by Jessica Gray
He ignored the electricity jumping from her hand to his, rushing up his arm and down his body. He also ignored the intense ache in his groin and the longing of his heart to believe in someone again. He ignored all this and continued, “It wasn’t a very large jump to start wondering if everything else she had told me was a lie as well. Before long I found myself questioning my drawing ability, my ability to design; I even started questioning whether I had been a good boyfriend and lover.”
“But that’s silly. Why would you believe or question anything that snake said? She’s pond scum after what she did to you. Why would you care what she said? It happened several years ago and you can’t her actions let dictate your future.”
Rocco felt himself getting irritated with Lee again. This woman was like a dog with a bone; she just couldn’t let things be. “You might think it’s silly, but that’s how it was and how it is. I didn’t have the desire or energy to deal with her actions back then, and I don’t want to relive the past and deal with her actions now. I just want to forget and move on with my life. As far as my dreams – well, dreams change.”
Lee shook her head. “But your dreams don’t have to change. You can get your old dream back and find the perfect job if you want to.”
He did his best to hold on to his temper, but decided it was high time to change the subject, if he wanted neither him nor her to stomp out of that diner within the next few minutes. Just how could he tell her to mind her own business, without offending her? “Why don’t we talk about your dreams for a change? Do you really enjoy helping people end their marriages, or are you just stuck in a job you hate?”
She sent him a look that said she knew exactly what he was doing, but was saved from an immediate response as the waitress appeared with their food.
Once the steaming plates stood in front of them, she said with a smile, “This looks wonderful, and I would hate to have either you or me storm away from our food. How about we talk about anything other than each other’s failed dreams for the rest of the evening?”
Rocco took the first bite of his dinner and nodded. “Hmm. Delicious. Sounds like a very diplomatic move. And you’re right, I would hate to forego these shrimps. So, follow any sports teams?”
Lee grinned and shook her head at him. “Sports and politics are both areas where I’m very opinionated. Let’s talk about something that’s not liable to end up with us fighting again, okay?”
He chuckled. “Credit where credit is due. How about traveling?” When she agreed, they started talking about places they’d like to visit some time. They discovered their similar tastes in vacation spots and as they left the diner, they were both laughing easily with each other.
Lee stood outside the diner, and Rocco had to exert all his self-control not to pull her into his arms and kiss her senseless, while she searched for her keys in her handbag. He confined himself to taking in her striking beauty and was lost in admiration, when she raised her voice: “Thank you for dinner. I didn’t expect you to pay. I intended for us each to pay for our own.”
“I know you said that, but what kind of guy would agree to that after an evening with such a beautiful woman?” She blushed under his praise and turned around to hide it, and Rocco suddenly panicked at the prospect of her leaving him alone. “Do you want to head over to TJ’s for a while?”
She seemed tempted, but just as he thought she’d say yes, she said, “Thank you, but I’m kind of tired and think I’ll call it an early night.”
Rocco nodded and after looking both ways, gestured for her to precede him across the street. “Well, drive safe and I’ll see you tomorrow then.” He watched her walk down the sidewalk and get into her vehicle. He wanted to call her back and convince her to spend more time with him, but he also knew that his control was on a very tight leash where she was concerned. After getting to know her better over dinner, his attraction to her had multiplied and she turned him on more than he felt comfortable with. A lot more.
She wasn’t the type of woman you slept with and then walked away from. That alone scared him enough to keep quiet as she drove away. She had a smokin’ hot body, and if the passion she’d shown him in her defense of his right for justice translated to the bedroom, she’d be a firecracker between the sheets. But as much as he wanted to go there, he needed to stay away from her. He didn’t do relationships and he doubted she did one-night stands. End of story.
Chapter 11
Lee drove back up to the cabin, passing in review over the last couple of hours. Throughout dinner, she’d become even more attracted to Rocco. She already liked looking at his hot body, but now that she was getting to know his personality, her attraction was getting hard to contain.
The more time had passed during dinner, the more often her eyes had traveled down to the jawline with the adorable stubble and his full lips, and she kept wondering how it would feel to kiss him. Stop. It. Now.
She needed to keep those types of thoughts hidden away. She wasn’t here to find herself a guy. No, Rocco was great eye candy, and she enjoyed observing his muscles move while he worked, but that was it. Never mind the fact he’d starred in her dreams the night before, because reality was never as good as the dream. Or at least she tried to convince herself to believe that.
After what seemed like no sleep at all, she rolled over in bed and looked at the clock – 10:30 a.m. She jerked away and looked around, startled even more by the silence. No power tools. Nothing. She listened for another minute or two before she rolled out of bed and headed for the bathroom with an empty feeling she couldn’t quite explain.
She dressed in shorts and a t-shirt and headed for the kitchen. As she walked through the living room, her eyes scanned the deck area looking for Rocco. When she saw him, she was amazed at the sense of relief she felt. Huh? She would have to examine that feeling later.
As she started the coffee, she turned to catch another glimpse of him and caught him watching her. With a grin, she waved at him and gestured to the coffee cup she held in her hand. When he nodded, she carried two cups of coffee out onto the deck, sat down at the deck table, and waited for Rocco to join her.
This would quickly become their morning ritual. She’d make coffee, offer him some, and then she would hang out on the deck, talking to him while he worked as she drank her first cup of coffee. The day would progress with her watching a movie or reading for a while. He would knock on the door whenever he needed an extra set of hands and she would help him and then retreat inside the cabin.
At lunchtime, they would walk down to the lake and eat together, carefully avoiding any conversations that might become controversial. It was a strange kind of truce.
After a few days of this, Rocco took the offered coffee and gestured to the built-in planters he was installing around the deck. “Thanks. So what do you think of the planter boxes?”
“They’re going to be a great addition. Has my uncle decided what kind of plants he’s going to put in them yet?” Lee took a sip of her coffee.
“Not that I know of. He mentioned some sort of evergreen, something that will keep its leaves even when the weather turns cold.”
She nodded. “That would look nice. I always hate the way flowerbeds and pots look during the winter. Callow and empty. Evergreens would be perfect.”
“Hmm. Never thought about it that way. My job is to build them, not fill them up.”
Lee laughed at his response; it was typical for him. He could become so absorbed in his work, tuning out everything else. But before she could respond, the phone inside the cabin started ringing. She sat down her coffee cup on the table and excused herself to go answer it.
Once inside she grabbed the phone on the fourth ring. “Hello?”
“Lee? It’s Trevor Armstrong.”
“Trevor, how are you?” She wondered why her boss was calling. “How did you get this number?”
“I asked your secretary. It seems you’ve been very diligent in making sure everyone around here knew how to get in touch with
you.” After a slight pause, he said, “How’s your time up there in the mountains going? Are you feeling any more relaxed?”
She sighed into the phone. “I actually am. And you’ll be happy to know that I haven’t checked my email once in the last several days.”
Trevor chuckled. “That’s good. I’d hate to have to fire my favorite attorney for failure to obey a direct order. Seriously though, how are you doing? Do you feel like you’ve gotten a break and are ready to return to work? Be honest here.”
Lee hesitated for a moment before she said, “I guess I’m ready. I’m much calmer and believe I can handle the stress again.”
Her boss listened patiently as she explained about her life up at the cabin and commented several times on how relaxed and happy she sounded. Then he came clean with the true reason for his phone call. “Look, Lee. I know you still have some time left on your sabbatical, but we just landed a huge case and we could really use your help in the office. If you’re ready, I’d be more than happy to have you return earlier.”
Lee’s mouth opened and closed like that of a fish out of water. And to her own surprise she discovered that unlike a week ago, where she would have jumped at the chance to return to work, she was actually hesitant to make that commitment. But she had to give her boss an answer, so she played for time: “Trevor, I appreciate your offer to return to work early, but I need to sleep over it. I’ve sublet my apartment for the next few weeks and would have to find some place else to live for the time being. Could I get back to you in a few days’ time?”
“Sure. Lee, if you’re not ready to return yet, or you just want to finish your vacation, don’t hesitate to let me know. Nothing would be worse than you coming back too early and having another meltdown.”
“Thanks, Trevor. For everything.”
She hung up and let her mind wander back to her senior year at college, when she was full of ideals. Her friend Karen had often teased her with her fiery desire to make the world a better place. But then her fiancé had dumped her for another girl, and she wanted to get as far away from her life in Santa Clara as possible. That had been the main reason why she’d accepted the job offer from Parker & Armstrong – in Chicago.
Trevor Armstrong had soon become her mentor, impressed with her drive and tenacity in the courtroom. But more than once he’d voiced his concerns as he witnessed how she’d changed and how much she took those divorce cases to heart.
On one occasion, he’d even told her that, despite her immaculate track record, he wasn’t convinced she’d made the right career choice. She could still hear his words in her mind: “Not everyone is cut out to practice family law. It takes a lot of cold-bloodedness not to be affected by the dirty laundry of our clients, and I’m afraid you may sacrifice your inner convictions in the pursuit of a career. If you ever feel this isn’t for you, I want you to be absolutely honest with me. I like you too much to allow this to happen.”
***
Rocco had tried not to listen in on her conversation through the open porch door, but despite his better judgment he’d found himself straining to hear anyway. If her straight posture was any sign to go by, the caller probably was from her workplace.
Almost without noticing he’d moved closer to the door with his tools in hand. And then he wished he hadn’t. The fact that she was considering returning to work earlier than planned sent a searing pain right into his heart. His reaction was ridiculous at best. There was nothing between them, and they hadn’t shared more than coffee and talks on the beach. So why would he care if she left?
He scolded himself for eavesdropping and quickly moved back over to the other side of the deck as he heard her end the call. But when she didn’t return to the deck – and her coffee – he became worried and went to look for her. She was sitting at the kitchen bar, with an empty stare in her beautiful blue eyes.
When she continued to sit there motionless, his heart broke for her and he needed to find out what was wrong with her. He grabbed her coffee cup and knocked on the doorframe before entering. “I brought your coffee with me. Is everything okay?”
Lee started at the sound of his knock and turned to look at him with a very confused expression on her face. “Yeah, everything’s okay. I guess,” she said, as she took the coffee cup from his hand and took a small sip. With a grimace she shouted, “Bah, it’s cold,” before she got off the stool and dumped the cold coffee down the sink. Then she poured herself a fresh cup, and offered him one too, but he declined.
With fresh – and hot – coffee in her hand, she said, “That was my boss. He offered to let me return to work a few weeks earlier than planned.”
“He did? That’s good, right?”
“Funny thing is, I’m not sure. I haven’t even thought about work the last several days. And I can’t go back to my apartment for another two weeks.” Lee glanced at Rocco across the kitchen, and this did funny things to him. “I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
Rocco cleared his throat, but didn’t have the slightest idea what to say. He couldn’t well say, “Stay. I’m gonna miss you much more than I like to admit.” But it was her choice, and he was stubborn enough not to say or do anything that might influence her decision. Maybe now was one of those times where saying nothing was the only right thing to do? He hope it was, because he seriously lacked in the area of finding the right words, so he turned around and went back to work.
As he worked, his eyes kept straying to Lee. And every time they did, a very confusing feeling spread across his body. She spent a long time standing at the kitchen sink, staring out of the window. When she finally left the kitchen, it was to get on the treadmill. She appeared to have lost some of her joy from the past days, and Rocco cursed himself for being too much of a coward to go inside and pull her into his arms.
Rocco decided it was best to accustom himself to her absence, so he didn’t knock on the door, or ask her to join him for lunch. It would probably upset her, but she was leaving anyway, so why should he care?
Unfortunately, he did care and it bothered him to intentionally hurt Lee by going to lunch without her. The longer the day went on, the worse he felt. This woman had captured a part of his heart he didn’t know still existed, and he was at a loss to decide how to handle her imminent departure.
After feeling miserable for much too long, he did what he did best: he avoided the issue and ran away. A small part of him urged him to go and talk to her, but since Kathryn’s betrayal he was too messed up to act on his rational voice. He didn’t even bother to return to the cabin and put his tools away as he normally did, but headed straight home after lunch.
The way he was feeling, raw and upset, he didn’t want to risk running into her. On his way home he dropped by the liquor store, hoping he could drink her out of his mind. Drinking himself to sleep had worked wonders for getting his mind off his problems in the first months after Kathryn had left. The fact that he would feel horrible the next day, and his problems would still be there, never factored in.
It would serve just as well to forget the gorgeous woman sitting up on the hill who had worked her way under his skin. She was leaving and he needed to get her out of his system. Normally, that would include several sessions of hot sweaty sex, but since that wasn’t happening, a case of beer would have to suffice. Turning on the TV, he settled down on the couch and opened the first of many beers to come.
Chapter 12
Up on the hill, Lee was still keeping watch for Rocco to return. She had lost track of time, and when her stomach had finally gotten her attention, she realized he’d never stopped by for lunch.
When she walked out on the deck to remind him, there was no trace of him anywhere. Because his tools were still lying around, she figured he’d had to run into town for something and would be back shortly. But as the afternoon slipped away, and Rocco didn’t return, she went from being angry to worried and back to angry as hell.
How dare he leave without telling her? She thought they’d become friends of
sorts. As darkness settled in, Lee comprehended he wasn’t going to return that day. She unplugged his power tools and moved them to a covered spot on the deck, complaining to herself the entire time. He would get a mouthful of her thoughts the next morning. At a minimum, he could have called and let her know he wasn’t coming back.
The next morning, Lee woke up at 8 o’clock, ready to let Rocco know exactly what she thought about his rude behavior the day before. But he didn’t show up. Her anger transformed into worry once again. What if something had happened to him? Her mind imagined vivid pictures of Rocco lying somewhere in the woods, covered in blood. She scolded herself for exaggerating, but a nagging feeling stayed with her.
She took a shower and dressed for the day. Maybe he’d had to run some errands before coming to work on the cabin? Yes, that was the most plausible explanation. Something had come up and he hadn’t been able to call her. It made perfect sense. He’d show up on the deck soon enough.
But when she emerging from the bedroom an hour later, and Rocco still was nowhere in sight, this perfectly plausible explanation was shattered to pieces. His power tools were lying in the same pile she had put them in the night before. He still wasn’t at work.
Vacillating between worry and anger, she decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and wait for another hour. By 10:30 a.m., she had worked herself into a frenzy and was spitting mad. How dare he take the day off? Her uncle was paying him to finish the project. She was expecting him to be there. Off course the real reason for her wrath was an entirely different one. But Lee would not go down the rails of that train of thought.
She gathered her purse and keys and before she could stop herself, she was headed into town and Rocco’s house. When she saw his truck sitting neatly in the driveway, she saw red. Her blood boiling, she climbed from her vehicle, approached the front door, and knocked.
