Page 4 of Entice

“Excuse me, I need to take this.” He stood up and went to the opposite side of the room.

Crystal nodded and began reading the NDA once more.

“I know this is unusual, but this is an unusual case,” Kendra said.

Crystal was about to answer when she heard Jordan speak. “Sage, I know.” Jordan’s voice was soft. “I’m working on it. You have to trust me. If you and Brady are seen together, it will spell trouble.” He paused. “Yes, I know you miss him, and he wants to be with you.”

Crystal glanced up to see the frustration on Jordan’s face. Whatever the client was saying was not making him happy.

“The first court date is soon. Just hold on. Okay?” His features lightened. “Thank you. Yes, see you Thursday.” He ended the call and looked at Crystal. “Sorry.”

“Clients come first.” What an intriguing conversation. And if it was tied to the case he wanted her working on, decision made. She picked up the pen lying on the table between her and Kendra and signed the NDA, then slid the document over to Kendra. “Now tell me about this case.”

Kendra picked it up and nodded. “My client has been accused of abuse,” Jordan said.

“Wouldn’t that be criminal?”

“Yes, my client was arrested and charged, but then the DA dropped the charges. This is a civil case. His family is making the allegations.”

“The accused is a woman?” Her eyes widened in surprise. Unusual, but it happened.

“My client is a woman. Everything that happened between my client and her su…boyfriend was consensual.”

He’d stumbled over a word. Crystal wondered who the client was. “There’s something you’re not telling me.”

“This is a very delicate situation.”

“And that’s my cue.” Kendra stood up. “Jordan will explain what he needs to and call me back in when you’re ready to go over the employment contract.”

“Thank you, Kendra,” Jordan said.

Crystal watched the woman leave, but before she closed the door, Kendra gave Jordan a hard look.

“I know you’re friends with Sierra,” Jordan said the minute the door closed. “How much has she told you about her and Max?”

“Probably everything. She and Max… Oh.” The light bulb came on. “This involves someone in the kink community.”

“Yes. I wasn’t sure how much Sierra had shared.”

“Only about how she’s Max’s submissive and how much she enjoys him dominating her.” Crystal suppressed a tremor of fear mixed with excitement. Her sensuality had been suppressed as a teenager. College had helped her come out of her shell, but there were times she could still feel the beatings at the hand of her father.

“Do you understand Dominance and submission?”

“A little bit.” Crystal shifted in her chair again. Jordan’s eyes followed her movement. A gleam lit his gaze, and she forced herself to still. Of all the things she had thought they’d talk about, this was not one of them. Was Jordan a Dom? Her body heated. Whoa, time to pull those thoughts back and remind herself: She didn’t date lawyers.

“Before I go on about this case in particular, how much do you understand about kink?” He leaned forward in his chair and settled his elbows on the table.

She froze in her seat. How to answer? She’d talked with Sierra, but they hadn’t gone into details. “I’ve read about it in romance books and from some of the things Sierra has told me.”

“No practical experience?”

“Not really.” If her parents even thought she had what they considered ‘impure thoughts’, they’d punish her and put her in the sin room for days. And then there were the men she’d dated. They’d tried a club and some bondage, but it wasn’t anything like what Sierra had told her.

Jordan leaned forward, his hands splayed out on the table. Her gaze was captured by his. Her heart rate picked up at the smoldering look in his brown eyes.

“I need a paralegal who is open to doing the necessary research, which will likely include talking with others in the kink community.”

“I can do that.” Crystal forced herself to breathe normally. Jordan was too close. Just like the night at the book club meeting and again at the coffee shop, his heat, his masculinity, called out to her. Her fingers tangled together in her lap.

---