Ann Christopher - Case for Seduction

Law Number 1: Never Fall For Your Boss!

Too late, since Charlotte Evans has been secretly head over heels for Jake Hamilton ever since she started working at his family’s renowned Philadelphia law firm. She’s too smart to expect the die-hard bachelor to suddenly turn into Mr. Right, until he starts putting the moves—on her!

Jake’s prowess is legendary—in and out of the courtroom. He’s never met a woman he couldn’t seduce, except Charlotte Evans. Jake’s lovely assistant may be the only female on the planet who sees past his playboy facade. And now Jake wants forever with the one woman he can’t have. Because when it comes to love, some laws are made to be broken.

Drifting closer, he stared at her, taking into account her dripping hair, water-streaked makeup and bright gray eyes.

“You don’t know how beautiful you are,” he softly told her. “You don’t know how much I think about you.”

“Jake.” His name was a whisper. A sigh. A promise. She tipped her chin up and watched him with glittering eyes that were already half-closed, surrendering even as she continued to fight. “I thought we agreed we weren’t going to do this.”

Reaching up, mesmerized by everything about this one special woman, he smoothed the wet hair past her temple. Traced one silky brow. Ran his thumb across the dewy velvet of her lower lip.

“I’ve been trying.” He shrugged helplessly. “I didn’t know how hard it would be.”

Leaning in, he dipped his head and, making sure to keep their bodies well apart, kissed her before she could protest—one gentle, lingering, perfect kiss that nearly choked him with desire.

Then he pulled back, knowing he’d crossed a line but unable to remember why that should matter.

Her eyes were bright and glazed now, a vivid mixture of gray and green that should only belong to the finest jewels and sunset-streaked oceans.

“You’re so beautiful,” he said again, shaking his head because life was unfair. Why else would God drop this woman in his life and then make her off-limits? “So beautiful.”

“So are you.”

ANN CHRISTOPHER

is a full-time chauffeur for her two overscheduled children. She is also a wife, former lawyer and decent cook. In between trips to various sporting practices and games, Target and the grocery store, she likes to write the occasional romance novel. She lives in Cincinnati and spends her time with her family, which includes two spoiled rescue cats, Sadie and Savannah, and two rescue hounds, Sheldon and Dexter. As always, Ann is hard at work on her next book.

If you’d like to recommend a great book, share a recipe for homemade cake of any kind or suggest a tip for getting your children to do what you say the first time you say it, Ann would love to hear from you through her website, www.AnnChristopher.com.

Case for Seduction

Ann Christopher

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Dear Reader,

Are you ready to read about the Laws of Love? I sure hope so!

The Hamilton family is at the heart of this miniseries. The Hamiltons are wealthy and sexy Philadelphians, and almost all of the younger generation are lawyers working at Hamilton, Hamilton and Clark, the family’s law firm.

And what happens when you throw family and lawyers together?

Emotions seethe. Oversized egos collide. Resentments boil over.

In other words, expect D-R-A-M-A, and plenty of it.

First up? My contribution to the series, Case for Seduction, where Jake Hamilton, who loves the ladies, meets his match in the form of his new paralegal, Charlotte Evans, a woman who’s been right under his nose for years. Is Jake ready to be crazy in love? Absolutely not. That’s what makes it so fun!

Next is Pamela Yaye’s Evidence of Desire. You won’t want to miss seeing Harper Hamilton fall—and fall hard—for Azure Ellison, the beautiful reporter who was formerly an ugly duckling at Harper’s prep school. He never noticed her then, but, boy, is he making up for it now!

And the finale? Jacquelin Thomas’s Legal Attraction, where Marissa Hamilton, the baby of the group, must deal with explosive family secrets and the fallout from her night of passion with her coworker and good friend Griff Jackson. What’s the backdrop for all this tension, you ask? The family’s glittering charity ball, of course.…

So, buckle your seat belts. You’re in for some exciting stories!

Happy reading!

Ann

To Richard

Special thanks to Maria Ribas

and the team at Harlequin. It’s always a pleasure.

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 1

Jake Hamilton left the gym and ducked into Starbucks with one pressing question on his mind: Did they have any pumpkin scones left?

Having begun this fine September Saturday morning by working his butt off lifting weights, and then playing a squash match (he won, 3-0, thank you very much), he figured he was entitled to one of his favorite treats, even if he was a little...fragrant at the moment. Skirting the people in line, he peered into the glass display case, his hopes high.

Yes, he had a sweet tooth. He had about thirty-two of them, to be honest.

So, let’s see. They have quite the selection this morning, don’t they? Muffins...apple fritters...the usual assortment of cake slices—iced gingerbread, iced lemon and chocolate—but no pumpkin scones, damn it.

He scowled and made his way to the end of the line, his morning ruined. Well, not entirely ruined, because he could still get a gallon-sized cup of coffee, but it just wouldn’t be the same.

“Morning, Jake.” The last of the customers in front of him got their drinks and moved aside, revealing the pretty barista behind the counter. She’d been making eyes at him the last several times he was there, and he felt terrible for not knowing her name by now. Trying to be discreet, he checked her badge. Ashley, it said. “I saved the last one for you. I figured you’d be needing it.” She held up a pumpkin scone on a plate.

Torn, Jake worked up a grin that he hoped wasn’t too enthusiastic. On the one hand, thank God he’d get his scone. On the other hand, Ashley was now giving him a quick once-over that stripped away the shorts and

T-shirt he was wearing and, while it was always flattering to be noticed, he had no desire to be noticed by Ashley.

Or by most of the females he encountered these days, come to think of it, which was strange. He’d gotten to the unfamiliar point in his life where he preferred to sit quietly and alone in his house, watching ESPN and prepping for his latest trial, instead of hanging out with his brothers and catching the panties women threw their way. The whole club scene had started to exhaust him. The drinks. The dancing. The hookups. The aftermath, which was always awkward to one degree or another.

When had he lost his taste for women who were young, beautiful and eager?

Why would he rather go sit at a table and organize his thoughts for the staff barbecue he was hosting at his house in a few weeks than stand here and flirt with Ashley?