Total pages in book: 183
Estimated words: 174715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 874(@200wpm)___ 699(@250wpm)___ 582(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 174715 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 874(@200wpm)___ 699(@250wpm)___ 582(@300wpm)
“Considering my preferred method of undressing you is temporarily off limits,” I say, without looking at her, “you’re going to have to tell me what’s under that dress.”
“I’m running short on panties,” she says, glancing over at me at the same moment I look at her. “Who says I have anything under it?”
“Don’t challenge me to break the rules,” I warn, turned the fuck on by this part of her that loves to challenge me.
“You’ll have to use your imagination, boss.”
My phone buzzes with a text message from Royce: My man is already in your room.
I text him a quick confirmation and then say, “Detour. We’re headed to a private suite that’s being cleared for our talk with Tara.”
“What about your bacon?”
“I’m getting my damn bacon,” I assure her. “We’ll order room service.”
The elevator dings, and we enter to find we’re not alone, and in fact we’re forced to squeeze into a corner. That pushes Lori’s body up against mine, and my hand settles on her lower back. It’s not a decision, but rather nature. I’ve never felt that with any other woman.
We’re the first to exit the car and I make sure I’m not touching Lori when we do. The suite is to our right and down a private walkway. I wave the keycard in front of the door and offer the second key to Lori. “Isn’t us in a hotel room a problem?” she asks.
“We’re doing our jobs, sweetheart.” I shove the door open. “And we’re not alone. One of the Walker staff is here.” Lori enters the room and I follow to find we’re now standing inside a living room wrapped with windows, complete with two couches facing each other, a television to the left and a desk to the right.
“Hello,” I call out, and only a few beats later, a familiar thirty-something man, dressed in black jeans and a black T-shirt, appears from down a hallway to join us.
“Cole Brooks,” he says, his dark, wavy hair a wayward mess, while nothing else about this man is even close to a mess. “Good to see you man,” he adds, glancing at Lori. “I’m Adam, ma’am.”
“Lori Havens,” Lori says. “I’m Cole’s—”
“Associate,” I supply for his benefit before she calls herself an intern. And then to her, “Adam’s some sort of badass ex-Navy SEAL,” I say. “He did leg work on Jerome Knight’s case for me, and fuck, I haven’t called Jerome.” I glance at Adam. “Are we ready?”
“I setup an interview room and camera in the dining room.” He motions to the hallway to his left.
I glance at Lori. “Can you make sure we’re good while I call Jerome?”
“Of course,” she says, hurrying toward Adam.
I pull out my phone and punch in Jerome’s number. He skips the greeting and goes straight to, “What the hell is going on, Cole?”
“I don’t know enough to answer that with any level of confidence or accuracy, but I need to know one thing from you. You also know how I feel about talking on the phone.”
“What do I do?”
“Stay where you are until I tell you otherwise,” I instruct. “They’re going to try to pit her against you or trade her for you. I need to know where you stand.”
“Am I going to admit to something I didn’t do because my daughter made another one of her fucked up mistakes?” he asks. “No. I will not.”
“Can she hurt you?”
“I’ve done nothing illegal ever in my entire life. You know this, and it hasn’t changed. Feel free to work whatever angle you want with confidence, and yes, I’ll send you a check for billable hours.”
“I’ll handle it,” I assure him.
He hesitates a full beat. “She’s my daughter. We don’t always agree on things, but I don’t want her to go to jail.”
In other words, don’t bury her to save him. “Understood. I’ll be in touch.”
I disconnect and text Tara the room number and a time for the meeting. She replies back almost instantly: See you then. With that meeting set, I cross the room, and walk down the hall toward the dining area. I manage to enter the separate room just in time to find Lori standing with Adam, who is showing her how to work the camera and judging from the look on Adam’s face, he has discovered how good she smells. Bastard, who better be glad I get it, she does smell good, and she’s hard not to notice, but that doesn’t mean I expect him to keep noticing. He looks up, and I arch a brow that gets the message across. He laughs and holds up his hands, taking an exaggerated step away from Lori. “We’re ready for the diva when you are,” he says.
Lori looks up at me, her intelligent green eyes narrowing as if she knows something just happened, but she isn’t sure what. I glance at my watch. “It’s nine now. I’ve set Tara’s arrival for ten, because if I don’t eat before I deal with her, I might refuse to represent her before we even get to the police station, which won’t serve her father well.” I walk to the phone on the credenza by the wall and pick up the handset. “What do you want, Lori?”