Carly Phillips: Erotic Invitation

She rose from her seat. “Guess that means case closed, then.”

“I’m sure we’ll survive,” he said, issuing a grin meant to ease things between them.

He waited for a smile in return and was disappointed not to get one. “I’ll need to wrap some things up before I can start on Lederman’s case,” she said.

“No problem. Our flight leaves at 7:00 p.m. Think you can tie up loose ends, pack and be at the airport in…” he glanced at his watch. “Three hours?”

Her lipstick-free mouth opened, then closed again. He’d managed to get a reaction after all. “Our flight?” The word sounded more like a squeak.

He nodded. “Mr. Lederman is at his resort in the Hamptons. He doesn’t care to cut his vacation short, so we’re going to head on out there and get to know him. Grab your sunglasses and bathing suit. We’re going to the beach.”

MALLORY ROLLED her silk stockings down her legs slowly, savoring the sensation against her skin. She so missed the little luxuries in life—silk, satin and anything soft, which was why she always did her best to pamper herself beneath her conservative image.

Thanks to a spilled pocketbook-size vial of her favorite perfume, normally saved for evenings after work, the comforting aroma indulged her senses now. But neither the conservative attorney nor the buried woman were foolish enough to wear stockings to a hot, summer resort.

With Jack Latham.

She shivered at the unexpected prospect of spending hours in his company away from the office. She opened her suitcase and tossed it on the bed.

“Going somewhere exciting?” Her cousin Julia bounded into the room with all the exuberance of a college freshman. Or someone who would be a college freshman if she hadn’t opted for a free-spirited route in life.

Just looking at her, Mallory felt old beyond her years. Mallory was still young enough to be carefree, it was just the external trappings that constrained her. And those couldn’t be avoided. Not if she wanted to make partner.

“Hey, Mal. I asked you where you’re off to?”

Mallory turned to her cousin. Their fathers were brothers, and by a strange mix of the gene pool, Julia and Mallory shared an uncanny resemblance, down to their blue eyes. Looking at her cousin was like looking in a mirror, minus a few years, chronological as well as emotional. Julia was a bundle of happiness, and like Mallory she was also a disappointment to her father. Unlike Mallory, she didn’t feel the need to change her parent’s opinion.

“I’m off to a sunny resort and before you get jealous, remember it’s business.” And with luck, Jack would remember that, too. He’d dress up and not down and even if their eccentric, bossy client insisted on a poolside meeting, Jack would dress, period. Because Mallory was afraid if she saw him bare-chested and tanned, in swimming trunks that accentuated and revealed, she couldn’t be responsible for her actions.

And Mallory Sinclair was always the upstanding, responsible adult and attorney. Always. She had to be.

Julia sat on the bed and crossed her legs. “It may be business, but it’s still the beach.”

“That’s what Jack said.” The memory of his charcoal-gray eyes boring into hers lit a fire inside her. The warmth of desire burst into a burning flame. Lust, Mallory reminded herself. Nothing more than sexual need, a desire easily controlled. No matter if she was lying to herself, she had no choice but to convince herself and act accordingly. So what if the man was sexy? She was an adult, after all.

“Who’s Jack?”

“The senior partner in charge of this case.” Her garment bag already packed with a combination of appropriate lightweight pantsuits and skirts, Mallory folded her private underthings and placed them inside the suitcase.

Julia seated herself on the bed. “What’s he look like?”

“What’s it matter?” Mallory shot back quickly.

Too quickly, and her cousin’s eyes narrowed. “Why so testy? Uptight about going away with a seventy-year-old man who’s judging your every move?” Julia’s blue eyes locked with hers, daring her to reveal what was on her mind.

Sometimes Julia was too perceptive and understanding, just another reason why Mallory adored her cousin and let her live here rent-free while she “found herself” in New York. “More like a thirty-something, perfect-looking, unattached man,” Mallory muttered.

Julia laughed. “I heard that.”

“I wanted you to or I wouldn’t have spoken out loud.”

“That’s my favorite cousin, nothing uncalculated, nothing unplanned.”

“The complete opposite of your spontaneous nature, you mean. You know it wouldn’t hurt you to plan ahead. Set goals, chart your course in life.”

“Any more than it would hurt you to jump into something with your heart and not your head. So what’s the story with your office hunk?”

Mallory shook her head. “No story. Not with a no-office-romance policy, and not with a man who, if you believe the rumors, doesn’t have the ability to commit.” And not with a man who hadn’t shown her an ounce of interest.

Julia leaned forward, resting on her elbows and propping her chin on her palms. “So? Does he have to commit to have an affair?”

“Who said I was looking for an affair?” Or a commitment for that matter. She didn’t have the time to worry about her personal life, at least not until her partnership was secure and stable.

“Maybe you should be.” Julia reached into the suitcase and held one of Mallory’s lace teddy’s in the air, dangling it from her fingertips. “Seems to me these lacy getups are wasted if you’re alone.”

Mallory grabbed for her nightie and buried it back inside her suitcase where it belonged. “Didn’t you ever hear of doing things for yourself?”

“Anyone ever tell you it’s more fun doing it with a partner?”

Visions of herself and Jack played before her eyes, a seductive dance with the ocean as the backdrop. She shook her head at her thoughts—all inappropriate, un-called for and not possible. Beyond office policy and Mallory’s long-term goals, she understood reality.

She swung the suitcase off the bed and blew Julia a kiss. “I’ll be in touch.” She passed the mirror as she headed out the door, catching a glimpse of herself in the glass. Her black glasses stood out, glaring and unattractive. Exactly as she’d meant them to be.

Mallory was heading off to an exclusive resort with the best-looking man she’d ever met. A man who made her ache with a simple glance. A man whose voice caused ripples of awareness to burst to life inside her.

But just as she planned, that sexy man wouldn’t give her an interested glance. Jack Latham wouldn’t be captivated by Mallory Sinclair, attorney. He wouldn’t be charmed, enchanted or tempted.

“It might help if you let down your hair,” her cousin supplied in a sugary-helpful voice.

Not if she wanted to make partner. Mallory glanced at her watch. Half an hour till show time. She had a firm-hired car picking her up downstairs to take her to the airport. “Gotta run or I’ll be late.”

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“It’s not like I’ll even be given the chance,” she muttered to herself.

JACK GLANCED at his watch. Half an hour until landing and their descent couldn’t come a minute too soon. He didn’t know how much more togetherness he could take. Mallory shifted in her seat and her right knee grazed his left leg. A shot of heat radiated up his thigh.

“Sorry,” she mumbled, then sighed.

It had been like this for the entire flight. The cramped quarters of the plane and Mallory’s enforced proximity was causing his body to react in conflicting and confounding ways. She’d exchanged the uptight suit for a lightweight dress with a hem that ended marginally higher and revealed an enticing hint of bare skin. Without stockings he was treated to tanned, smooth-looking flesh and he found his gaze drawn back again and again.