by Kylie Brant
The polished handsomeness slipped a little, and his voice sharpened. “What I meant was, in the last few months I’ve received quite a bit of publicity. The press really devoted quite a bit of space to my recent trial.”
He paused expectantly, but Elizabeth only shrugged and shook her head. She didn’t need to feign ignorance. Following Carter’s exploits in the press hadn’t been high on her list of priorities.
“It was a high-profile case. I was lucky to be assigned to it.”
Luck. she guessed, had had nothing to do with it. Carter had never been content to leave his career in the hands of something so capricious. No doubt he’d done quite a bit of maneuvering behind the scenes to get the assignment.
He arranged his features into that boyish mixture of humility and pride that had once softened her. “I won a conviction against Councilman Stanton. Bribery, corruption, solicitation of illegal funds...” His voice was laced with satisfaction. “He’s been stripped of his office, of course. Sentencing hasn’t been determined yet, but he’s heading for a long stretch in prison.”
Because his expectant pause seemed to demand it, she responded, “I’m sure your superiors were very pleased.”
He gave an exultant laugh, showing even, white teeth. “They weren’t the only ones impressed. I’ve been approached by some extremely powerful people in the city. They want me to run for the vacant council position.”
“Actually,” Elizabeth said dryly, “I have no trouble at all picturing you in politics, Carter.”
That brilliant smile flashed again. “Your confidence is nice, but premature. I’m just being considered at this point. However, if these individuals decide to back me, I’d be at a distinct advantage.” After a brief hesitation he added, “Of course, I haven’t yet decided whether I’m ready to leave the prosecutor’s office. I’d have to balance my need to serve justice against the greater good for the city.”
She managed, barely, to avoid rolling her eyes. Apparently Carter had been reading too much of his own press. Sneaking a look at the clock, she wondered how she could hurry him along. She somehow doubted that Sully was next door., but wouldn’t be satisfied until she’d checked. And if he wasn’t, she was going to drive herself slowly insane while she waited for him to return. But that prospect was infinitely more appealing than being driven crazy by Carter’s self-serving monologue.
Reaching a decision, she rose. “Well, it was certainly interesting to have you come and share your news, Carter, but I really don’t see what this has to do with me.”
He leaned forward, his blue eyes intent. “It has everything to do with you, Elizabeth. If I am chosen as a city council candidate, the press is going to find you very interesting news.”
She went still, staring at him blankly. Then slowly, weakly, she sank back down to her seat. “Oh, Lord.”
He nodded grimly. “Exactly. But this doesn’t have to be too disagreeable, does it? All we have to do is work out the story between us, and be sure that you adhere to it exactly when you have to answer questions from the press.”
“A story?” Anger bubbled just below the surface of her words. “I suppose the truth just wouldn’t be appropriate under the circumstances, would it?”
His tone was reproving. “Now, Elizabeth, please be reasonable. You have as much to lose from making that unpleasantness public as I do.”
Glaring at him she returned, “I don’t see how.”
Two hard knocks interrupted them, and before she could do more than stand, the knob turned and Sully walked into the room. Instantly her knees weakened. He’d gone home and changed. As usual his hard features were closed and remote. It was probably fervent imagination that had her believing that his gaze lingered on her a fraction too long. But there was no mistaking the steel in his voice when his attention shifted to the man seated in the room.
“What are you doing here?”
Carter’s expression was not nearly as difficult to read. He’d never made a secret of his loathing for Elizabeth’s friend. “I think that question would be more appropriately addressed to you. Elizabeth invited me in, and we were in the middle of a very important discussion.” Suspicion laced his tone when he added, “What gives you the right to barge into her apartment?”
“That’s enough.” Her voice was sharp enough to draw both men’s gazes to her. They reminded her of two dogs, circling and defending territory marked as their own. No, Sully would be more appropriately likened to a wolf—a creature who had long lived on the outskirts of polite society and who had no interest in the trappings of civility that marked most people. Without knowing why, she knew that he was dangerously close to pouncing, like a predator in sight of prey. She rose and crossed to him, putting her hand on his arm. It was tense with bunched muscles, and her fingers stroked soothingly.
“Carter stopped in to discuss something with me, that’s all.” She waited for his gaze to turn to hers. “I was looking for you.”
Not a flicker of expression showed on his face, but his gaze was hot, lambent, when it moved over her. “Why don’t you go get dressed?” His voice was a low rumble. When she didn’t move, he urged, “Go ahead. I’ll entertain your...guest...until you get back.”
She didn’t move until she felt the subtle relaxation of muscle under her fingertips. Then, when she sensed that the danger of the moment had passed, she dropped her hand and looked at Carter.
“Excuse me for a few minutes, would you?”
Both men watched her leave the room. Only after the bedroom door had closed behind her did Sully fix his gaze back on Robinson.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he snarled softly.
“My question to you, exactly. I suppose it was too much to ask that Elizabeth had developed a better taste in friends since we parted.”
Because his fists itched, Sully unclenched them and tucked his fingers in his jeans pockets to keep them from reaching for the other man’s neck. “Elizabeth had a need for her friends after what you did to her.”
Robinson’s features tightened. “You’d be the last one to whom I’d choose to explain the intricacies of a marriage.”
Sully snorted. “Intricacies? That’s a new word for it. Tell me, just how is Roberta, anyway?”
Wariness flickered over Robinson’s face. “I can’t fathom why you would have any interest in my associate’s wellbeing.”
Sully rocked back on his heels. “Well, it’s true I’ve never met her, but I know her type. She seems to be a broad with her eye on the main chance.” He scratched his jaw, which he hadn’t bothered to shave that morning. “Of course, it wasn’t her eye she had on you when Ellie walked in, now, was it?”
Robinson bounced from the love seat and took a step toward him. Sully’s weight shifted to the balls of his feet as he readied himself, anticipating the man’s attack, wanting it. How sweet it would be, finally, to have an excuse to plow his fist into that pretty-boy face. How long he’d waited for just such an occasion to present itself.
“You both seem to be getting reacquainted.”
Ellie’s voice was dry, and it filtered sluggishly through his haze of expectancy. He turned his head to look at her and his mouth went dry. She’d made a quick change; she obviously hadn’t trusted them to be left alone long. She’d exchanged the robe for a one-piece short outfit that buttoned down the front. His gaze lingered overlong on those buttons, and a hot ball of need bloomed in his belly. He knew somehow that she wasn’t wearing any more under that outfit than she had been under the robe.
She turned to her ex-husband. “Carter, I don’t mean to be rude, but I really am busy today. I’d appreciate it if you’d go.”
His jaw was rigid. “We haven’t finished our discussion.” Faced with her implacable gaze, his mouth tightened and he reached into his pocket and withdrew a single sheet of paper and held it out to her. “If the press comes around, stick with the facts outlined there and we’ll be fine.”
She didn’t even glance at the sheet he’d handed her. “
Facts?” she repeated dubiously.
“What makes you think she’ll do you any favors, Robinson?” Sully drawled.
She sent him a sharp look meant to silence him. In recognition of it, he subsided. She’d changed rapidly since moving out of Robinson’s house, not to the extent where she’d acquired a different personality, but enough to allow her natural traits full rein. If he wasn’t so on edge at finding Robinson in her apartment., he’d be delighted to watch her exhibit that stubborn determination she was capable of.
Her attention went back to Robinson. “I don’t need a script to tell the truth, Carter.” She stemmed his protest with one hand. “If the issue arises, I’ll simply tell them that we parted amicably because of irreconcilable differences.” Her tone was dry. “That should be politically correct enough to stern curiosity.”
Frustration stamped Robinson’s face. “Elizabeth, I really believe I know best here. If you would just listen to me...”
“I don’t listen to you anymore, Carter. I listen to me.” She thumped herself on the chest for emphasis. “I make my own decisions, and I decide what’s right. You’re just going to have to trust me.”
One side of Sully’s mouth curled up in a satisfied smile as her words made a direct hit. Robinson looked ready to argue, but he clearly didn’t want to do so in front of Sully. “Elizabeth, if you would be so kind as to send your...friend...on his way, we can continue discussing this in a rational manner.”
The transformation that came over Ellie at his words caught Sully’s attention, held it. It was as if every muscle in her body stiffened, and if he’d been a more fanciful man he’d swear there were sparks shooting from her eyes. She marched over to Sully and slipped her hand through the crook of his elbow. “My friend doesn’t need to get on his way. He’s home, or close to it. He lives next door. And you don’t seem to understand.” Her tone was fierce. “This discussion is closed.”
Robinson noted the placement of that small hand on Sully’s arm and his handsome features twisted. “I should have known.” His gaze slid to Sully’s. “Couldn’t resist taking advantage of a vulnerable woman, could you? What did you plan? Move her near you and play on her emotions, thinking she’ll eventually turn to you so you can...”
“That’s enough, Carter!” Elizabeth’s voice slashed through the tension in the room. She went to the door and opened it. “I want you to leave. Now.” Her gaze was unyielding. Slowly, grudgingly the man moved to the door.
He stopped when Sully said, dulcet voiced, “Take my advice, Robinson...stay away from Ellie. I stood by while you trashed her life once. The next time you won’t walk away.”
Robinson turned around and smiled, a mere twitch of his lips, but his eyes were murderous. “My mistake was in not eliminating you long ago.”
Sully bared his teeth in return.
“Believe me, better men than you have tried.”
Chapter 7
Ellie shut the door behind Carter and leaned her forehead against its smooth surface. Sully found himself wishing the moment could stretch and expand until he had enough hours, enough courage, to face her. It was humbling to realize that he’d rather face a rain of bullets than this slip of a woman. Terrifying to admit that this was one of the few moments in his life when he’d felt true fear.
To give his hands something to do, he drew out a cigarette and lit it. The smoke he inhaled seared his throat, already inexplicably dry. He braced himself for the moment she’d turn to him, the hurt and accusation unveiled in her eyes. He told himself he was ready for it, but he knew he lied. How could he be ready to face Ellie when he hadn’t been able to face himself in the mirror that morning? Like a coward he’d wanted to put a little distance between them until he could face her, but then he’d heard Robinson’s voice in her apartment and thinking hadn’t been part of the equation. He’d functioned purely on reaction, something he’d been a little too prone to lately.
“Well.” She turned to look at him. “That was certainly interesting.”
He drew the smoke deeply into his lungs, and his gaze narrowed. “How long had he been here?”
She lifted a shoulder. “Not long. Ten minutes or so. I suspect I would have had a more difficult time getting rid of him if you hadn’t come in when you did.”
He surveyed the glowing tip of his cigarette. “Then I’m not sorry I busted in on you. Last night you said you were through with him, so I didn’t figure you’d want him here.” He took another quick puff, and his gaze shifted, couldn’t seem to find a place to land.
“I haven’t changed my mind since last night. Not about anything.”
Her words attracted his attention to her as surely as metal filings to a magnet. She relaxed her shoulders against the door and eyed him steadily. “I missed you this moning.”
The smoke seemed to expand in his lungs, squeezing out the oxygen, and he coughed harshly, trying to restore air to those strangled organs. Her words were the last he’d expected to hear from her. Taking one measured breath, he tasted relief, and worse, hope, an emotion he had no right to.
Finding it too difficult to face her, his gaze dropped back to the cigarette he held. “I figured you’d need some time....” His voice trailed off and he swallowed the rest of the thought. Time to get over the anger, the hurt, the sense of betrayal. Time to find a way to tell him he’d shattered her trust, and to get the hell out of her life.
He put the cigarette to his lips and sucked in savagely. Time to tell him all the things he’d been telling himself ever since he’d woken up this morning with her sweet, soft body still draped over his. Time for him to find the strength to do the right thing. Finally.
He turned away, crossing to the ashtray. It was on a small table next to the recliner, within reach for him when he was there. She’d always done that—tried to make things easier for him. He stubbed the cigarette out with short, violent motions.
“I don’t need time, Sully.” Her voice sounded softly behind him. “I’ve had over ten years.”
His gaze snapped back to hers. She was surveying him with wide, guileless eyes. “Last night was a mistake,” he said, his voice expressionless. He watched the hurt and the doubt flicker across her face, and a spear of despair pierced him. When he continued, the words were ragged and hoarse.
“You were vulnerable, and I took advantage in the worst way possible. I betrayed our friendship.”
Now it was she who seemed to have difficulty meeting his gaze. “I just wanted to tell you...it’s okay.” Her voice stumbled, then grew stronger as she went on, still looking anywhere but at him. “I figured it out when you were gone this morning, and I understand your regret.” Her fleeting smile was rueful. “I’ve never been the kind of woman a man finds exciting in bed.”
In three quick strides he was before her, lifting her chin with a crooked finger. His face close to hers, he growled, “Did I act like a man who didn’t find you exciting?”
Her gaze melded with his, and her eyes...damn her, her eyes went soft and dreamy, much like they’d been after he’d made love to her last night. Every time.
“No,” she whispered, and the wondering, wistful sound of her voice rasped across the jagged edges of his conscience and caught.
He watched, entranced, as her lips fought a tremble. His thumb obeyed an edict all of its own when it skated lightly across the full bottom one, exerted just enough pressure to part it Her mouth was close, so close to his, and the memory of how it would taste reared up inside him, inciting him to put the memory to a test, to make another.
He snatched his hand away and shoved it into his pocket. He walked to the barred window, putting a safe distance between them. And knowing all the time that it wasn’t safe, wasn’t safe at all. The entire city could be between them, and he’d feel the same compulsion to see her, talk to her. Taste her. She was seared into his mind, and last night had just carved the futile craving deeper.
“I went out to buy a paper to check out apartment listings.” He gave a short, mirthless la
ugh. “God knows I’ve never agreed with Robinson before, but he’s right about one thing. This neighborhood is no kind of place for you.”
“Because it’s close to you?” she asked shrewdly.
He forced himself to face her then, and hoped the truth of her remark didn’t show on his face. “It was okay while you got on your feet again, but you’re fine now, Ellie. You’re ready to move on, and thanks to the divorce settlement, you’ve got the means to do it.”
Although the sudden hurt on her face was enough to stab deep, he went on doggedly. “I mean, this neighborhood stinks. There was an armed robbery down the street last night, did you know that? It was the third this month. You don’t belong here. You deserve better.” He’d grown up in worse, far worse, and had lived like this for so long he didn’t even notice it anymore. But having Ellie here was like watching a fragile flower bloom in the middle of a cesspool.
“Don’t you do this to me.”
Her voice was shaking again, but now it was threaded with anger. It was reflected in her eyes, in the jerky steps she took. “If you can’t live with what happened last night, have the courage to say so. Don’t just try to push me away, out of your life, so you don’t have to deal with it.”
He stared at her, remaining stubbomly silent. Like that would be possible. If he’d had the courage, he’d have done it a decade ago. If he hadn’t harbored selfish, guilty desires that had festered inside him for years, he wouldn’t find himself now pulled in deeper, faster, than he’d ever thought to go.
“Sully.” Her hand went to his arm. She took a deep breath, as if marshaling her defenses. “I value your friendship too much to let last night come between us.”
He couldn’t look at her. Her voice misted over him like fog, seeping through his senses.
“If making love with me was something you didn’t want, don’t want, then I can accept that. But if it’s guilt that’s making you pull away, then we have a problem. Because I won’t let you, or anyone else, make decisions for me ever again.”
