Straight From The Heart (5 page)

It was the way some cases went.

Still, the whole thing had left a bad taste in Stephen’s mouth, and at some level he’d wanted to clear it up with Kim. And here,
here,
was the perfect opportunity. So, what was stopping him?

“I’m not really hungry,” Kim suddenly said. “I think I’ll just go to bed.”

He had a sudden vision of her lying between the sheets, hair tossed in a silken heap across the pillow, eyes closed, breath soft and even, her expression gentle and sweet. He imagined her naked, her skin smooth and lustrous.

“You sure you want the love seat?” she asked, her face still averted.

“It’s fine,” he answered shortly.

“I’m smaller. It would be easier for me to curl up here.”

“I’m not interested in sleeping right now. Go ahead. I’ll be perfectly fine.”

Now, she darted him a look, questions hovering in her eyes. But she was clearly too upset to delve into what was eating at him, and for that he was glad.
She
was eating at him. He hadn’t wanted any woman since his divorce, though scores had thrown themselves at him as soon as they learned he was unattached. He hadn’t even wanted to date. Pauleen had cured him of that—he’d thought forever.

But Kimberly Harden got to him. In ways he didn’t want to think about.

So, now, when she hesitantly said goodnight and slipped away, Stephen found it was all he could do not to let his gaze follow after her, devouring her. The soft click of the door closing brought him back to reality.

Muttering a few pungent obscenities beneath his breath, he worked his way through the shadowy room back to the kitchen in the hope of finding another beer.

Kimberly lay on her back
with her hands folded beneath her head, staring at the bedroom ceiling. There was no such thing as total darkness. From the window grayish outdoor light threw a square of faint illumination across the foot of her bed and lightened the walls. Shadows danced from the stiff breeze that gusted outside, and rain fell in a steady symphony.

She couldn’t sleep. Not at all. Her mind was busy, her thoughts fragmented. But her overall feeling was one of, what? She didn’t know. Cautiously, she tiptoed through the mess in her head and suddenly tripped over luscious thoughts of Stephen Wright.

With a groan of self-loathing, she snatched up the pillow and buried her face in its smothering softness. Then she pounded on it with one fist.
You are such an idiot!
She couldn’t stand the man. He’d sided with Alan! It wasn’t fair that he was so outrageously attractive.

Why? Why? Why?

Removing the pillow, Kim sighed hugely. She’d never been stupid about men. Well, okay, she’d misjudged Alan. She’d fallen for his charms—limited as they now appeared to be—but she could excuse herself because she’d been so young. Now, there was no excuse. She knew the kind of man Stephen Wright was, and he would never be the man for her.

Still
 . . .

She looked across the room to where she’d folded up his clothes and set them atop his bag. She should have pushed the bag outside the door, but there it stood, mocking her. If Stephen wanted anything from it he was going to have to knock on her bedroom door, but so far that hadn’t happened.

What time was it? she wondered. She’d gone to bed shortly after seven.
When was the last time you did that, my girl?
And now she was wide awake and wishing for dawn. As soon as it was light she might be able to leave. More wishful thinking, as
it hadn’t stopped raining all night, and it was bound to take a while for the floodwaters to recede.

She tossed and turned for what had to be at least an hour, then finally out of pure frustration and exhaustion, she stopped avoiding the issue picking at her brain and faced it full on: She was attracted to Stephen Wright. Kim actually winced as she mentally said the words. She felt like a traitor to herself. How could she be? How could she?

Easy.
She’d been attracted to him before, why not now? She’d first met him several years earlier; they were loosely involved in the same circle of friends. Betsy, of course, was the main connection, and when she first introduced Kim to Stephen at a barbecue at her house, he’d still been with his wife, Pauleen. Kim, sensitive to her own still-fresh divorce, had eyed Stephen and Pauleen Wright and wondered what kept them together. Sure, they were the quintessential beautiful couple, but Pauleen seemed so stiff and discriminating. The corners of her mouth never lifted, and there was a restlessness about her, as if she couldn’t wait to leave. Her tension was palpable. Stephen, on the other hand, had clearly been having a great time. Kim had warmed to his conversation. She knew he was a lawyer, and she learned that he was acquainted with Alan—Riverside was small enough, and Harden Electric was big enough, that it was almost a given the two men would have met.

Pauleen had had too much to drink, and that ended Kim’s first meeting with Stephen; he took his tottering wife home. Still, her attraction to him had remained, like a haunting melody. Oh, she didn’t want him then; he’d been married, for crying out loud! But she’d enjoyed the mellow tones of his voice and the amused quirk of his mouth as a woman appreciates any attractive male. Kim had been starved for that kind of easy camaraderie; she’d never really had it with Alan, and it was darn difficult to find. That evening she’d been sorry to see Stephen leave, but then in the course of her frenetic life, she’d dropped him from her thoughts. Betsy brought his name up upon occasion, of course, but one day the word “divorce” was mentioned in conjunction with Stephen Wright.
That
caught Kim’s attention.

“They weren’t meant for each other,” was Betsy’s blanket assessment. And then, because she was loyal and true, “He deserves better.”

Kim had wanted to query her further without seeming overly curious, but Betsy, a friend who generally loved to speculate on people, could sometimes be as closemouthed as a clam. Kim sensed that she was protecting Stephen, which was admirable but downright frustrating! Kim knew her own appreciation of the man could easily turn into an out-and-out attraction. And it would be the first time she’d actually wanted to date another man since she’d met her ex-husband—a lifetime ago!

But, no
 . . .
Stephen and Pauleen Wright might be divorcing, but he was in no mood for dating; Betsy was clear on that. She then alluded to the messiness of the split up and became like a mother hen clucking over her injured chick. What Stephen thought of Betsy’s concern, Kim never knew, but she decided to keep her interest in him to herself.

She saw him at several social functions during this transition. Once he’d even had a beautiful woman on his arm, though Betsy, unsolicited, remarked that the woman, Samantha, had clamped onto Stephen when he’d walked through the door and that he was doing his best to disengage her.

Kim learned this was true when at the hors d’oeuvre table she was suddenly right next to him, and he desperately looked like he needed a rescue.

“Hey, there,” he said to Kim, the dark-haired beauty still fervently clutching his sleeve.

“Hi,” was all Kim managed to answer. As far as scintillating conversation went, she scored a perfect zero.

The would-be girlfriend broke in right there. “Stephen, come over here. I want you to meet a friend of mine. He’s thinking of switching law firms, and I promised that I’d bring you over to him ASAP.”

“Can’t do it right now,” Stephen answered politely.

“Oh, sure you can!”

“I’ll be there in a minute. I’m involved in a conversation.”

Kim was surprised. After a moment of consternation, the lovely brunette flicked Kim an assessing look, then reluctantly released Stephen’s arm. Stephen gave Kim a sideways glance as he filled his plate. “Sorry I had to use you as
an excuse. I know the guy Samantha wants me to meet, and believe me, I can wait.”

“It looks to me like it’s Samantha who’s wanting a private meeting,” Kim said. As soon as the words were out she flushed with embarrassment. It wasn’t often she unthinkingly betrayed the thoughts that brushed across her mind. Her boldness shocked her.

Stephen’s head turned to gaze at her sharply. Spying her flooding color, he started to laugh. “You’re right!” he declared.

“I’m sorry. I—that was uncalled for. I feel like an idiot.”

“No, no. It’s okay. I haven’t been socializing much these days, and I think I’ve lost the ability to politely get out of sticky situations. I mean, look, I had to depend on you for help.”

“Depend away. I absolutely hate being trapped in something I can’t get out of without coming off like a jerk.”

“I can’t believe you ever come off like a jerk.” He gazed into her eyes. He seemed about to say something—a compliment, perhaps?—but then Samantha reappeared.

“Come on, Stephen! Come now. Hurry, hurry, hurry!” Her attempts at cuteness fell completely flat, but her insistence was rapidly putting Stephen in exactly the sticky social situation one couldn’t avoid. Samantha yanked on his arm, and he graciously followed, but not before glancing back to Kim and pretending to strangle himself, his tongue lolling out of his mouth and his eyes rolling upward. Kim laughed, and he pulled himself out of the pantomime just as Samantha looked around suspiciously.

Betsy clapped her hands together in delight when Kim related the story to her later. “Don’t you just love him!” she declared. “Oh, Kimmy,” she added, as the bolt hit her. “He’s perfect for you!”

“Whoa. Hold on. I don’t even know if he’s actually divorced yet.”

“Totally divorced,” Betsy informed her. “And ready to date again.”

“He said he hadn’t been out in many social situations.”

“Hey, that was a bad marriage. He’s still suffering from it.”

“What was wrong?”

Betsy pressed her lips together. “You know, it’s not for me to tell.”

“Since when did you get so hung up about gossip!” Kim laughed.

“I would give my back teeth to talk about Stephen Wright, but he asked me to keep his affairs private. He’s very private himself.”

Kim was unrepentant. “Hey, this is your best friend you’re talking to.”

Betsy looked about ready to explode with the desire to tell all. “Oh, stop it! If and when enough time goes by, believe me, you’re first on my list. Meanwhile, I’ll plant the seeds that you’re maybe kind of interested—”

“No!” Kim cried adamantly. “Betsy, no! I don’t want him to think I’m chasing him!”

“See, you’re as bad as he is. I could help you both.”

“Don’t. Please. I mean it.”

Betsy had merely sniffed in supreme knowledge that both Kim and Stephen were being ridiculous over this clearly budding romance.

And then
 . . .
Alan had chosen the new tack to try and wrest Bobby from her, just out of plain meanness, and he’d let her know that Stephen Wright had agreed to be his lawyer.

Now Kim shivered, a mass of emotions. What was it about being attracted to Stephen that made his actions seem like such a betrayal when, as he’d pointed out, he was just being businesslike? Had she invested more of herself in the relationship than she should have, even at that first germ of the feeling? Probably. She always led with her heart, not her head.

Well, it hardly mattered now. As soon as the sun broke through tomorrow, she was going to find a way out of here. Scrunching her pillow into a new, comfortable shape, Kim settled down to serious sleep, except that it kept eluding her. Nerves, she realized, and a lack of dinner.

Once the thought crossed her mind, she was famished. She’d smelled the burgers cooking over the fire and listened while Stephen moved back and forth from kitchen to living room, apparently putting together the rest of his meal. The thought of a juicy hamburger suddenly overpowered her. Food. Her stomach growled at the thought. She felt like she hadn’t eaten in a week.