Forbidden Fruit: Volume 1 (26 page)

“It was nice to meet you Jackson, but I really need to get these two home for lunch.” She said, reaching down to pick up her purse while Charlie and Jenna put their coats on. “Are you coming?” she asked her father.

He shook his head. “Not yet, I have some stuff I need to finish at the office, but I'll be back for dinner.”

“Okay, I'll stay until you get back.” Nora replied, ushering both kids to the exit as quickly as humanly possible, with her mind and body were overheated by the sheer presence of Jackson Garnes.

Chapter
Two

Jackson kept his eyes on Nora as she moved towards the exit, still trying to recover from the shock of finding out she was only nineteen. He would have guessed she was at least twenty-five—she was so well put together. The slight sway to her hips had the blood rushing from the rest of his body, making him forget where he was and who was standing next to him.

“Jackson,” Richard said.

Turning, Jackson looked at Richard and tried to regain control. “What?” he asked, giving himself a mental shake.

“Is there anything I need to do before the next hearing?”

Jackson wasn't able to think clearly, much less give him an answer. “Um... not that I can think of, but I'll look over the files when I get back to my office.”

Richard reached out his hand to him. “Thank you for trying to get this resolved today. I have a feeling everything is going to work out next week.”

He returned the handshake. “You're welcome, Richard. I'll give you a call later this evening once I review everything, especially now that she's changed lawyers.”

Richard nodded, turning to pick up his briefcase before exiting the courtroom. Jackson rubbed his hand over his face and back through his hair. This was outrageous. He was lusting after a nineteen-year-old. Deciding that getting back to work was the going to be the best way to focus, Jackson picked up his briefcase and made his way to the door.

Six hours later he wasn't so optimistic. He’d gone back to the office with every intention of getting something done. Unfortunately when he got there, his mind was so overrun with visions of Nora that he had trouble focusing on anything except her father's file. Every time he tried to concentrate on another case, his mind wandered back to the way she looked in the courtroom this morning, and  with the way she dressed, conservative, yet sexy and the way she took care of her brother and sister, there was no doubt in his mind that she was mature beyond her years. As the day wore on, he eventually decided that staying at the office was pointless. He had an almost-constant hard-on, and he just wanted to go home and relax. Jackson left work feeling extremely frustrated, especially since had an entire stack of cases on his desk to deal with while his mind was preoccupied with the sexy nineteen-year-old. For God's sake, he was thirty-five years old. There was no reason he couldn't find a woman his own age to share his bed. Instead of one who was off limits—not only because of her age but also the fact that her father was his client.

He'd been absolutely stunned to find out the gorgeous woman in the courtroom was related in any way, shape, or form to the client he was there to represent. Not that either of her parents were unattractive to look at, but he was willing to bet that neither looked like Nora did at that age. What made all of it such a shock was the fact that he'd only expected Richard's two youngest children in the courtroom today, since the custody hearing was for them. When Richard had introduced Nora as his daughter, he worried about the fact that he’d been fantasizing about his clients daughter since the moment he saw her.. As a nanny, she would have been fair game, but a daughter... no way—especially with the age difference.

By the time Jackson got back to his house, he’d had enough shit for one day. After the blowing let down of the morning, he wasn’t hungry, so he decided instead that a liquid diet was all that he needed. Grabbing a beer, he made his way back to the living room to flop down on the couch. Normally after a long day, even the first sip of beer was enough to relax him, but not this time. There was too much crap stressing him out lately, and to top it all off, he couldn’t get Nora out of his mind.

The simple memory of Nora standing there—and those long shapely legs—made his cock twitch. And that was before he thought about the perfect pout to her lips, and he could just imagine them wrapped around his dick, bringing his erection fully to life. Not that it would take long since his dick had been at half-mast most of the day, and almost without realizing it he slipped his hand down to undo the button and zipper on his pants. Slowly he slid his fingers down his shaft and underneath to cup his balls through his boxers, giving them a light squeeze. Starting to feel a little better, he allowed his free hand to slip beneath the cotton material and take a hold of his cock, gently swirling his thumb around the tip and making himself moan. The pleasure that spread from the touch of his fingers had him moving his hand down to grip the base of his erection and slowly stroking up as he watched the tip disappear within the circle of his hand. He closed his eyes and let the memories of Nora dance behind his eyelids as he continued to slide his hand up and down his length, the sensation of it all quickly traveling to every nerve ending in his body. He felt the tingles along his spine as the orgasm ripped through him quicker than ever before in his life.

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.