JUST AS HIS client was being led off to jail again, the billionaire said something ominous to Stone. “You’re playing a dangerous game here.”
Stone automatically glanced over to the prosecution’s table. But Hillary was already gone. He turned toward the back of the court and caught just a glimpse of her bright blond hair as she slipped out into the hall. He wanted to chase after her, but members of the press, that Judge Harrison had banned from the proceedings, surrounded her now in the hall, shoving microphones in her beautiful face. And he wasn’t sure he could hide from the media how he felt about her now, how he wanted her.
Then the doors swung shut again, and he lost sight of her and the reporters. And he was able to focus on his client again. “Don’t worry. I’ve got this.”
Byron Mueller tilted his head and reminded Stone, “You have a million reasons to do your best.”
“I am...” Maybe not today in court. But last night...
That had been his best. Well, it had felt the best. But he’d been quick and out of control. Had Hillary enjoyed it, too? She’d seemed to, but the minute it was over, she’d vowed it would never happen again. That it was a mistake.
And given how distracted it had made him today, she was right. It had been a mistake. One that they could not repeat. Not that she would want to repeat it. She was furious with him for bringing her bra to court.
Maybe Byron was right. Maybe he was playing a dangerous game. Stone would be lucky if she only went after him in court. And she had gone after him today. She hadn’t brought up the alibi yet, but she’d used other witnesses to paint Mueller’s short marriage as a contentious one.
Stone had seen the concern on his client’s face. No wonder Byron uttered that warning as the guards led him from the courtroom. He didn’t want to go to prison for a crime he had not committed.
But Stone was not going to allow that to happen. Hillary Bellows hadn’t beaten him in court yet, and she was damn well not going to beat him this time, either. And beating her again was more incentive than even the million-dollar bonus that Mueller had offered him if they won.
Hillary could not find out about that bonus. She would think that Mueller was just trying to buy his way out of trouble. She had already convinced the judge to deny bail, because she’d argued that Mueller would use his billions to elude justice if he was allowed out before the trial.
Despite Stone’s arguments to refute her claims, bail had been denied. But Stone didn’t count that as a win for Hillary. Judge Harrison rarely granted bail to anyone, so it was no surprise that he’d denied it to a billionaire. He wouldn’t have wanted to be accused of bias or being bribed.
But he was actually biased against Stone’s client, and he was probably biased against Stone as well. As the judge was leaving the courtroom, he’d sent Stone a warning, too. It had been silent—just a glare as he’d walked away.
The courtroom was almost empty now with the day over, but Stone hesitated before closing his briefcase and taking it from the defense table. Instead, he reached into the open case, pushed aside a folder and fingered the lace of Hillary’s nude bra. It was nothing like her skin, like her breasts.
He wanted to feel her again. But that wasn’t going to happen. He doubted he’d be seeing her again anytime soon outside of court. She would probably make certain of that.
But he had another woman he needed to see, one he’d already stood up in order to talk to Hillary the night before. He needed to meet with Allison McCann. The publicist was beautiful but she didn’t excite him like Hillary Bellows did. He’d never been attracted to her like he was to the curvy blond assistant district attorney. Of course, Allison McCann was all business.
Until last night, Hillary had been, too. But when he’d seen her leaning back in her chair, moaning over that chocolate, all he’d been able to think about was making her moan again. And he had—a lot.
He let the lace slip through his fingers. Then he snapped the briefcase closed. Someone was probably going to shut off the lights soon. At least when he stepped into the hall, the reporters were gone.
They probably thought he’d gone out of the courtroom a back way. Judge Harrison had denied them access to the courtroom—per Hillary’s request, of course. But Stone didn’t consider that a win for her, either. While he and his partners used the media to help with their cases, they didn’t need them in order to win. Maybe that was why he hadn’t rescheduled his appointment with Allison yet.
But instead of reaching for his phone, he pushed the down button for the elevator. The doors of one of the cars slid open as if it had been waiting for him. He stepped into the empty one and selected the L button. Moments later, the doors slid open to a nearly empty lobby. Only the guards stood near the entrance. One nodded at him as he walked out. The others ignored him. They were ready to be done for the day.
But since daylight savings had gone into effect the weekend before, night came early again. It was almost dark as Stone walked down the block toward the parking garage. Despite New York traffic being a pain in the ass most of the time, Stone preferred to drive around the city. He was aggressive enough to handle the other drivers on the streets—and the pedestrians who paid no attention to the walk signs.
A chill chased down his spine, and he suppressed a shiver. It wasn’t like he was nervous or uneasy. It was just cold out. A few snowflakes even fluttered down between the tall buildings. The first snow of the season, although in November it really shouldn’t have been snowy yet. It melted the minute it hit the ground. He turned off the sidewalk and walked into the parking garage. The attendant didn’t even glance up from the screen of the device he held.
So much for the security the place advertised. The attendant in his security guard uniform was the only human on the premises besides Stone now. He walked past several empty parking spaces as he headed toward the level where he’d left his luxury SUV. The outside of the vehicle didn’t appear very luxurious anymore, though. The black paint was scuffed in several places, and there were a few dents.
Stone drove as aggressively as he fought for his clients. That was why he’d brought Hillary’s bra to court. He’d just wanted to get a little edge on her.
Instead, he’d made himself edgy. Restless. Tense...
He wanted to relieve that tension like he had the night before—inside her, her inner muscles squeezing him as she came.
A soft groan slipped through his lips.
Just as his tactic to distract her had done in court, it distracted him once again, so much so that he didn’t realize that he was no longer alone in the parking garage. He didn’t realize it until it was too late and something struck him hard across the back and shoulders. He flinched and whirled around to defend himself.
But when he saw who his attacker was, he had no defense. He could do nothing but chuckle.
* * *
His amusement had more anger coursing through Hillary, and she was tempted to whack him again with her briefcase. Maybe even harder this time. But before she could swing the metal case again, he jerked it from her hands. And the grin left his handsome face.
“Do you want me to press charges for assault, Ms. Bellows?” he asked her.
“Do you want me to press charges for theft?” she replied.
The corners of his mouth curved upward in another slight grin, and his gray eyes gleamed with amusement. “I haven’t taken your briefcase,” he said. But he had yet to hand it back to her. “So what are you talking about?”
“You know what I’m talking about,” she said. But because she didn’t want anyone else to know, she had pitched her voice low and uttered the words through gritted teeth.
He furrowed his brow and shook his head. “I’m not sure what you’re referring to.”
“You son of a bitch,” she said.
Instead of taking offense at her insult, he chuckled as if he agreed with her. But then, he hadn’t brought her bra to court to return it to her. Obviously.
He’d brought it to taunt her.
That was why she’d struck him with her briefcase, because she was so furious with him. “You are!”
He nodded. “I’m not arguing with you.”
“That’s a first,” she murmured. “Arguing with me is all you do.”
He stepped closer to her and lowered his head until his lips were just inches from hers. Then he said, “Arguing isn’t all we do, Hillary. Not anymore...”
She shivered. But she didn’t feel cold despite the cool breeze blowing through the parking structure.
“We didn’t argue last night,” he continued, and he lowered his head more until his lips just brushed across hers.
Hillary jerked back as heat sparked through her body and lights flashed in the garage. But it wasn’t camera bulbs flashing. The press hadn’t followed them like she had followed Stone to the parking garage. All the reporters had given up on waiting for Stone after court. But she hadn’t.
She’d been too furious to let him go without a fight. For her bra.
But she couldn’t let anyone witness her getting her underthings back from the opposing counsel in such a high-profile case. Someone would certainly report her for alleged misconduct.
But as long as she didn’t let whatever had happened with Stone affect how she handled the case, she hadn’t really done anything wrong. Just stupid.
Judge Harrison and her boss might think otherwise, though.
Along with the lights, she heard the sound of an engine. The lights must have just flashed because someone had started their vehicle in another part of the parking garage. Had the driver seen them?
“Open your doors!” she hissed at him.
His brow furrowed. “What?”
He’d already taken the key ring from his pocket, so she reached for the fob and clicked the unlock button. The lights flashed on his vehicle and the horn beeped. She rushed around the rear bumper, pulled open the door and jumped into the passenger’s seat. Fortunately, his windows were tinted, so no one could see inside through the windows.
But Stone pulled open his driver’s door and held it open, casting her in the glow of the dome light.
“Get in!” she said, nearly hissing the words at him.
He slid beneath the steering wheel and slowly—so very slowly—pulled the door shut. Then he turned toward her and said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you needed a ride somewhere.” Then his pupils dilated, turning his gray eyes dark, and he wriggled his brows. “Unless you just need a ride.”
Heat flashed through her body again, as it had when his lips had brushed across hers. But it was anger, she told herself. She couldn’t want him again.
And even if she did, she couldn’t give in to temptation as she had in her office. If someone saw them...
Her reputation and her career would be over. And that was probably what he’d intended all along. Her palm itched with the need to connect with his handsome face. She wanted to slap the innuendo and sexiness right off of him.
But she didn’t dare touch him because that had been her first mistake last night. No. That had been her second, or maybe her third.
Her first mistake had been not calling security to throw him out the minute he’d stepped into her office. She wouldn’t have even had to place a call. All she’d had to do was press the little panic button under her desk. But she hadn’t even thought of it when he’d walked in; she’d thought of nothing but those stupid fantasies she had about him.
“You know why I’m here,” she said. “Give it back!”
He arched a brow and leaned across the console separating the front seats. The leather was so supple and soft. And even though the car hadn’t looked new on the outside, with all its scuffs and dents, it smelled new inside—the leather fresh and expensive.
“I’ll give it to you,” he said.
And she suspected he wasn’t talking about her bra. Her pulse accelerated as excitement coursed through her. Coming up against Stone Michaelsen in court had always been exciting. But coming up against him outside of court was something else entirely.
She wasn’t sure her heart could handle this much excitement. Her pulse raced with it, her heart hammering away as she remembered the pleasure he’d given her.
He was so damn good. That was his and his partners’ reputations, though. They were as good of lovers as they were lawyers.
And even she couldn’t argue that they were exceptional lawyers. After last night, she couldn’t argue that Stone wasn’t an exceptional lover as well.
“Stop it!” she warned him. “Stop playing games with me.” Because she wasn’t sure she could handle any more excitement.
He leaned back and widened his eyes with feigned shock. “Who, me? Why do you think I’m playing games?”
“Taking my bra,” she said, “bringing it to court. That was adolescent.” She was hoping that was all it was.
“Adolescent?” he repeated and chuckled. “There wasn’t anything childish about last night, Hillary.”
“We acted on impulse,” she said, “without regard to the consequences. So that wasn’t very mature or professional of either of us.”
Unless he hadn’t acted on impulse. Unless it had all been premeditated on his part, and he’d come to her office in order to seduce her.
That was what she wanted to know, even more than she wanted her bra back. “Or wasn’t that the case for you, Stone? Did you plan what happened between us?” She gestured toward his briefcase. “And did you take that as evidence so you could get me removed from the case?”
He and his partners didn’t have reputations for just being exceptional in court and in bed. They had reputations for being ruthless as well. She’d been hearing stories about them for years, but even more recently about women they’d purposely seduced.
Was that what he’d done with her?
Just how ruthless was Stone Michaelsen?