Courting trouble

Judge Blythe Cramer had always run a tight courtroom until hot-tempered attorney Patrick McBride stormed in. It wasn't her first encounter with the wild Irishman- Blythe and Patrick had attended the same grammar school and graduated from college together. But that was where the similarities had stopped. He was the son of a liberal, fun-loving bartender; she was from a long line of socially prominent conservative judges. He was a Democrat. She was Republican. He liked early-morning jogging. She liked breakfast in bed. Surely she knew that getting close to Patrick would only be courting trouble...so why did Judge Cramer want to settle this case privately?