Chapter 2

Damn it, he was going to have to double his time on the rower.

“No problem at all. Right this way.”

The trio sat down in his office, and Jordan took out a recorder. “I usually record these meetings and go back to take more detailed notes later. That way I can focus more on you and less on trying to write legibly. I hope that’s okay with you?”

They both agreed, which was good. Jordan was going to have a hard time focusing on anything that wasn’t the two attractive men in front of him—especially Sheehan, who wasn’t wearing a ring, had no tan line for a ring, and therefore couldn’t be a client. Tall and handsome, with soft brown hair just long enough to grab onto and a suit that emphasized just what a great body he had.

“So why don’t we get started.” Jordan tried to steer his mind away from the brother-in-law. “It helps me to build my case if I know why you’re looking for a divorce, Dinesh. I’m not judging, although I generally don’t work with spousal abusers. In those cases, I usually refer the client to a different attorney.”

Sheehan snorted. “First of all, I wouldn’t be here with him if he was hitting my sister. Second, it wouldn’t get to the point where he’d be leaving Ida. She’d put him into the river.”

Sheehan looked suave and well off. His accent was pure Jersey, and not the Jersey upper crust either. A million questions sprang to Jordan’s mind, but he choked them back. He wasn’t getting paid to poke and prod at the pretty guy’s background.

“Fair enough,” he said, and gave a little smile. “But you’d be surprised what some families don’t seem to mind with regards to their daughters, so attorneys here do disclose this policy with every new client. We don’t want any surprises, Mr. Sheehan.”

Sheehan shook his head a little, startled. Then he laughed, eyes crinkling just a bit at the sides adorably. “Jeez. I thought my dad was behind me for a second. Please, call me Sam.”

“Sam.” Something warm flared up inside of Jordan. “Okay then. We just like for everyone to know what to expect, right out of the gate. Dinesh, if you could explain a little bit about your situation.”

Dinesh’s affability faded a little. Now he just looked sad. “I’ve been friends with Sam here since undergrad. That’s how I met Ida. We weren’t all thatclose, not until Sam and I shared a place after graduation. Ida came around a lot after that. She even stayed with us for a little while after a breakup, until she got a place of her own. And we hit it off. We fell in love.”

Sam rolled his expressive green eyes. “Everyone does,” he muttered.

“Yeah, well, Ida has a lot going for her, okay? She’s creative, she’s talented, and she’s generous. She genuinely wants to help people, and I love that about her. There’s a lot about Ida I still love, Sam. I’m not thrilled about having to do this, you know?”

Jordan had heard that sentence thousands of times, from thousands of spouses. “Do you think there’s a chance you might reconcile?”

Sam peered at Jordan more closely. “Isn’t that money out of your pocket? You’re a divorce attorney. You get paid to split people up.”

Jordan only kept his face neutral because he’d been trained not to react to outbursts. A lawyer couldn’t get away with that kind of thing. “I get paid, Sam, for my time and expertise. The truth is, more than a few of my clients do ultimately reconcile. I’m happy to facilitate that reconciliation, especially if I can do it in such a way that makes both parties feel more secure. That feeling of security and stability makes the union better and stronger. I’m actually a big supporter of marriage, and I love to see things work out for clients.” He folded his hands together on top of his desk.

“Huh.” Dinesh got a faraway look in his eyes.

“So, you’re religious.” Sam frowned and sat back in his seat.

“Not at all. Most organized religion isn’t exactly friendly to the gay community.” Jordan bit the inside of his cheek. He wasn’t usually in the habit of discussing his own life, whether religious or romantic, with clients. Sam was having too much of an effect on him. “I’m not sure Dinesh wants to pay to sit here and talk about my religious views, though.”

Dinesh chuckled and let his head loll back for a second. “You’d be surprised how relevant they might be. Ida has always been kind of volatile. She gets very caught up in things. Sometimes it’s a cause, or a hobby.”

“That’s normal.” Jordan nodded. He was dying to know what was driving Dinesh to leave Ida, even though he didn’t want to, with the support of Ida’s brother.