The Naked Truth
“The fact remains that they threw money in the pot in her name, playing the number she played consistently—as you pointed out—over a period of time. She was a virtual member of the group, whether she was there physically or not, and deserves a share of the winnings.” Kevin Wade’s tone was firm. “The case of Barnes v. Hillman sets a precedent. I’m sure you’ve read it.”
Of course she had. She’d read every single piece of case law connected with state lottery winners in the database—texts that had kept her up past midnight for more nights than she could count. “Barnes v. Hillman isn’t relevant to our case,” she retorted. “In that case, the widow filed on behalf of her deceased husband, who was part of a group. Even though Georgia isn’t a community property state, for the judge it was open and shut.”
He leaned back and extended an arm along the top of the couch, for all the world as if he were giving her an invitation to join him.
Which was crazy. Focus, girl.
“Bradley v. Tillman, Morton and Ramirez, on the other hand, sets a precedent for our case.” She riffled papers until she found the one she wanted. “It was proved conclusively that unless all the group members agree in writing that they’re going to play their numbers together, the money can’t be distributed to anyone else.”
“Mr. Bradley, unfortunately, was a resident of another state that doesn’t allow lotteries,” Kevin said. “There wasn’t much the judge could do about that one.”
Okay, so she just hadn’t found a precedent that applied point for point to their case, but she would. Just give her time.
“So where does that leave us?” Jenna resisted the urge to tap her papers together and be the first to concede a standoff.
“I don’t know about you, but it leaves me starving. I didn’t get a chance to have lunch. Do you feel like going somewhere to eat?”
A second too late, she realized she was “catching flies.” She snapped her mouth shut. “I don’t think that’s appropriate, considering we’re on opposing sides of a case, Mr. Wade.”
“You called me Kevin before.”
“I think it’s time to reestablish some distance,” she said steadily, though her heart was bumping erratically in her chest. She dated a few guys on a casual basis, but no one seriously. She was just as likely to go dancing with a bunch of her girlfriends on her rare nights out. Certainly none of the guys she hung out with, most of whom had been her brother’s college buddies, had this sense of masculine power and casual authority that was drawing her into its seductive net, one breath at a time.
Kevin glanced at his watch. “Come on. It’s after seven. What difference does it make if we talk over the case here and go hungry, or talk it over at Cioppino and enjoy great Italian? It’s just a couple of blocks away, and it’s a nice night for a walk.”
Cioppino. She’d heard a couple of the partners talking about it and it sounded heavenly. And when would she have time to spend an entire evening there? Probably never.
“Fine,” she agreed. “But let’s set down some ground rules. Namely, we split the bill.”
“Done.”
As she tapped her stack of briefs together, Jenna added another ground rule to the list: no lusting after him. Because no matter what happened with the case, breaking that rule would get her into the most trouble—guaranteed.
EVE COULDN’T REMEMBER ever having had such a good time at a fund-raiser. A lot of events such as this involved chatting up people she didn’t know, trying artfully to get them to pull out their checkbooks or posing for the media or attempting to jazz up the obligatory speeches after dinner. But this one…it was like being the prom queen. Not that she’d ever been the prom queen, mind you. She’d been too focused on her SATs and getting into university and from there out into the real world.
But tonight, everyone conspired to make her feel desirable and sought-after and at least five pounds lighter than she actually was. Or maybe it just seemed that way because Mitchell Hayes managed to snag her for one dance out of every three. Then two dances…and then she found herself dancing with him exclusively. But it didn’t really matter, because it was close to midnight, the media had gone, and everyone with fat checkbooks had trickled out the door. That left the under-thirty-five crowd to take another run at the buffet tables and convince the band to play something less vintage.
She didn’t care what they played, as long as it had a beat and she could slip in and out of Mitch’s arms as he whirled her out and back. His hands never strayed where they shouldn’t, but each time he touched her, slipped an arm around her waist or took her hand it felt like a caress. Like a man touching his lover with that focused attention that told her he had plans for her later.
Which, of course, Mitch didn’t. At least, she didn’t think he did. And even if it were true, really it was impossible. She wouldn’t sleep with him under any provocation, simply because of who he was and why he was in Atlanta. But he was a fabulous dancer and after a couple of flutes of champagne she felt loose and happy and ready.
For what, she wasn’t sure.
Oh, to dance—that was it.
Without being obvious about it, he’d managed to dance her over to the French doors and out onto the terrace.
“We can’t hear the music as well out here,” she objected.
“The band is going to be packing up soon.” Still holding her hand, he led her over to a shady corner where ivy cascaded down the exterior wall. It smelled like green cinnamon, and the hem of her dress rustled on the flagstones of the terrace, echoing the way the breeze rustled in the trees. “I need some breathing space. You wore me out.”
She leaned on the stone balustrade. “I doubt that. You strike me as a man of endurance. You probably run marathons in your spare time.”
“If I had spare time, I’d do something less masochistic.” His voice warmed with a smile as he leaned beside her. “Back home, if I wasn’t doing something related to music, I’d ride my dirt bike in the pine forest. I never made it up to the top of the sandstone mesa behind our house, but I spent a lot of summers trying.”
As he spoke, he moved behind her. She felt his warmth down her back as his arms slipped around her and held her, loosely, giving her the choice to pull away.
Or not. She settled herself against his chest, her head leaning on his shoulder as they looked out over the darkened gardens. Tomorrow she’d remember that he was CWB’s scout and probably didn’t have her best interests in mind. On Monday, when he reappeared in her studio, she’d send him on his way with another firm no.
But tonight belonged to her and Mitch, their careers and worries stripped away, leaving only this elemental desire and the sense of anticipation and possibility that thickened the air.
She felt his warm breath on the side of her neck a moment before he tasted the bare skin where neck met shoulder. His tongue was hot and he took his time, as though kissing her there were all he had to do for the rest of eternity. Eve sucked in a breath and felt a jolt of pleasure arrow through her. Her nipples tightened, and her breasts seemed to swell in the satin prison of her strapless bodice.
“Do you like that?” he whispered against her skin.
“What if someone sees us?” she breathed.
“It’s dark over here.” He kissed her again, moving an inch up the side of her neck. “No one can see a thing. And you didn’t answer me.”
Now he nibbled her earlobe, running the tip of his tongue just behind the post of her earrings.
“Yes.” He pressed against her from behind, and even through her skirts she felt the hard demand of his erection. “You’re being honest again,” she whispered.
“I can’t help it. I’ve been holding you all night and doing math equations in my head so I don’t embarrass myself on the dance floor. Again.”
“And now?” She knew she was being deliberately provocative, but she couldn’t stop. Okay, she wasn’t going to sleep with him, but there was nothing wrong with flirting. Nothing wrong with appreciating the attention of a very attractive man.
“Circumference equals two pi R,” he murmured. “No, that’s no good. It just makes me think of—” He stopped.
“What?”
“I don’t want to spoil the moment by having you slap me.”
“I promise I won’t. Tell me.”
“Circumference makes me think of round things. Which doesn’t help my situation.”
“What things?” Her voice had gone low and throaty. Who knew that talking about geometry could be such a turn-on?
She could feel his breathing change rhythm now. “Oh, things hidden from view in green satin. Very round, very beautiful, very distracting things, for instance. Among others that don’t even have geometric definitions. They need to be explored. Measured. Mapped for posterity.”
Amazed at her own daring, Eve took both his hands in hers and slid them up her bodice until they cupped her breasts. “Tell me about how you measure,” she said.
He made a choked sound and his hips surged against her backside, pinning his erection against her softness. Under her fingers, his hands tented over her breasts, gently squeezing and shaping…and inadvertently pulling her bodice down until his sharply indrawn breath beside her ear told her that, from his vantage point, he’d just caught a glimpse of her nipples.
And she wanted his hands on them, wanted his mouth, wanted him to suck and lick and drive her wild with desire. Wanted him to throw her skirts up and drive himself into her right here on the terrace, where she’d brace herself against the balustrade and take every hard inch of him into the vast, soft, dripping ache inside her.
Oh, God, what was she thinking? Was she crazy?
As if he’d heard her thoughts, he hooked his thumbs inside the whalebones of her bodice and pulled it up to a respectable level. He dropped his hands to her waist and stepped back. “Eve, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for things to go that far.”
She turned, and realized that she was partially in the light from a window overhead, while he was in the darkness next to the ivy. All she could hear was his labored breathing.
“I know,” she breathed. She arched her spine, so that the bodice slid down a few precarious millimeters and her cleavage became even more pronounced in the golden light. “You make me want things I shouldn’t.”
You’re teasing him, a voice in the back of her mind warned. Don’t do it if you don’t mean to go through with it. Stop while you still can.
“Likewise,” he said hoarsely. “More than anything I’ve ever wanted in my life. But not here, where anyone can walk out and see us. My car’s here. Come back to my hotel with me.”
Balancing on the scalding edge of desire, Eve teetered and fell.
4
HE COULDN’T GET her into the Lexus fast enough. What were they, a pair of horny teenagers desperate for privacy? Mitch fumbled with the rented car’s keys and managed to get them into the ignition on the second try. Then he made the mistake of glancing to the right—and he was done for.
Eve leaned toward him, her eyes hot with desire and her lips parted. One arm wound around his neck as he crushed her mouth under his in a kiss that told both of them how much he wanted to be somewhere horizontal right now. She made a noise deep in her throat, like a purr, as her tongue met his and slid along it in sensual invitation, stroking its length and making his imagination go wild.
What couldn’t a woman with a tongue like that do to a man’s body? He felt himself stiffen even more at the thought.
She broke the kiss to nuzzle the soft skin below his ear. “My nipples are so hard,” she breathed. “I want you to touch them.”
He didn’t ask why the about-face. He didn’t want to know. All he knew was that they were both under some kind of spell—both crazy to have one another despite the fact that it was unethical and probably fatal to his mission.
“I will,” he promised fervently. “As soon as we get out of here.” The Ritz-Carlton, where he was staying, wasn’t far.
“I can’t wait that long. Now.”
“No, we—”
She moved her shoulders in a slow-motion shimmy, and the green bodice slipped down about an inch as she leaned toward him. His protest died on his lips as her breasts swelled out of their confinement. He couldn’t have shifted his gaze if he’d tried. With another breath, the silk slipped some more and twin shadows appeared above the rims of the cups.
“Touch me,” she whispered.
He pulled her toward him and captured her mouth in a kiss as he slipped his hand into her bodice and palmed her breast. She moaned under his lips as he filled his hand with her flesh, so hot and round and firm, and his thumb teased a nipple that was as hard as a blackberry.
Both of them were panting when he finally broke the kiss, and he barely restrained himself from rolling her into the backseat and tearing the gown off her altogether. Instead, he pulled away and watched the delicious process of Eve tucking herself back into her bodice, hiding her secrets from his avid gaze once more.
“You have the most beautiful breasts I’ve ever seen,” he breathed, turning the key in the ignition. “I’m that kind of guy. Easily visually stimulated.” He managed to get the car out of the driveway without hitting anything, and pressed the accelerator down once they were on the main road. “Do you ever go out without a bra?”
“Never.” Her hand lay on his thigh, and his erection practically strained toward it, he wanted her to touch him so badly. But he’d probably run off the road if she did.
“Would you if I asked you to?”
“Maybe.” A wicked smile teased the corners of her mouth.
“I want to see you tomorrow. For lunch or something. It’s Saturday—anything. We won’t tell a soul, and on Monday I’ll deny it ever happened.” She laughed, as if he’d confirmed something she already knew. “Wear a camisole for me and I’ll spend the whole time watching the shape of you under the fabric. Saying things to make your nipples as hard as they are right now, so I can look at them.”
“I’m so shocked,” she murmured, her hand sliding down the inner slope of his thigh. “What will people think?” Her fingers brushed his aching erection, and he sucked a breath between his teeth.
“They’ll think you’re a beautiful, sexy woman,” he got out, “and all the men will wish they were with you.” He managed to brake just in time for a Stop sign. “And if you don’t stop that, we’re going to have an accident.”
“You touched me,” she pointed out.
“You weren’t driving. And besides, you asked me to. Begged me, if I recall.”
“I did, didn’t I?” She pulled her hand back so its burning warmth rested once again on his thigh, and she gave him a sideways glance. “But I was just saying out loud what you wanted.”
“Damn right. Do I turn left or right here?” She pointed, and the car leaped forward. “Because there’s nothing I want more right now than to kiss that dress right off you, inch by inch.”
She did the shimmy with her shoulders again, and the bodice slid down so that it seemed only a miracle kept her nipples from popping out over the rim of the fabric. His entire body throbbed with anticipation.
“How do you do that?” He dragged his gaze back to the highway. In the distance he could see the lighted block of the hotel. Thank God.
“Faulty engineering. Keep your eyes on the road, Mr. Hayes.” With a fingertip, her eyes on his face, she traced the top of the bodice. Teasing. Promising.
“I can’t. Not when you’re giving me a visual feast. And I’m about five seconds from orgasm just looking.”
“At eighty miles an hour? Better slow down.”
“I’m in a hurry. I want to get you up to my room before you come out of that dress again.”
“Mmm,” she crooned, her other hand moving stealthily to stroke his erection through his black dress pants. He shuddered with pleasure. “I could come in it.”
“Not a chance. When you come, it’ll be screaming, naked and on top of me.” The speedometer edged up to eighty-five.
“Promises, promises.”
Her hand felt so good. “Eve, please,” he choked. “I can’t—I’m going to—” The tires chattered on the highway dots as he drifted into the next lane.
With a throaty chuckle, she pulled away and settled into the passenger’s seat, both hands primly in her lap, and he steered the Lexus back into the middle of the lane.
Almost there.
Dimly, Mitch heard a jingling sound, but his senses were so overwhelmed with Eve that it barely registered. Until the second time. Then the third.
“That’s my phone.” She sounded as surprised as if she’d never heard it before, and fumbled in her clutch bag.
“Let it go. We’re nearly there.”
She glanced at the wafer-thin screen, then back at him, her eyes full of apology. “I can’t. No matter how much I want to.”
THE NUMBER WAS JENNA’S, and Eve knew she’d been scheduled to meet with Liza’s attorney that day. The fact that it was nearly midnight made it even more necessary for her to answer.
“Yes?”
“Eve? Thank goodness. I thought it was going to roll to voice mail.”
“What’s up?” Her voice still sounded throaty, and the ricochet of desire through her veins distracted her—though she’d have to forego the distraction for a few minutes and concentrate.
“It’s stupid—I’m so sorry, Eve. I probably woke you up.”
“Yes, but not the way you think.” The heat in her blood dropped a couple of degrees back toward normal. “Take a moment if you need to.”
“It’s just dumb,” Jenna repeated. “But you’re so good at this kind of thing and I’m afraid I’ve messed up big-time.”
Eve glanced at Mitch, who was concentrating on a left turn into the hotel’s underground parking lot. “Did the negotiations not go well?”
“About what I expected. Kevin had his arguments, I had my counterarguments. It ended in a draw.”
“Kevin?” Eve said carefully.
Jenna sighed. “Yes. Kevin Wade, Liza’s attorney. Therein lies the problem.”
“What problem? Is he incompetent? If so, that’s good for us, right?”
Jenna laughed, a sound that conveyed more irony than humor. “No, he’s not incompetent. I am. I’m massively attracted to him and I made the mistake of showing it.”
Mitch pulled into a numbered spot and turned off the engine. But instead of making her feel rushed and guilty because he’d lost her attention, he seemed content to simply lounge against the driver’s side door, watching her. As if whatever she did gave him pleasure.
Focus. Jenna needs you.
“Where are you now?” Eve asked.
“Sitting outside his condo complex. I—I agreed to come back here with him—to discuss the case further, mind—but he must have stopped somewhere because he’s not here yet. I need you to talk me out of going in.”
Eve had to laugh. “He probably stopped at the drugstore for a box of condoms. If you want to do this, we’ll just ask Andersen Nadeau for a different attorney for the lawsuit, and you keep the station’s business as usual.”
“You’re not helping.”
“You don’t need my help. You’re what, thirty-one? Two? You didn’t put in all those years in law school to let someone else make your decisions for you.”
“I know,” Jenna moaned. “But I tell you what, Eve, that man is hot. And what’s more, he thinks I’m hot. I’ve been sitting here weighing my caseload against the fact that I haven’t been in bed with a real man in months, and the caseload is losing.”
Eve could certainly relate to that. “If we have to get another attorney assigned to the suit, we can. But I have to say, I really respect that brain of yours. If anyone can pull this off with sympathy and grace, it’s you.”
“Now you tell me.”
“I’m not trying to argue for either side. Just telling you how I feel.”
“I’ll never be able to explain the switch to Marv Andersen.” Jenna sounded as if she were trying to talk herself out of going into that condo. “I’d have to make something up, and I’m a terrible liar.”
“If you don’t go, it’s not like it’s forever,” Eve reasoned. “Mr. Wade must be as aware of the ethics as you are. Maybe he’ll wait until the case is over.”
“We had such a good time at dinner, Eve,” Jenna said in a rush. “He’s so interesting to talk to, and then the whole will-we-or-won’t-we thing just added this zing to the evening. I’m only supposed to be staying for a drink and another look at the brief, but I know as well as he does it won’t end there.”
Eve glanced again at Mitch, but he just grinned at her. Their situation wasn’t that much different, was it? She was consorting with the enemy, too, though it wasn’t likely she’d get into as much of a legal tangle over it as Jenna.
Men. They could really mess with a girl, couldn’t they? Since when had sex and a career become so complicated?
Hmm. That might make a good segment for—
“Eve? Are you there?”
She dragged her gaze off Mitch’s fly, where it had inexplicably landed, and gave her attention back to her attorney. “I’m here. I was just thinking.”
“I have to go,” Jenna said urgently. “Before he comes back. If I see him again I’ll give in, and I don’t want to do that. I want to see this case through.”
“Good girl.”
“I really appreciate you letting me talk through this.”
“No problem. I know you’d do the same for me.”
“So, where are you, anyway?” In the background, Eve heard keys jingle and an engine fire up.
“On my way home from the Atlanta Reads benefit at the Ashmere place.” Well, it wasn’t a lie. Technically she was between the benefit and home, which meant she was on her way there, right?
“Oh, yeah. I hope it was fun. Look, I’ve got to go. This is a stick shift and I need both hands.”
“Take care.”
“Bye, and thanks again.”
Eve snapped the phone shut and tucked it into her bag. “Thanks for being patient,” she said to Mitch.
The ghost of a smile was still playing around the corners of his mouth. “No problem. Sounds like we’re not the only ones with a hot date.”
“Isn’t that the truth. Only I managed to talk her out of it.”
One eyebrow rose. “Bit of a buzzkill, are you?”
Her body temperature was back to normal now. In fact, the skin on her bare arms and shoulders felt downright cool from the air-conditioning, which he’d considerately kept running. “It was the right thing to do. If she’d stayed, it would have compromised her ethics in a business matter.”
“Can’t have that.” He turned off the air, and silence fell. “Shall we go up?”
The moment of truth. Eve forced herself to relax her grip on her beaded handbag before she did some damage to it.
“I don’t think so, Mitch. Up until five minutes ago, my answer would have been completely different, but—”
“But your friend’s ethics problem might be yours, too?”
“I think you have to admit that it is,” she said quietly, and paused. After leading him on all night, she owed him honesty after changing her mind. “If I go with you, it might change the way I look at CWB’s proposal. And that wouldn’t be fair. I have to think about what’s best for the program, not only myself.”
“Is that likely to happen?” he asked. “The one has nothing to do with the other.”
The phrase triggered a memory of one of their shows from last year. They’d focused on the differences in the ways men and women process information. How much mileage had she and Nicole and Jane got from that? They’d all learned how much men tended to compartmentalize. Men—or at least the ones who had been guests on the show—seemed to have two boxes in their brains, one labeled Sex and one labeled Everything Else.
Clearly, for Mitch, this evening fell into the first box.
It had for her, too, for a couple of delirious, wonderful hours. But how long could she keep it there, particularly if, as he’d said, she’d be seeing him in her office on Monday, as determined as ever to buy her away from her friends? She couldn’t just put a dividing line between “fantasy weekend” and “real life” and expect everything to stay neatly on either side of the line.