“It isn’t the timing. It’s the circumstances.”
His attention was fully focused on her mouth now and the memory of the way it had felt and tasted against his. A jolt of sensation went through him when she nervously moistened her lips with the tip of her tongue, leaving her mouth damp and soft. “If I kissed you now,” he asked whimsically, “would you sue me?”
A slight quiver went through her lips then, almost as if she could already feel him against them. “I, uh—”
Oh, yeah. She wanted him to kiss her again. Forcing himself to be content with what he hoped wasn’t sheer self-delusion, he dropped his arm and moved away. “You’re right, of course. This isn’t the time or the place.”
Seemingly taken aback by his capitulation, she hesitated a moment, then briskly began to gather her paperwork. “I’ll start compiling a list of potential expert witnesses. And I’ll draft a letter to Dr. Ripley’s attorneys, letting them know that our client finds their settlement offer unacceptable.”
“Sounds good.”
“Okay. See you later.”
It was a blatant dismissal—or a strategic retreat. He decided to let her get away with it, but not before saying offhandedly, “Come to think about it, Mrs. T. couldn’t baby-sit for me tonight, anyway. She goes to church on Wednesday nights. So maybe you and I will have dinner another night.”
Caitlin frowned, obviously trying to decide how to answer without committing herself to anything.
“Isabelle’s been asking about you,” he added. “She wants to know when you’re going to come see her again.”
Cheap shot, he knew, but hey, he was a lawyer. He would utilize any strategy that had a reasonable chance of success.
The look Caitlin gave him was heavy with reproach. “That’s really not fair.”
“I know,” he said cheerfully. “But it’s true, nonetheless. She has asked about you.”
“I would like to see Isabelle again,” Caitlin admitted somewhat reluctantly. “But—”
“Then have dinner with us soon. I’ll behave. And Isabelle can be our chaperone.”
“Oh, that’s reassuring.”
“We’ll make it very soon,” he said, speaking with a confidence that implied the matter was settled. And then he left the room, before she had a chance to reply.
He knew when not to push his luck.
Most Saturday mornings found Caitlin at the office at her usual time. She rarely met with clients on weekends and she even more rarely asked any of the staff to work those days, but she always got a great deal accomplished. At least, she did when she wasn’t interrupted, as she had been by Nathan’s mother a couple of weeks earlier, or distracted, as she was by her thoughts of Nathan on this third Saturday in October.
She had been sitting at her desk for more than half an hour, a cooling cup of coffee at her elbow, a mind-numbingly dry and complex legal description in front of her. She wasn’t a real estate attorney, so she was following the description with difficulty, comparing it painstakingly to another deed one of her clients was disputing. Her full concentration should have been focused on directions and degrees, but instead her thoughts kept wandering.
Maybe she should have worked at home today, she mused. True, she wouldn’t have had all the office resources at her fingertips, but at least in her apartment she wouldn’t be surrounded by reminders of Nathan. She wouldn’t hear the echoes of his laughter in the other rooms or picture him standing beside her desk, looking at her with that unnerving new gleam of awareness in his eyes.
She wondered what he and Isabelle were doing today. And whether Isabelle was really settling into her preschool program as well as Nathan believed. Whether Isabelle really missed seeing her. And, most annoying of all, she kept wondering whether Nathan was thinking of her today as often as she thought of him.
She groaned and buried her face in her hands. What was wrong with her? She was acting like a schoolgirl with an embarrassing crush on a classmate!
“Whatever you’re reading must be really boring,” Nathan commented from the doorway. “You look as though you’re falling asleep at your desk.”
She jumped, her hands falling to the desktop with a thud, her shoulders straightening. It was a measure of her distraction that she hadn’t heard anyone enter the offices. Again.
They really should invest in a better security system.
“I wasn’t expecting you this morning,” she said, then noticed his little blond shadow. “Hello, Isabelle.”
She was caught by surprise a second time when the little girl dashed across the office and launched herself into Caitlin’s lap. Her arms filled with warm, soft, sweet-smelling child, Caitlin rested her cheek for a moment against Isabelle’s fine hair.
This, she thought, could become addictive.
After a moment Isabelle wriggled back to look into Caitlin’s face. “Where have you been, Miss Caitlin?”