“Oh, no, it’s okay. You aren’t the guy who stole my last one.”
“So? My treat.”
“Well… If you insist. Thanks. I’m Grace, by the way.” She extends a small hand.
I take it in mine. As my senses revel in the softness of her skin, a searing jolt runs through my spine. “Huxley,” I say.
She takes a big swallow of the scotch, her eyes holding mine, then dropping to my mouth. Her hand is still in my grasp. Then her lips purse and she frowns. I have an absurd impulse to kiss her and tell her to forget whatever is irritating her.
She replaces the glass on the bar. “Okay. Please tell me you aren’t a lawyer.”
“Why?”
“Because all the lawyers in my life have turned out to be jerks. Except for my best friend, but that’s different.”
The family resentment that’s been simmering in my chest for so long abates a bit. I wish I could record this woman’s distaste for attorneys and send it to Grandmother, who thinks that I wasborn to go into the legal profession. “Well, you’re in luck. I’m most definitely not a lawyer.”
“What a relief. I’m all lawyered out for the day. Probably for the century.”
“Get sued?”
“No.” Her eyes flick down briefly, a rueful smile twisting her beautiful lips. “I walked in here to pick up a rival lawyer and have a little revenge on my boyfriend, who cheated on me—”
I lift my eyebrows.Hard to believe.
“—and then had the gall to say it was because the sex wasn’t great.”
“Your boyfriend is a spineless idiot. Infidelity is a coward’s way out for people who don’t have the guts to end a relationship face to face. He also probably felt deep down that he couldn’t measure up to a woman like you.” A woman who stands up to a bully, then makes me laugh, is able to soothe my temperandturns me on? That’s a unicorn.
She flushes and shifts, like she isn’t used to hearing how wonderful she is. Her boyfriend is an asshole who probably couldn’t find her G-spot with a GPS.
“Well, I am, again,nota lawyer…but we could go for it anyway.” I keep my tone light enough for her to dismiss it as a joke, but hold her eyes and give her a slow smile.
She considers, giving me an intent, slanted look. As each heartbeat passes, I realize I’m actually growing restless at the possibility she might say no. It’s a novel feeling. I’ve never cared about a woman’s response like this before. There was always another one just around the corner, just as good. But I have a feeling Grace is one of a kind.
“Mmm,” she says meditatively, glancing in the direction of the group the asshole ran off to. “So far, those were my options. A bunch of guys who are about as attractive as hairless orangutans.”
Despite myself, it makes me laugh.
She leans closer until our cheeks are just a hairsbreadth apart. “But I think,” she says hotly into my ear, “I just found what I was looking for.”
Chapter Seven
Grace
Huxley and I spill into a gorgeous suite at the Aylster Hotel. I didn’t want to take him to my place when the sheets that Peter and Viv used are still on my bed. We deserve better. So when I told him, “Your place,” he brought me here.
The lights come on automatically, casting a soft glow everywhere. I don’t have time to appreciate the beautifully appointed suite because the instant the door shuts, my back is being pressed against the cool wall.
His mouth claims mine, his tongue plundering me. He tastes like scotch, hot spice with a hint of smoke that’s intoxicating and sexy. Something dangerously exciting I’ve never felt before sizzles in my veins. It feels like every inch of my skin is on fire.
I whimper, digging my fingers into his powerful shoulders. I angle my head to deepen the connection.
With a soft groan, he puts a hand on the small of my back and pulls me closer. He’s all lean muscle and excitement—exactlywhat I’ve been looking for.
Yes, there was a zing that went up my spine when I looked into his beautiful blue-gray eyes at the bar. The tingly sensation that shivered through me when I got a sniff of his spicy cologne. The sudden dryness in my mouth when we shook hands, and how shockingly warm his bare skin felt—how my body seemed to sing as my blood heated.
But the most important thing is that he defended me against others unconditionally, without question or expecting anything in return. That’s never happened, not since Mom collapsed two years ago. It’s probably the reason I opened up to him more than I normally would have. And why I’m going to spend the night with him.
