Forbidden Fruit: Volume 1

by Harley, Lisa M.

  Jackson dropped his head against the back of the couch, trying to recover. Breathing heavily, he tried to remember the last time he’d come so fast. He wasn't sure if it was the stress or the thought of Nora that had made his orgasm so powerful, but he needed to find out. When his breathing finally returned to normal and he could think clearly again, he wondered what all of it meant. Could he actually be considering a tryst with the nineteen-year-old daughter of a client? With the way his body felt after his release, the deep sense of relief he hadn't felt in a long time, he was determined to find the cause in any way, shape, or form. Even if that meant seeing Nora again.

  The question was: would he see her again? He wasn't sure if she would show up to the following week’s hearing, and he really didn't want to wait that long.. With these thoughts running through his brain, it was probably better if he didn't see her in front of her parents anyway.

  Her parents.

  Like a flash of lightning, he realized the easiest and quickest way to see her again would be to talk to her about her parents’ hearing. It would be completely reasonable to have a sit-down with her over her father's case. With that in mind, he made the one phone call that would make it happen.

  Chapter Three

  “What's for dinner?” Jenna whined.

  “Enough whining,” Nora said, stirring a pot of boiling water. “We're having spaghetti.”

  “Well, I'm glad you're cooking. Dad's cooking sucks” Charlie said, looking around the kitchen. Although he didn't have to worry; their dad had taken a phone call from his lawyer a few minutes ago and went into the other room for privacy. Nora knew he was doing his best to keep Charlie and Jenna away from the divorce proceedings, so she agreed to stay and make dinner while he went over his case with his lawyer. Everything about the divorce made her sick. She knew it was for the best, but watching her brother and sister with their worried eyes hurt the most. She tried to shake off the gloomy thoughts by focusing on the assignment she needed to make up from missing class. After a few minutes she started to lose focus, and without meaning to, her mind drifted back to other parts of the morning, specifically Jackson Garnes.

  Just the thought of him had her starting to feel flushed. Though she knew it was ridiculous, she couldn't shake him from her thoughts. From the way the fabric of his suit stretched across the muscles of his back when he moved to the sexy way he’d said her name earlier. All of it in an irresistible package. And as long as it stayed a daydream, who would it hurt? She only had to see him one more time, when she went back to her parents’ hearing next week. After that, Mr. Garnes would only be a memory—hopefully a memory that would leave her with happy dreams.

  “Nora?” her father called from the other room.

  “I'll be right there,” she said, wiping her hands off on a towel. If her father didn't want to come into the kitchen to talk to her, it couldn't be good. “You two stay here and make sure that doesn't boil over.”

  “All right,” Charlie said, barely looking up from his phone.

  Nora walked into the living room to see her dad sitting on the couch, still on the phone. When he looked up and saw her, he held up a finger, asking her to wait.

  “Hold on, Jackson. Nora just walked into the room. Let me ask her.”

  He was on the phone with his lawyer, but Nora didn’t understand what that had to do with her. Her dad pulled the phone from his ear and covered it with his hand. “Do you have class tomorrow?”

  Simple enough. He just wanted to know her schedule. “Yeah. I have one class in the morning, but then I'm free the rest of the day. Why?”

  “Jackson would like to talk to you about the hearing. He has a few questions he'd like to ask you if you'd be able to stop by his office tomorrow.”

  Great. She thought she was free and clear until next week. “Are you coming, too?”

  He shook his head. “No, this will just be the two of you. He thinks my presence may influence some of your answers.”

  Just the two of us? Right, that was the last thing she needed. How was she supposed to go to his office tomorrow and focus on the questions he was asking? Forget the fact that somehow she needed to hide her attraction to him and the blush that was sure to show on her face. As she tried to think of a way out of it, she noticed the concerned look on her father's face and she knew she couldn't say no to him. There wasn't a solid reason she could give him for not going. She’d have to suck it up and go and hopefully stay as neutral as possible while not embarrassing herself.

  Nora nodded. “Ask him if one is okay.” she said, hoping he didn't question her hesitation.

  Her dad picked up the phone again. “How's one o'clock? Good, she'll meet you then.” He ended the call and dropped the phone into his pocket.

  “Thank you, honey. I know you don't want to be in the middle of all of this, but I'm glad you agreed to go.” She was relieved when she heard her dad's theory on why she wouldn't want to go. The tension in her shoulders eased, and she lighter and more relaxed than she had all morning. Her father had to have seen her tension in her features because he came over to reassure her.

  He wrapped her in a hug. “I want you to know that I would happily split custody with your mother, but she's determined not to let me see Charlie and Jenna, and I can't let that happen.”

  “I know.” Nora's nerves at seeing Jackson Garnes again had her agreeing to anything her father said.

  He let her go and stepped back. “Okay, let's go finish dinner.” Nora nodded, still in a daze as her father led her to the kitchen.

  Throughout dinner, she tried to focus on the conversation, and eventually she was able to shake off the feelings of worry from earlier and enjoy dinner with her family. But that night, alone in her dorm room, it was a very different story. While she tried to concentrate on her homework, thoughts of tomorrow's meeting kept creeping into her mind. She reminded herself that he was her father's lawyer—a man mostly likely twice her age—and there was no reason she should have this obsessive attraction to him. She knew she wasn’t going to get any work done, so gave up on her homework for the night, figuring it was best to get a good night’s sleep and put this whole day behind her.

  Tossing and turning most of the night, Nora got little sleep. Her overactive imagination conjured pictures of Mr. Garnes every time she closed her eyes.. The dreams were enough to have her more than a little worked up, and for the first time in her life, she considered taking care of it herself. In the early hours of the morning she was able to fall asleep, only to be startled by her alarm clock blaring in her ear, making her feel as if she'd only been asleep for five minutes. With dread settling in the pit of her stomach, she threw off the covers to get ready for class. The worst part of the morning came when she had to decide what she was going to wear to the meeting. At first she’d chosen to go with jeans, but she worried about looking too young. She went through six different outfits, finally deciding on a skirt and sweater combo with knee-high brown boots. It seemed like a mature, yet dressy outfit, but not like she was trying to hard.

  Before she could get the meeting over with, she had to go to her only class of the day. She debated whether she'd be better off skipping class since there was no way she'd be able to concentrate with the meeting looming over her head. Deciding that she didn't want to have to make up twice the amount of work, she collected her bag and left. Although she willed time to stop, the class moved along pretty quickly and soon after it started, it was over. Normally she met her roommate, Kara, for lunch, but today she wasn't very hungry. Walking to the cafeteria, she spotted Kara sitting in their normal spot on the far wall. She bypassed the food and moved in that direction, deciding to skip lunch. She'd stop for something on her way back to campus after her meeting.

  With a sigh, she dropped down into the seat across from Kara, whose head snapped up from the book she was reading. Concern etched her features as she took in Nora's face and demeanor.

  “What's wrong?” Kara asked, her brow furrowed.

  “I have to
meet with my dad's lawyer today.” Nora decided to leave out the part about her attraction to the man.

  Kara reached over to cover Nora's hand with hers. “Oh, honey, I'm so sorry you have to keep dealing with this. Hopefully it'll all be over soon. Is there anything you need me to do?”

  Nora shook her head. “No, I just have a bad feeling about it.”

  “That's just because you don't want to take sides. Don't worry, it'll be fine.” After a moment of silence, Kara changed the subject, which was exactly what Nora needed to calm her nerves. “So did you see this assignment for Chem? It's gonna take forever.” Her stomach began to settle, and she was able to put the meeting out of her mind for a bit. From there the conversation lapsed into its normal tones until it was time for Nora to leave for her appointment.

  Nora slowly began to gather up her things, digging through her purse to find her keys. “I should get going if I’m going to make it there on time,” she said, standing.

  “Okay. If you need to talk later, you know where to find me,” Kara said reassuringly. Nora nodded and made her way out the door. As she approached the car, she noticed her hands began to sweat. Whatever happened today, she needed to keep herself together.

  It was a short drive to Mr. Garnes’s office. Nora turned off her car and laid her head against the steering wheel. This was ridiculous. He only needed to ask a couple of questions about her parents, and then she could take her juvenile infatuation back to her dorm. She'd convince Kara to go out dancing with her tonight and explain the whole situation. Feeling a little better, Nora got out of her car and made her way into the building. As she approached the receptionist and was directed to the fifth floor, the plain beige walls reminded her of why she never wanted to work in an office. Exiting the elevator, Nora took in the elaborate decor of the office. She knew her father was successful at his job, but she had no idea he earned the kind of money a lawyer like this must cost. The receptionist for the law office immediately directed Nora to Mr. Garnes’s office.

  Even with her pep talk in the car, Nora's hands started to shake as she followed the receptionist back to his office, trying to prepare herself to see him again without giving away this new obsession she’d acquired. Raising her hand, she knocked on the door. Within seconds the door swung open, and he was even sexier than she realized yesterday. Without his suit jacket on, his shoulders looked broader, his rolled-up sleeves showing off strong, tanned forearms, making her fingers twitch to reach up and feel the strength he portrayed. Mr. Garnes gestured for her to enter his office, and Nora took a cautious step inside.

  “Nora, thank you so much for coming. I hope we'll be able to get some things cleared up today,” he said, gesturing towards the couch against the wall of his office. His eyes traveled down her body and back up again, spreading heat wherever his gaze touched. Did he really just check me out? Nora realized she was being ridiculous and gave herself a mental shake. So much for not letting her desire for this man get the best of her.

  “No problem, Mr. Garnes. What can I help you with?” Nora asked, taking a seat on the couch. Nervously, she watched as he moved around the table to sit next to her. The smell of his cologne, so close to her made her body start to heat. She needed to get this over with and soon.

  “Please call me Jackson,” he said, draping his arm along the back. “I wanted to ask you a few questions.”

  “Okay, Jackson.” His name felt weird rolling off of her tongue, but she was willing to do anything to appease him at this point and speed up the conversation. With his arm so close to her shoulders, the desire to touch him only increased. It took everything she had to keep her hands to herself. Soon she’d need to sit on them if she couldn't find a way out of this office and fast.

  Chapter Four

  Jackson watched as Nora fidgeted on the couch, his eyes dropping to the beautiful swell of her breasts, which was accentuated by her sweater. When he’d opened his office door, his eyes immediately did a sweeping gaze of her body, her skirt showing off the a peek of skin before her boot started, hinting at the legs that had tormented him throughout the night. Just the thought of her showing up to his office had him hard, a condition he hadn’t been able to address since this morning. He wasn’t sure whether he imagined it, but he thought her breathing had sped up while he was looking at her. Did she feel the same need he did? This was a theory he wanted to test, so he sat as close as he could without being obvious and put his arm behind her to gauge her reaction. This time he saw the little hitch in her breathing, the way she seemed to take in more air and held it for that extra count before letting it out, as well as the pink tint to her cheeks. She was just as turned on as he was, but she was trying to hide it, and he understood why. Whatever this was between them was not supposed to be there, yet it was too strong to ignore. He decided to start with some questions about her parents before moving to questions about her.

  “What would you like to know, Jackson?”

  What you taste like. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. The way his name rolled off tongue had his dick twitching in his pants, which he ignored. He had to tread carefully. Earlier, he’d come up with a list of questions to ask, but now that she was sitting in front of him, he was drawing a blank. Thinking was hard, but finally he came up with a good lead-in question.

  “Were your parents always this volatile around each other?

  She shook her head. “No. Things were good between them when I was growing up. It wasn't until about five years ago that things started to go downhill.”

  While he was taking mental notes on everything she said, he was also genuinely concerned about their life at home. “What happened?”

  “You know, I'm not exactly sure what happened. One minute everything was fine, and then things changed. I spent most of my time hiding the fighting from Charlie and Jenna, so I never really bothered to look any deeper into the 'why.' ”

  “Okay. So which one of your parents have you chosen to live with?”

  “Actually, I don't live with either. I live in the dorms on campus. I needed time away from all of the crap so I could get my work done.”

  “Really?” And what are you studying in school?” He began to notice that the more questions he asked, the more she fidgeted in her seat—picking at her fingernails and crossing and uncrossing her legs, which was doing wicked things to his body. Whatever he’d hoped to accomplish, he needed to do it fast before she found a reason to make a beeline for the door.

  “I'm studying chemistry and biology. I hope to become a cancer research scientist.”

  “Do you like school?”

  “Umm... yeah. I've always liked learning new things.” She ran her hand through her hair. “I don't understand what these questions have to do with my parents.”

  She was starting to get worked up, so he knew he had to get her to focus again. The way her leg bounced up and down so much she was shaking the table in front of the couch, signaled her agitation. To earn her trust, he needed her to calm down. He decided the best way to do that was to ask questions she expected, something to regain her trust. “Okay, who do you think would be the best choice to place your brother and sister with?”

  She stood up in a huff. “Look, I've told both of my parents this already. There is no way I am taking either side in this whole mess, and it's not fair for anyone to ask me to.” She bent down to pick up her purse, flashing Jackson with enough skin to make him lick his lips with the need to taste her. “I think I've answered all of the questions I can today. I don't know what else to tell you, but if you have any further questions, my dad knows how to get in touch with me.”

  Jackson couldn't let her leave his office... not yet. Standing, he reached out and took hold of her hand, stopping her. “Nora, wait.” She spun around at the contact and looked down at their joined hands. Slowly her eyes wandered back up to his, and in them he could see the same desire that was raging through his body. That need had his other hand cupping the side of her face before sliding back into her hair. Even
with the questioning look in her eyes, he lowered his head until his lips were only inches from hers. “I'm sorry, but I can't help myself.” And he let go, sliding his lips across hers in a sensual caress.

  At first she stood frozen, almost as if she was unsure if she should return the kiss. Thankfully that didn't last long. When Jackson brought his other hand around her back to draw her closer, he heard a little moan in the back of her throat and her lips began to move in time with his. The way her soft lips molded so perfectly with his had his tongue slipping between them, seeking entrance to her mouth. He sucked on her bottom lip until she opened, allowing his tongue to tangle with hers. The kiss was sensual and erotic, her slender body trembling in his arms. Unable to control his actions as there was no longer blood flow to his brain, he took small steps until he had her pinned against the wall while his mouth continued to ravage hers. Needing to feel more of her, he slid his hand from her back up and under her sweater. The skin beneath his fingertips was smooth and soft. When his hand reached the bottom of her breast, she let out a soft moan, at least until his thumb stroked under the cup of her bra.