“Were you waiting for me for a specific reason, Ms. Walker?” I saw the gold in her hazel eyes blaze when I referred to her formally. I needed the distance mentally because I couldn’t make my body move to put the space physically between us. In fact, I wanted to move closer.
She uncrossed her arms from her chest and put her hands on her hips. I tried really hard to ignore the way the new pose pushed her full breasts against the lacy material of her dress. I failed miserably.
“That’s it?” Her tone was taunting and sharp.
I narrowed my eyes at her, shifted my weight from foot to foot as her proximity and the charge of her pushing and me pulling thickened both my blood and my cock. I was an attorney for a reason. I never met an argument I didn’t like or that I didn’t feel compelled to win. The way Avett always seemed to challenge me was as much of a turn-on as her curvy little body was.
“Where is your father?” I lifted my eyes from her penetrating gaze in search of the big biker. I didn’t need to try and explain a black eye or a broken arm to Orsen on top of why I suddenly had no interest in searching out a pretty piece of ass to spend time with.
“He’s waiting at the truck. I told him I had some questions I needed to ask you about what happens next.”
“Do you?”
“Do I what?” She was getting increasingly annoyed and I wanted to groan at the way it made her cheeks flush and her breathing hitch. I bet she looked the same way when she was about to come.
Shit. That was not the direction I needed my thoughts to go, but now that they were there I didn’t have a chance in hell of wrangling them back into the safe zone.
“Do you have questions about what happens next?” My voice didn’t sound like my own and I knew there was no hiding the wayward direction of my thoughts as they played out in my gaze as I watched her carefully.
Slowly, her head shook back and forth, dislodging the bun at the back of her head. Pink strands of hair floated around her face, curling over her shoulders, and my fingertips itched to reach out and push it off her face.
“I know what happens next, Quaid … do you?” Her tone had dropped to a husky whisper that hit me right in the dick. My entire body tensed up and I almost, very nearly, leaned down and met her as she lifted up on her tiptoes towards me. I wanted to kiss her. I wanted her to kiss me. But over the top of her head, as she moved towards me, I caught sight of a familiar face. The heady little bubble of seduction and intoxicating risk that Avett had created around me popped, dropping me hard, back into reality.
I turned my head as her lips grazed my cheek, and even though it was as innocent as any kiss had ever been, it felt more erotic, more forbidden, and more illicit than any of the actual sex I had ever had. This little slip of a woman could demolish me, waste me, annihilate me, and if I allowed her to do it, I knew it would feel better than anything had in a very long time.
“I know that you think you know what happens next, Avett, but you don’t. What happens now is you stop wasting your time on men that are no good for you, men that have nothing to offer you and will end up hurting you in the long run. You need to start making smarter choices for yourself and start living up to your potential.”
She fell back on her heels, rearing away like I had smacked her across her face. Her pretty flush turned to a furious red, and she finally took a step away from me, only to lean forward and drive her finger into the center of my tie. That familiar face was moving closer and closer. I knew whatever was said next was going to be overheard, so I needed to keep myself in check and put the armor back on piece by piece. I hadn’t even noticed that Avett managed to strip it off of me. This was why nothing was happening next. I was walking away from her before I was bared and exposed to more than her perceptive gaze.
“You’re an asshole, Quaid, you know that. A real dick and a super douche lord.” Her eyes flashed at me as her voice continued to rise. “This is me making a smarter choice, at least I thought it was, but I had no idea you were a coward.”
I shook my head at her. A coward was the least of what I was, but that was exactly what I didn’t want her to find out. “Stop it, Avett. This isn’t necessary or appropriate.”
She laughed but it held no humor in it. “No, Quaid, you aren’t necessary or appropriate.”
I blew out an irritated breath. We were getting a lot of looks and making a scene. I didn’t need the kind of attention we were drawing. I didn’t need stories of this little interlude making it back to the firm. I threw my arms up in exasperation and let them fall to my sides.
“I don’t know what you thought was happening here, but it was just a job. You are a client, like any other client I represent, Avett. Nothing more, nothing less.”
She laughed again and started to back away from me like I had something contagious and she was at risk of catching it. “I guess when you get paid to lie, making a living fooling judges and juries, you get really good at buying your own bullshit. Thanks for your hard work, Counselor. I’ll think about you every single time I’m living up to my potential.”
She was talking about having sex with someone else. She was talking about getting off with a guy that wasn’t me. She was talking about someone else getting ahold of all that wild and sweet and letting them get lost inside of it. She made it sound dirty and cruel. It was the way it had to be, but that didn’t mean that it didn’t burn and blister when she wheeled around on her heel and stalked off, right as Sayer Cole and a man that could give Brite a run for his money when it came to sheer size approached where I was stuck on the spot.