Code of Ethics

“Where is my other shoe?” I muttered under my breath as I dug through the closet of our Scotland home. My hair was starting to hang in my face, a clear indicator that the smooth bun I’d tried so hard to do was already loosening, and the one nude-colored pump I’d put on my foot was very present, making the other one feel too free and naked.

“Having a problem?” Harry’s smooth voice asked from behind me.

I backed up before standing, making sure I had enough clearance to do so, and he snickered as I whacked my elbow into one of the mirrored doors. “Yes, I’m having a problem. Do you have any idea where the other one of these shoes is? I have a case to present in an hour, and I can’t walk into court with only one shoe.”

Harry stared at me, clearly wondering why the hell I’d thought he of all people would know where my heel had gone. “Why don’t you wear another pair of shoes? Don’t you have a hundred?”

“No.” I laughed and shook my head. “And the nude ones look best with this outfit.”

“I know something else that looks great nude,” he murmured before snatching me up in his arms and tracing kisses down my neck.

My eyes fluttered closed as I tangled my fingers in his hair, letting out a soft breath. “Harry, court,” I tried to remind him, but his only response was to pull me tighter against him and flick out his tongue against my skin.

“MOMMY,” a small voice screamed from the hallway, followed by the sound of clomping, similar to an elephant stampede.

Harry let me go, allowing me to hurry to the door and open it just in time of our daughter to arrive. The little girl, with skin about a shade lighter than mine, green eyes, and her father’s curls, had makeup completely covering her small face. The lipstick nearly reached her nose with its thickness, her complexion was darkened from the foundation I had to use for my own skin, and a set of fake eyelashes was coming off her lid, twisted into a strange angle.

“Oh, honey,” I laughed, crouching down and ignoring Harry’s guffaws from behind me. “What did you do?”

“I’m pretty like you, Mommy.” Annaleigh looked so proud of herself as she puffed out her chest, showing off the sparkly dress she’d certainly found in a box in the attic, and then I saw her shoes. One was a red, shiny pump, and the other was the nude one I’d been searching for.

“I think you might have been a little too liberal with the makeup,” I told her as kindly as I could, taking off one of the demented lashes. “And can I have your shoes?”

She pouted as she kicked them toward me lightly. “But I just wanted to be pretty and grown up like you and Daddy. I don’t want to be five anymore.”

“Relish in it while you can,” I told her softly, pressing a kiss against her forehead and wiping off the dark red lipstick I’d left behind. “Being an adult isn’t always a fun thing either.”

She grumbled in protest, but she didn’t push the subject any further.

“Go into the bathroom, and Daddy will meet you there to clean you up.” She turned to walk away, but I scooped her back into my arms and planted another noisy kiss just below her ear. “And by the way, you don’t have to look like me to be pretty. You’re absolutely beautiful the way you are. Hear me?”

She giggled and nodded before padding down the hallway. “DADDY, I’M BEATING YOU.”

I stood up and got out of the way as Harry barreled after her, yelling, “OH, NO YOU DON’T.” Just like a big kid himself.

After hooking on my shoe and getting back to my feet, I smoothed my hair into place and raced out the door in order to make it to the courthouse in time.



“I still can’t believe you agreed to defend her next month,” Harry snorted as he stirred his hot chocolate. The steam came up in small towers, so white at the bottom until it twisted and turned its way into oblivion, disappearing into the air. “She doesn’t deserve it.”

I shrugged as I poured myself a bowl of cereal, now dressed in a pair of plaid pajama shorts and an old t-shirt. “She did apologize for treating me badly,” I reminded him. “And she hired me. It’s not like I’m working for free.”

“It just doesn’t sit right with me.”

We were quiet until I started munching on my breakfast-for-dinner. I probably should have told him that I gave Marie a discount, that her father had cut her off when she got charged with multiple counts of theft, and she had no way to pay me immediately. Maybe that made me soft, but I just thought it made me a decent human being. She’d accommodated for me, once, and it was about time I returned the favor.

“Let’s have another kid.”

The words came out so suddenly that I choked on a stray piece of cereal, and I coughed for a second until it dislodged itself. “Where the hell did that come from?”

Harry shrugged, taking a sip from his mug as he looked up at me. “I don’t know. I mean, Anna’s five now, and that’s a pretty big age gap between kids. We did agree we wanted two kids, right?”

“That’s true.”

“And it’s not like you have to worry about your job or anything, since I can just as easily take care of two kids all day as one. It’ll be fun.” He leaned over and put his hand on my upper thigh, leaning in so his breath fanned across my neck. “And it could be fun making the baby, too.”

I swatted him away playfully. “God, Harry, I’m eating. Can’t it wait?”

He groaned good-naturedly before finishing off his drink. “I guess so. But would you be up to having another baby soon?”

“I don’t see why not. I think Anna would like to have someone else in the house to play with.”

“Exactly. So let’s get started.”

Before I could say anything in protest, reminding him again of my food, he got off his stool and came over to mine, leaning me back against the counter and kissing me, his hands on my hips, pulling me toward him.

“This isn’t very classy,” I laughed as Harry yanked off my t-shirt and threw it to the tile floor, his lips tracing a path down my chest.

“Classy is overrated. We’re keeping things interesting.” He glanced up at me, his eyes shining, and I finally gave in, closing my eyes and letting myself and all my sensations get caught up in my husband of nearly ten years.