no problem. Let’s go on from here. What do you plan to ask Halloran today?”

  Joe opened his legal pad and they went over his list of questions. Jinxx made some suggestions for additional questions and refined the order in which they would be asked. Sometimes the element of surprise helped pry information from a witness that they had not intended to give up. Halloran would surely be prepared for questions regarding his alcohol consumption at lunch on the day of the accident. He and Tomaselli would have gotten together last night and discussed yesterday’s depo in detail. She was sure those were two very worried men at the moment. It was true that one mistake could change everything.

  “I worked on a list of questions in case Beasley misses something like he did yesterday. I have to say, Jinxx, that was an excellent catch on your part. Thanks.”

  “Just doing my job. Let’s grab a cab. I’d like to be all set up before Halloran gets there.”

  * * * *

  The Halloran deposition was long and grueling. Jinxx could almost feel sorry for the man. The revelation about the alcohol consumed at lunch on the day of the accident had come out of the blue. Both Halloran and Tomaselli had probably hoped that their indiscretion would go unnoticed. It was the end of the afternoon before Joe had an opportunity to ask his questions.

  “Mr. Halloran, you stated that you only had two beers. Are you sure that is correct?”

  “As far as I remember, I had two beers.”

  “If you only had two beers, why would you have a problem remembering?”

  “That’s not what I meant. You’re twisting my words.”

  Joe turned to the court reporter. “Could you read the Mr. Halloran’s statement back to us please?”

  The court reporter looked at the stream of paper coming from her machine and said, “As far as I remember, I had two beers.”

  “Well, Mr. Halloran? What is it? Two beers or more?”

  “I had two damn beers, for Christ’s sake. Two. I wasn’t drunk and neither was Tomaselli.”

  “Was it your practice to have beer with your lunch every day?”

  “No. Not every day. We were just kicking back, relaxing, going over the logs with Bailey.” r />
  “Did Mr. Bailey have any beer?”

  “No. He always drinks iced tea.”

  “How many beers did Mr. Tomaselli have?”

  “I don’t know for sure. Two, same as me, I think.”

  “You think or you know?”

  “Dammit, I said two fuckin’ beers. We weren’t drunk.”

  “Then how do you explain the explosion that injured fifteen people?”

  “I can’t explain it. Accidents happen. Drilling rigs are dangerous places. We toured the platform, and all system functions and the operating mainframe were normal before lunch.”

  “Would you not think, therefore, that it would be inappropriate to drink beer at lunch when you were on duty?”

  Now Halloran’s face was turning red and Jinxx could see he was about ready to blow. “For Christ’s sake. Yes, it was inappropriate. Yes, I regret having the fucking beers. They are likely going to cost me my job, not to mention a lot more, and those were my friends who got hurt by flying shrapnel and the fall into the water.”

  “So, do you think that you and Mr. Tomaselli were responsible for the explosion that injured your friends?”

  “Jesus fuckin’ Christ. I don’t know. The pressure gage had gone into the red before we noticed it, and then the compressor blew before we could get the pressure back down. We tried. It was too late.”

  “That will be all of my questions.” Joe sat back in his chair with a satisfied look on his face.

  Jinxx was impressed. Joe had pushed Halloran until he had admitted that they had not been watching the gages and that the pressure had built to an unsafe level before they noticed and took action to remedy the situation. Gulf Oil was definitely off the hook on this one. She began packing up her briefcase. She couldn’t wait to get the heck out of here and onto the plane for home. It had been a very successful two days’ work. Jim was going to be delighted. Ha! And maybe her Gulf Oil stock would start to rise again.

  Chapter Three