Linda Warren - Straight from the Heart

His father had been a policeman who worked long hours—or so they’d believed until they discovered he’d been spending a lot of those hours with other women. The secret came to light when his mistress shot him with his own gun after he decided to end the affair. The news devastated his mother, and she died one week later from a massive heart attack. He’d been only fifteen years old, but he’d never forgotten the hurt, pain and disillusionment in his mother’s eyes. He was never going to hurt a woman like that—never. Until he found a woman he could stay faithful to, he planned to remain single.

For some reason he thought of Blair Logan. She was different from the other women he’d met—mainly because she hated his guts. But she’d enjoyed beating him today. Blair would never let her emotions show, but it was no secret that she’d been gunning for him for a long time. He was sure this victory was a big deal for her. That should annoy the hell out of him, but it didn’t. In his younger days, he would have been angry at the loss. Younger days! Good Lord, now he was thinking in terms of younger days. What the hell was wrong with him?

Lately he’d been feeling a restlessness, a dissatisfaction with everything in his life, and he found himself questioning everything he’d ever done. He was displeased with both his personal and his professional life. He’d worked for Harris and Harris for the past fifteen years and he’d never had any complaints until now. Clive and George Harris were brothers, and now their sons were also attorneys who’d joined the firm. Lucas knew that in the near future he’d probably be working for them and he didn’t like that. He was the reason quite a few clients chose Harris and Harris, and everyone knew it. Lucas’s salary was raised every year in appreciation, but now he wanted more. He wanted his name on the door. He wanted everything that came with his years of experience and he wasn’t willing to settle for less.

Then again, he’d made enough money and invested it wisely. He could retire and move to Austin to be near Jacob and the family. Hell! He shook his head in frustration. He’d spent all his adult life practicing law and he had no intention of giving it up so easily. The restlessness was getting to him, that was all; so was losing this case. He should have never taken it in the first place. Clive and George had advised against it, but he couldn’t let Jim down. Jacob had taught him always to stand by your friends and he had, and he refused to have regrets about that. He just wished he’d felt more confident of Hector’s innocence. That restlessness again. Good thing he’d scheduled a vacation. He needed one to make some decisions about his life.

“Hey, Culver,” a voice called.

Lucas turned and saw Roger Collins, an old friend of his brother’s, coming toward him. Roger was in his forties, a police detective who’d worked a lot of cases during his career—some Lucas had been involved with.

They shook hands. “How you doing, Lucas?”

“Fine.” Lucas smiled.

“How’s Jacob?”

“In love and happy.”

“If anyone deserves happiness, it’s Jacob,” Roger said solemnly.

“I’ll second that.”

“How many kids does he have now?”

“Five,” Lucas said. “They had another girl a few months back.”

“That’s great…just great.”

“Yeah.”

Roger changed the subject. “Well, I heard Blair stuck it to you today.”

“I wouldn’t call it that,” Lucas responded mildly.

“You just hate to lose.”

“Yes, it’s one of those annoying flaws of mine.”

“I also heard Raye wasn’t pleased with the verdict.” Roger looked at him carefully.

“No, he wasn’t. He caused an ugly scene.”

“Is Blair okay?”

Lucas’s eyes narrowed. “Why wouldn’t she be?”

“Evidently you haven’t heard what happened to her some years back.”

“I don’t guess I have.”

“It was sixteen years ago, so you were probably away at law school.” Roger went on to tell him about Blair and the attack by Todd Easton.

“You know, I vaguely remember reading something about that incident—mainly because it was Sam Logan’s daughter. Hell, I knew she was Sam’s daughter, but I never connected it to the attack.”

“She’s had a rough time. I hope this hasn’t upset her.”

Lucas grinned. “Sounds like you’re pretty fond of Blair.”

Roger grinned back. “You could say that, but Blair doesn’t let anyone get too close to her. I keep trying, though. Think I’ll check on her.” He glanced at his watch. “Damn, I have to be in court in five minutes. I’ll catch her later. I’ve got to run. Tell Jacob I said hi.” With that, he dashed into the courthouse.

Lucas stared after him with a puzzled expression. He now understood Blair Logan a little better. No wonder she was so cold and detached. He’d never dreamed she’d had this kind of trauma in her past and was a little surprised he hadn’t heard anything about it before. He hoped Raye hadn’t caused her any more stress. Still, it was none of his business, he told himself, walking resolutely toward his vehicle.

He threw his briefcase into his Ford Expedition and got into the driver’s seat. But he didn’t start the engine. He kept thinking about Blair. Maybe he should reassure her that Hector was just talk and she had nothing to worry about. No, he told himself again. She wouldn’t thank him for his concern.

Concern? Was he concerned for Blair? Yes, he was, he had to admit. He’d always thought Blair was strong enough to handle anything. Could he be wrong? Could her strength only be a facade to hide her fear and pain?

Without a second thought, he climbed out of the car and headed to the district attorney’s office. He had to tell her that Hector wasn’t a threat to her.

And Blair Logan was going to eat him alive.

IT DIDN’T TAKE Lucas long to find Blair’s office. The door was open a crack. He pushed it a fraction to see if she was inside. He stared in disbelief. Blair, a Blair he’d never seen before, was dancing around the room singing under her breath. Her dark hair was loose around her shoulders, her eyes sparkled and her face was enraptured. God, she was beautiful. So feminine, so enticing…

She held her arms out and her hips swayed gracefully. She’d had ballet lessons, he decided. It showed in every seductive line of her body.

“It feels so-o-o-o good. Oh, oh, oh, yeah,” she sang. She whirled around and came to a complete stop when she saw Lucas.

“OhmyGod,” she murmured. She quickly gathered her hair and twisted it into a knot. She reached for a large clasp that lay on her desk and fastened it to her hair, but several strands lingered around her face.

She inhaled deeply and demanded, “What are you doing here?”

She’d immediately collected her wits, her cool businesswoman demeanor back in place, but Lucas didn’t seem to notice. His eyes were on the opening of her blouse. Several buttons had come undone and her lacy bra was showing. Blair wore lacy things. He’d never have figured that.

“Your blouse is open,” he told her, and her cheeks turned a delicate pink.

She nervously buttoned her blouse to the top.

She was mortified that he’d seen her doing a victory dance, and she was desperately striving for some measure of respectability. But she feared she’d lost every ounce of that. Oh God, how had she let this happen? And of all men…Lucas Culver.

“If you’re through leering,” she said coolly. “You can tell me why you’re here.”

Lucas realized he had a silly grin on his face, but for the life of him he couldn’t stop smiling. “You know,” he replied, “it went right out of my head.”

“Then you can leave.”