Spencer wasn’t the only one having trouble with their proximity. Kelly sat on her bed, unable to look away from the wall that separated their rooms. Someone up there had to be having a good laugh at their expense. After all the effort she’d put in during the last week to avoid Spencer, how could she end up in the room right next to him?
What is he doing in there? She wondered. A part of her imagined that if she stared hard enough, her gaze would x-ray that wall, and she’d find him looking right back at her. A nervous tremor seared down her spine at the thought, and she quickly turned away from that wall.
Still, her thoughts remained stubbornly, and annoyingly, fixed on Spencer. No surprise there. In the last few days, he had occupied more space in her brain than she wished or even cared to admit aloud. Her nights were filled with memories of their one night together, and her waking moments were spent trying to fake that she’d forgotten all about it.
The only good thing that had come out of that night was that she’d discovered her innate ability to separate business and pleasure. Somehow, someway, she managed to work cases with Spencer without melting into a bundle of hormones at his feet or worse, outing herself to their coworkers.
“Kel?” Marie’s knock on the door cut into Kelly’s thoughts.
“Door’s open,” Kelly called out.
A moment later, the brunette threw the door open and skipped into the room. “Are you done unpacking?”
“Not yet.” Kelly stood up and opened her suitcase. “You’re done already?”
“I got someone to do it for me.” Marie grinned. “What’s the point of staying at a hotel if you don’t use all their services? Want me to call someone to do your suitcase?”
“Nah.” Kelly made a face. “I prefer to do my own suitcase.”
Hotel or not, Kelly couldn’t imagine leaving a stranger to rifle through her private stuff. She’d already had enough of that in prison. Marie settled on the bed, entertaining Kelly with the latest office gossip as she unpacked. The brunette was distracting enough to get Kelly’s mind off the fact that Spencer was in the room next-door. Unfortunately, when they stepped out of Kelly’s room they found Spencer out in the hallway, locking his door.
“Mr. Chambers,” Marie called out before Kelly could stop her. With a grin, she skipped to his side. “How do you like your room?”
“It’s okay.” Spencer shrugged even as his eyes swept past the brunette to rivet on Kelly.
“You know, I’m the one who recommended it.” Marie dragged his attention back to her.
“Is that so?” Spencer offered unemotionally as he started down the hallway.
“Yeah!” Marie nodded like an eager puppy. Struggling to keep up with his long strides, she trailed him down the hallway. “A friend of mine came here just a few days ago and had a great time. Do you know these guys offer twenty-four-hour meal-service…”
Though Kelly stayed a few feet behind them and kept an ear on Marie’s chatter, most of her attention was on Spencer. She’d only seen him in casual clothes once before – the time she’d come for her interview – and almost forgotten how the man could make any outfit look good. He was in a gray t-shirt and dark-wash jeans that followed the lean lines of his tall muscular frame.
Kelly had caught quite a few of her female coworkers staring at him thirstily on their way to Miami. Though she’d contemplated stabbing those women’s eyes, Kelly couldn’t really blame them. The combination of good-looking, inspiringly competent at his job, and rich was irresistible. What woman could turn it down?
Marie babbled on uninterrupted until they got to the elevators.
“Do you have any painkillers on you?” Spencer finally cut in as the elevator doors closed. His eyes on Marie, he said, “I have a headache.”
Kelly, who was standing a step behind them in the elevator, bit back a smile. If that was his way of saying Marie was talking too much, he wasn’t being very subtle.
But it flew right over Marie’s head. The brunette frowned and concern flashed in her eyes. “I don’t have any on me right now? Is it bad?”
“No.” He shook his head. “It’s not that bad.”
“Maybe I should go ask at the reception,” Marie offered. “I’m sure they can help.”
“Don’t bother,” he refused firmly but with a smile. “Besides, I can ask at the reception myself.”
At first, Kelly thought he was just playing about the headache but soon she began to worry. When they got off the elevator, Spencer didn’t head to the reception to ask for help. Instead, he silently followed her and Marie as they joined the rest of the firm’s staff for dinner. The table Kelly sat at was close enough to Spencer’s that she caught him wincing a couple of times, even closing his eyes and rubbing his forehead. It was obvious that he was in pain. However, even after dinner, he still didn’t go looking for medication. The group he was in dragged him off to the hotel’s function room where an acting troupe was holding a performance.
Kelly started to follow everyone else then stopped. How was Spencer going to survive a whole evening of raucous laughter and loud cheers with that headache?
Why do you care? The voice inside her taunted. There’s nothing between you two, remember?
She started walking again then halted. Could she really just walk away from his pain? No, she couldn’t. She spun on her heels and headed to the hotel’s reception desk.
She was doing this for herself, she assured the whining voice inside her as she waited for the concierge to bring her painkillers. Watching Spencer constantly wince was annoying, and she wouldn’t be able to enjoy the show that the hotel had worked so hard to put on. Yes, this was all for her. Besides, Spencer was technically her boss. What kind of employee would just ignore their boss’s pain?
Two pills and a bottle of water in hand later, she entered the function room to find that the play hadn’t started yet. Her coworkers were milling around the room, chit-chatting in groups. Spencer was seated at the far end of the room conversing with Mark Cousins. He smiled at something Mark said, but that smile seemed forced, and she caught the glimmer of pain that shadowed his eyes.
Careful not to attract attention to herself, Kelly weaved her way between seats until she was right behind Spencer. Neither he nor Mark noticed her presence until she tapped Spencer’s shoulder.
“Kelly?” Spencer’s eyes widened in surprise as he and Mark turned to her.
“Here are the painkillers you asked for.” She held out the pills and water.
“I didn’t-” Spencer started but stopped when she jerked her head in a silent signal. Awareness flashed in his eyes and he stole a glance at a curious Mark before coming back to her. “Ah! The painkillers I asked for.”
“Whoa! Now, you’re using the juniors as errand-boys?” Mark teased Spencer. “You’ve really become a boss.”
“It’s not like that,” Spencer defended himself before turning back to Kelly. Offering her a grateful smile, he reached for the pills and water. “Thank you.”
That grateful smile sent warmth trickling through her. She couldn’t help the little smile that lifted her lips as she beat a hasty retreat. So she couldn’t sleep with Spencer again – that didn’t mean they couldn’t be friends.
The play was just as good as the hotel had billed it, and the evening ended on a happy and relaxed note. However, the next day started off on a blood-thirsty note.
The atmosphere was heavy with competitiveness, aggression and adrenalin as the staff of Chambers & Quinn huddled in their respective team to prepare for a round of paintball. The organizers of the event had gone all out. Everyone was wearing black, special-ops type, combat outfits with armbands in red or blue depending on their team.
“Men,” Angelina started, her gaze sweeping over the members of the Criminal Justice and Civil Lit Divisions. “We have a trophy to defend. Last time those hooligans tried to steal it from us.” She jabbed her finger at the team made up of members of the Family Law and Corporate Law Divisions, earning herself raucous jeers and hisses in the process.
Kelly and her other team members jeered right back at them. Soon the two teams were making faces at each other, throwing taunting jibes around. A few people even flipped the bird. Even Spencer, who’d made his reluctance about playing this game known quite clearly in advance, joined in on the jeering, albeit with a grin.
“Those hooligans,” Angelina cut in loudly, “tried to beat us at our game. They failed. They’ll try this time too. And they’ll fail.”
“Booooooo,” The opposing team hollered but Angelina’s team’s cheers soon overwhelmed their boos. Not surprising since Marie’s screaming voice alone was enough to shut up even the loudest of birds.
“Today, we fight,” Commander Angelina continued. She pumped her fist in the air. “For Criminal Justice. For Civil Lit. For Victory.”
“For Victory!” Her soldiers cheered her on, waving their paintball guns like they were the real deal.
“Shouldn’t I be leading this thing?” Lawrence murmured as they trooped determinedly into the field. Unlike the other managing partners, he’d chosen to get in the game and picked theirs as his preferred team. “I’m the boss.”
“Not here.” Spencer scoffed. “Angelina rules this roost. Plus she can run faster.”
He wasn’t joking. Angelina was a beast on the field as were the rest of their team members. Soon, shots were being fired left, right and center, and paint was splattered everywhere.
Well, damn! Kelly panted as she hid behind a stack of hay. She’d never met a group of people who took paintball so seriously. Nervousness tightening her muscles, she peeked around the stack. But she wasn’t stealthy enough because someone caught her. A muzzle appeared above the haystack across from her just seconds before a pellet came flying towards her. If it wasn’t for her fast reflexes and quick duck behind the haystack, she would’ve ended up with blue paint splattered on her face.
That was close. She closed her eyes and dragged in a deep breath.
“You’re not out yet?” A deep voice echoed beside her.
“Oh jeez-” Her hand flew to her throat as her wide-eyed gaze swung to the intruder. Relief rocketed through her when she realized that it was just Spencer. “You scared me.”
“Sorry.” Spencer was a far-cry from the amused man who’d entered this field. His expression was somber and intent, and he was holding his gun firmly. This was the face of a soldier. He said, “You’ve been marked. I heard them talking about how they were going to ambush you.”
“Me? Damn!” Kelly cursed low in her throat. In the face of the war they were currently facing, her intent to avoid Spencer as much as possible was forgotten. All that mattered now was winning. She said, “They’ve already taken out Casper, Lawrence, Mark, Sam and Russell.”
“We need to distract them,” Spencer said.
“You’re right.” Kelly paused for a moment to consider their situation then asked, “They want me, right?” When Spencer nodded, she said, “Then let them come for me. I’ll lure and distract them. You get them when they come out of their hiding places.”
“But they’ll take you down,” Spencer protested. “This is suicide.”
“But it’s a good way to go.” She grinned. “Just don’t let my sacrifice go to waste.” Before he could protest, she pushed him towards the neighboring stack. “Go find a good sniping position.”
Spencer looked like he still wanted to protest, but a second later he nodded curtly. “Yes, Ma’am.”
As far as strategies went, it wasn’t a bad one, plus the two of them made a great team. Kelly raced around the field, calling out to her pursuers while simultaneously dodging their gun fire. Every time an enemy emerged to take her down, Spencer darted out, seemingly from thin air, to take him or her out with unerring accuracy. Kelly lasted much longer than even she expected.
But eventually they caught her.
“Nooo!” She wailed dramatically as they pelted her with blue paint. In slow motion, she fell to her knees, drawing laughs from her enemies and teammates alike.
But it was too late for the enemy. Because of her and Spencer’s strategy, most of them were taken down. Once Kelly was out, Spencer, Marie, Duke and Angelina finished off the last two struggling members of the opposing side and captured their flag. Victory!
Kelly was so happy, she didn’t jerk away when Spencer draped his arm around her shoulder as they received their trophy. In fact, she only realized that she was still plastered to his side when Marie oohed over how close they were. They quickly stepped away from each other. Still, that brief contact haunted Kelly the rest of the day, taunting her with how pleasurable it’d felt to have him so close even if it was just for a moment.
Because of the day’s exertions, most people went to bed early. Unfortunately for Kelly, sleep didn’t come easily. She just couldn’t shut off her brain. There was no need to ask why. It was obviously Mr. Tall, Dark and Dangerously Handsome next-door who was ruining her sleep. Every time she glanced at that wall between them, she imagined him in his room, in his bed, sleeping, naked…
Frustrated, she shoved her covers back and stood. Her bare feet padded lightly on the carpeted floor as she strode to the glass doors that led out to the balcony. Those doors barely made a sound as she slid them open. The balcony’s linoleum floor was almost as cold as the night breeze that bit into her bare arms and legs. She should’ve put on a gown over her indigo camisole and sleep-shorts, she thought as she rubbed her palms over her arms.
Her gaze instinctively slid to the balcony next-door. Though the doors were closed and the drapes pulled, light still spilled from several crevices. It looked like she wasn’t the only having trouble sleeping. Good. She smiled evilly. If she couldn’t sleep because of him, then it was only fair that he have a sleepless night too.
She almost jumped out of her skin when the glass doors leading to his balcony were suddenly drawn apart. Instinct told her to run, but for some reason her legs refused to follow the order. Seconds later, Spencer emerged. He was just as startled by her presence on the balcony as she was by his. Surprise flashed in his eyes and his steps halted as his gaze riveted on her.
For a moment, a very long moment, he just stared at her. He started at her face then drifted downwards towards her camisole. Though the top covered her important bits, its neckline was low enough that the tops of her breasts were visible. Even worse, she wasn’t wearing a bra, so he could see the shape of her tits and their swollen tips pressing against the fabric. It was obvious he appreciated the sight because unabashed hunger flashed in his dark eyes. That hunger was enough to make her pulse race and her nipples harden like little bullets.
His gaze lingered on her breasts for quite a while before lowering down her torso to her shorts. When she’d packed the shorts, they’d seemed decent enough, but Spencer’s pierce stare left her doubtful. It almost seemed like he could see past the flimsy fabric to her core. Kelly shifted on her feet as a painful yet pleasurable need stabbed at her pussy. By the time his gaze lowered to her exposed thighs, she was wet, and her inner walls were contracting achingly as if pleading to be filled.
Slowly, he brought his eyes back to her face. He didn’t even bother hiding the dark lust that shadowed his gaze. Now was a good time to go in, right? She’d given him enough of a show to keep them both awake for months. Unfortunately, her feet refused to move and her traitorous lips parted. “Couldn’t sleep?”
“Um… yeah.” Spencer swallowed convulsively as he stole another glance at her breasts before coming back to meet her eyes. “You too?”
“Yeah.” She nodded. “Don’t know why.”
That was a damn lie! But how could she tell him the truth without revealing how much she missed him? Silently, she took him in. Like her, he was in his sleepwear; a t-shirt that skimmed his broad chest and sweatpants that sagged at his waist. The sweatpants drew her attention, not because they were anything special, but because they did nothing to hide the already swollen rod beneath them.
Her already tingling core began to heat up as her eyes lingered on that part of him. Even covered, his cock looked so long, so thick, so hard. Already, she knew how filling it could be and that Spencer was a master at working it. She bit her bottom lip as she imagined him hauling her from her balcony to his. He could just pin her stomach to the railing, yank her shorts down, bend her over and ram that thick shaft into her.
“Don’t!” Spencer’s strangled voice called her attention back to his face. His hungry expression left no doubt that he knew exactly what she was thinking.
Embarrassed heat flushed up her face as she realized that she’d been caught looking and fantasizing. Without another word, she whirled around and scrambled back into her room. Her breath coming in loud gasps, she closed the glass doors. Goodness, what had she been imagining? Was she really that horny?
Yes, you are, her pussy contracted needily. Why did this only ever happen with Spencer though? There were so many men in this hotel, a few who’d already expressed interest in her, yet only Spencer was capable of making her feel this… this… this jittery. She dropped her hand when she realized that she was unconsciously caressing her breast.
She needed to stop feeling this way, she thought frantically as she sat on the bed. No, she needed to stop him from making her feel this way. She shot to her feet. Yup, that’s what she needed to do. She needed to scold him for turning her on like this when they’d promised to keep away from each other.
Without debating the rationality of what she was thinking of doing, she put on her silk gown then headed for the door. But she didn’t even get to turn the knob. A sharp rap on the door brought her to a shocked standstill.
She didn’t even need to peer into the peephole to know who was knocking.
It was him.
She considered not opening the door. It wasn’t too late to stop this madness, her common sense screamed, but the hungry wolf within her quickly shut it down. She was only opening the door so she could scold him, the hungry wolf insisted. She turned the knob and threw the door open.
As expected, Spencer was at her doorstep.
Once she saw him standing there, all the very logical reasons why she’d opened the door disappeared. Like chaff in the wind, her reason vaporized, and excitement and anticipation flooded in.
“What are you doing here?” she somehow managed through suddenly dry lips.
“What do you think I’m doing here?” Spencer countered.
She glared at him. He stared right back, his eyes leaving no doubt that he hadn’t come to talk. She should’ve slammed the door in his face right then. Instead, she just eyed him. Spencer took a step forward. Kelly instinctively took a step back. Closing the door behind him, he walked into the room, she backed deeper into it. He kept moving forward, she kept backing up until her calves bumped into the bed. She could’ve moved sideways, gotten further away, but she stopped.
Deep inside, she already knew that she’d regret this moment tomorrow, yet she couldn’t bring herself to care. Not right now, not when the heat circling her body was so overwhelming. Not when need had already incinerated every one of her defenses. All she cared about right now was Spencer and what he was going to do next.
Her nerves jangling, she stood still and dared him to close that last foot between them. He did. Then they were close to each other. Closer than she’d imagined they’d ever be again. So close his breath whispered over her forehead as he stared down at her. Though their bodies weren’t even touching, her breasts swelled as awareness flooded her senses. It felt like her heart would explode if he didn’t do something, anything.
When Spencer started to lower his head, her breath caught in her throat and every muscle in her body froze. He paused with his lips an inch or so from hers, giving her time to back away, run. If she was in her right mind, she would’ve grabbed that opportunity. But she wasn’t. She was the one who lifted on tip-toes to close that last inch between them and seal their lips.