Nash had indeed noticed how Tania hung on to Iris’s every word. During dinner, Iris told them about her involvement with Mercy Youth Community Center, an organization that helped troubled teens get on the right path. Tania asked thoughtful questions throughout the conversation, wanting to know everything about the center and Iris’s role in it.
How Iris found time to do community work with various youth groups, despite her hectic work schedule, was a mystery to him. He barely had time to spend with Tania, let alone other teens. Was Ms. D. right? Had he done his niece a disservice by not surrounding her with positive female role models?
Nash stuffed a forkful of pie into his mouth. He thought about the conversation he had had with Iris right after the hearing, how she felt she had let him and Tania down by not preparing them better for what had happened. Didn’t she know that her selflessness in stepping in to help them outweighed any surprises that arose during the hearing? The attorneys he had met were cutthroat and itching for a fight. That wasn’t how Iris came across. She was an amazing woman whom he wouldn’t mind getting to know better. The problem was, he was seriously attracted to her, but she didn’t come across as a woman who would agree to an affair. She was the marrying kind...and he wasn’t.
“This whole situation,” Ms. Dalton said, breaking into Nash’s thoughts, “is all the more reason why you need to settle down and make some changes in your life. Tania needs a more stable home.”
“Tania has a stable home,” he said and stood with his dessert plate in his hands. “I would do anything for Tania and I’ve done my best to give her everything she needs and could ever want.”
“I know, child.” She tossed the dish towel on the counter, her arms folded across her ample bosom. “I’m not saying you’re a bad parent, I’m just saying Tania is getting older, and she needs a woman like Iris in her life.”
“She has you, Ms. D. You’ve been like a mother to me and a grandmother to Tania. She doesn’t need anyone else.”
Ms. Dalton let out a hardy laugh. “Boy, I don’t know anything about the youth of today. I hate the latest styles, I can’t tell the difference between MAC makeup and some over-the-counter face paint. I might have been able to tell her about the birds and the bees, but she’s going to start dating soon and will need a woman closer to her age who can help her with the dos and the don’ts of dating.”
Nash almost dropped his plate at her last statement. “I already told Tania she’s not dating until she’s thirty, and even then, I’m not sure I’ll allow it,” Nash said seriously, despite his housekeeper’s sympathetic smile. “I’m not kidding, Ms. D. These young punks out here are only after one thing, and I’ll be damned if they pull my child into their way of thinking.” He knew how he was at that age and there was no way in hell he would let some testosterone-laden kid near Tania.
Ms. Dalton took the plate from his hands and patted Nash on the arm. “You won’t be able to shield her forever, son, but what you can do is make sure she’s well prepared when dealing with boys.”
“Ms. D.! I can’t believe you’re encouraging me to supply Tania with condoms.”
Ms. Dalton turned from the sink and frowned. “I’m talking about making sure she knows how to handle herself on a date.” She shook her head and chuckled, returning her attention to the dishes in the sink. “But now that you mentioned it, maybe you should arm her with a few condoms...right after you show her how to use them.”
Nash hurried out of the kitchen, his housekeeper’s hearty laugh echoing after him. No way he was going to stand there and let her get a good chuckle at his expense. He shivered at the thought of having any type of conversation with Tania about condoms. But if he wasn’t going to do it, someone had to. Maybe it is time I surrounded her with some positive female influence.
Chapter 5
Iris stopped vacuuming, but didn’t turn the machine off while she slid the oversize upholstered chair out of the way. She cleaned that area before moving the chair back to its original spot. She had been dusting, moving furniture and vacuuming for the past hour, working off some nervous energy. Next stop, reorganizing the kitchen.
“What is wrong with you?” Janna stood in front of the vacuum cleaner and snatched the power cord from the wall, immediately bringing Iris’s cleaning frenzy to a halt. “Do you know what time it is?
Iris glanced at the clock on the wall. “Almost seven o’clock.”
“Don’t get cute! It is too early to be making this much racket. I’m surprised you didn’t wake Tania and the whole damn building.” Janna tossed the cord to the floor and folded her arms across her chest, her pajama top rising to show off flat abs.
“You have been behaving like a Tasmanian devil for the past few days and I want to know why.”
Apparently, her sister didn’t intend to move and Iris didn’t miss the daggers Janna shot her way. Iris sighed and pushed the vacuum cleaner to a nearby corner, and then dropped down on the sofa. Leaning forward, her elbows on her knees, she covered her face with her hands. She knew her behavior over the past few days had been childish, but she couldn’t help it. She still had a hard time believing that she had actually kissed a celebrity.
“I kissed Nash,” she mumbled. She remembered how his sensuous lips had melded with hers and how his tongue had meticulously explored the inner recesses of her mouth, teasing, caressing and pleasuring. She sighed at the memory.
Silence filled the room and Iris peeked from behind her hands to see if her sister was still there. Seeing her standing in the same spot, her mouth hanging open, didn’t make Iris feel any better.
A slow smile graced Janna’s mouth and she squealed. “Tell me everything!” She dropped down next to Iris and nudged her shoulder. “I can’t believe you’ve been holding out! Start talking.”
“I don’t know why you’re so excited. I feel like such an idiot.”
“What? Why?”
“Because I know what type of man Nash is and I let him kiss me.”
“Are you kidding me? Do you know how many women would kill to kiss that man?”
Yeah, Iris knew, and it didn’t make her feel any better. He had probably kissed thousands of women the same way, making them fall for his charming ways.
“That’s not the worst part.”
Janna raised a perfectly arched eyebrow and leaned back. “Okay,” she said, stretching the word out. “What’s the worst part?”
“I enjoyed it and...and I didn’t want to stop.” She groaned and dropped her head to her knees.
Janna fell back against the sofa laughing, a sound from deep in her belly that had her rolling around on the sofa trying to catch her breath.
“It’s not funny.”
Iris clenched her mouth while she watched as Janna rolled onto her side. She slapped the sofa and held her stomach while she laughed. In spite of herself, Iris chuckled. Though she didn’t think it was that funny, she had to admit—hearing a grown woman, a defense attorney, whine about a stupid kiss was kind of amusing.
Wiping tears from her eyes, Janna finally said, “I don’t get you sometimes. You have been trippin’ these past few days. Cleaning the house like a madwoman, making Tania and me afraid to ask you anything for fear of getting our heads chewed off, and it’s all because you shared a hot kiss with Nash Dupree.” Janna shook her head and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
“It’s not that simple. I can’t go around kissing my clients or my clients’ uncles, though technically they are no longer my clients, but that’s beside the point.”
“Then what’s the point?” Janna sat back against the sofa and crossed her long legs. “I’m sorry, but I don’t see a problem here.”
“Janna, Nash is way out of my league. You know the type of women he’s been seen with. Actresses, models and even that senator from Los Angeles. I can’t compete with those women.”
Janna frowned. “Iris, you’re just as amazing as any of them. Besides, what makes you think you have to compete? Has Nash asked you out?”
The dinner invitation that Iris had quickly declined came to mind. “Yes, but I turned him down.”
Janna threw up her arms and let them fall to her side. “Why would you turn him down if you’re attracted to him? You’re so concerned about these other women, but I would bet my modeling contract that he wasn’t seriously involved with them.”
“That’s just it. He can go out with any woman he wants, so why me?” Iris leaped from her seat and paced in front of the sofa. “I don’t want to be some pity date because he feels like he has to make me believe I’m...I’m desirable or...or pretty.”
“What?”
Iris then told her sister everything about the evening at Nash’s place, from the moment she pulled onto his cobblestone driveway until the moment she and Tania left. Just thinking about Nash did something to her. It was like being back in high school. All of her insecurities about not being pretty enough came flooding back.
She would never forget the night she’d gone to a house party with Macy at one of her friends’ house, and Jeff Kramer, the boy Iris had a crush on, was there. Iris was a freshman and Jeff, a senior. He had no clue Iris existed; well, at least not until that night. Iris’s best friend had tagged along to the party with them, which pleased Iris since she didn’t know many of the other people there. At one point in the evening, various board games were pulled out and the large group of kids split up into smaller groups based on which game they wanted to play. She and her best friend joined one small group, but Iris had no idea that the game they were going to play was Secrets. They each had to tell a secret and everyone else had to guess whether it was true or not. She’d only joined the group because her friend and Jeff were in the group.
“Don’t tell me you’re still remembering what that idiot Jeff Kramer said to you?” Janna’s voice broke into Iris’s thoughts.
Iris said nothing. The night of the party, her best friend had let it slip that Iris had a crush on Jeff. To say Iris was horrified would be an understatement. Jeff was the captain of the football team, an all-around star athlete and the cutest boy in school. All the girls thought he could walk on water, including her. Iris wanted to crawl under a rock when some of the girls pointed her out to Jeff after her friend’s slipup. When Jeff found out who she was, he studied her from head to toe, a disgusted look on his face. Iris burst into tears when he told the small group that he wouldn’t be caught dead with the big-eyed Amazon.
Macy was livid when she found out and, true to her character, she had verbally let Jeff have it. She’d gone out with him once and proceeded to tell the group that there hadn’t been a second date because making out with him was like kissing a blowfish. She went even further and told Jeff that if he didn’t apologize to Iris, that little piece of data wouldn’t be the only information she would share about his inadequacies.
“Iris, when are you going to forget about that jerk?” Janna put her arm around Iris’s shoulders. “That was well over fifteen years ago.”
Iris wiped at her eyes, not realizing tears had slipped out. It might have happened years ago, but some things were hard to forget. Jeff had publicly humiliated her in front of all of her classmates and, had it not been for Mama Adel, she might have dropped out of school. She owed her foster mother everything, but for years afterward, Iris tried to keep a low profile and not draw attention to herself. She had already been self-conscious about her appearance, but Jeff’s words wiped out all of her confidence. It didn’t help that a couple of years ago, she overheard a guy she was dating tell someone that he was only with her because she had money. This was something she had never told her sisters.
“Just because he called you names and told you no other boy will ever want you doesn’t make it true. You are a beautiful, successful woman, and Jeff was a stupid, inexperienced kid. Now, Nash, whew!” Janna fanned herself. “He is a grown-ass man who knows a good thing when he sees it.”
Iris tried to smile at Janna’s theatrics, but her heart still ached from the horrible memories. But she had to admit, Janna was right about one thing. Nash was definitely all man...and that’s what scared her.
* * *
“Thanks for letting me tag along,” Nash said from across the table. Instead of sitting in the restaurant, they had chosen a booth in the center of all the action within the game room. Tania had run off with a friend she spotted from her old school, leaving him and Iris to fend for themselves.
Though he had stopped by the penthouse to drop off a few items for Tania, he also was trying to find any excuse to see Iris. A few days ago, he had asked her out, but she’d turned him down. So he was surprised when she had invited him along on one of her and Tania’s outings. Little had he known they were heading to Dave & Buster’s, a popular restaurant, bar and arcade that offered entertainment for children and adults. It wouldn’t have been his first choice of restaurant, but if it meant getting to know Iris better and spending time with Tania, he was game. He hadn’t been able to get Iris out of his mind since they shared that steamy kiss in his office.
“You’re welcome. I didn’t think you would accept the invite.” Sitting across from him at a table, she diverted her eyes the moment the words left her mouth.
“Is that why you invited me, because you thought I’d decline?” Nash took a swig from his beer bottle, finding enjoyment in her discomfort.
Iris kept her eyes on the glass of soda in front of her, moving the ice around with her straw. Nash could honestly say he had never met a woman like her. She was such a contradiction. Confident and in charge when at her office or in the courtroom, but shy and introverted when around him.
Her gaze eventually met his. “I invited you because...because I thought you would enjoy hanging out with us. If that’s not the case, you’re welcome to leave. We can find our way home.”
The beginning of a smile lifted the corners of Nash’s mouth. “And miss an opportunity to get to know you better? I don’t think so.”
He watched her as she glanced around the game room. Her thick, curly hair was held away from her face by a headband, accentuating her exotic features and making him want to run the back of his hand against her smooth skin. It was nice seeing her casually dressed in a pair of designer jeans that hugged her shapely butt and a lightweight sweater that stretched across her chest. What he would give to be her sweater, resting snugly against her perky breasts.
Nash shifted, adjusting his pants, which were suddenly uncomfortable. Served him right for allowing his mind to wander.
Tania bounded up to them. “I’m going to play a game of pool,” she said. Her friend from school waited a couple of feet away.
“Where are the pool tables?” Nash asked, but then glanced at Iris. “Sorry, I guess I should’ve let you respond. Old habits die hard.”
Iris smiled. “No problem. I would’ve asked the same question.”
“They’re on the other side of the restaurant,” Tania said.
Iris twisted her mouth while thinking, looking at Nash for help. When he remained silent, she said, “Okay, but make sure you don’t leave this building, and I want you to check in—” Iris glanced at her watch “—in twenty minutes.”
“Will do!” Tania darted away. She grabbed her friend by the arm and pulled her along.
“So, how have things been going with Tania?”
Iris broke into a relaxed smile. “Very well. We have gotten into a comfortable routine and have only bumped heads once or twice in the past week.”
Nash raised an eyebrow. “Only once or twice? That’s probably a record. Normally she turns everything into a negotiation or a debate. Everything from what time she should be up to why she should be able to dye her hair purple.”
Iris laughed. “I’m a lawyer and, according
to my sisters, it’s pointless to argue with me. Besides, I love how spirited she is.”
“Spirited? Is that what they’re calling it these days?” They both shared a laugh.
The server brought their food and topped off their drinks. “Can I get you anything else?” the young woman with spiked hair and an earring in her nose asked.
Iris glanced at her and Tania’s meal. “No. Everything looks good.”
“Can we get a few more napkins?” Nash asked.
“Of course. I’ll be right back.”
“Let me go and get Tania before her food gets cold,” Iris said.
Nash reached out and grabbed Iris’s hand before she stood fully. “I’ll go and find her, but first I’d like to talk to you about something.”
Iris tilted her head and sat back down. “About what?”
“About the kiss we shared at my place. I’m wondering why you’re avoiding the obvious attraction we have for each other.”
Nash sensed her sudden nervousness. What was with her? He didn’t know her exact age, but knew she had to be in her mid-thirties, yet she was acting as though he was the first man to show interest in her.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to act on this...this attraction. Our focus should be on getting your and Tania’s lives back together, nothing else.”
“I disagree. I believe in pursuing what I want, and what I want is to know you better.”
“Why?” she asked, her voice strained, her eyes pleading. For what, Nash had no idea, but he had every intention of finding out. “Why are you doing this? Why do you want to know me better?”
He leaned across the table, still holding her hand. “What are you afraid of?” he whispered. She tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t let her. “Iris, I want to know what you’re afraid of.”
Legal Seduction Page 6
