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What could a divorce ceremony possibly have to do with the photo session of a scantily clad bride? No matter what, it couldn’t be good for a judge facing election soon. People wanted their judges to be above reproach, respectable, steady, solid and, of course, to show good judgment in all things.
Ashe turned his attention from the back lawn of the estate to the three little old ladies with him. He would swear they were trying to look perfectly innocent.
“It’s not what you think,” Eleanor tried to assure him.
“I have no idea what I think,” Ashe admitted.
“And I bet it’s been a long time since a woman surprised you,” Gladdy said. “We all need to be surprised every now and then, dear.”
No, really, he didn’t, Ashe thought, smiling uneasily.
He liked his life just the way it was.
“Perfect. We got it. Exactly what we wanted.” Lilah Ryan lowered her camera with a satisfied sigh. She’d been a budding photographer in high school and through her first year of college, then put it aside for a more practical life, until she realized that being so practical meant losing so much of herself in the process. She wasn’t doing that anymore. “Thanks, guys. I really appreciate your patience.”
The man carrying the heavy lights for the shoot, Ben—actually her model’s boyfriend—groaned as he put the lights down. “Only took twice as long as it was supposed to.”
“But we got it right,” Lilah said, then turned to the model she’d hired for the shoot. “Zoe, thank you so much. You were great. You’re going to look beautiful, I promise. And the posters will be all over town.”
Zoe stood tall and slender, the wedding veil wrapped around her, until she slipped into the robe Ben offered. “I don’t think they’ll let you put these all over town.”
“They will, you’ll see.” Lilah was certain.
The image would be both provocative and tasteful. Lilah would make sure of it. And everyone would wonder what was going to happen at her classes, which was exactly what she wanted.
Lilah had promised herself she was going to do all that she could to get everything she wanted from now on. No more waiting. No more putting aside her own wishes for anyone else. She’d done that for too long.
The three of them picked up their equipment and headed back to the house. It really was lovely, the perfect setting for a wedding. Which also made it the perfect setting for Lilah’s classes.
She said goodbye to Zoe and Ben, who helpfully offered to pack up their equipment for her, then went to find Eleanor, whom she called a cousin, but was actually her mother’s second cousin’s aunt. Eleanor claimed she knew the perfect person to perform the divorce ceremony, and he was supposed to stop by this afternoon.
Lilah was so happy. Everything was coming together just as she’d hoped. She had the perfect location, this beautiful estate where people often came to get married. From her private life-coaching practice, she already had a number of people eager to attend her first series of classes, and now she also had what she was sure would be a striking, provocative image to use on her new promotional materials.
Someone to perform a divorce ceremony would be the icing on the cake.
Some people might think it sounded silly, a divorce ceremony, or a series of classes featuring workshops, group exercises and emotional clearing to help get over a relationship gone bad.
Lilah didn’t care. She knew better. She’d learned a lot from the mistakes she’d made in her own life and in dealing with her own divorce. The life-coaching approach wasn’t what she’d always envisioned for her career as a therapist, but she was thrilled to be doing this. Over the years, she’d seen too many people doing the same thing, over and over again, stuck in the misery of their current lives and unable to move forward. It had been maddening, frustrating and left her feeling as if she wasn’t truly helping anyone.
But now she felt as if she was helping and that this was simply what she was born to do.
Humming happily to herself, she walked through the house until she found Eleanor in the dining room with her two best friends, Kathleen and Gladdy, and a man.
An exceptionally good-looking man.
Not that Lilah really cared all that much how he looked. After all, a woman could only gaze at a man for so long. Eventually he opened his mouth and said something, often something offensive or stupid or simply dull. And then he’d do something controlling or belittling or just plain obnoxious. Looks came to mean so little when the reality of the man set in.
Still, this one was more appealing on the surface than most, Lilah had to admit. All starch and polish, with a beautifully tailored suit over an equally impressive body. He was tall, broad, powerful, leaning perhaps toward arrogance, but he had great dark hair and beautiful dark eyes.
“Lilah, darling,” Eleanor said, beaming at her. “I found the perfect man for you.”
“Man?” Lilah backed up a full three inches, not wanting to get anywhere near a perfect man for herself.
“For your divorce ceremony, darling,” Eleanor said hastily. “This is Judge Ashford. Judge, my dear cousin Lilah Ryan.”
“Oh.” Lilah was surprised. “Judge?”
He held out his hand to her. “Ashe, please.”
Lilah shook his hand. “I hadn’t thought to get a real judge.”
“We thought it would lend a nice spirit of authenticity to the ceremony,” Eleanor explained. “He and Kathleen’s grandson-in-law, Wyatt, went to law school together at Penn.”
“Oh, okay,” Lilah said, thinking that the judge did not look at all convinced he should help her. “Eleanor explained what I need?”
The judge hesitated, looking from Lilah to Eleanor, then back to Lilah. “A bit.”
“It always sounds so much better coming from you,” Eleanor said.
It sounded kind of wacky, actually, Lilah had found, but she explained it better than most people. Still, people got married in a ritual. Why was it so odd to use some sort of ritual to mark a divorce?
“It’s a series of classes for women who are going through divorce. Actually, most of them are already divorced, they just haven’t quite gotten over the relationship. You know, put it behind them, moved on.”
“And the ceremony …” Judge Ashford said.
“Is one more way of helping them move on with their lives,” Lilah said. “It’s really quite simple. Nothing complicated about it. A ceremony to formally mark the occasion. What else can I tell you?”
“Just one thing.” He frowned, looking a tad uncomfortable. “Are these women going to be naked?”
“Naked?” Lilah said.
“He saw part of your photo shoot, dear,” Eleanor said.
“Oh.” Darn. That was unfortunate and certainly not the first impression she’d have wanted to send to anyone about what she was doing here.
Still, they’d been on the very back edge of the estate, up against the background of the tall, thick hedges there, so no one outside the estate could have seen them. And if he’d been in the house, from that distance across the expansive back lawn, how much could he have possibly seen? People were practically naked on magazine covers these days and all over TV, after all.
Lilah lifted her face to look him squarely in the eye, feeling distinctly a little huff of judgment and disapproval in the air between them, which got her back up like nothing else these days. And truly surprised her.
How could such a handsome, vital-looking man be so troubled by a woman without her clothes on? Most men, she’d found, were all for naked women wherever they might be found, particularly a woman like Zoe. A young, beautiful, naked model? What could be better than that?
Lilah gave him a bit of that attitude right back. “You have a problem with naked women, Judge?”
Behind her, she heard Eleanor make a sound that was a cross between coughing and choking.
The judge blinked down at her, as he drew himself up even straighter.
Lilah closed her eyes, took a breath and tried to be good. She was looking for his help, after all. “What I meant was … It’s not like we’re doing a nudist retreat.”
The judge studied her even more carefully. “Good to hear it.”
And then, Lilah couldn’t really tell herself if he was being condescending or was honestly relieved people would be keeping their clothes on. For some reason, she really wanted to know, and sometimes, lately, after years of holding back and being careful and not really saying what she wanted to, Lilah just did. She said exactly what she wanted to, caution be damned.
“I mean, it’s not a rule or anything, but it’s certainly not what we intend,” she told him.
He frowned. “So, you’re saying—”
“I don’t think anyone will be naked,” she said, then couldn’t resist adding, “unless they really want to be, of course.”
Behind her, she heard Kathleen and Gladdy laugh. In front of her, Lilah saw that she’d brought the judge to a stony silence. She thought she detected the slightest tightening of his jaw, which at this time of day was covered with the faintest hint of stubble, which she admitted to herself was quite attractive on the man. And those dark eyes flashing with a bit of annoyance as they stared at her weren’t bad, either.
It occurred to her that perhaps people didn’t tease judges as a rule, and she doubted many people had ever mocked him. What a shame. He looked like a man in need of teasing, of loosening up a bit, having a little fun.
She could almost hear her former self saying in her own head, Stop playing with the judge, Lilah. He is not enjoying it.
But honestly, if he was going to be such a stick-in-the-mud about everything, she didn’t want him around her students.
She crossed her arms in front of her, smiled as sweetly as she could manage, and said, “So, you do have a problem with naked women, Judge?”
He smiled back, not at all sweetly. Condescendingly, Lilah thought, disapprovingly. “In public, yes. I’m afraid my job demands it.”
“What a shame,” Lilah said, that sweet smile pasted on her face.
“Oh, stop. She’s teasing you, Judge,” Eleanor said, jumping in. “Lilah’s never once said a word about people being naked here at her classes, and I feel certain she would have mentioned that before we agreed to her using the estate for her work. Lilah, stop toying with the man.”
“Sorry,” Lilah said, trying to look contrite.
He wasn’t buying it.
She was really starting to think people didn’t tease the judge.
“I wouldn’t want to do anything to make you uncomfortable,” she said, looking him right in the eye.
He smiled then, a different kind of smile, an I-understand-you-perfectly smile. Then he leaned toward her and whispered, “I think you like it a lot. I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re the kind of woman who lives to make people uncomfortable.”
Lilah felt a little kick of heat, starting where his warm breath brushed past her ear and slithering through her whole body from head to toe, her senses dancing with delight and that long-dormant hint of sexual interest.
Which honestly freaked Lilah out a bit.
And the judge knew it, damn him. She could tell by the look in his eyes. She’d taken some joy in making him uncomfortable, and he’d very happily done the same to her. Did that mean they were even? That they could stop sparring now?
“I’m … sometimes, I open my mouth and … inappropriate things come out,” she said. “Sorry. People will be keeping their clothes on. For everything except, maybe, the destroy-the-dress part of things.”
“You’re going to destroy dresses?”
He looked genuinely baffled by her. So many people were, and she wasn’t sorry. She liked it. She’d been boring for too long.
“Wedding dresses,” she explained. “As part of the workshop, women will bring their wedding dresses and … do whatever they want with them. Slash them. Burn them. Roll in the grass with them, jump in the creek along the back of the property …”
“While they’re wearing them?” Eleanor asked.
“Yes,” Lilah said softly. “I mean, they’ll start out wearing them. And then they’ll ruin them in any way they want, and … well, I don’t know how much people might have left of their dresses when they’re done. We want them to feel free to be as creative as they like in their destruction of their dresses. I wouldn’t want to stifle any honest expression of emotion. It’s therapeutic.”
“I’m sure,” the judge said.
“It is,” Lilah insisted. “I’m just trying to be completely honest here. I suppose there might be some people who really destroy their dresses and might be left … not wearing a lot afterward. So, if it’s a deal-breaker for you—”
“Wait,” Eleanor said, jumping in. “You two have hardly had a chance to talk, and I’m sure the judge just needs to have a better understanding of the whole concept of your classes. She really is trying to help people, Judge. Lilah’s been a successful therapist for years.”
He cocked his head sideways at that and just stared at Lilah. She let her nose inch a tad higher and tried not to be offended, knowing he thought she was too flaky to be a highly educated woman, although she had to admit the phrase “successful therapist for years” was definitely an exaggeration.
“She has a PhD in psychology,” Eleanor bragged.
“Actually, I have a master’s degree, and I’m working on my PhD. The classes are actually part of the research I plan to do for my dissertation,” she informed him, although it wasn’t something she often mentioned these days unless she was specifically asked about her formal training.
He looked taken aback at that.
Okay, she’d actually been working on her master’s degree for nearly a decade and had barely started her PhD classes on the side as her then-husband had pursued his dream of being a college president and they’d moved three times. All of which meant Lilah had changed schools three times and worked full-time at a number of different college administration jobs, putting aside her own dreams and ambitions for a man who, in the end, couldn’t even be faithful to her and also couldn’t stand the idea of her being more educated and more successful than he was. What a mistake that had been.
“Lilah, darling, didn’t you say you have to be somewhere before six?” Eleanor reminded her.
“Yes, I do.” No more playing with the judge. Not now. “I have a meeting with the printer who’s making my posters for my classes.”
“You and the judge should arrange a time to talk later. You can answer all of his questions, give him a chance to make up his mind about this, once he has all the information. Perhaps … over dinner?”
Eleanor beamed at both of them, looking like a woman who was up to something.
“No?” Eleanor said finally, when neither of them seemed happy about the dinner suggestion. “Lunch? Maybe just … coffee? Lilah, darling, give him your business card and take one of his.”
They both dutifully produced and exchanged business cards, the judge looking highly skeptical.
“She’ll call you,” Eleanor promised, then took the judge by the arm. “Let me show you out. We’re so happy you could come by today. I’m sure a man like you is so busy. I know Wyatt is …”
Lilah watched the two of them go, then turned to look at her cousin’s two partners in crime, Kathleen and Gladdy, both hilarious and outspoken women who seemed to have lived their lives to the fullest. They, too, looked as if they were up to something.
Still, they were just three little old ladies.
How much trouble could they possibly cause?
Chapter Two
Ashe went straight from his odd meeting at the Barrington estate to the law offices of his friend and colleague Wyatt Gray, where he barreled in and found Wyatt frowning over paperwork.
“This is a joke, right?” Ashe said.
Wyatt feigned a look of a complete innocent, something the man hadn’t been since grade school at least. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“This favor you asked me to do?” Ashe glared at him. “It’s a joke. It’s some kind of payback. I know it is.”
