Seduce Me

And it was past time she dealt with certain facts and faced up to her feelings.

“Are you up?” Jack’s morning-roughened voice sounded in her ear.

“Mmm. I’ve been thinking.”

“About last night, I hope.” His hand reached around to cup her breast.

The pleasing tingling started immediately but her mind was worked up and she needed to talk first. “Last night was amazing. But we need to talk work before we get sidetracked again.”

He laughed. “You want me to talk work while I’m in bed with you and more awake with each passing minute?” He inched closer, until his groin, hard and erect, nestled against her back.

She let out a sigh. “Hard as it is…”

When he chuckled, she caught his double meaning and laughed. “No, hard as it is for me to say no to you now, I need to get this information off my chest.”

“What is it?” he asked, sounding concerned.

“Alicia Lederman has a history of abusing prescription drugs.”

“Bingo!”

Mallory cringed at the excitement she heard in his voice.

“This is exactly what we need to force her into a settlement. Once we tell Lederman about this…Wait a damn minute.” Behind her, Jack pulled himself to a sitting position.

Not wanting to feel exposed, she yanked the covers over her chest and sat up, too. “What’s wrong?”

“Was this abuse while they were married?”

Mallory nodded. “So was her stay in an expensive rehab clinic.”

“Then why didn’t Lederman share this piece of information?”

“Well, we’re not his attorneys of record,” she reminded him.

“I can buy that. But there’s another possibility—”

“He was testing us,” Mallory said, finishing his thought and sharing her own conclusions at the same time. “He wanted to see if we’d uncover the information on our own and how far we were willing to go with it.” And Mallory wasn’t willing to go the distance on this one.

She wasn’t sure when she’d made the decision, but it was somewhere between getting to know and like Alicia Lederman and falling in love with Jack. A soft side she hadn’t realized existed had crept up on her and settled in.

Mallory couldn’t use the woman’s past against her. Even if it cost her her job and the partnership she’d thought she’d coveted. She admired and respected Alicia Lederman too much. Her sense of fairness dictated she take the woman’s feelings into account.

Without warning, Jack tossed off the covers and climbed out of bed.

“Where are you going?”

“To talk to that son of a bitch. It’s one thing to be undecided about counsel and to invite us out here to get to know us better, but it’s another to play the games he’s been playing, disappearing, withholding information. I’m through. Either my record speaks for itself or it doesn’t.” He grabbed for his jeans.

“Jack, wait.”

He paused. “You’re right. I’ll shower first and then I’ll tackle Paul Lederman.” He charged toward the bathroom, magnificent in his nudity and masculinity.

She licked at her dry lips. “What’s the plan, Jack?”

He paused and turned. “Before or after I strangle him?” he asked wryly.

“After.”