Page 38 of Necessary Evil

“I’ve had a rough weekend and the only thing that got me through was the thought of burying myself inside you.”

And it was official—she was dead.

“What are you doing for lunch?” she squeaked, because it wasn’t as if she was going to get a damn bit of work done now.

His chuckle went right up her spine. “I’m seeing you. But not for the reason you think. I spoke to Chloe’s mom this weekend. Chloe wants to meet you and you’re on her visitors list now. Then if everything goes well, we’re going to pay Attorney Meyers a visit this afternoon and get you on the case.”

“Do you go hot and cold like this on purpose?” she snapped. Her panties were soaked and her nipples were throbbing. The last thing she wanted to do was concentrate on work.

“I’m not cold at all, sweetheart.”

Of course her boss took that moment to poke his head in. “I need to see you when you’re off the phone.”

Like a cold shower.

“I’ve got to get back to work,” she droned into the phone.

Evan chuckled. “I’ll see you for lunch, sweetheart.”

“It’s going to have to be a late lunch,” she said, squinting at the clock. The Riverhead jail was over an hour away and she was probably not going to get an appointment right away. “What if I can’t get in to see Chloe today?”

“We’ll have an early lunch.” The promise in his voice was full of sin.

She was back to being breathless when he hung up. Drinking her cold cup of coffee because she needed something to ground her, Lucy grabbed a pad and pen and headed into the chief prosecutor’s office.

“Jenny, can you see if I can get a visit in to Chloe Browning in Riverhead today?” Chloe hadn’t been able to make bail and was sitting in a cell. One of the first things Lucy was going to do was set her up with a bail bondsman, who would work with her family to make arrangements to get her free until the trial—something her current lawyer should have already done.

Jenny, who was on the phone, gave her a thumbs-up.

Lucy took the stairs up a floor to get to her boss’s office. “What’s up, Albert?” she asked, tossing herself into the chair facing his desk.

“I saw you cleared your desk.” He pushed a stack of files toward her. “I need you to take these.”

So much for being able to admire the top of my desk.Lucy made a face. “No rest for the wicked.” She gathered up the files.

“Were you and Travis Munson at Carciofo on Friday night?”

Lucy looked up in surprise. “Yes. I didn’t see you.”

“We were just leaving as you were coming in. My wife is addicted to the Alfredo sauce and focaccia.”

She forced a smile. “It was a lovely meal.”

“I’m glad to see you getting out and enjoying yourself. Travis is a fine man. You deserve someone like him.” Albert beamed at her, and she didn’t have the heart to tell him the date had gone down in flames.

Albert Tucker had taken her under his wing after law school, and even though he was overbearing, she had kind of started thinking of him as a surrogate father since her own father died. He reminded her, a lot, of her ex-husband, Gary: older, wiser, and confident, with old-school charm and manners. But unlike with Gary, Lucy had felt no need to satisfy Albert’s every whim just because he paid attention to her and offered her unwanted advice. At least she’d learned something from those bitter two years. Albert meant well; her ex had just been controlling. Albert celebrated her independence; Gary had been threatened by it.

Lucy wondered what Albert would think of Evan, but she didn’t have the courage to ask. Things were too new for negativity, and who knew? Evan and she could have a weekend of fantastic sex and then decide to go their separate ways. Lucy hoped not, but based on her prior experience, her relationships tended to burn out.

Jenny didn’t bother to hide her smirk when she saw Lucy come back juggling the stack of files. “Easy come, easy go,” Jenny said, opening her office door for her.

“Yeah, yeah.” Lucy wrangled the legal files into a semi-organized heap.

“I got you in at two-thirty today to see Chloe Browning.”

“Thanks.” She had a ten-thirty conference call that would probably last a couple of hours. That didn’t leave her enough time for lunch with Evan before she had to get to the jail, but it did give her some time to do a few errands.

But first she had to call back Cynthia Abrahms, who, unlike Lenny Meyers, had been returning her calls. They just kept missing each other. The third time was the charm: the district attorney was in. After a few minutes of small talk, Lucy cut to the chase.

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