They started out on opposite sides of the conference table. Now, lovers Sam Kimball and Derek Rossi find themselves assigned to the same case, for the first time since they started sleeping together. There's only one problem...Derek doesn't want to take the case.
Derek's frustration has both men lashing out at each other. Somehow, they have to find a way to resolve their differences before the situation destroys what they have...
EXCERPT
...Once they were alone, Sam whipped a furious gaze back to Derek. “Do you mind telling me what the hell that was all about?”
Derek snorted. “Like you don’t already know.”
“Let’s pretend for a second I’m not as smart as you give me credit for. Enlighten me.”
Twisting in his seat, Derek looked at the front door, as if to check to make sure Rudy really had gone. The mask he’d worn for his boss had vanished by the time he turned back. Fury mingled with frustration, and now every ounce he’d held back was focused on Sam. “You do realize Rudy wants us on this case because we’re gay, right?”
Sam couldn’t help but gape at him. He’d said the words. Sam had suspected that Derek’s mood stemmed from something along those lines, but he hadn’t anticipated him actually saying it out loud.
“He gave it to us because we’re good.”
“And it’s an HIV case. For the firm, it’s all about appearances.”
“That theory might hold water if the client was, oh, say, a gay man. Which she’s not.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“Because you think it’s a gay disease?” When Derek didn’t respond right away, Sam shook his head. “You know, I always knew you hated getting pegged—”
“The word you’re looking for is ‘pigeonholed.’”
“So what if it is? I can’t say I’m all that fond of labels myself, but face it, Derek. You’re gay. That’s part of who you are. People are going to slap that label on you whether you like it or not.”
“A part of who I am.” Derek stuck up his index finger in adamant indication. “Just one. But you know as well as I do that once people see that, the rest of what you are disappears. I don’t have to sit back and take it.”
“Then you should’ve told Rudy no.”
“Right. Rudy wasn’t going to hear that, no matter what kind of argument I gave him.”
“Did you even listen to what he said?” Sam couldn’t believe he was having this discussion. “Obviously, this Gena means something to him, and he wants the best for her. He thinks we’re her best shot at getting the case thrown out.”
Before he’d finished speaking, Derek was shaking his head. “You don’t get it. I guess it was too much to hope you’d be on my side for a change.”
“What? I’m not on anybody’s side.”
“Except your own. Just like always.”
Derek tensed to slide out of the booth. Sam’s hand shot out across the table and pinned his arm down, stopping him at least momentarily.
“Don’t do this,” he said. Damn it, he sounded like he was begging, but he hated when Derek stormed off in a huff. He hadn’t done it in a while, but there had been more than one terrible exit like this in those first tumultuous months. “Look at it this way. Would you be reacting like this if she’d had cancer instead?”
Carefully, Derek covered Sam’s hand with his and peeled away his fingers. His grim look made Sam’s stomach sink. “Rudy wouldn’t have asked us to take the case if she’d had cancer.”
Nothing stopped him from getting up then...
