CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Skylar groaned after getting off the phone with a demanding client. The guy wanted him to represent his son on a drug-related charge, but Skylar thought the kid should spend some time behind bars. The son refused to go to rehab, and the father didn’t want to admit his son had a problem. Dealing with them gave Skylar an epic-sized headache that mere aspirin couldn’t defeat.
His gaze went to the ceiling. He could think of one way to ease the tension in his body, an extremely pleasant way. Upstairs, a beautiful woman waited for him in her bedroom. All he wanted to do was lose himself in her for an hour, drown in her eyes, and never return to the harsh realities of life.
Sharing details of his tragic loss with her earlier that week had shaken him to his core. Anna was not only a brilliant lawyer; she was also an exceptional listener. He felt better about things now. Although, they had shopped for presents online instead of in person. They had a gift for everyone in his family and a few close friends. Now all he needed was to find something special for her. It wouldn’t be easy. She’d made him promise not to hand the job to his secretary.
Pushing those thoughts to the side, he took the stairs two at a time. He stopped in the doorway of Anna’s bedroom and watched her in silence. Sitting on the bed with her laptop, she was doing some work in silky cream-colored pajamas. She looked adorable in her black-rimmed reading glasses. But the picture was just a bit too domesticated for him; it reminded him of something he’d rather forget. His short-lived marriage.
How many times had he entered his bedroom to find Clare working? There were always papers to grade, law books to read, and cases to study. He’d often joked that there was probably a photo of her in the dictionary under the word workaholic. Anna was probably the last person he should get involved with, another woman who put her career first.
Not that they were involved. He mentally backed up several spaces. What if she had feelings for him already? Anna was not the kind of woman you had a no-strings-attached, smoke-them-if-you-got-them relationship with. She wasn’t like the women he usually hooked up with for a quick tumble.
What if she thought she could turn the engagement real?
She continued to tap words onto the screen without a glance in his direction, but she knew he was there. “Are you wanting to go to bed? I can go downstairs if the light bothers you.”
A frustrated sigh parted his lips. He could tell by her choice of sleepwear, the furrowed brow on her face, and her tone that she didn’t want sex tonight. She wanted to sleep next to him as if they were some sort of...couple.
Over the past five days he had stayed over at her place almost every night, and they’d had sex every single one of those nights, usually more than once. Now she wanted to sleep next to him? Just sleep? No way. He was not in the market for a permanent relationship, and it was time to let her know in a way that put the subject to rest forever.
“I think I’ll go home tonight,” he said.
She looked up. “Why?”
“You’re working, and Max misses me. Mom and Dad have been taking care of him, but they have to leave tomorrow morning. I try to drop in before work and right after, but it isn’t the same. He’s used to sleeping at the foot of my bed.”
A brilliant woman by anyone’s standards, Anna put it together. She set her laptop aside and stood. Removing her reading glasses, she glared at him. “You want to go home because I don’t want to have sex tonight. Is that all I am to you? A booty call?”
An opening appeared, an exit with a flashing neon sign. All he had to do was agree with that assessment. She’d be angry and end things with him on the spot. Then he could tell everyone they’d broken up and return to normal life. They could both return to their old lives.
The pain in her eyes was his undoing. He remembered her quivering voice when she’d told him about her past in Foster Care. Rejection hurt her more than the average person because of how she was bounced around from home to home. He remembered the sound of her sobbing as he held her. He never wanted to cause her that kind of pain.
“That isn’t what I meant,” he said. “We need to be logical about this. I can’t stay here every night.” He took a deep breath and added, “Maybe you can stay at my place half the time.”
Her face relaxed into a smile. “You’re right. It’s selfish of me to expect you to always come here. Maybe we can trade off.”
“And I’ll need to start bringing Max here when I stay over.”
His reward was the light dancing in her eyes, and the sweet curve of her lips. He crossed the room, unable to stop himself from touching her. They shared a kiss that turned into several kisses. Passion flared. It wasn’t just him that couldn’t keep his hands to himself. Hers slid beneath his shirt. In a flash, she was pushing it off his shoulders. His fingers went to her pajama top.
Her phone rang.
She groaned. “I have to get that. It might be a client.”
He grabbed her cell off the nightstand and handed it to her. “Be quick.”
“Hello?” Her eyes grew wide. “WHAT?!” She held a finger up, signaling him that she would explain her panic in a moment. To the person on the phone, she said, “Don’t you dare do anything until I get there.”
She slammed her phone down and started stripping off her pajamas, but not in the way he’d intended. With hurried jerky movements, she took them off only to replace them with her street clothes. She put on a beige pantsuit while explaining the problem to him.
“Kyle Jensen has decided he wants to confess and sign a plea deal with the DA’s office.”
“At this hour?” Skylar checked his watch. “Why would anyone want to sign a deal at midnight?”
“He sounded scared.” She gathered her briefcase and car keys. “Someone got to him.”
Skylar followed her down the stairs to the front door. “Wait a second. None of this makes sense. Maybe the kid is just guilty and wants to avoid a trial because he knows he’ll lose.”