Her Best Defense

“Nice car,” she said.

“Thanks,” he said proudly.

The party was just getting under way when they arrived. Lisa recognized several other attorneys in attendance as she and Grant passed through each room of the apartment that had been opened up for the occasion. There was food—mostly yummy little bits of finger food—set up in the dining room and drinks in the kitchen. To get to either, one had to pass through the living room where Lisa saw two junior partners from her own firm. She nodded at them and received friendly smiles in return.

“Grant!” Lisa heard some woman exclaim from across the room. “Where have you been keeping yourself?”

Lisa watched as a flashy blonde approached. The curvaceous woman had a martini in one hand and a cigarette in the other. She stopped about a foot away from Grant and bent forward, kissing the air on either side of his cheeks. It was a scene right out of the movies.

“Oh brother,” Lisa said under her breath.

“Hello, Deidra,” Grant said to the woman. “How have you been?”

“Fabulous, as always. And who is this gorgeous creature by your side tonight?”

“Deidra Upton, Lisa Jensen.”

Lisa politely said hello, as did Deidra while snuffing her cigarette in a nearby ashtray. “At least now I know why you haven’t called lately, you naughty boy,” Deidra said. She flirtatiously flipped the lapel on Grant’s jacket and walked off to gaily greet someone else.

Grant was quick to explain that he and Deidra were just good friends. “Can I get you something to drink?” he asked.

“Not just yet.”

“How about something to eat?”

“I think I’d just like to find Faith and wish her a happy birthday right now,” Lisa said.

“You aren’t ready to go yet, are you?” Grant asked.

Lisa was ready to go, but she shook her head for Grant’s sake. She had always liked Faith Unser, but the rest of the crowd gave off an aura of pretense that Lisa didn’t much care for. Were these the people Grant regularly socialized with?

Lisa put up with the party for an hour before she told Grant she was tired and had to leave. “But you stay, Grant. I’ll take a cab.”

“Like hell you will! I’ll drive you home.”

“You certainly don’t have to leave on my account,” she said. “I’m perfectly capable of getting home on my own.”

“I have no doubt of that, but you came with me so I’d appreciate your leaving with me. I’ll drive you home. No debate, please.”

Within a few minutes, they were outside and walking down the street to where he had parked his car.

“You didn’t have a good time tonight,” Grant said.

“That just isn’t my crowd,” she said with a sidelong glance at him to see his reaction. “I’m sorry, but I guess I’m more of a meat-and-potatoes kind of girl.”

“Don’t apologize. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

“I didn’t say there was anything wrong with it.”

Grant stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. “Why am I doing nothing right tonight? What is it about you, Lisa Jensen, that gets me all tongue-tied and flustered?”

Lisa was surprised by Grant’s outburst. Did she really have that effect on him? Or was this some kind of ploy to get to her? Stop being so suspicious, she scolded herself. But she couldn’t help doubting. Her past kept creeping forward in her mind, reminding her that she had one failed marriage already and if she wasn’t careful, there could be more, and that was something she didn’t want. The next time she walked down the aisle would be the last time, she had vowed on more than one occasion.

Still, Grant looked so cute and rather hapless standing there on the sidewalk with the streetlight shining down on him that her heart softened toward him.

“Oh, stop,” she said while taking a step back to him, looping her arm through his and pulling him the rest of the way to his car.

Lisa lived only a few miles away from the apartment where the party had been held, so it didn’t take long for Grant to drive to her place.

“It’s still early,” Grant said as he pulled up in front of her home. “I mean, if you’d like we can do something else.”

“Another time, Grant,” she said. “I’m pretty beat tonight.”

“We wouldn’t have to go anywhere,” he tried again. “We could just sit and talk for a while. I’d really like that, and I’m sitting here hoping that so would you.”

Lisa finally got the hint. He wanted to be invited in—something she wasn’t at all ready for. “Can I get a rain check?” she asked quietly.

He hesitated a long moment and finally shrugged. “Sure.”

He was disappointed, but then, what did he expect? This was only their first outing together, with no promise of any others to follow. She wasn’t even sure at this point if she wanted to see him again. What was he thinking? Maybe that she should invite him into her home and possibly her bed after only a few hours together?

Stop it! she told herself again. All he wants is get to know you better. But if she really believed that, why was her left hand curled into a nervous fist?

“I did have a nice time,” she said. “Can I call you in a day or two?”

“Sure,” he repeated, a little more strongly this time.

She quickly bent toward him and gave him a quick kiss. “Thanks again,” she said as she climbed out of his car. As soon as Lisa entered her house, she felt relieved. Her home was truly her sanctuary.

“What a day this was,” she mumbled as she climbed the stairs to her bedroom.

It had started out with those two crazy people that she hoped she would never have to see again and had ended with a date with a man she really wasn’t attracted to. And why not, she wondered. Why wasn’t she attracted to Grant Gowan like so many of the other women in the building were?

“Building, hell,” she said out loud and quite sarcastically. “How about Chicago’s entire legal profession!”

Lisa kicked off her shoes as soon as she got to her bedroom. Next, she slipped out of her work clothes and hung them up. Grabbing a fresh pair of pajamas from a drawer, she went to the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth. She usually checked messages and e-mails when she got home, but not tonight. Tonight she was heading straight to bed, after a call to her mother, of course.

“Hi, Mom,” she said when she heard Claudia pick up.

“Hi, sweetheart. How was your date?”

Lisa expelled a brief, brittle laugh of self-mockery and then spent the next five minutes reciting the details of the evening to her mother.

“Why, I think you should have enjoyed yourself!” Claudia exclaimed. “A nice party and a handsome escort? Yes, you should have had a pleasant evening. Grant sounds like a very nice young man. You should give him a chance.”

“But I’m not attracted to him, Mom.”

“Sex isn’t everything, sweetheart. That goes away and then what’s left? That’s what you should think about.”