Carly Phillips: Seducme Me aka Erotic Invitation

No answer came. But with dawn breaking outside her window, she realized the career path she’d chosen for the wrong reasons conflicted with acting upon the private investigator’s revelations regarding Mrs. Lederman.

And it was past time she dealt with certain facts and faced up to her feelings.

“Are you up?” Jack’s morning-roughened voice sounded in her ear.

“Mmm. I’ve been thinking.”

“About last night, I hope.” His hand reached around to cup her breast.

The pleasing tingling started immediately but her mind was worked up and she needed to talk first. “Last night was amazing. But we need to talk work before we get sidetracked again.”

He laughed. “You want me to talk work while I’m in bed with you and more awake with each passing minute?” He inched closer, until his groin, hard and erect, nestled against her back.

She let out a sigh. “Hard as it is…”

When he chuckled, she caught his double meaning and laughed. “No, hard as it is for me to say no to you now, I need to get this information off my chest.”

“What is it?” he asked, sounding concerned.

“Alicia Lederman has a history of abusing prescription drugs.”

“Bingo!”

Mallory cringed at the excitement she heard in his voice.

“This is exactly what we need to force her into a settlement. Once we tell Lederman about this…Wait a damn minute.” Behind her, Jack pulled himself to a sitting position.

Not wanting to feel exposed, she yanked the covers over her chest and sat up, too. “What’s wrong?”

“Was this abuse while they were married?”

Mallory nodded. “So was her stay in an expensive rehab clinic.”

“Then why didn’t Lederman share this piece of information?”

“Well, we’re not his attorneys of record,” she reminded him.

“I can buy that. But there’s another possibility-”

“He was testing us,” Mallory said, finishing his thought and sharing her own conclusions at the same time. “He wanted to see if we’d uncover the information on our own and how far we were willing to go with it.” And Mallory wasn’t willing to go the distance on this one.

She wasn’t sure when she’d made the decision, but it was somewhere between getting to know and like Alicia Lederman and falling in love with Jack. A soft side she hadn’t realized existed had crept up on her and settled in.

Mallory couldn’t use the woman’s past against her. Even if it cost her her job and the partnership she’d thought she’d coveted. She admired and respected Alicia Lederman too much. Her sense of fairness dictated she take the woman’s feelings into account.

Without warning, Jack tossed off the covers and climbed out of bed.

“Where are you going?”

“To talk to that son of a bitch. It’s one thing to be undecided about counsel and to invite us out here to get to know us better, but it’s another to play the games he’s been playing, disappearing, withholding information. I’m through. Either my record speaks for itself or it doesn’t.” He grabbed for his jeans.

“Jack, wait.”

He paused. “You’re right. I’ll shower first and then I’ll tackle Paul Lederman.” He charged toward the bathroom, magnificent in his nudity and masculinity.

She licked at her dry lips. “What’s the plan, Jack?”

He paused and turned. “Before or after I strangle him?” he asked wryly.

“After.”

“He hires us and we use the information and agree to as small a settlement as possible, why?”

“Because I vote we don’t use it.”

Jack stalked back into the room, his attorney instincts kicking into gear. “Mind telling me why not?”

She shook her head. “Because she doesn’t deserve it. You heard her. She raised his kids and from what I’ve seen she’s a major player in running this place. She’s earned a fair share. Besides, if she had a drug problem, she’s obviously over it now. Why threaten to make her weakness public? Why set her kids up for ridicule just to achieve Mr. Lederman’s needs?”

“Because if he comes around like I expect him to, he’ll be our client.” A client Jack didn’t like and didn’t trust, but a client entitled to loyalty and the best representation for his money just the same.

He stood at the foot of the bed, recalling their first day at the resort, Mallory’s determination and no-holds-barred attitude toward getting to know Mrs. Lederman and aiding their client.

“ You suggested hiring the private investigator in the first place. Now you want to bury the information you asked him to find?” Jack shook his head in disbelief. “Aside from the fact that I doubt Lederman will want that, it’s contrary to our legal ethics and what we owe the client.”

She narrowed her gaze, obviously furious that he’d questioned her ethics. “I just happen to think there are less slimy tactics available.” But she glanced away just as quickly, a sure sign more was going on inside that beautiful head than she was willing to let on.

“This from the woman who wants to make it in a man’s world?” He could have bitten his tongue in two the minute the words escaped his mouth. But she’d shocked him with her about-face.

His arguments for using the information were valid. And besides, if he wanted things between them to return to a normal professional level, he couldn’t tread lightly around her feelings just because they’d once been involved.

Were still involved. Dammit. He didn’t like this one bit.

She rose from the bed, wrapping the sheet around her in what seemed more like an emotionally protective gesture than a physical one. “Well I guess we know where we both stand on this issue. And whose opinion carries the most weight.”

He hated hurting her. He hated the distance he’d just put between them even more. “Mallory…”

She shook her head. “Go shower and talk to Lederman.”

Knowing there was nothing more to say, Jack pulled on his pants and retreated to his own room for a shower. By the time he’d cooled down and knocked on her door, no one answered.

Whether she’d headed downstairs for a walk on the beach or if she was just ignoring him, the result was the same.

He was alone.

JACK STRODEinto the crowded gym. Seven-thirty in the morning was prime workout time when the sun beckoned for the rest of the day. Looking around, he spotted his mark standing by the treadmill, white towel wrapped around his beefy neck.

Jack steeled himself for the argument to come. He’d been too damn lax on this trip. Too distracted by the thrill of the game he and Mallory had played.

He walked over to the corner of the room. “Paul. I’d like a word with you.” Jack refrained from showing his anger or frustration yet. There was still a remote chance his gut instinct regarding Lederman’s motives were wrong. But he doubted it.

Lederman turned-reluctantly-away from the treadmill and met Jack’s stare. “I was going to give you a call this afternoon.”

Sure he was. Since his return, he’d been making himself scarce. And because of Jack’s affair with Mallory, he’d been too preoccupied to care. But if her chilly attitude this morning was any indication, the honeymoon was over, and maybe it was for the best.

“What’s up?” Paul asked.

“Why don’t you tell me. I’ve spent four days here and not a word from you. Meanwhile my sources tell me you’ve been holding out on me.” Jack glanced around to make sure no one was in hearing distance. “Prescription drug abuse?” Jack watched Lederman’s reaction closely.

“How the hell did you come up with that?” Paul narrowed his gaze, then shrugged. “No matter now. It’s ripe for use.” He narrowed his gaze. “You willing to use it?”