by E. M. Shea
“So what are you going to do?” Gus asked.
“About Dani?”
“Yeah.”
Nick’s mind flashed back to the ugly ending with Kendra. And while she and Dani certainly were very different individuals, one thing they did have in common was that they came into his life brandishing no shortage of red flags. He ignored them with Kendra, and his heart paid the price. He wasn’t going to make that same mistake again. Pushing his chair back from the bar, Nick stood up and slapped Gus on the shoulder.
“You leaving?”
“Yeah. I have a call to make.”
Gus nodded grimly, as though anticipating what would come next. “Take it easy, my man.”
Nick nodded and headed for the door. It wasn’t a call that he was looking forward to, but the sooner he cut ties with Dani, the better. For both of them, no doubt. Sighing, he swung the exit door open and headed out into the sunny afternoon, his thoughts creating their own dark clouds.
◆◆◆
Dani tossed a piece of her warm pretzel to the squirrel that had been circling her feet as she sat on a bench in Birch Park. Tucked away on the tree-lined perimeter of the 10-acre park just outside of Cedarsville, it was her favorite go-to spot for relaxing, thinking and contemplating life. Just being in nature, surrounded by trees and the many winged and tailed critters they housed, always had a way of melting away all of her cares. But today, Mother Nature had her work cut out for her.
A blue jay landed on the end of the bench, squawking for its own morsel of dough. Dani obliged, amused as the bird forcefully grabbed it in its beak, eyed her with its head cocked sideways as if to say “thanks”, then flew off into a nearby oak tree. If only I could join you. What she wouldn’t give to just as effortlessly—and literally—rise above it all. Two days had passed since her courtroom maneuvering on behalf of Rich, but her resulting inner turmoil had yet to subside. Because even though her examination of Nick had composed only a tiny fraction of the time she had spent presenting her case to the jury, it was still occupying every square inch of her mind. She was just doing her job—and doing it quite competently, thank you very much. Yet she’d be lying to say that it hadn’t pained her to see the look on his face as she grilled him on the witness stand.
“This is silly,” she said out loud as she tossed bits of pretzel to the growing menagerie of squirrels, chipmunks and birds that were parading around the bench. And the even sillier thing was that her words were not aimed at them, but at herself. After all, she should have known from the start that the situation with Nick was never meant to go anywhere. And where it did go—between her sheets, his sheets, her thighs, his arms … well, that was nothing to base a relationship on. Right? And certainly not worth even an ounce of self beratement. It was time to move on. In fact, after their beyond-tense exchange in the courtroom—for the second time—she couldn’t imagine that he would actually call her again. So that was that. There was nothing more to do on her end, no need to further her own angst. She immediately felt better having made the inner declaration, closing her eyes and breathing in a pocket of fresh air to seal the deal.
And then, her phone rang. Barely lifting the lid of one eye, she slid it from her sweater pocket, her other eye popping open as she saw Nick’s name light up on the screen. Nooooo! The scenario was so unexpected that she had no predetermined game plan. Answer it and be prepared for a verbal onslaught? Take the easy way out and let it go to voicemail?
What the heck. Might as well hear what he has to say. “Hello?”
“Hi.” A long silence ensued, followed by, “This is Nick.”
“Yes. I know.”
“Right. Um, so look. The reason I’m calling is I just wanted to say that, you know, not that we were actually in a relationship or anything, but I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to see each other again.”
Dani drew in a deep breath. “I agree.” There, I said it!
Another awkward silence. Finally: “You do?”
“Yes. I mean, I’m sure we’ve pretty much come to the same conclusion about things. It was kind of a fluke that we got together in the first place if you think about it.”
“Yeah, that whole charity auction thing was kind of crazy, wasn’t it?”
Dani almost thought she heard a hint of nostalgia in Nick’s voice, but surely it was her imagination. Stay strong, girl!
“It’s just that we have nothing in common—other than being in courtrooms at the same time,” Nick continued. “And never on the same side.”
“This is true.” Dani held the phone away from her ear for a moment and shook her head. But what else could she say? For once, they agreed on something. Couldn’t they just cut their losses and leave it at that? She winced, her brain being pushed aside as another organ weighed in with a slightly different take on things. I don’t care what you think, she admonished the petulant—and persistent—voice emanating from between her thighs. You didn’t help me get through law school, or climb the law firm ladder, and you’re certainly not helping me pay the bills right now. That was all due to my brain, to logical thinking, to not being weak—which is exactly what I need to draw on right now! With renewed resolve, Dani put the phone back to her ear.
“ … and, you know, I just think it’s for the best.”
Apparently, Nick was still stuck on spin cycle as he rehashed the same point yet again. One of them was going to have to pull the plug once and for all. Looks like that falls to me. “Well, you take care. I’m sure we’ll see each other around.” Dani paused, wanting to part ways in as drama-free a manner as possible. “And hopefully not because I’m speeding again.”
“Right.”
Several moments of silence passed. Time to pull the trigger. Her thumb spiraled over the end-call button.
“But uh … what do you think about maybe getting together one more time?”
Now, this, she didn’t see coming. “Seriously?”
“Unless you don’t want to, of course. I just thought that as long as we’re not in a courtroom setting and, uh, we’re both naked, it might not be so bad.” Pause. “In fact, it would be pretty damn good. And then some.”
“But you were just saying …”
“I know. That we shouldn’t see each other anymore. For the reasons we both know. So this would be like a last hurrah. But only if you want to—and I understand if you don’t.”
Dani squeezed her eyes shut as her mind raced to weigh the pros and cons. First the cons. It would just be dragging out the inevitable permanent goodbye. And—let’s face it—she was risking a potentially awkward encounter and long-lasting feelings of I-never-should-have-agreed-to-this, knowing that it was, in Nick’s own words, the last hurrah. Plus, was it really a healthy thing to be having sex with the same guy who viewed her with such disdain in his eyes from the witness stand just 48 hours ago? Now for the pros. I want him. I want him. I want him.
“Okay.” Her voice was a confused mixture of hesitancy and excited anticipation. “Let’s meet one more time.”
“Great.”
“When did you have in mind?”
“Are you free now?”
Dani held her breath as she contemplated her answer. Barely 10 feet away, two squirrels chased each other in circles at a fast, fidgety pace. That is, until one pounced on the other and began eagerly humping away. “Yup, I’m free.”
“My place?”
“Sure.”
“I’ll see you in—”
Dani had already ended the call, bidding the birds and bees, the squirrels and trees, a breathless goodbye as she hightailed it down the rambling dirt path on the way to her car.
Twenty minutes later, she was knocking on Nick’s door. It flew open as though he had been waiting on the other side with his hand already on the knob.
“I’m here,” she said sheepishly, stating the obvious for no other reason than she didn’t know what else to say. He half smiled, looking so damn … what was the word? … virile? … masculine? … should-be-off-limi
ts-but-damn-just-one-more-time-please enticing?
Grabbing her forearms, he pulled her into his hard body, her soft breasts crashing into his muscular chest, his mouth hungrily on her lips, tongue fiercely probing until it fell into synch with her own.
Sticking to each other like Velcro, they backstepped, faltered, regained their footing and kissed their way into his bedroom. Dani fell onto the bed first, with Nick quickly on top of her, his feverish passion suddenly paused as he looked into her eyes. Catching her breath, she quieted inside as she searched the steely gray orbs that pulled at every fiber of her being like a high-powered magnet. She wondered what he was thinking—yes, she realized, the most absolutely inane, senseless question for any woman to ask of a man who was simply working his way towards an orgasm—but she wondered nonetheless.
As if reading her self-admonishing thoughts, he half smiled, then playfully nibbled her lower lip before slowly resuming an exploration of her body.
“I could get lost here forever,” he said in a low, husky voice as he kissed and licked a trail from the midline of her neck and down to her breasts, simultaneously brushing his thumb along one nipple as he sucked on the other. He languished there just long enough to send her moist core into a frenzy, his tongue once again following the trail down her taut stomach that led to the explosive heat between her legs. Dani moaned as his lips lingered in the crease of her inner thigh, so close and yet so far from where she needed him to be … the almost ticklish sensation crossing the threshold into pain as her wetness screamed for completion. When he finally plunged his tongue inside her, she grabbed the blankets beneath her with a white-knuckled frenzy, arching her lower back and sliding her buttocks backwards as though to get away … but not.
“Wait,” she said in a whisper, grasping Nick’s face in her hands and lifting his head forward. As he questioned her with his eyes, she rolled on top of him and pushed his shoulders down until he was flat on his back, then kissed her way down his hard-rippled stomach to the one area that refused to passively succumb. Taking him into her mouth, she slid her hands under his buttocks and squeezed, rhythmically working her tongue and lips along his hardness, the throbbing between her legs intensifying with his every pleasurable groan. She could feel his entire body clench beneath her, and just as he was on the verge of exploding, she slid him inside her, their bodies rocking back and forth in unison as together they reached a breath-stopping climax.
Flopping onto her back, her sides heaving as she waited for her racing heart to subside, Dani closed her eyes. “That was awful,” she deadpanned, instinctively snuggling up close to Nick before reason took hold and she inched herself away.
“I agree. Let’s never do this again.”
Dani side-eyed him. “We’re not going to, remember?”
“That’s what I meant,” Nick replied, less than convincing.
“Because it would be a mistake—we both agreed.”
“I know. I mean, unless either of us quits our jobs or moves out of the area, chances are we’ll face each other in court again.”
“Wasn’t there some popular movie or book with characters like that? They were working for opposing presidential candidates or something, but still somehow ended up together?”
Nick let out a derisive huff. “Yeah, in some over-imaginative writer’s dream. Things don’t happen like that in the real world.”
Dani nodded, her still-damp hair sliding on the bedsheet. “True.”
As Nick’s words sank further into her psyche, she felt her chest clench up in a guarded stance. With her desires now fed and back at reset point, it was too easy to ask one simple question: What the hell am I doing here?
“You leaving already?” Nick asked, though the answer should have been obvious. She had already slid off the bed and was three-quarters dressed.
“Yeah … I have a lot to do this weekend. My house needs a good cleaning, and I have some research that needs to get done for a case.”
“What—another drug pusher waiting for you to save his ass?”
Dani stopped in mid-clip of her bra, then resumed its fastening and pulled her fitted navy and white striped sweater over her head. If she needed any inner confirmation that she was doing the right thing by leaving—and never coming back—boy, did she just receive it.
“You know, there’s a lot that I could say about bad cops—because there are enough of them out there, and you and I both know it.”
Nick sat up in bed, bending over the side to grab his T-shirt on the floor. “Are you insinuating that I’m one of them?”
“I don’t know—are you?”
Nick’s short laugh was clearly borne of disgust and not amusement. “Yeah, that’s me. Setting people up, making false arrests, shooting at unarmed civilians.” He paused, turning to Dani. “I’m not perfect, but I have not once—once—acted in a way that would disrespect my badge. Or my profession, for that matter.”
Dani forced an exaggerated shrug. “Kind of sucks to be lumped in with the bad apples and have your whole livelihood thrown under the bus, doesn’t it?” She started to head out of the bedroom, then stopped and looked back. Nick was staring straight ahead into space, but turned in her direction when he realized she was still there. She tried to read some emotion … any emotion … on his face, but realized she would only be guessing.
“I’m sorry, Nick. It was a mistake to come here.”
She thought he might have nodded ever so slightly, but couldn’t even be sure about that. But one thing she was sure about? It was time to leave—and never look back. That’s right, she silently told herself as she headed for the bedroom door. Exit with your dignity still intact. As a final gesture to seal the deal, she swung the door shut behind her, only to catch her sweater in the process. Which meant that instead of making a quick getaway as she took a step forward, she landed with a thud on her knees.
“You okay?” Nick called out, prompting Dani to wonder if he had bionic ears. She yanked on her sweater several times, catapulting herself even further as she finally broke free. “I’m fine,” she replied loud enough to be heard through the door, though she could already feel a bruise forming on her knee. And an even bigger one on her pride.
Just. Freaking. Fine.
Chapter Thirteen
Dani diverted her attention from the case file on the desk before her to the lush green scenery outside her office window for the umpteenth time. It was Monday morning, and she should have been rearing to go after two full days away from the office—an unusual occurrence given her typical six- and seven-day work weeks. But instead, her usual laser focus was replaced by the sharpness of a dull butter knife. At least as far as the case before her went. Her personal life, on the other hand, was now so clearly illuminated that she squinted at the mere thought of how badly she had miscalculated. Because somehow, some way, she had been convinced her attraction to Nick was based on physical desire alone. After all, why else would she have agreed to meet him for one-last-time, no-strings-attached sex two days earlier? When Nick had unexpectedly pitched the idea during their phone call, there was no part of her that thought but I like this guy too much to settle for a quick hookup. Rather, Nick would get what he wanted—but so would she. Easy peasy. Or so she thought.
Except … it wasn’t feeling that way right now. In fact, as she sat there recalling Nick’s casual assessment of oh well, maybe I’ll see you around in court sometime—not exact words, but certainly close enough—all she could do was grab her stomach in a hopeless attempt to thwart the knots that were multiplying by the second.
You need to move on, lassie. Yeah, I’m talking to YOU. Let it go. Shake it off. And, um, whatever other cliché might fit here. Taking a deep breath, she tried once again to concentrate on the task at hand. “Okay,” she said out loud, hoping the sound of her own voice would force her to double down on preparation for an upcoming court trial. “Jessica Taylor, age thirty-four, charged with larceny in the first degree—”
The door swung open and Margaret, w
earing a yellow sweater dress with purple pumps, blustered her way inside like a banana caught in a typhoon. Plunking down in a chair before Dani’s desk, she tossed out her hand with the palm facing up. “You owe me five-thousand dollars, and I’m here to collect.”
“Say what?”
“Don’t you play coy with me, girl. That only works with police officers that you love and leave.”
“Oh, knock it off!”
“I’m serious! I sacrificed the chance to rock that heavenly, handcuff-carrying, joystick-wielding man’s world so that you could go out with him instead. And just like that, you’re done with him.”
Dani stared at Margaret for several moments, not sure whether to be amused or annoyed as was usually the case when Margaret was on one of her tears. “Are you finished?” she finally asked.
“That depends. Are you going to fill me in on all the nasty details?”
“Sounds like someone already did.”
“Not exactly. Only that Jeremy said he thinks things went kaput.”
“Jeremy? How in the world would that little weasel know what’s going on in my personal life?”
“He was at the trial when you were putting in the good fight on behalf of another crooked Leland friend.” Margaret quickly turned her head to ensure that the office door was closed. “Leland told him it would be educational to see how you present a case in court. Anyways, I bumped into Jeremy in the copy room a little while ago, and he said he couldn’t imagine that the two of you are still getting it on after seeing how you attempted to impale him in court. Those were Jeremy’s words by the way—not mine.”
