Page 13 of Legal Passion
And now Stone was the only one standing as everyone else had followed the judge’s example and taken their seats. Heat rushed to his face, and he shook his head. As he sat down, his client looked quizzically at him, his brow furrowed.
“Are you okay?” Byron whispered.
Stone nodded. “Yeah, yeah...” He was trying to convince himself as much as his client. What the hell was wrong with him? How had he let her get to him like she had?
“Is this some weird strategy of yours?” Byron asked.
Had the man seen the bra?
Stone hadn’t intended for anyone but Hillary to see it—to know that he had it, that he had had her. But now he wondered who had had whom.
He snapped his briefcase closed. “Everything’s under control,” he assured his client.
Now.
Last night Stone had never been more out of control than he’d been with Hillary Bellows. He didn’t dare glance over at her. He could imagine how much she was enjoying this. As much as she’d enjoyed last night?
* * *
Hillary barely held in the giggle tickling her nose and throat. But she knew if she let the laugh slip out, she would be reprimanded next. And if the judge asked her why she was laughing...
She couldn’t tell him the truth without uptight Judge Harrison tossing her off the case. But she wouldn’t be able to lie, either. Not in court.
Damn it.
Damn Stone Michaelsen.
Why the hell had he kissed her the night before? And why hadn’t she been able to resist him?
She’d known—even as she was tearing off his clothes—that it was a mistake. But she’d had to see that magnificent body of his naked. And he hadn’t stopped her.
She wished now that he would have, because she couldn’t unsee what she’d seen. She couldn’t unfeel what she’d felt. He was even more amazing than he’d been in her fantasies. His body was perfect—all taut skin and hard rippling muscles. And the way he’d touched her, kissed her, moved inside her...
Heat flushed her body as tension wound tightly inside her. She needed him moving inside her again.
“Ms. Bellows!” The judge bellowed her name. “Are you ready to call your first witness?”
Now heat flushed her face. She jumped to her feet and said, “Yes, Your Honor, I am.”
Not ready. She was not ready to think about anything but what had happened the night before. But she couldn’t think about that anymore.
She couldn’t think about Stone Michaelsen as anything but the opposition in court. And as the opposition, she had to crush him and now she had the evidence to do it. He was not going to help another guilty person get away with their crimes as he’d helped too many others.
She called her first witness to the stand. It was the maid who’d found the young Mrs. Mueller’s body in her husband’s den. She turned around to watch the woman enter the back of the courtroom. And as she turned, she saw Stone first and that damn briefcase where he’d stuffed her bra. And she remembered how he’d gotten her off the night before.
Twice.
In the bra she wore, her nipples tightened, and her core began to pulse with desire. How the hell could she want him yet? His bringing her bra to court proved that last night had meant nothing to him beyond getting something over her. A way to manipulate her.
He wanted to mess with her case. Maybe he intended to report her to the judge and get a mistrial for his client. She held her breath, waiting for his objection or for him to ask to speak to the judge in chambers.
But hell, he wouldn’t bother saving her any embarrassment. He would probably announce right in open court that he’d had sex with her in her office—on her desk.
She hadn’t even noticed the folders toppling over to the ground or the hard surface of the desk beneath her butt. She hadn’t been aware of anything but him and how hot and sexy he was. And when he’d touched her with his mouth, teased her with his tongue.
Her body throbbed with need. She wanted him again. But that wasn’t possible. The line they’d crossed could not be crossed again.
But the damage was already done.
He could tell the judge anytime what they’d done. He could ask that she be recused because he didn’t think she should be prosecuting his client after they’d had sex.
What would her boss say then?
She’d be lucky if all she lost was this case. She would probably lose her job, too.
But Stone didn’t say anything until it was his turn to cross-examine her witness.
And he never looked at her again.
What the hell was he up to?
