Carly Phillips - Erotic Invitation

Jack ought to understand because they were bound by the same ethics. Yet because she was a woman he expected her to act differently. To show her emotions. Coming from Jack, that damn double standard hurt. She’d expected more of him though she didn’t know why. The man was the Terminator, after all. He represented husbands against wives regardless of fairness or truth. Because that was his ethical obligation.

But despite his job as Waldorf, Haynes’s chief divorce attorney, Mallory believed there was more to Jack. Just one day in his company and she sensed a gold mine of emotion beneath the surface. Oh, if pushed, he would claim to believe in all his male clients. He would state aloud that women were at fault in the breakup of most marriages. She’d heard him spout the same rhetoric around the office. She couldn’t help hearing his secretary’s gossip about why he’d become a hotshot divorce attorney. If the stories regarding his mother’s blatant and ongoing in-fidelities were true, then personal pain lay behind Jack’s antimarriage rhetoric.

His shaded sunglasses had hidden his eyes but other things had given his emotions away. The twitch in his full lips and the grip of his hand on the table that turned his knuckles white, only obvious because she’d been looking for a sign of humanity, had proven Mallory correct. He wasn’t immune to Mrs. Lederman’s suffering, even as he directed her to communicate with the husband she loved through their attorneys from now on.

It had been easier to ignore Jack Latham’s appeal when only sexual attraction was involved. Now that Mallory had spent time with the man, now that she saw depth behind the good looks and toned body, she couldn’t leave him with the impression he obviously had of her. He wanted to see the woman behind the mask. And she had enough pride to want to strip away the veneer and show him.

It was a gamble. Jack Latham was a respected partner. He could break her career with a word whispered in the right ears. But weighing all risks, Mallory came down on the side of chance.

Geez, lady, you’re cold. Just once on this trip I’d like to see the woman beneath the frigid facade.

She fingered a garment of pure silk between her fingertips. If he was perceptive enough to use that sort of terminology, Mallory was gutsy enough to expose what lay beneath.

For his eyes only.

Curling her legs beneath her, Mallory gave serious thought to how best make her point. By the time she’d formulated her plan, she’d actually managed to arouse herself with tantalizing, intriguing possibilities.

She glanced at her watch. She had some free time before meeting up with Jack again later. Plenty of opportunity to set things in motion.

She lay back against the pillows, squeezed her eyes shut tight and imagined Jack’s reaction. Anticipation rose inside her, building to a rolling crescendo, causing a steady, rhythmic pounding beat between her thighs. She lay her hand on the soft material of her panties. A small press downward both alleviated the ache and increased her need. Her fingertips glided over silk, outlining her mound of flesh. So easily, she thought. She could take the edge off the hunger and go on with her day. But alleviating her tension would kill the anticipation she’d feel watching Jack.

She wanted to make him need Mallory Sinclair, the woman.

Then she wanted to take him to the edge…and over.

And she wanted to topple with him, not alone.

So, Mallory thought, let the seduction begin.

HE COULD get used to this. Jack glanced out over the pool to the glistening water beyond. The tangy smell of the ocean, the clear blue sky and the sexy women in bikinis. Yeah, he could get used to this. He leaned back in his seat and stretched his legs out in front of him. The sun beat against his skin, warm and comforting.

“Sorry I’m late. I had to run a few errands and they took longer than I thought.” Mallory slid into the seat across from him, looking uptight in the same boxy blue dress. But she didn’t seem upset over this morning’s incident and he was grateful.

“Everything okay?”

She nodded. “We left in such a rush that I forgot a few things.”

“Well I managed to catch up with Paul in the sauna. We spent an hour commiserating over needy women. It’s way too soon to push him on making a decision, but he’s starting to trust me and I’ve got some more facts to fill you in on.”

“Sounds good.”

“Drink first?” he asked.

She hesitated.

“Consider this more a vacation than a business trip. Seriously we’re only here because Lederman wants to get to know us outside of the office. He’s eccentric, like I said. So go ahead. Have a drink.” Jack wanted to put her at ease. There was no way he could spend a week in her company if she looked like she was about to bolt at the first opportunity.

After his thoughtless comment this morning, he wouldn’t touch the issue of her clothes now, but he didn’t know how long he could watch her roasting in dresses beneath the blazing sun.

He gestured for a waiter. “The lady will have a…” He narrowed his gaze, trying to assess what Ms. Sinclair would drink. “White wine spritzer?”

She shook her head. “Club soda, please.”

Jack blinked, and refrained from rolling his eyes.

“I’ll have a refill.” He lifted his glass that had contained Absolut vodka on the rocks.

The waiter nodded. “Be right back, folks.”

“Oh, wait,” Mallory said.

He turned back around. “Change your mind?”

Jack actually held his breath.

“A wedge of lime, please.”

He should have known.

“So what were you saying about Lederman?” she asked.

“Aside from complaining about marriage, he’s hiding something.” Jack finished the end of his drink.

“What makes you say that?”

“He got a phone call. The guy who relayed the message didn’t say who was calling, but Lederman bolted out of the sauna so fast he nearly lost his towel.” He laughed and waited for her to do the same.

Her expression remained steady. He stifled a groan. He couldn’t imagine she didn’t find the image amusing, so he figured she was still angry with him after all. But he wasn’t about to repeat this morning’s conversation.

Better to focus on work. “At any rate, when he returned I asked him if everything was okay. I thought maybe there was an emergency at the resort, but he didn’t cover well. He flushed, hemmed and hawed, then finally said his son had called from California.”

Mallory shrugged. “Why are you so sure he didn’t?”

“Gut instinct. Besides that’s an easy enough answer without beating around the bush.”

She nodded. “True. So what do you think he’s hiding? It makes no sense to keep us in the dark. Not if we’re on his side.”

“Agreed. And I intend to find out just as soon as…”

“Here are your drinks, folks.”

The waiter exchanged Jack’s empty glass for a full one that no longer appealed, but he thanked the man and turned his gaze back to Mallory. “I could have outright asked him what was going on, but…”

“Excuse me sir, but this is for you.” The waiter handed Jack a folded slip of paper.

“Phone message?” Jack wondered aloud.

“Actually the bartender asked me if I recognized the name on the top and since you’d just signed for your lunch earlier…”

“Did he say who left it?”

“He found it on the bar when the lunch crowd disappeared.”

“Strange.” He lifted the folded paper and a feminine scent drifted toward him. He raised the paper and the aroma grew stronger. More appealing.

“Anything else?” the waiter asked.

“No thank you,” Mallory said in her polite but husky voice.

Jack shook his head, then unsealed the note. Invitation to Seduction—a private evening of dinner, dancing and gratification of the senses. Eight o’clock. Beach cabin number 10. He tried to swallow and choked instead. There were further instructions, seductive allusions about what he could expect should he dare to RSVP.