Love and Lust (Small Town Secrets Book 2)

by Jade C. Jamison

  With that image, I tried to picture myself smothering a guy who lifted weights on the regular as Adam had implied. While I felt like I was pretty strong, I didn’t believe I could perpetrate the crime Adam’s client was alleged to have committed. Unless I started weight training, there was no way I could win arm wrestling a guy, so how could I hold a pillow against a man’s face long enough to kill him? Something didn’t add up. “Then I really don’t think she could have done it by herself. But why is the trial just focused on her? Couldn’t she have done it with someone else?”

  Walking over to me, Adam placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “Thanks, Samantha. Throw doubt back in that she was behind it all. Just what I needed.” He grinned, giving a shake of his head. “Seriously, thanks, partner.” Being close was fine until he moved so that he stood right in front of me and gazed in my eyes.

  Uh…no. It had taken me the better part of a year to get over this guy—trying to forget the cute dimples in his ass, his firm, toned body, the hidden tattoo on his right pec that few ever saw. Why the hell was he doing this now?

  Patting his hand in as friendly and platonic a manner as I could manage without giving the impression that I was the least bit interested, I then gently removed it from my shoulder. “Look, Adam, I’ve really got to go.”

  It was almost imperceptible, but I could sense his muscles stiffening. “What’s so important that you’re in such a hurry to get out of here?”

  Taking in a deep breath, I forced myself to maintain eye contact. “Kind of a date.”

  Raising his eyebrows, he examined me. “Wow—you haven’t had one of those in a while. Not a real one anyway.”

  “Fuck you.” I half smiled but his words hurt, too, so I decided to cut my losses and leave. I had things to do anyway. “Have a good night, partner.”

  But he spoke before I could get through his office door. “Wait. I’m just curious. What do you mean kind of?”

  “You wouldn’t understand.” Nor did I plan to explain. “See you tomorrow.”

  “Hey.”

  I struggled to keep the irritation from marring my expression. “Yeah?”

  “Have you ever thought about…?”

  No. No way. His words confirmed my suspicions, and I wasn’t going to get caught up in another relationship with this man, no matter how I’d felt about him at one time. It would be bad for us both, not to mention the partnership. “Adam, not right now, okay? I already told you I have to go. If you really need to talk tomorrow, catch me in the morning.”

  And I hustled the hell out of there without affording a look at his face to see if my words cut through him. Even not having an appointment I had to hurry for, Adam and I again would be bad news—and he knew it.

  Back in my office, I kept up the speed, grabbing my purse and marching across the small room before shutting off the light. As I walked into the lobby, Adam stood in his doorway almost as if he didn’t know what hit him. Janae had already left for the evening, so he’d have to lock up.

  It’d do him a little good.

  Forcing a smile without losing momentum, I crossed the waiting room toward the front door. “See you tomorrow.”

  “Have a good night.” He didn’t sound convincing, but that wasn’t going to stop me from hitting the front door with the intensity of a linebacker.

  Relishing the feel of the sun on my face as it thawed me from being air-conditioned all day, I enjoyed how the warmth of early evening penetrated down to my bones. As I jumped in my black Viper, my pride and joy, I tried to wrap my mind around whatever the hell was going on with Adam.

  Why?

  Why now?

  I peeled out of the parking lot, trying to get that man out of my mind. For good. And I knew the best way how.

  Like I’d done many times in the past, I was going to be bad. A little sex with a super-hot guy, and Adam would once more be a thing of the past.

  Onward and upward.

  Chapter Four

  Five minutes after seven.

  If phones had a personality, mine would be laughing right now—or, at least, smirking. Told ya so.

  Inviting Ryan Craig out for a drink had been stupid and risky, and I shouldn’t have felt any amount of surprise at the fact that I was sitting here alone. He probably knew that asking him out to celebrate was at best unorthodox and at worst unethical.

  I sipped at the Jack and Coke I’d ordered prematurely, now berating myself for wasting so damn much time picking out my outfit, which had turned out to be nothing more than a pair of snug jeans and red baby-doll tee that fit like a glove.

  What was worse was imagining the next time he came into the office for something officially related to his case. I knew already how awkward that encounter was going to feel. But it was too late to worry about that.

  Glancing down at my phone again, I half expected a text, but there was nothing. As I picked up my drink and peeked toward the door, I saw a familiar face. “Oh, my God. Samantha Paulson! How the hell have you been?”

  I couldn’t help but greet the smiling face approaching the bar with the same enthusiasm. “Nicki Sosebee!” I stood up and gave her a hug when she got close. “I swear you never change a bit.”

  “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

  “It’s great! You look as fresh as you did when we graduated high school.”

  “I doubt that. So what have you been up to? Saving the world? Putting away bad guys one at a time?”

  “Nah. I’m afraid my job’s not that glamorous. I’m more likely to make sure mom doesn’t get screwed in the divorce settlement or help someone draw up a will.”

  “Still sounds pretty exciting. Hey, a bunch of us are having a girls’ night out.” She pointed to a spot deeper in the bar and waved at a table full of giggling women. “If you want, we’d love to have you join us.”

  “Thanks a bunch, Nicki. I appreciate the offer, but I’m waiting for someone.” I just didn’t know if he was going to show up.

  “No problem. The offer stands if you and your friend want to join us.”

  “Thanks.”

  “We should do lunch sometime and catch up.”

  “Yeah, let’s plan on it.”

  As Nicki walked away, I was grateful she’d taken my mind off my nerves, even if only for a couple of minutes, but the anxious feeling quickly rushed back in full force now that she wasn’t distracting me. I decided if Ryan wasn’t here by the time I finished my drink, I’d leave.

  Or maybe join Nicki’s group, find a hot guy to take home, fuck Ryan’s memory out of my brain.

  Yeah, that sounded like a better idea.

  I sipped my drink once more, glancing around the bar again. Maybe I missed him somehow when I’d first arrived. After all, I’d gotten here just a couple of minutes before seven. Instead, I could have kicked myself when my eyes locked with a guy named Ed O’Malley.

  Shit.

  Ed was an Assistant District Attorney who’d been pursuing me ever since Adam and I had split. At first, I hadn’t wanted to date him simply because I’d needed some time for my heart to heal—but he’d become a little too pushy and over-the-top cocky, turning me off permanently. And the guy apparently couldn’t get a clue because he still called once in a while. Good looking? Sure. He wore expensive suits and seemed to be in great shape, dark hair, clean shaven face, deep brown eyes—but if it was a choice between Ed and going home alone, I’d opt for my handheld boyfriend any day of the week.

  Unfortunately, making eye contact had made him think I’d given him the green light, because he was heading my way.

  Goddammit. If I deserted my drink now and headed for the door, it would be all too obvious that I was avoiding him like the plague—and I didn’t want to have the reputation of being a complete bitch unless I earned it in court. Maybe I could go ahead and talk shop with him for a few minutes and then excuse myself. I’d go home then, but not before running by the supermarket to grab a pint of Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Therapy.

  I could
n’t believe I was being stood up.

  Lifting my glass, I downed what was left of my drink, knowing that would make it easier to slip out after talking to Ed for a couple of minutes. I tried to think of a good excuse. Maybe something like it’s been a hard day and I just needed something to take the edge off—but now I need to get to work on a case.

  Yeah, that sounded plausible enough.

  As I brought the glass away from my face, I half-expected to see Ed right there by the table—but I was pleasantly surprised to see Ryan Craig appear in full view, blotting out the Assistant DA entirely. “Hey, Ryan!” I hoped my voice didn’t sound too eager or that the relief I felt didn’t appear in my eyes as I saw Ed in my peripheral vision turning back around.

  I felt a huge sense of relief for more than one reason.

  “Hey.”

  “Why don’t we find a table?”

  The bartender asked what Ryan wanted to drink. “I’ll just take a Bud.”

  “Make that two.”

  In less than three minutes, we were seated in a small booth near the wall—not quite out of Ed’s line of vision but far enough out of the way past the pool tables and traffic that passersby would get a clue that we wanted a little time alone.

  At least, I hoped so.

  Ryan lifted his bottle to his lips. “I didn’t recognize you at first.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Yeah. The only times I’ve seen you, you were in a suit. I guess I expected to see you that way because that’s all I’ve ever seen you wear.”

  Another clue I chose to ignore that what I was doing was completely unprofessional.

  “Well, get used to it, ‘cause I’m not at the office or in a courtroom. I prefer casual when I’m off the clock.” And I couldn’t help but take him in. He had on a blue t-shirt that hinted at the sculpted musculature underneath and a baseball cap that he took off and set on the table. He looked and smelled like he’d freshly showered—probably something he had to do every evening after work, considering he was in construction—and I picked up the scent of a spicy masculine cologne.

  Goddamn. If the man had been a platter of food, I would have already scarfed up half the plate.

  “You said we don’t have to go to court?”

  “Right. For now, at least. As I said earlier, Ms. Evans’s attorney called me today and told me she’s agreed to have herself and the baby tested. They’ll be doing that next week.”

  “I guess that is a reason to celebrate.”

  I held up my beer bottle. “Cheers.”

  Giving me a small smile, he clicked his bottle on mine. “Cheers.”

  As we both took swigs from our bottles, I decided I wanted to get him talking, telling me more about himself. After all, getting more familiar would make it easier to indulge ourselves.

  Or scare us off—which probably wouldn’t be a bad thing.

  “So, Ryan, tell me a little about yourself.”

  Setting the bottle on the table, he connected his eyes with mine. “Like what?”

  “Why don’t we start with your job?”

  “You’d probably find it boring. It’s just a bunch of guys getting dirty building stuff.”

  “It’s lots more than that. What made you interested in construction?”

  He half-shrugged. “I’ve worked a lot of shit jobs.” He looked like he’d punched the pope and had second thoughts. “Sorry.”

  “Don’t be. Language doesn’t offend me.”

  Nodding, he continued. “There’s something satisfying about working your ass off and then having something huge to show for it.”

  “I can relate to that. So what do you do for fun?”

  His lips curled as he wrapped his hand around the beer bottle again. “You first. You already know plenty about me.”

  Oh, my. If I wasn’t mistaken, he was actually flirting. Having sex was one of my hobbies, but being forward had worked against me in the past. Subtlety seemed to lead to the path of least resistance—probably because it involved making the man as interested in me as I was in him before going any further. I didn’t give a shit if nothing else happened.

  But he’d asked a question and telling him that sex was one of the things I did for fun—especially considering I tended to be an all-work-and-little-play kind of gal—would probably go over like a volleyball made of concrete.

  “Fair enough. Let’s see. I like going out and having a few drinks, like now. I like hanging out with my friends…and I like going to movies and concerts.” I let out a laugh. “God, do I sound as boring to you as I do to myself?”

  “You don’t sound boring.”

  “Then I’m making my life sound more glamorous than it really is. I’m more likely to be at home curling up with a copy of the Colorado Revised Statutes than I am to be found at a barbecue.”

  “So work’s important to you.”

  “Yeah. And since I own half the business, I tend to put in a lot of hours.”

  “I get the idea from movies that you’d be putting in a lot of hours as a lawyer anyway.”

  “That’s true. I guess maybe lawyers as a whole are boring.”

  “I don’t believe that.” I arched an eyebrow, taking a sip of my beer, trying to figure out what he was thinking. Was he about to tell me? “I mean…you invited me here. I don’t know that another lawyer would have asked me to come out and celebrate.”

  God, he had that right. But I did not want to analyze once more how I was crossing a line, so it was best to divert his attention. “Okay, your turn.”

  “I hang out with friends, too. Sometimes catch a game. Not a huge sports fan, but I like to watch sometimes.” Already more of a dream guy—not addicted to sports. A definite plus. “I like to shoot pool. I like movies and concerts, too. I sometimes go four-wheeling with the guys.” He shrugged. “I dunno. Do you want to shoot pool right now?”

  Not really—but I wasn’t going to let him know about my one-track mind. “Maybe later.”

  Ryan took another swig of his beer. The way he held it made me sure he was getting near the bottom—and with my luck so far, he’d probably leave shortly after. If he made for the door, I’d give in and suggest playing pool. His eyes seemed to drill through me. “Can I ask you a question?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Do you always take your clients out to celebrate their successes?”

  Why was he asking? Did he know I was dabbling in ethically gray territory? I could pretend that this was a normal occurrence, but then I’d risk sending a message that he wasn’t that important.

  That would be the safe—and right—thing to do, but I’d already come this far…

  It was time for me to tell Mr. Ryan Craig the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but. “Honestly? Not usually.” Biting my lip, I searched his eyes as I tried to find the right words. “I just…found you very interesting, and I wanted to get to know you better.”

  I didn’t breathe as I assessed his expression, trying to figure out what he was thinking. After what felt like forever, I saw a small smile form on his face before he ran his tongue along his bottom lip.

  Holy shit. The feeling was mutual.

  Probably.

  “I’m glad you did.” As his smile faded, my heart started beating faster in my chest cavity as a shiver ran up my spine—and we spoke through our eyes.

  I scooted on the vinyl seat so I could get closer to the man who was slowly shifting from a client to my date—and tried not to cloud my mind with fantasies of his cock, because I hoped to find out for real soon enough.

  Chapter Five

  One huge barrier had just toppled.

  It was almost imperceptible, but his face drew closer to mine and I responded in kind. My voice came out as hardly more than a breath. “Good. I wouldn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.”

  When Ryan ran his tongue over his lips once more, I couldn’t help but look at his mouth. God, I was aching to feel him. When I looked back at his eyes, I searched them. Even though I was now confident t
hat he felt the same way, the deal hadn’t been sealed yet—so I slowly narrowed the gap between us, bringing my face closer to his. Ever so gently, I touched his lips with mine, softly brushing mine on his, and when he didn’t stop me, I brought my hands to his chest. His response was almost immediate and he pressed his lips hard into mine. I could have melted, but instead I slid my hands around his neck.

  This guy was mine now. At least for tonight.

  Soon, his tongue tickled my lips as his arms wrapped around my waist. Ah, it was so easy, just like we’d been made for this. I opened my mouth to invite his tongue in, meeting it with mine. My toes curled, my thigh muscles tightened as I relished his strength, his taste, and the way he felt up against me. The heat radiating off his body was even more noticeable in the air-conditioned bar.

  The question now was how far he wanted to go. I was ready to run for the finish line even more after his kiss than I’d been before.

  When our lips parted, I almost struggled to catch my breath. Inhaling to the bottom of my lungs, I forced my eyes open. “I’m glad you came—and found me as interesting as I find you. I just didn’t think I was your type.”

  “And how would you know what my type is?”

  I didn’t want to answer his question because I’d already formed a rather strong and possibly erroneous opinion based on what little I already knew about the man. I imagined slutty-looking women throwing themselves at him, ones with cut-off jean shorts tiny enough to show off the tramp stamps, long, tangled, bleached hair, too much eyeliner applied in raccoon-like fashion. His eyes were dark now and, rather than respond to his question, I touched my lips to his again. If he forced the issue, I’d have to answer, but I was going to try to get out of it first like any good defense attorney.

  If nothing else, I’d bought a minute so I could think up something believable.

  All my muscles grew taut as his strong hands touched the small of my back again, and, as he pulled back from our kiss, I found it hard to open my eyes again. The man was delicious and I hadn’t felt this steamed up in a long damn time.

  Rather than answer his question now, I countered with one, a technique I wouldn’t dare try in most courtrooms. I whispered just loud enough that he could hear me but I wanted to appeal to his masculine side by being as feminine as possible. “So what is your type, Ryan Craig?” Touching my nose to his, I stared in his eyes, calm and quiet, awaiting his answer.