Ties That Bind Read Online Free PDF Page A

before their reputations were destroyed. So she’d bite the bullet and spend time with Reese again. She vowed to be better around him, not sniping and sarcastic. Maybe he would, too, though she sensed a seething anger in him when they were together. For both their sakes, they needed clear heads, unclouded by the past, to save their jobs.
    Problem was, the past was like a tangible presence in the room whenever she was with Reese. It was a past that had almost destroyed them both, but there had been so many wonderful years, that were almost impossible to forget…
    She’d met Reese that first, harrowing year at law school. Kate had secreted herself away in a cubicle in the Yale library, studying for her International Law course when a shadow fell over her desk. She looked up to see a shaggy-haired guy in disreputable jeans and flannel shirt standing over her. He had startling green eyes. “Hi, Kate Renado,” he’d said in a low, smirking tone.
    “Do we know each other?” she asked.
    “Not yet. But we will.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “You got a higher grade than me on that last International Law exam.” IL grades were posted for all to see.
    “I beat everybody,” she said, matching his tone.
    “This time. I’m going to be valedictorian of our class.”
    “Salutatorian, maybe. I’ll be number one.”
    He grinned then. She didn’t know it at the time, but that grin would get him into her pants, literally, and into her life sooner than she could blink. “No way, sweetheart. But I need somebody to study with.”
    “No study group for you? What, didn’t they want someone with such a humble attitude?”
    “Most of them go too slow. I figure you could keep up with me.”
    “I could run over you, hotshot. What’s your name anyway?”
    “Reese Bishop.”
    “Hello, Reese Bishop. Now go away.” She glanced back down at her book, hoping he didn’t leave. Even then she’d wanted to be with him.
    “You don’t have a group, either. For the same reason.” Again the grin. “You might as well give in now. You’ll succumb eventually.”
    “Modest aren’t you?”
    “Modesty doesn’t get you valedictorian, a good clerking position, your own firm, then a judgeship.”
    “Is that what you’re shooting for?”
    “Yeah. Though I’d do pro bono stuff, too, to help poor people like me. What about you?”
    She wanted the exact same things. “Maybe.”
    “Come on, Katie.”
    She scowled. “Nobody calls me that.”
    “Good. I’m special.”
    “Go away.”
    “I’ll be back.”
    “Like the Terminator.”
    He winked at her and then swaggered down the aisle. He pestered her for a few weeks until she finally gave in.
    She had no idea that fateful Friday would change her life forever…
    “Kate? Hi, sorry I’m late.”
    Startled, Kate looked up. It took her a minute to realize who spoke to her, that she was at Gavels, in the present time, and that she’d been thinking about when she and Reese met.
    “Where were you?”
    “Oh, God, in the past.”
    Jillian’s expression was sympathetic. “As well you would be. I’m so sorry about those allegations in the paper.”
    “I can’t believe it, Jillian. And I’m scared to death all of it’s going to hurt my career. A federal judge can’t afford this kind of scandal.”
    Sliding into the booth across from her, Jillian removed her coat, revealing a dynamite red cashmere sweater. “Innocent until proven guilty, girl,” she said, signaling the waiter, ordering a Manhattan and folding her hands on the table. Jillian was the most efficient person she knew. And the most loyal. She would stand by Kate during anything, especially so after she’d contracted breast cancer three years ago and, during the months subsequent to her surgery, Kate had moved into Jill’s house—lock, stock and barrel—to take care of her.
    “I certainly hope so.” Kate sipped her apple martini. “I can’t understand how this happened.”
    “He didn’t cheat on you with pretty Anna