Wrangling with the Laywer (7 page)

“I appreciate it, but we’ve got an early start tomorrow,” he insisted softly. “Lunch with the family out in Southampton”

“Okay. I’ll show you where she is.”

Gabe stood up and thrust his hands into his pockets, purposely avoiding watching
Harper unfurl herself from the chair. He couldn’t avoid the warm scent of her hair as she passed by, and he inhaled involuntarily. His gaze weakened, following her as she approached the door in front on him. The loose vest top hung from her slim shoulders and he caught an illicit view of her slim back. The view was perfectly decent but his imagination immediately provided the much more indecent continuation of the view. Looking upwards for strength, he ran his hands through his hair in frustration. What the hell was wrong with him? He was acting like a horny teenager.

She led him upstairs to a large master bedroom. The simple wooden bed frame was decorated in white linen. Two angelic-looking, flushed little bodies lay strewn in dramatic poses under the covers. They looked exhausted in sleep. A tremor of genuine amusement lifted his mouth; he stroked his daughter’s soft, warm cheek, the amusement quickly replaced by an aching feeling of tenderness. If only Alice could allow herself to be this approachable all of the time.

“You can put these socks and this sweatshirt on her for the journey.” Harper interrupted his thoughts with a whisper. She handed him the items, and a cloth bag. “These are her clothes.”

He pulled the covers back, quickly covering Alice with the extra layers for warmth. Taking the cloth bag, he picked her slack body up and nestled her face gently against his neck. He turned to
Harper. “Thanks for everything. I hope we didn’t disrupt the day too much.”

“Not at all.” Her smile was genuine.

“I guess I’ll see you next Friday at Don’s office.” There were no court dates scheduled the following week; he felt oddly relieved that he’d have a few days to escape her distracting presence and get his head screwed on straight. He just had to get out this house without grabbing her and kissing her.

Harper followed Gabe down the stairs quietly. It was such a cliché but she couldn’t suppress a magnified rush of attraction for him; the sheer masculinity of the careful way he was handling the child was irresistible. He looked firm and strong, as if he could and would protect her from anything. What was it about a good-looking man in his prime holding a child? It was her catnip.

When he turned at the bottom of the stairs, he
dazzled Harper with what she was now considering his trademark smile. His eyes shone darkly, invitingly on her. She was weakening under this look every time he levelled it at her. “Enjoy the rest of the weekend,” he told her quietly.

“You, too.”

She faltered; did they shake hands, or should she offer a cheek? She clumsily tried both. He paused, amused for a second, before he leaned in to kiss her cheek. Flyaway strands of her hair tangled against the stubble on his jaw as he moved back; he released one hand to brush them back. His fingers smoothed the strands behind her ear, and it was casual accident that his thumb grazed down the side of her cheek in the process.

It may as well have been an intentional seduction technique.
Harper’s whole body seemed to hit melting point. She felt a wave of sensation pass across her skin, from her head straight to her extremities, like a tsunami. It gathered energy and created a tight knot of expectation in her lower body. Her lips parted to allow air to pass her constricted throat. He was still close enough that she could kiss him merely by moving her face forward just a fraction. She felt static jumping between them. The fresh scent of his skin tried to draw her into temptation, beckoning her closer.

His eyes locked on hers. She noticed his jaw working again. He seemed rigid with awareness, the control coming off him in waves. His eyes made a telling glance at her mouth. Darker than before, they
sought out her gaze. His hand still cradled her jaw; he made no attempt to remove it. The silence stretched between them, as explosive as an untapped mine. When his thumb moved again, she thought she might gasp aloud with anticipation. It glided slowly down the length of her jaw line, coming to a loaded stop just below her lower lip. His eyes fell again, and she felt an imperceptible change in the distance between them. He was closing in.

“Daddy... are we home?”

Alice’s plaintive voice acted like a bucket of cold water strewn across their heated exchange. Harper dropped her head; Gabe smoothly extricated his hand. Nothing had happened, she told herself sternly. Nothing they couldn’t backtrack from. It had been a suggestion of something happening, a vague intention but nothing committed.

It was what she needed to tell herself so that she could lift her head again and meet his gaze without actually groaning in frustration. When she did, he looked like he was in pain. He exhaled deeply, tousling his daughter’s blonde curls. “Not yet, sweetheart. Go back to sleep.”

Harper wasted no time. She opened the door, offering him as nonchalant a smile as she could manage. “Get home safe.”

He nodded. Without a word, he carried his daughter out to the porch and down the steps to his waiting car.

The following Friday,
Harper rode the elevator to the fortieth floor of an impressive mirrored skyscraper in downtown Manhattan. She was early, and looking forward to a quiet coffee in the waiting vestibule to Don’s office before their meeting. She needed some quiet time to gather her wits after a fraught morning visit to the dentist with Finn. He was back in kindergarten, unscathed and a conquering hero, while she was still reverberating from the sheer trauma of the experience.

“Morning,
Harper.” Marlene, Don’s trusted PA, handed her a newspaper as she arrived. She nodded towards the elegant baroque seats at the other side of the room. “Coffee and bagels.”

Harper
felt tearfully grateful. She pinned Marlene with her warmest smile. “What would I do without you?”

“
Don mentioned you had a dentist’s appointment with Finn this morning.”             

“I’m still shaking.”

Marlene chuckled. “That last time I took Janie,” she whispered, referring to her six year old daughter, “she kicked the dentist between his legs while she was on the chair.”

“No!”
Harper burst out laughing.

“We had to get his partner in to finish up while he recovered.” As discreet as ever, Marlene winked and then nodded her towards the waiting breakfast. “Knock yourself out. I’ve got some calls to make.”

Harper smiled and did as she was told. Relaxing into the supremely comfortable seat, she poured rich, aromatic coffee from the porcelain coffee pot into an equally exquisite cup. Gold leaf inlaid the rim and rested against luxuriously on the inside of her lip. The room looked out over one of the best views of the New York cityscape that she had ever seen. It looked unreal, like a picture postcard. She breathed deeply and closed her eyes. After a while, she felt her senses begin to relax and focus. She became aware of the gentle brushing of footsteps on the thick, wool carpeting in the distance. Low voices came from an adjoining meeting room. Even the hushed air in the quiet room seemed ventilated from only the best source, as if they had channelled fresh, scented mountain air from farthest Nepal into their offices to avoid the nasty, city pollution. The scent was so wonderful that she literally found herself lulled into a state of utter contentment.

The air shifted just before she heard a door opening some time later. How long she’d been sitting with her eyes shut, she wasn’t sure, but she opened them,
Don was standing watching her from his office doorway. Her eyes narrowed as a figure flickered into view in the corner of the room; her head turned sharply to see Gabe sitting on the adjoining sofa. Her lips parted, but no sound came out.

“Were you sleeping?”
Don’s assured, amused tone reached her.

Harper
was too busy being transfixed by the sight of Gabe to respond. It had been a long week, and a busy one. After a faintly paranoid session last Sunday she hadn’t had much time or energy to focus on all of the what-ifs and wherefores of the almost-kiss. Now, as she gazed into his watchful expression, she had the sensation that her sight had been starved of him. It gorged itself now on his dark, perceptive eyes and the oblique planes of his features. He was perfect again; not a hair out of place or a crease in his suit. She searched the eyes of this sharply-dressed predator for the gentle father to Alice, but he was gone. The predator in his place seemed to be enjoying her disorientation, like a cat lazily watching a trapped mouse.

She dragged her eyes away long enough to recover her wits. She lifted her brows at
Don. “No. I was resting my eyes.”

Gabe stood up, buttoning his jacket. “She was sleeping. Trust me.”

“I wasn’t sleeping.” Standing, she rolled her eyes towards Marlene. “I wasn’t sleeping, right? I’ve only been here a couple of minutes.”

Marlene nodded at the clock. “You’ve been sleeping for around ten minutes. You know I’ve got your back, but Mr
Stahl’s been here for most of it.”

Harper
felt a flush of embarrassment rising. Gabe had been here the whole time?

“You make the most delightful little snorts when you sleep,” he cut in. Approaching
Don, he smiled at his colleague and ignored her discomfort. “Morning, Koening. Are we ready?”

“It depends on whether our client is awake.”

Harper approached the door with a dry smile. “You two should have your own show. You’re so funny.”

Gabe sat next to her on the sofa
inside Don’s office. She belatedly rued her decision to sit in the centre; she was so used to having these meetings with Don alone, and Don always sat in the armchair opposite. Now Gabe’s body was close enough for her to feel the heat from it, and it would seem rude to scoot away from him. His weight indented the space between then and the smooth cotton of her skirt made her slide a little further towards him. She stiffened while he crossed one ankle across his knee in a relaxed pose.

Why had she fallen asleep? She was totally off her guard now.

“Busy week?” Don, ever the gentlemen, offered her coffee. His smile was gently teasing.

Taking the cup, she allowed a rueful smile to surface. “You could say that. I was a bit ambitious with plans at the studio knowing I wouldn’t be in court all week.” She took a sip of coffee.

“Are you back in court next week?”

She turned to Gabe. He was sipping his coffee innocently, seemingly contented to listen. On realising she was deferring the question to him, he replaced his cup on the table and smoothed down his
tie. “We’re scheduled for the preliminary hearing on Friday afternoon. Judge Abernathy.” His gaze was directed at Don. “The old codger’s up to his usual tricks. No one will want to drag things out before the weekend. He’s hoping for a settlement.”

“He’s picked the wrong case if he’s looking to free up his ballot for the summer.”

“I’ve checked how things are looking next week, and we can resume on Monday morning if need be. I’ve freed myself up until Wednesday in case things escalate.”

“Good.”
Don sat down, a satisfied nod leading to thoughtful silence.

“How are things going with the due diligence?”
Harper sat back, taking the opportunity to shift slightly further away from Gabe. Unfortunately he took the opportunity at the same time to lay his hand across the back of the couch. The movement made her slide even closer to him. Worse, she was aware of his hand behind her now; though not touching her, which would have been inappropriate in the context, it may as well have been as far as her concentration levels went. It was like swimming through choppy seas trying to focus on Don’s fairly complex description on progress with the other case.

Harper
was stiff and sore by the time the meeting ended. They moved to the conference table after the first hour, but the meeting had dragged well into lunch as they planned the court schedules for the coming months. In the event both cases kicked off at the same time, she would have to divide her time more carefully between the two. She reassured them that her deputy would be running her studio more or less autonomously within a few weeks. She hid the tremor of angry disappointment that sparked inside of her every time she considered how intrusive these cases were becoming to the very fabric of her life. Joe Davidson and his petty, vengeful character had a lot to answer for.

“Let’s stick to the meeting schedule next Friday morning,”
Don requested as she and Gabe were leaving. “I know you’ll have a hectic afternoon with the preliminary hearing kicking off, but I think we need to make this a priority in the coming months. I don’t want to lose track of anything.”

“Sure. We can make time.”

Harper waited until the men had shaken hands, following suit with Don. Since she and Gabe were leaving at the same time, she simply accepted the open door and offered a quick wave at Marlene before waiting for him in the vestibule.

He spoke to
Don briefly for a few seconds more before joining her. Watching him, she had to admit he was an impressive male specimen. Marlene, usually caustically dry in character, watched his progress with the kind of expression a dieter might make in front of a chocolate fudge sundae. Harper saw three women in adjoining meeting rooms literally peering above the heads of their colleagues to catch a glance of him. It was farcical.