The Tenth Justice - Brad Meltzer [85]
“I was feeling sick all day,” Ober explained dryly. “I got up too fast, and by the time I got to her office, I was lightheaded.”
“More like intimidated,” Nathan said.
“What’d she do when you passed out?” Lisa asked.
“I’m not sure,” Ober said. “All I know is, when I woke up, she was fanning me with a file folder.”
“But she was still undressed,” Ben added. “Needless to say, though, she was turned off at that point. Fainting is the world’s worst aphrodisiac.”
“Can we move on to something else?” Ober asked.
“Oh, baby,” Nathan said to Ben. “I really love your underwea—” Closing his eyes, Nathan fell to the floor.
“Wham, bam, unconscious, ma’am,” Ben said.
“That’s it. I’m out of here,” Ober said. “If I wanted to be made fun of, I could’ve stayed home tonight.”
“Can you drop me at home?” Nathan asked as Ober walked to the door.
Saying nothing, Ober left the room. “I’ll take that length of silence as a yes,” Nathan said, waving to Ben and Lisa. “See you guys later.”
“See you later,” Ben said as Nathan stepped out.
“You’re so pathetic,” Lisa said, poking Ben in the chest.
“What?”
“That place you took me to yesterday—the boathouse. You were trying to seduce me.”
“Give me a break,” Ben said. “I was doing no such thing.”
Lisa squinted and in a low voice did her best Ben imitation. “Uh, I wrote my essay for Columbia here, and I wrote my essay for Yale here, and I lost—” Switching to a slightly deeper voice, she interrupted, “No, dumb-ass, don’t tell her about the virginity thing—if she finds that out, she’ll never go to bed with us.”
“That’s amazing.” Ben laughed. “You’ve perfectly reproduced my exact thought process.”
“It may not be exact, but it’s close.”
“Do you really believe that?” Ben asked.
“Am I wrong?”
“Do you really believe it?”
“Answer my question,” Lisa said. “Tell me I’m wrong.”
A deep flush spread over Ben’s face. “I’m not saying you’re completely right, but you’re not on another planet.”
“I knew it! You’re so predictable.”
“What are you talking about? I’m not predictable.”
“Are you kidding me?” Lisa asked. “You’re so predictable, I could set my watch to your—”
Before Lisa could finish her sentence, Ben leaned forward and pulled her into a deep, long kiss.
Surprised, Lisa pulled back a bit. “A kiss from Mr. Addison—I’m impressed. I didn’t think you had it in you.”
“Can you shut up?” Ben asked, kissing her again. As Ben wrapped his arms around Lisa, she pushed him backward onto the bed. Straddling him, Lisa furiously unbuttoned Ben’s shirt.
“…and let me tell you one more thing,” Ober said, storming back into the room. “HOLY TONGUE-IN-HER-MOUTH, BATMAN!”
“I don’t believe it,” Nathan said.
“Do you mind?” Lisa said. “Some of us are trying to fool around.”
“Oh, you will NEVER live this down,” Ober warned, pulling the door closed, a wide smile spread across his face.
“What’re you going to tell Lindsay Lucas?” Nathan called out as the door shut.
As his head fell back on the bed, Ben said, “Damn.”
“Forget about it,” Lisa said, leaning in and kissing his neck.
Chapter 11
“SO?” BEN ASKED.
“What?” Lisa asked, lying next to him.
“What’d you think?”
“About what?” Lisa said with a smile.
“About the fact that your clothes are decorating my floor. What else?”
“It was fine,” Lisa said. “It was good.”
Ben sat up in bed and shook his head. “Don’t even think about playing that game with me, sister. You are not making me crazy with vague adjectives.”
“What do you want me to say?” she asked. “It was phenomenal. World’s greatest. You were an artist—I was your canvas.”
“You suck, y’know that?”
“That’s funny,” Lisa said with a thin smirk. “You weren’t complaining a half hour ago.”
“It wasn’t that great.”
“Whatever you say,” Lisa said, staring at the clothes that were thrown across the floor. Pointing to the corner of the room, she asked, “By the way, are those your lucky boxer shorts?”
“Luck had nothing to do with it.”
“Awwww, did I upset you?” Lisa asked, running her fingers under Ben’s chin.
“This was just dumb,” Ben said, pulling away and