Лиза Джонс - Hot Secrets

Feeling Royce’s comforting hands settle on her shoulders, she blew her hair out of her eyes and replaced the receiver on the cradle.

“Problem?” he asked, stepping so close that his body framed hers, his nearness, his touch, sending a shiver of awareness racing down her spine.

She turned to face him, the warmth of his body radiating into hers. “No, not really. I’ve just been getting these weird calls. Probably kids being silly. Or someone angry over one of my cases. It comes with the job.”

Royce leaned a broad shoulder on the wall beside her. “What do you mean weird?”

“It sounds like a clock is ticking, and then the line goes dead.”

“Huh,” he said. “And how long exactly have you been getting these calls?”

“Maybe two weeks, and really, they don’t bother me. Well,” she hesitated, “maybe a little. I’ve been… ”

“Been what?”

“I don’t know,” she said as she gnawed her bottom lip. “Nothing.”

He studied her a moment, and she worried he was going to press her, kicking herself for saying anything, but all he asked was, “Is your number listed?”

She shook her head. “No. And it’s a house phone. Who even calls on a house phone anymore? I don’t even know why I have one. Maybe the calls aren’t even for me. Really, they can’t even be about one of my cases. No one could get the number to start with.”

“So this is the only line you’ve gotten them on?”

“So far.”

“So far?” he asked. “What aren’t you telling me?”

She pursed her lips, kicking herself yet again for the verbal misstep. What was she supposed to say anyway? That the phone calls would seem silly if she didn’t have this weird sense of things going on around her that she didn’t know about yet? Or that she felt uneasy watched? That would make her sound like some wimpy, crazy female, and she wasn’t that, nor did she want to be treated like one. Her job, her life, had taught her to stay guarded, taught her not to show weakness, and yet, she was failing miserably at just those things with Royce.

She pushed off the wall. “We should go.” He didn’t move. “Change your number on Monday, and don’t forget to call maintenance about that window.”

“Okay now, Royce Walker. First you ordered me to shower”

Amusement danced in his eyes. “For your protection, if you remember correctly.”

Her stomach fluttered, heat pooling low in her stomach, at the memory of him suggesting he might join her. “And now you order me to change my number.”

Seriousness bled into his handsome face. “Also for your protection.” He straightened, towering over her, the fingers of one of his hands slipping between hers. “Please. Change the number and call maintenance.”

Please. He’d said please. And when he said it with sincerity radiating from those gorgeous blue eyes, he was irresistible. Again, he’d shown her the unexpected. She didn’t think this man had ‘please’ in him. She liked that he didthat he’d said it for her. A slow smile slid onto her lips. ”Since you put it that way.”

But in the back of her mind, she knew she’d agreed for more reasons than simply Royce’s request. Something deep and dark was bothering her. She wanted to change her number, she wanted to call maintenance. And a big, macho male, who happened to rock her world and make her feel safe, wasn’t such a bad addition to her day, or to her plans for dinner.

Chapter Five

A few minutes later, Lauren settled into Royce’s truck and watched him pull into traffic. “We’re going to drive right by my home office,” he said. “So if you don’t mind, I’d like to swing by and grab something.” He glanced at the clock on the dash. “And if you think I have time, I’d like to snag a quick shower.”

“In your office?”

“My office is in the same building as my apartment.”

“Wow. I’m jealous your office is in your home. I’d never be able to do that with my job.”

“When my brothers and I decided to open Walker Security, we bought a small building. We live on the upper level and work on the bottom floor.”

“Really? You live with your brothers?”

“A little too close for comfort sometimes,” he said with a laugh. “But thankfully, each apartment has its own door."

Lauren studied his profile, watching him maneuver through traffic with the kind of finesse he seemed to have with everything he did. “Oh,” she said. “That’s a unique living arrangement.”

He shot her a quick grin. “Yeah, well, you’ll see firsthand soon enough.”

She grinned back at him. “I’m looking forward to it. Families always have great little tidbits to share about each other.”

He laughed. “Yes, well, I see we’ll need to make this a quick trip. The last thing I need is my tidbits getting out before I’m ready.”

Before he was readyas if he thought he might be ready someday, as if they were developing a relationship.

“So,” he said. “I guess I should come clean and tell you that after reading the morning paper, I now know that I’m a close friend of the opposing counsel on your upcoming case. And that I apparently look angry in all photos taken of me.”

She cringed. “I didn’t even look at the paper. I’m so used to that stuff I tune it out. I’m sorry.”

“I wasn’t fishing for an apology. I just wanted you to know I am friends with Mark. But we don’t discuss his cases and we actually haven’t talked at all in a few weeks.”

“Thank you for telling me that,” she said, meaning it. She liked that Royce didn’t have a political agenda; she liked it a lot. “And since I know Mark pretty well myself, I know he’s ethical. I know he wouldn’t talk to you about the case.”

“No. No, he wouldn’t. But I read up on it this morning. Sounds like a pretty sticky case. Let me get this straight. The defendant killed her husband and you’re after the death penalty. Mark’s defense is Battered Women’s Syndrome.” He whistled. “That has to be a tough one for you to handle.”

She hesitated. “I can’t discuss anything that we aren’t making public and even that has to be on a limited basis.”

“Fair enough.”

“You’re right,” she said. “It’s hard. Half of the media is making me out to be the monster here, mostly because the family of the suspect is doing so much of it themselves especially the brother. But I don’t go after a death penalty verdict lightly, Royce. There’s a life insurance policy, a big one. And this woman didn’t kill her husband in the heat of the moment. She slowly, methodically poisoned him. There were no calls to the police, no reports of violence from this woman prior to the murder. No history of violence anywhere in this man’s life at all.”

“I read all of that in the paper,” he said. “And what baffles me is that Mark runs his own firm and he doesn’t take cases for money or fame. He’s about justice and right and wrong. He must know something you don’t know.”

“She’s convinced him she’s innocent,” Lauren said, her stomach knotting. “I don’t doubt that. But I don’t doubt the woman’s guilt either. And damn it, someone has to fight for the man she killed, because he can’t do it himself.” She waved her hand dismissively, unease tightening her stomach. “Enough about my work. I’d rather talk about you. Tell me about your brothers before I’m in the center of the Walker pack. I know a little about Luke since, I’m sure you know, he and Julie dated, or had a fling, or whatever it was. I never quite figured it out.”

He snapped his fingers. “Just like that, we’re changing subjects?”

“Exactly,” she said with a firm nod. “I was surprised to hear Luke left the SEALs. Julie thought he’d be in for his career.”