Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 108531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 543(@200wpm)___ 434(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 543(@200wpm)___ 434(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
“I’m avoiding my brother and his problems,” he replied in a manner that let her know he did not want to talk about it.
He could keep his secrets. She’d met Paul Havery a couple of times and he’d seemed like an okay guy, but she didn’t know him well. She would trust that Quaid had good reasons for wanting to stay away.
The problem was she couldn’t trust herself. Jayna stood. “I should go, then.”
Luna’s head came up but her big body didn’t move, as though she was totally comfortable and her mom’s worries about making a fool of herself weren’t going to change her situation. She gave Jayna a nice side-eye that told her, “Don’t screw this up.”
Quaid stood as well, getting into her space. He put a gentle hand on her shoulder, a friendly gesture. “Jayna, I can go home. The last thing I want to do is make you uncomfortable. Well, maybe not the last thing. The last thing would be sending you out into the night without a place to stay.”
“I don’t want to kick you out of your own apartment.” She had to tip her head back to look at him, at his strong jawline and lush lips. Men shouldn’t have lips like that. He might mean that hand on her shoulder as an indicator of a simple, friendly connection between the two of them, but she felt heat where he touched her. “But I don’t think this is a good idea.”
A confused expression crossed his face. His hand came off her, and he seemed to think for a moment. “Jayna, what exactly are you worried about? There are two bedrooms. There’s plenty of space.”
She felt herself flush.
His hand moved, brushing a lock of her hair out of the way. She hadn’t straightened it after her shower so her normally perfect bob was a wavy mess. “Jayna, are you worried I’m going to force myself on you?”
“No.” She trusted him on a base level. Even when she was annoyed with him, she knew Quaid was a truly good man.
“Are you worried you’re going to try to force yourself on me?” He asked the question with a glint of humor in his eyes.
She frowned. “No. I would not force myself on you. How would I even do that?”
“You could wait until I’m asleep and very gently tie me up, and then I would be at your complete mercy. You could get me tipsy and have your wicked way with me. There are any number of ways you could trick me into an intimate encounter with you.”
He was right back to annoying. And sexy. And funny. “I just think it would be a bad idea if either one of us decided to make a move on the other. We’re going to be working together and on opposite sides of the courtroom.”
“That’s why we’re going to agree to keep a nice strong ethical wall up when it comes to representing opposing clients. No talking about the case. No listening in. I promise I will honor that wall and make sure it’s got strong bricks, so that’s not going to be a problem.”
She should move away from him. Move. Take two big old steps back and save yourself, girl.
Her feet stayed in place. “It’s still a bad idea.”
“Then don’t make a move on me, Jayna.” He was so close, and that voice of his had gone warm and silky.
The room was suddenly way too small. “You’re making a move on me. Right now.”
The sexiest smirk hit his lips, and his hands cupped her elbows. “No. I’m standing in one space that happens to be close to the space you’re standing in. You’re the one who went up on her toes to get her mouth closer to mine.”
She had totally done that. Why had she done that? “Well, you’re the one who is touching me.”
“I don’t want you to fall.”
Falling was exactly what she was afraid of and yet she couldn’t make her feet move, couldn’t pull her arms away from those big hands of his. “And you called me honey.”
“You said that was fine,” he argued. “I think you said that because you’re under the mistaken impression that I’m one of those old-school Southern males who calls every woman in his life honey. I don’t. I’m very professional. I’m not particularly affectionate with my friends. I called you honey because there’s a part of me that’s dying to figure out just how sweet you can be under all that armor of yours.”
“See? You can’t say things like that when we’re working together.”
“Are we? Because I don’t remember putting you on the payroll. I can’t say that to your sister, and I won’t because I’m not interested in your sister. You and I are merely sharing a workspace.”
“And going against each other in several important cases,” she pointed out even as he moved in closer.