out, “I’m with him,” followed by a wave of her hand in the clerk’s direction. After all, Daniel Fortune didn’t have to know that her companion was blissfully married. She certainly didn’t want him to think that she was so pathetic she’d been forced to spend New Year’s Eve without a date, even if she had been dateless for some time now.
In the blink of an eye, the A.D.A. straightened and restored himself to consummate professional. The iceman returneth. “Good to see you again, Mr. Alvarado.”
“Same here.” Joe shook Daniel’s offered hand with gusto and grinned like a down-and-out miner who’d struck gold. “The way you handled the Richardson case last year was amazing. I still don’t know how you managed to get a conviction without the victim’s body.”
“I owe it to the San Antonio PD’s spotless investigation.”
Good answer, and good grief. When Alisha noticed Joe’s starstruck expression, she expected him to fall prostrate at the A.D.A.’s feet and kiss the large shoes he walked in. “Joe, I’m sure Mr. Fortune would just as soon forget about work tonight.”
“You’re right, and I’m being rude.” Joe gestured toward the chair next to Alisha. “Why don’t you join us? My wife should be here in a minute.”
So much for Alisha’s pretense that Joe was her date. Daniel sent her a quick glance, as if asking her permission to join the party, which she didn’t give, and not because she wouldn’t like to have him join them. Because she would like for him to join them, and that wasn’t necessarily advisable. Considering her status as a part-time public defender and his as full-time defender of the public, for all intents and purposes they were enemies. Especially now with the high-profile Massey case hanging over her and his office in charge of convicting him, not to mention her unwelcome attraction to the prosecutor.
For what seemed liked infinity, he simply stared at her and she stared back, until she heard, “Sorry I’m late.”
Alisha released her gaze on Daniel to find Julie Alvarado standing at the table, all five feet six inches of head-turning brunette. The kind of woman you wanted to hate—model-beautiful—but was simply too nice to despise. A social worker who devoted her life to protecting children and spoiling her husband. “Hi, Julie. We were starting to worry you might not get here in time.”
“I was beginning to wonder, too.” Julie tossed her bag on the table and leaned to give Joe a kiss. “Sorry, honey. I had something I had to take care of tonight. An emergency removal of three kids. What a way to end the year.”
Joe stood and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, looking very proud, and rightfully so. “Mr. Fortune, this is my wife, Julie. Julie, this is Daniel Fortune.”
“We’ve met,” Julie said. “I testified during one of your trials.”
“The Henson trial,” Daniel said. “That was a tough one.”
Julie regarded Joe again. “The one where the boyfriend put his girlfriend’s five-year-old daughter into a coma because she spilled her juice on his CD collection.”
Alisha inwardly cringed when she recalled the details she’d only read about. Thank God she’d still been working at her former firm defending rich executives involved in white-collar crimes, and that so far when appointed by the court she’d only represented misdemeanor offenses and not heinous felonies.
“Are you sure you don’t want to join us?” Joe pointed to the empty chair beside Alisha. “We can count down together.”
Alisha counted to ten before Daniel said, “Maybe some other time. Enjoy the rest of the evening.”
With another glance at Alisha, he strode away with blatant confidence, his wide shoulders straight, his large hands dangling at his sides, while heads turned as he passed. No doubt about it, he was a natural attention-getter. He’d certainly gotten hers on more than one occasion.
After Julie sat down beside Joe, Alisha pushed the glass of champagne, compliments of the A.D.A., toward her. “Take this. I still have some left.”
Julie exchanged a veiled look with her husband. “I don’t care for any champagne, but I guess it will work for a toast.” She held the flute aloft. “To the new year. May it not royally suck.”
They all touched their glasses together with a shared “Here, here.” Joe and Alisha took sips of their drinks while Julie merely pushed the untouched glass aside.
Joe narrowed his eyes and said to Alisha, “That Daniel Fortune is something else. You should do him, Hart.”
She nearly gasped. “Why would you even think such a thing?”
He looked at her as if she’d just plummeted several rungs on the intelligence ladder. “Because he wants you.”
What a colossal joke. “Oh, sure he does.”
“Don’t be obtuse, Alisha,” Joe said. “I saw the way he was looking at you. In fact, I’ve seen him look at you that way before at the courthouse. He treats everyone else with indifference, but he treats you like he’d like to get into your drawers—and not the ones in your file cabinet.”
She shrugged off the remark. “He razzes me because he doesn’t like defense attorneys.”
Joe sighed. “Jeez, Hart. Have you been out of the dating loop so long that you don’t recognize a few come-ons? The guy’s got a hard—”
Julie slapped a hand over Joe’s mouth. “My husband is trying to say—and failing miserably—that Daniel Fortune’s hot for you.”
Alisha found that hard to believe. Yes, she worked at being attractive, both inside and out. Yes, she had worked hard for respect and had enjoyed substantial success in her thirty-two years. But as far as physical attributes were concerned, she had unruly red hair that she futilely flatironed every day only to be sabotaged by humidity—the reason why she’d kept it curly tonight. She was short, not particularly busty and she’d inherited her mother’s ample hips. Her skin practically blistered with only a few minutes of sun exposure, and although she didn’t have a forest full of freckles, she had more than her fair share. She certainly didn’t see herself as the kind of woman that would seriously interest Daniel Fortune. He probably preferred bombshell blondes with more body and less brain.
Julie leaned forward and laid a hand on Alisha’s arm. “I can certainly understand why he would be interested in you. You’re very pretty and smart.”
“And a redhead,” Joe added. “Men like redheads. A lot of mystery there. You know, about whether they’re natural redheads or not.”
“We’re not going to discuss that, Joseph,” Julie said.
He gave his wife a whipped-dog look. “Sorry, but it’s true. Anyway…” He looked back at Alisha. “You should do him. If I were a woman, I would.”
Alisha rolled her eyes. “I’m sure Julie loves hearing that.”
Joe aimed his grin on his wife. “She’d do him, too. Wouldn’t you, sweetheart?”
Julie batted her eyelashes. “Why would I want to when I have you, honey?”
“Okay, let’s say you didn’t have me.”
