She’d spent the morning going over new evidence with Kyle for the trial that was starting next month, but she’d been unable to put what she’d learned about Tanner out of her mind. She needed to hear his story from him. Draw her own conclusions, make her own judgments.
So she’d called him to meet and now she was heading home for the afternoon.
“For someone who’s busy at work, I sure as hell have taken a lot of time off lately,” Scarlett muttered, packing up files so she could work after Tanner left. But she was keeping up with her caseload and her boss had no reason to complain. He didn’t care where she did her prep as long as it got done.
Once arriving at her apartment, she placed her folders on the edge of the table and changed into comfortable clothes, knowing she’d need the time to pull herself together before seeing Tanner. She had a feeling she’d be listening to an emotional explanation that would need her to merge her conscience and her feelings for him. It wouldn’t be easy.
When he still hadn’t shown up by the time she headed back into her living room, she sat down to work, going through some depositions she’d taken and intended to use for trial.
By the time the doorbell rang, she’d been deep in thought, and the sound startled her. She blew out a deep breath and walked over, opening the door to let Tanner in. “Hi.”
She couldn’t help but look him over appreciatively, her gaze going from his messily styled hair to the scruff of beard she found so attractive, to the way he filled out his jeans and long-sleeve light blue top, bringing out the color in his eyes.
“Hey.” He shoved his hands into his front pockets. “I’m here, ready to talk.”
She swallowed hard and nodded. “Good. Come on in.”
He stepped in and she shut the door behind him, then led him to the family room. All she could think of was the last time he’d been here and they went straight to the bedroom. No awkwardness between them at all.
Now? Not so much.
* * *
Tanner followed Scarlett into the main room of her apartment, watching the sway of her sexy hips as she walked. She’d answered the door looking edible in a pair of black leggings and a cropped sweatshirt with the neck cut off and dipping down over one shoulder. He’d wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms for a kiss, but he felt the distant vibes she was giving off and decided not to. At least not yet.
It was anyone’s guess if he’d have that opportunity again after he told her everything. As much as he wanted to be here with Scarlett, he wasn’t looking forward to this heart-to-heart. Knowing he had no choice, he braced himself as she settled onto the couch and he took a seat beside her.
“Everything okay after the bomb threat?” she asked.
“Yes … and no.”
She narrowed her gaze.
“Look. I saw you with Frank Rhodes, so you obviously know things about me you want answers to.” He hadn’t meant to sound so defensive but he couldn’t control the bite to his words. He curled his hands into fists beside him, then realized and released his grip and forced air into his lungs. He needed to relax and just deal with it.
She nodded. “He mentioned a few things about you and your past, but honestly, I don’t put stock into what someone else tells me. I want to hear about you from you.”
“What if what Frank told you was true?” Even if the asshole had embellished, Tanner didn’t see how the man could make his past sound any worse than it actually had been.
She glanced across the room at the picture of her brother, then clearly forced her gaze back to his. “Why don’t you just talk to me and we’ll go from there?”
Unable to sit still, he rose and paced the room. “I told you about Levi.”
Sadness filled her expression. “Yes.”
“Well … even before Levi died, I had issues. Anger issues. I suppose you could say they stemmed from my father, who was a complete asshole. I couldn’t react to his verbal abuse the way I really wanted to, so I internalized my feelings. That caused me to act out. You could say despite being a smart guy academically, I was a troublemaker.” He smiled ruefully and she laughed.
“I’m sorry about your dad, I think I told you that once before, but that sounds pretty self-aware.”
“Therapy.”
She raised an eyebrow. “An enlightened man. I’m impressed.”
He frowned and said, “Don’t be. It was a prerequisite to my partners helping me out of a bind.” If he could call a potential prison sentence a bind.
She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and he wished it was his mouth biting those luscious lips. “I think you need to explain from the beginning,” she said.