“A few years ago, I was the victim of a wiretapping scandal. The feds were investigating one of my clients, and things got kinda messy.”
Ava was intrigued. “Really? What happened?”
Colby chuckled, low and sexy. “Let’s just say that when the dust settled, my client was twenty million dollars richer, and I’d made some pretty powerful enemies. But, hey, that’s New York politics for you. Anyway, I would offer to come to your office, but I’m waiting on some important documents that have to be signed and notarized by close of business. Would you mind meeting me here?”
Ava wavered, biting her lip. “I don’t know—”
“I’ll order lunch. You like Chinese?”
“Um…yeah.”
“Good. Chinese it is.”
Ava swallowed. “I really don’t think—”
“Listen, sweetheart, I gotta run. See you in a few hours, okay?”
Sweetheart?
“Um, sure,” she mumbled, feeling flustered. “Okay.”
After the call ended, Ava lowered the phone from her ear and exhaled a long, shaky breath. Catching her reflection in the rearview mirror, she was appalled to see how flushed her cheeks were.
What the hell just happened? she wondered. Had she just agreed to meet Colby at his office for lunch?
Apparently so.
“You can do this.” She gritted her teeth. “You will do this.”
Easier said than done.
Chapter 8
That afternoon, Colby was reviewing some case notes with Octavia, one of his paralegals, when a knock sounded at his door. When he lifted his head and saw Ava standing in the doorway behind his secretary, the corners of his mouth hitched up into a smile. Against his better judgment, he was ridiculously happy to see her again.
“Miss Cameron is here for your two o’clock meeting,” Mary cheerfully announced.
“Thanks, Mary.” Colby rose from his desk, giving Ava a slow, thorough perusal. She wore a stylish black pantsuit that molded her curves paired with multicolored stiletto pumps and a black leather handbag tucked into the crook of her arm. She looked cool, composed and professional.
Which made him want to get her naked, sweaty and buck wild.
“Hello,” he murmured.
She inclined her head. “Hello, Mr. Austin.”
He almost smiled, remembering the way she’d sobbed and screamed his name—his first name—in the throes of ecstasy.
Pushing the thought aside—for now—he glanced down at the attractive young woman seated across from his desk. She was staring at Ava with unabashed curiosity.
“I think you’re in good shape, Octavia,” Colby said, reclaiming her attention. “Let me know if you need help with anything else.”
“Will do.” She picked up her legal pad and rose to her feet, then started from the room, hips swinging, long hair swaying. When she reached the door, she and Ava acknowledged each other with cool smiles before Octavia continued down the hallway.
“I’ll bring your lunch when it’s delivered,” Mary told Colby.
“Thanks, Mary.”
The secretary departed, discreetly closing the door behind her.
Colby and Ava stared at each other.
As he rounded the desk and started toward her, he saw her breathing quicken, matching his own erratic respiration. When she nervously moistened her lips, lust heated his blood and thickened in his groin.
When he’d nearly reached her, she held up a hand. “That’s close enough.”
Colby stopped, surprised. “Excuse me?”
“Because you insisted that we meet in person, I have to insist that we maintain an appropriate distance from each other.”
He stared at her. “Are you serious?”
She gave him a level look.
He chuckled, shaking his head. “You are serious.”
Her chin went up. “Considering what happened the last time we were together, it’s obvious that we need to establish some boundaries between us.”
“All right.” Colby gave her a lazy grin. “So what do you suggest? Five feet? Thirty-six inches? Arm’s length? If you can smell coffee on my breath, is that too close?”
Ava frowned. “Why are you mocking me?”
“I’m not.”
“Yes, you are. You think this is funny.”
“No, I don’t,” he insisted, even as laughter tugged at his mouth.
Ava glowered at him. “Look, let’s just respect each other’s personal space, okay?”
“Fair enough.” He gestured toward the round mahogany worktable near the windows. “Shall we?”
Ava hesitated, then brushed past him and started across the room.
He followed her, admiring the way her black pants conformed to the round lushness of her ass, which jiggled enticingly with every step she took.
When they reached the table, he pulled out a chair for her. She murmured her thanks and sat down, crossing her legs and resting her handbag on her lap.
Colby was about to claim the chair beside her when she pointedly cleared her throat.
He paused, cocking an amused brow at her. “Too close?”
“Yes.”
Smothering a chuckle, he rounded the table and sat down across from her. “Better?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He smiled at her.
She didn’t smile back. “The reason I called—”
“Let’s eat first, negotiate later.” As she opened her mouth to protest, Colby added humorously, “I think better on a full stomach.”
She shot him an exasperated look. “You don’t discuss business over the phone. You think better on a full stomach. Are there any other conditions I should know about before we go any further?”
A slow, wicked grin stretched across his face. “Now that you mention it—”
Ava held up a hand. “Never mind. I don’t want to know.”
Colby threw back his head and laughed.
Just then his secretary arrived with their lunch. As she helped Colby set out the fragrant food on the table, Ava slipped inside his private bathroom to wash her hands.
After Mary departed, Colby considered putting on some mellow music but decided against it. He’d already scored a victory by maneuvering Ava into having lunch with him, so he knew he’d better not push his luck. There’d be time enough later for him to wine and dine her.
When she emerged from the bathroom and returned to the table, Colby held out her chair for her. But this time she hesitated, as if she were debating whether to sit or flee the premises.
After what seemed an eternity—but was probably less than a few seconds—she sat down. As Colby pushed her chair back in, his gaze unerringly dropped to the plump swell of cleavage above the scooped neckline of her suit jacket.
His mouth watered. It was all he could do not to lean over and run his lips down to her soft, luscious breasts.
When he lingered behind her too long, Ava shot him a suspicious look over her shoulder.
He smiled, all innocence, then walked around the table to claim his own chair before she could spy his thickening erection.
After helping themselves to steaming portions of kung pao chicken, shrimp lo mein and fried rice, they began eating.
Glancing out the windows at the glistening skyscrapers that merged the Midtown and downtown skylines, Ava murmured, “Nice view.”
Colby followed the direction of her gaze. “It is, isn’t it? I enjoy it.”
“You should.”
He looked at her. “Doesn’t your office have windows?”
“Sure.” Those beautiful dark eyes glinted with mirth. “I’ve got a wonderful view of the back parking lot.”
“Ah.” Colby paused, mouth twitching. “Well, at least you can always see who’s coming and going, right?”
“Absolutely,” she agreed with mock sobriety. “And, really, what could be more important than that?”
They looked at each other, then laughed. That they could find
humor in such a trivial thing made the moment that much sweeter to Colby.
Nimbly twirling lo mein noodles around her chopsticks, Ava remarked, “I’m sure you had a great view of Manhattan at your previous law firm.”
Colby smiled. “Not until I made partner. Before that, I shared a tiny office with another associate, and our view—if you could call it that—overlooked a dirty alley lined with Dumpsters.”
Ava chuckled. “You’re just saying that to make me feel better.”
He grinned. “Did it work?”
“No.” She paused. “Maybe a little.”
They shared another warm, easy laugh.
When the lighthearted moment passed, Ava asked curiously, “So what made you leave New York?”
Colby’s mood darkened at once. Lowering his gaze to his plate, he picked up a piece of chicken with his chopsticks, put it into his mouth and chewed slowly, taking his time before responding. “I had some unfinished business to take care of.”
Ava nodded slowly. “I see.”
No, you don’t, he thought grimly.
Ava ate more lo mein, watching him intently. “Are you making any progress?”
He met her gaze. “With what?”
“Taking care of your unfinished business.”
Colby thought of the last time he’d seen his mother. He remembered the incriminating scent of nicotine on her clothes, remembered the bitter resentment in her eyes when she’d accused him of staying away from home too long.
A shadow of cynicism touched his mouth. “It’s too early to tell,” he answered Ava.
Again she nodded, her eyes filled with gentle understanding.
Deciding to turn the tables on her before she could probe further, Colby said, “So what about you?”
“What about me?”
“Have you ever thought about leaving Atlanta?”
“Very briefly. After I graduated from Emory, I had job offers from three law firms. One was here, and the other two were in Washington, D.C. Frankly, those two were better offers. But I couldn’t accept either one.”
Colby was intrigued. “Why not?”
Ava smiled winsomely. “I’m very close to my family. We do everything together. I couldn’t imagine not being able to hop into my car and swing over to my sister’s house if I’ve had a bad day and need a shoulder to cry on. If I moved away, I’d miss getting mani-pedis and going shopping with her, along with my mom and grandmother. If I’d lived somewhere else when my father had a heart attack three years ago, I never would have forgiven myself if he hadn’t pulled through and I wasn’t here to…” She trailed off, shaking her head at the thought. “Leaving Atlanta just isn’t an option for me.”
“That’s understandable,” Colby murmured, touched by the sentimentality of her admission. “How’s your father doing these days?”
“Much better.” Ava smiled softly. “He’s taking better care of himself, eating healthier and keeping his stress under control, which is no easy feat for a high school principal.”
Colby chuckled. “I bet.”
“Fortunately my mom’s an RN, so she’s been keeping him on the straight and narrow.”
“Glad to hear it.” Colby smiled gently at Ava, entranced by the way her eyes glowed as she spoke about her family. He wanted her to keep talking, wanted to learn everything he could about her.
“Do you like children?”
She looked startled by the question, which he’d blurted out before he could stop himself. “Do I like children?” she repeated.
“Yeah.”
She nodded. “I do. Very much.”
Something like relief swept over Colby.
Ava arched a brow at him. “You seem surprised.”
“Not at all. I’m…pleased.”
“Pleased?”
“Yeah,” he drawled. “I get along better with people who like kids.”
Ava smiled, her expression softening. “I read a piece in the New York Times that you mentored at-risk youth from Brooklyn. That’s wonderful.”
He shrugged off the praise. “They’re great kids with bright futures ahead of them. I’m gonna miss them.”
“I’m sure the feeling’s mutual. Based on some of the kids’ quotes in the article, it sounds like they worshipped the ground you walked on.”
Colby chuckled ruefully. “You shouldn’t believe everything you read.”
Ava’s eyes twinkled. “No?”
“No.”
Without realizing it, they’d pushed aside their empty plates and leaned toward each other, their elbows resting on the table.
Colby gazed at Ava, admiring the way her rich brown skin gleamed in the sunlight. He loved her short, sleek haircut, and the way her feathered bangs swept over one eye was sexy as hell.
“So,” he murmured, giving her a lazy smile, “what other secrets have you uncovered about me since we last spoke?”
Her eyes glimmered with mischief. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”
“I would. That’s why I asked.”
She laughed softly. “Well, let’s see. You’re a proud Morehouse man—”
“Damn proud.”
Ava smiled. “And you earned your law degree from Columbia before you were recruited by one of Manhattan’s top firms. During your tenure there, you successfully represented a labor union boss in a controversial lawsuit that put you in the crosshairs of the feds. After the trial, one agency spokesman—speaking off the record—scathingly referred to you as a ‘ruthless son of a bitch who deserves a special place in hell alongside other soulless, bottom-feeding lawyers.’”
Colby winced, feigning hurt. “Ouch.”
“Ah, but take heart. In that very same interview, Mr. Disgruntled Anonymous Spokesman also admitted that he’d hire you in a heartbeat if you ever decided to become one of the good guys.”
At that, Colby threw back his head and roared with laughter.
Ava grinned. “I found it rather amusing myself.”
Colby wagged his head, wiping tears of mirth from the corners of his eyes. “Gotta love the feds.”
“Mmm-hmm. And speaking of things you loved, it seems you really enjoyed partaking of New York nightlife. You were known to hang out with ballplayers and rap stars, and I came across more than a few photos of you leaving nightclubs with a different bimbo, er, woman, on your arm every time.”
At the look of mild censure she gave him, Colby grinned unabashedly. “What can I say? All work and no play…”
She snorted. “Yeah, whatever.”
Colby laughed.
As Ava lifted her cup to her mouth and sipped from the straw, he couldn’t help staring at her plush lips and reliving the feel of them wrapped around his shaft, erotically milking him from top to bottom until he violently ejaculated into her mouth.
He shuddered, his groin hardening at the memory.
As if sensing his reaction, Ava lifted her eyes to his.
They stared at each other.
When she unconsciously slid her tongue over her bottom lip, it was all he could do not to sweep their empty plates to the floor and lunge across the table to devour her. He could have her naked and pinned beneath him, long legs locked around his body, in no time at all.
Down, boy. She didn’t come here for that.
But when Colby saw the banked heat in Ava’s eyes, the subtle flaring of her nostrils and the pulse beating an irregular rhythm in the base of her throat, he realized that she was as aroused as he was.
He swallowed tightly.
Holding her gaze, he slowly reached across the table and took her warm hands. Her breath hitched audibly, but she didn’t pull away.
They held on to each other, palms pressed together, fingers twined in an erotic little mating dance that got Colby so hard he could barely breathe.
“Ava… God…”
The sound of his voice—ragged with need—seemed to snap her out of her trance. Acute regret shot through him as she snatched her hands from his, breaking the sensual connection.
“We should, um, discuss the settlement,” Ava mumbled.
Colby drew a deep breath. “All right.” Forcing himself to mentally shift gears—no easy feat—he calmly folded his hands on the table and pinned Ava with a direct gaze. “I’m guessing that you came to our first meeting armed with a $25,000 settlement authority—”
Her eyes narrowed.
“—which you naturally knocked down to $5,000 to show me that you could play hardball. But now that you’ve had a chance to do some further research, you realize that maybe, just maybe, Johnae Kearse is telling the truth about the discrimination she suffered at Southern Pacific. Before heading over here this afternoon, you probably talked things over with your client and advised them to up the ante. But even if they agreed to, you’re still gonna lowball the counteroffer because, as we both know, negotiating is like playing poker. You don’t play your hand until your opponent plays theirs.”
“Of course,” Ava coolly agreed.
Colby smiled lazily and leaned back in his chair. “Our terms haven’t changed. We want $500,000 for lost wages and severe emotional distress.”
“Twenty thousand,” Ava countered smoothly, “and the company will agree to hold employment discrimination training for their managers, with special emphasis on pregnancy discrimination.”
Colby chuckled softly, shaking his head. “I thought you were serious.”
Her gaze was steely. “I am.”
“I don’t think you are.”
Ava smiled narrowly. “Take the offer back to your client, Colby. I’m sure $20,000 would go a long way toward helping her catch up on her bills so that she can focus on preparing for her baby’s arrival.”
“Half a mil would go much further.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Ava retorted.
Colby smiled indulgently. “You understand, of course, that if Stephanie Atwood and Dawn Everett decide to join our lawsuit, it’ll be a whole different ball game.”
Ava, to her credit, didn’t bat an eyelash. “I’ll take my chances.”
They stared each other down, the air between them crackling with challenge.
“It seems that we’ve reached the end of round three of negotiations,” Colby drawled sardonically. “Thanks for playing.”
Merry Sexy Christmas Page 26
