Body of Evidence (Marcus Douglas 2)

“No, I’m from New York.”

“How did you get to Atlanta?”

“I fell in love with this city while I was in law school and used to come down here for Freaknic.”

“I heard those used to get pretty wild.”

“I was living here and practicing by the time it really got out of control, but yeah, Freaknic used to shut this city down,” Marcus said of the black college spring break festival that once took place in Atlanta. “What about you, Panthea? Where are you from?”

Panthea paused for a second before she smiled and said, “Houston. I moved here eight years ago.”

“You and your husband come here together?”

“No. Scott was one of the first people I met when I moved here. He was a different man then. I’d never had a man treat me the way Scott did. He was so sweet and attentive, and he had a way of making me feel like I was the only woman in the world. He swept me off my feet.” Panthea laughed.

“What’s funny?” Marcus asked.

“It’s just funny how I went from passionately in love, to having dinner with my very handsome divorce lawyer.”

“I’m not your lawyer. I don’t handle divorce cases, so I’m just the man you invited to have dinner with you.”

“Yes, that’s right. You’re a criminal attorney. The big murder trials are your thing.”

“Right.”

“I already told you I was a big fan of yours.”

“I know. You said you used to watch me on the news every night,” Marcus said and tried to look flattered. He noticed Panthea looking at him and realized her expression had changed.

“What?” he asked.

“You don’t wanna know,” Panthea said and quickly looked away.

“Yes, I do,” Marcus said, pressing her.

“No. You’ll think I really am a stalker.”

“You already told me stalking is unwanted attention.”

“So what are you saying?”

“I’m saying you should just tell me and let me be the judge of whether you have stalking potential or not.”

Panthea looked at Marcus and tried to decide how honest she was going to be. Then she smiled. “I was alone a lot of those nights when I used to see you on television. By the way, you are so much better looking in person, and my God, I thought you were fine then.”

“Thank you. I don’t know where you think all this flattery is going to get you, but keep it up, I like the sound of it.”

“I like the sound of that sexy voice of yours,” Panthea cooed. “Anyway, as I said, I was alone a lot of those nights. Scott was expanding his business and there were a lot of late nights for him and lonely nights for me.” Panthea paused and her head dropped a little. “I guess that’s when it really began.”

“What really began?”

“Us losing interest in each other sexually.” Panthea looked up at Marcus. “When I said us, I meant my husband and I,” she clarified quickly.

&n

bsp; “I understood what you meant,” Marcus assured her and he also understood the innuendo behind her feeling the need to clarify it.

“Good. Now let me tell you this before I chicken out.”