Attractive Nuisance (Legally in Love Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

was already in progress, and Camilla sat as quietly as possible in a folding chair at the back. It gave a metallic clunk when her big shoe whacked its leg. Nice. Inconspicuous. She pulled a face, the one she knew looked most like a wombat in labor from a few bad photos at friends’ bridal showers, just as the orating attorney glanced her way due to the sound.
    He got that crinkle at the side of his eye.
    Great.
    Zane Holyoake, hair all in place, suit impeccable, then aimed puppy dog eyes at the jury, who were crammed into too-small folding chairs up against one wall—man, this court needed a relocation. And some Febreeze. All eyes focused on Zane. What power did he have over them? It couldn’t be simple good looks. Sure, he looked good, but one of those out-of-town attorneys from Phoenix, what was his name? Nick Gallegos? Nick trumped this guy’s surface looks in every way. But Nick didn’t have whatever magnetic pull Zane Holyoake had over people. It held them spellbound. Uh, Camilla included.
    “As I was saying, there we were in the woods, just me and the fifteen Boy Scouts, looking for geodes and malachite out by Sedona, when what do we run across but a chunk of meteor. Now, I know this isn’t going to seem relevant, but hear me out, folks.”
    He was telling personal stories? To the jury? During a trial? Where was the opposing counsel to object? Camilla’s eyes strayed over to the warped little wooden card table where sat Felicia Pulsipher, who’d been reeled in just as surely as the jury had. Her chin rested on her palm, her elbow on the table, her head leaning to the side. Oh, and look-a there. So had Judge Overby. Like storytime at the library for preschoolers, everyone was completely sucked in.
    It might be a great story, the best story in all the world, but how rock hunting with Boy Scouts near Sedona could be relevant to whatever case was being tried here today, Camilla couldn’t begin to imagine. Magistrate court handled DUI cases and disorderly conduct and noise ordinance violations. Dog at large offenses? Could his rock hunting yarn be related to a dog at large—in the woods? Hardly.
    So how did he do it? Besides masterfully? Camilla settled back into her chair.
    “And so the kid chucks the hunk of meteor at me and says, ‘Hey, Mr. Holyoake. What’s that one made out of? A hunk of Mars?’”
    The jury and everyone else in the courtroom laughed. Camilla had missed either the setup or the punch line. Or else maybe it simply wasn’t funny and everyone was just trying to gain favor with the gorgeous guy by humoring him. Either way, Camilla was a lone reed in the non-laughing department. Unfortunately, Zane glanced at her and saw this. She pulled a smirk. A courtesy smirk. He shrugged a single shoulder. Ugh, why did he keep singling her out?
    “But seriously, ladies and gentlemen of the jury. What I want to point out with this story is how important it is to know what substance you’re dealing with in any situation. Whether it’s a rock in the woods or a bag of cat food, like Ms. Tyrese here got in trouble with.” He aimed his thumb in the direction of the table of opposing counsel, where sat a heavyset woman with spiked hair. “She knew full and well she’d laced her neighbor’s cat food with antifreeze and that the cat would be unable to resist its heavenly sweet scent.”
    Just like Zane Holyoake and his stories and charm. Irresistible? Possibly. But Camilla was going to have to find one of those cowboy hats with the brand name Resistol and put it on as a helmet. This guy wanted her job. Well, the job Camilla too wanted. And she refused to let him and his charming ways distract her from her quarry.
    Camilla had seen enough here. Zane was a stem-winder. He’d take a story—any kind of random story—and hook the courtroom full of people with it (along with his engaging grin and twinkly eye) and then make a point from it. Good tactic. It probably worked, at least in varying degrees, every