Icebreaker Read Online Free PDF Page B

no. But I want you to know it in no way detracts from your beauty.”
    “Thank you.” She picked up the coffee cup on her desk and took a sip. Stone-cold. She’d gotten so involved in starting to assemble things for the case she’d forgotten all about her coffee.
    “How’s it going with the baby bonding?” Oliver asked.
    “I’ve got bad baby juju, Oliver. I think Charlie hates me. I’ve had him on my lap a couple of times, and both times you would have thought he was being lowered into a cauldron of boiling oil.”
    Oliver laughed.
    Sinead scowled at him. “It’s not funny.”
    “Yes, it is.”
    “At any rate, I’m going to keep trying, not just for me, but for Mags. I’ve hurt her, and I don’t want to lose her.” She sighed. “Maybe the universe is trying to tell me I’m not mother material.”
    “It’s just a matter of finding the right man.”
    “I’m not looking.”
    “There’s always me. If you want a kid with none of the fuss of having to deal with a partner, I’ll gladly donate my sperm. That way, you’d know the kid would have superior intelligence, as well as wit and charm. And we could take turns watching it here at the office.”
    Sinead shook her head affectionately. “You always make me laugh.”
    Oliver looked mildly wounded. “You’re rejecting my sperm?”
    “In a word, yes. I don’t really think you’re father material. Sorry.” She checked her watch. “I need you to go so I can get ready to talk to Adam Perry.”
    “Sperm rejection, and now you’re throwing me out. You’re a hard woman, Sinead O’Brien.”
    “That’s the rumor.”
    “Maybe we can catch a drink one night this week. I haven’t been to your folks’ pub in a while.”
    “Sounds good,” Sinead said distractedly.
    “All right, I can see you’re done with me,” said Oliver. “Good luck with Perry.”
    “Thanks. I have a feeling I might need it.”

    He was punctual; she’d give him that. At exactly ten a.m., Sinead’s assistant, Simone, informed her that Adam had arrived. Usually Sinead was unfazed meeting clients, but she found herself a little uneasy, imagining that intense, unwavering gaze of his pinning her.
    She checked her makeup and smoothed her skirt, waiting for Simone to bring Adam into her office. Simone knocked once and then ushered him inside. Sinead came forward, extending her hand to shake his. “Thank you for taking the time to come in, Mr. Perry. The sooner we get the ball rolling, the better.”
    He seemed a little stiff. “I agree.”
    God, he’s huge, Sinead thought. She hadn’t realized at the Kidco meeting, with him sitting down at the opposite end of the table, how big and broad he was. Strapping, her father would say. A strapping man. An unnervingly handsome, rugged, strapping man.
    “Would you like any coffee?” Simone asked Adam.
    “No thanks,” he said.
    “Water?”
    “I’m fine.”
    “Okay, then.”
    “Thanks, Simone,” Sinead said gratefully.
    Sinead gestured to the couch. “Please, sit. I appreciate your punctuality. One late client, and the whole day’s schedule gets thrown off.”
    “Someone wants a meeting at ten, I’m there at ten.”
    “Well, like I said, I appreciate it.”
    She could feel his eyes on her as she walked to her desk to get her laptop. She straightened her back a little. She wondered : was he mistrustful of her, and that’s why he was watching her? Or did he find her attractive? God, this is probably the way Oliver started, she thought self-deprecatingly. Get a grip .
    She joined him on the couch, opening her laptop. “Have you ever been interviewed by an attorney before?”
    “No.”
    “Well, basically I’m just going to ask you a few preliminary questions, and then we’ll talk about the incident.”
    Adam just nodded. No questions for her. No anxiety-filled eyes. No glancing around her office nervously. This was a new experience.
    “Have you ever been arrested?”
    “No.”
    “Have you ever testified in