The judge took a deep breath while I held mine and waited for her to speak again. Gathering up a stack of papers, she tapped them together before speaking.
“I’m ready to make my ruling.”
“Your honor, I don’t think you’re—” Reed started only to be cut off.
“Now you’re telling me I don’t know how to think, Mr. Pierce?” Judge Peterson cut into him.
Reed gave a nervous chuckle and tried to make amends with those green eyes of his.
“Of course not, your honor,” His eyes shifted in my direction, and it was my turn to tsk him. “I just meant—”
“Enough, Mr. Pierce, because as much as I love to be insulted in my own courtroom and listen to you and Ms. Davis fight to the death, I’d like to be done with this case and with the two of you.”
She looked back and forth between the two of us over the rim of her thick purple glasses, and the whites of her eyes bulged with annoyance. She stared at us for so long I wondered if she could tell I was holding my breath.
“Mr. Pierce, while most of the time I appreciate your often bold and colorful tactics, you’ve fallen short this time.”
“Judge—”
“No, Mr. Pierce, now it’s my turn to talk.”
She was like a stern mama bear as she stared down at Reed, almost begging him to speak again so she could have the pleasure of throwing him out of court. I didn’t know what I wanted more … to win the case or see Reed being hauled out of the room in contempt.
“I’ve heard both of your arguments, or should I say a lack thereof on your part, Mr. Pierce. You’ve yet to show me any actual evidence.” She gave a quick pause. “And because of that, I am granting Ms. Davis her dismissal.”
“Your honor …” Reed tried to argue, but to my pleasure, the judge was having none of it.
“It’s over, Mr. Pierce. Move on.”
The Judge threw down her gavel, and the loud sound echoed off the walls as she rose from her chair and made her way down the side of the bench and out the side door.
“Good afternoon, Judge Peterson,” I called out as the door shut behind her.
There was no sound in the room for a good five seconds, and I silently celebrated my triumph before Reed ruined it.
“Good afternoon Judge Peterson?” Reed mocked, sauntering toward me.
I continued to put away my files, ignoring him. I’d just won my fourteenth case against Reed, putting me ahead by one for the first time since I’d had the misfortune of meeting him the year before. It wasn’t a lot, but he could bet his ass I would rub it in his face.
Taking my bag, I put on my I-won-and-you-didn’t court face. “You’ve never been a very good loser, Pierce.”
“Do I have to remind you of the Williams’s case?”
I rolled my eyes, but I could feel the small blush rise up my neck. I did not need him to remind me about the Williams’s case. It wasn’t my best moment, and I didn’t care to relive my full-grown tantrum.
“You heard the judge, Pierce. Move on.” I tried to move around him, but he was quick to block my way with his body.
“You could call me Reed, you know.”
I stopped short, but it wasn’t enough to keep me from brushing against the front of him. Reed flirted with anyone in a pencil skirt, but since our first encounter, I’d always made sure to steer as far away from him as I could unless we were working a case together. A year had softened the blow, but no amount of time would ever let me forget.
“I could, but that would imply we’re friends.”
“Would that be so horrible? You and me friends?”
I pretended to think it over for a minute. “Yes, it would actually. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” I tried to sidestep him, but he was not having it.
“That really hurts, Meela.” He placed his hand over his heart.
“Ha! The irony,” I snapped. I didn’t know whether to be impressed or outraged over his gall.
He actually laughed, and my palm had never itched so badly to slap the hell out of another human being as it did right now with Reed. I glared at him until he held up his hands in surrender as if that would matter at all.
“I think we could be really good at the whole friend thing, Meela.” His eyes darkened, dropping to my lips, and I knew exactly what he was thinking.
I hated the little tingle I felt along my lips at the memory. I could lie and say I never thought about the kiss, but on the rare occasions I had, I could still feel the way his lips felt against mine, and it only infuriated me more.
I couldn’t hold in my condescending laughter. “Not even in your wildest dreams, Pierce.”
“That sounds like a challenge,” he drawled.
“I promise you, it isn’t.”
“Come on, Meela. No one has to know. It’ll be our little secret.”
“I have no interest in being one of your dirty little secrets, Pierce.”
“But you would be so damn good at it, firecracker.”
My eyes narrowed, and I could feel the fire low in my stomach, but I swore it was only from the animosity toward the man in front of me. I wasn’t sure what had gotten into him—maybe he thought because I’d won today I’d be in giving mood—but I was too far past flirting with Reed at this point.
It made me wonder if he thought this was working on me. His smooth talking worked for him in and out of the courtroom, but I had experienced a part of Reed that left me tainted in a way I was never going to get past. No matter how witty his banter was.
“I’m not the same woman I was a year ago, Reed. Nor will I ever be one of the silly girls who flock to your side, vying for your attention. You can’t work me over.”
“I can’t?”
“Nope, so you should probably stop trying. It’s a little embarrassing.”
His bark of laughter echoed throughout the now empty courtroom.
He grinned knowingly down at me. We stood there in a silent standoff, and I’d be damned if I backed down first.
“How many is that now?”
I frowned. “What?”
“You heard me.” His tone was almost deadly, and I felt my pulse quicken. “What’s the score?”
Again, a blush crawled over my skin.
Damn him.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said, avoiding eye contact.
“You’re lying, counselor. You know exactly what I’m talking about.” His voice had dropped to almost a whisper, and I suddenly felt as if the room was closing in on us.
I knew how Reed worked, but I wasn’t a case, judge, or jury, and I wasn’t going to let him work me as if I was. Taking a step closer, I closed the distance between us. Reed was a predator, and he treated every woman he met like prey.
“Congrats, counselor,” he said and took a step to the side, unblocking my path.
I frowned. Reed wasn’t usually one to give up so easily.
“Thank you.” I gave him a chin lift and brushed past him.
I tried not to look as though I was fleeing from the room, but I was pretty sure I failed.
Once outside the courtroom, I stood there for a second to catch my breath. The hallway was buzzing with traffic and chatter as people walked past me, barely noticing I was just standing there.
My encounters with Reed were always short-lived because I tried to keep it civil. However, I had lost my cool on a few occasions, and today was one of them—but in a totally different way. Something was different about Reed today, and it left me feeling on edge.
I shook my head, trying to free myself from whatever I was feeling. I didn’t want to think about it now or ever. Reed had dug his grave, and we would never be friends.
When I cleared my head of everything but the case I’d just won, the room instantly felt lighter, and it was easier to breathe. I’d played stupid, but I knew all about our silent competition. And whether he knew it or not, I was winning on all accounts.
Five
Reed
As I watched her departur
e, my gaze lingered on the perfect sway of her ass as she walked out of the room. Meela Davis knew exactly how to make my blood boil in all the right ways.
Too bad she hated me.
In my defense, I wish I could say I’d had a good reason to do what I did, but I didn’t. I hadn’t known who Meela was when I’d gotten onto the elevator, so my decision to basically screw over her case was not premeditated.
I hadn’t actually made the conscious decision to use what she had told me until I was standing in front of the judge. In a lot of ways, I regretted my decision to use the details of her case. If I hadn’t, our relationship today would be very different.
I could still remember the day she walked on to the floor of my firm and into my office with the two dozen roses I’d sent her—hoping to make amends—in a trash bag. As she’d emptied the destroyed flowers in a pile on my desk, I’d never wanted another woman more in my life.
Except Meela wanted nothing to do with me, and it took almost six months for her to even be within five feet of me without wanting to break something over my head.
That woman knew how to hold a grudge better than anyone I’d ever met in my life. A year later and it was evident she had no plans to let go of our first encounter. Although, who could really blame her? In her eyes, I’d committed the ultimate sin, and my verdict was a life sentence.
She was all fire and anger, and every time we got into a spat in the courtroom, it was like adding fuel to an already raging fire. I wanted Meela with every glare of those ice blue eyes and every sassy word that came out of her seductive mouth.
Wanting her was easy.
Wanting her knowing she’d probably hate me for the rest of her life ... well, that was a bridge I had yet to cross.
Until now.
It would be a year ago this month that I had turned the one woman I wanted but couldn’t have against me, and it was time to change that. I couldn’t be around Meela any longer without knowing what it was like to feel that same fiery passion in more pleasurable ways.
An hour later, I walked into the office of McGregor and Stevens, and I was immediately greeted by the come fuck me eyes of the office receptionist, Claire Stevens. She bit the end of her pen cap, and her dark red lips closed around the base as she eyed me up and down before her eyes lingered on the bulge behind the zipper of my slacks. I stopped in front of the desk to pick up any messages that hadn’t gone to my assistant.
“What do you have for me today, Claire?” I hit her with my best fake smile.
She slowly pulled the pen from her mouth and folded her arms over the desk, leaning forward. Her shirt pulled tight, and her cleavage spilled over the undone buttons at the top. My eyes lingered a little before they lifted to her face.
“See anything you like, Mr. Pierce?” she whispered and rocked forward more.
“It’s not nice to tease, Claire.”
“Who says I’m teasing, Mr. Pierce?” she purred in a way that made me cringe.
I smiled down at her, but it was entirely forced.
Claire had been with McGregor and Stevens for two years now, but it had taken less time than that for her reputation to make the rounds with the male employees. Not that anything could be done since she was the niece of Jack Stevens, one of the named partners. Lucky for her, her uncle had somehow managed to remain in the dark about her extra hours.
Girls like Claire were a dime a dozen, and I had no interest in what she was offering. Period. In the past year, I’d been with fewer women than I had since I’d been old enough to know how to use my charm to my advantage. That might have been enough to take away my hard-earned man card, but at the end of the night, there was only one woman I wanted beneath me.
“Reed.” My name was called, and I looked up to see David motioning me into his office through the glass windows.
I nodded and held up my hand to him. Giving Claire my attention, I asked again. “No messages?”
“Nope.” With one last attempt to get a reaction out of me, she let her fingernail trail across her tits. When I didn’t give her what she wanted, her lips settled into a pout.
“Thanks.” I tapped the counter of the desk and winked at her.
It was enough to give her hope, and she smiled back at me as I walked away. I was probably the only one she hadn’t sunk her claws into yet, and I planned to keep it that way. My career was definitely not worth risking for a piece of ass everyone had already had.
“What’s up?” I asked David, stepping inside his office.
David McGregor was the other partner in McGregor and Stevens. And while Mr. Stevens was all about business and running his firm with a firm hand, David McGregor was the total opposite. David took me under his wing early on in my career; he was older by a few years, and he was a damn good lawyer. When I’d almost thrown away all my hard work, he’d been there to kick my ass into gear and make sure I didn’t piss away my future.
I owed him a lot more than he’d ever let me repay.
“How’d court go?” He was sitting behind his desk, his attention more on the game of catch he was currently playing with a company stress ball.
“Peterson granted a dismissal,” I told him.
“Fuck,” he cursed, but he was far from surprised.
We knew the case was a long shot, and we definitely didn’t have the evidence to back up our claim, but that didn’t matter when you had a job to do.
“I bet Davis was doing back flips out of the courtroom,” he joked.
“Her case was strong. She knew it.”
“She still hate your ass?” He dropped the stress ball, and it rolled under a cabinet and out of view. “Shit.”
With nothing left to distract his attention, he turned it all on me.
“She still hates me,” I confirmed with a nod.
“And you still have a hard-on for her? I don’t think I’ve ever seen the opposite sex not give you the time of day.” He chuckled, and I was so fucking happy my blue balls were amusing to him.
I didn’t have time to stand here and listen to David tell me what I already knew. It was already bad enough I regretted ever confiding in him at all about Meela, but a bottle of Jack apparently made me chatty as fuck.
“I’ve moved on,” I told him, hoping he would drop it.
“The fuck you have.” He laughed. “You want what you can’t have. It’s ingrained in the male DNA to process like that. We’re hunters, Reed. It’s in our blood.”
“If I wanted Meela Davis, I would have her.” The lie was so bold, it made me watch the end of my nose to see if it would actually grow.
Again, he laughed. “Prove it.”
Behind David, I saw my assistant, Laurie, and managed to catch her eye. I stared her down, and she frowned and then her gaze shifted to David. With a simple nod, she made her way toward me.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Pierce, but you have a phone call. It’s Mitchell.”
“Thanks,” I said, giving Laurie a wink. “I’ve got to take this, David,” I told him, smacking the frame of the doorway with my hand.
“We’re not done here,” he shouted from his office, but I waved him off as I made my way to my office. I loved David like a brother, but my feud with Meela was too personal to be office gossip, and the last thing I needed was for rumors to get back to Meela. She sure as hell would never talk to me then.
“What was all that about?” Laurie asked as we entered my office.
I unbuttoned my suit jacket and slipped free of it. I handed it to Laurie and sat behind my desk. “I have no fucking clue. Messages?” I asked, holding my hand out.
“It’s not too bad,” she said and handed me the slips. Not bad, my ass. I counted eight of them. “Lunch?” she asked. “Would you like me to order your usual?”
“No. I think I’ll go out today.”
“Really?” I knew that surprised her. I surprised myself, but I was feeling unusually closed in today, and I needed to get out.
“What’s good around here?”
“What ar
e you in the mood for?”
Meela, I wanted to say, but for the sake of my audience, I didn’t.
I shrugged. “A strong drink, for starters.”
She smiled at me. There was something almost knowing about it, and I found myself frowning at her. “What?”
“Try LeBlanc on 5th street. I think you’ll like it.”
“Okay,” I drew out the word. “Can you make a reservation?” I asked her retreating back.
“You won’t need one. Just make sure you’re there by one.” Without another word, she was gone in the chaos of the busy office.
Everyone was acting fucking nuts today, I thought as I checked my watch. It was fifteen after, and I could probably get through half of these messages before I had to leave. Or I could just leave now. Option B sounded far more appealing, so I threw my messages in my desk drawer and made my way out of the office before any more crazy assaulted me.
I reached LeBlanc’s before one, but despite my assistant’s instructions, the place was packed as I entered. The hostess greeted me with a warm smile.
“Good afternoon, sir. Your name?” she asked with her trusty reservation schedule in hand.
“Uh, I actually don’t have a reservation.”
Clear panic replaced her smile, and she looked around the room. “I’m sorry, sir, but we’re completely full unless you have a reservation.”
“Yeah, I noticed,” I said, looking around and cursing Laurie. “I’m sorry to—”
And then I spotted her.
Well, I spotted her legs first, but there she was, sitting alone in the back of the restaurant.
“Actually, my friend ...” I pointed in the direction of Meela’s legs. Legs I wanted nothing more than to know what they would feel like wrapped around my hips. “Is sitting right there.”
“Well, isn’t that perfect? I’ll send your waiter over to take your order.”
“Thanks.” I winked at her.
Lust Page 4
