Page 45 of Teasing Her Grumpy Boss

‘No, that’s different. That’s having your life ripped up by arrogant jerks like—’ She broke off.

‘Like me.’ He grimaced. ‘That’s not how it is.’

‘Yes, it is.’ She felt sadness. There has to be a better way.’

‘This is why you don’t want to like me.’

Ouch, he was astute. She bit her lip. ‘It’s not you. It’s what you stand for. I see a guy like you so bright, so talented, and you’re onhisside.’

‘It’s not about sides, Lucy.’

‘Yes, it is. You know it is. It all comes down to who has the better lawyer. Who is the jury more likely to listen to?’

‘If it bothers you that much, why don’t you do something about it?’

‘Like what? I wouldn’t know where to start. But you could, Daniel. You have that brain, you have the knowledge and training and smarts to fix things.’

He laughed, ‘That’s flattering, but...’ He shook his head. ‘I can’t change the world, Lucy, but I can maybe change one person’s world.’

‘No, you can do more than that, Daniel. You can.’

‘You’re talking about a dilemma that’s been debated for years now.’

‘Yeah, but you could do it—I know you could. If someone like you doesn’t try, what hope is there for the rest of us?’ She stared up at him, her eyes searching his, seeing the clarity there in the brown-gold. The brightness in the depths that had her so smitten.

He stared back, unusually silent. He cocked his head. ‘Are you saying you believe in me, Lucy?’

‘Yep. Super powers all the way.’ She rolled her eyes and tried to act as if she’d meant it totally sarcastic.

He chuckled. But his hand reached out and he brushed his knuckles across her cheek. ‘Thank you.’ He spoke softly and smiled.

Oh, dear. Things were going from bad to worse. She was slipping from waist-deep to well over her head. She wanted him and with him like this she wanted even more—like everything. Stupid, because he didn’t have it to give—he’d told her that right at the start. She looked away. ‘I’m sorry. You don’t need all this. You’re in the middle of a case and have enough to be getting on with without me banging on about something that happened years ago.’ She opened her mouth to blether on some more and apologise and try to make light of it, but he stopped her with a finger on her lips.

She stilled, suddenly hit by an unexpected and heady relief from unburdening her load. It mixed with the need to get physical. She should stick to physical with Daniel. Anything more muddied the waters and she was in enough danger of drowning in his magic as it was.

‘Don’t.’ He ran his finger across her lips, tracing their outline. She fought hard not to touch it with her tongue—desire was kicking high. ‘Will you let me do something?’

‘Um. Okay.’ Please let it be lust-related. Please let them get back to mindless.

‘Let me take you home, let me hold you, so we can sleep—like we did last night?’

Her eyes closed, blinking for a second longer than usual in relief and in anticipation of security. In those precious moments when Daniel was beside her, inside her, all feeling of inadequacy fled—especially the nagging doubt. It was one thing he could offer her, and fool that she was, she’d take it gladly.

In his apartment, he didn’t bother with lights, just kept hold of her hand and lead her straight to his room. With gentle arms that soon became passionate he held her close to him, stroked and kissed her body as if it were the most precious thing. He saved his own release until he was certain she’d had hers and then some. And eventually she was too tired to figure the confusion.

* * *

Feeling at peace, he heard her breathing regulate and deepen—she was asleep. He glanced at the neon light of his digital clock—his nemesis. Ordinarily minutes passed like hours as he suffered through his usual sleeplessness. Only tonight it wasn’t such a struggle because he had her to hold. He relaxed and let his mind wander. She’d been so angry this evening, and had made some good points. Evidence was an area that interested him a lot. How to make the law better, the judicial system fairer. He frowned as he thought about her experience. His body tightened. Someone had tried to hurt her and she’d been hurt far worse by the people who should have been protecting her. So now, she’d developed a mouthy shell as her defence. He wanted to breach that defence—wanted to be let in to the vibrant warmth she had inside.

Irritated by his pathetic obsessing over her, he concentrated on the career decisions he’d have to make in the near future. Courtroom versus lecture theatre. His father wanted him to be partner and women like Sarah were attracted to his status. But success at work didn’t equate with success in relationships. Look at his father—a stellar career and yet it still hadn’t been enough to keep his mother happy.

He circled back to Lucy. She didn’t care much for what he did, but she seemed to have an unshakeable faith in his ability—and in him. That both touched and terrified him. Yet she didn’t expect anything from him herself. She just wanted him, as he was.

Smiling into the darkness, he relived some of those moments of want. He must have drifted off because it was relatively late again when he woke. She was the one to sleep in this time. She was using his chest as her pillow, her hair draping over it, her warm breath fanning over his chest. He was careful not to move, not wanting to disturb her.

Her hand rested on his stomach and he concentrated really hard on not getting too hard because he wanted her to have as much sleep as she could before the time would come when he’d have to slip away. That would wake her and he knew she wouldn’t get back to sleep after that. Then he noticed her hand was sliding south, to his lower abdomen, and he figured his effort might be wasted—she wasn’t asleep at all any more.

‘Lucy,’ he said, unable to get his voice louder than a whisper as her head began to follow the direction of her hand, her mouth pressing kisses in a line directly down. She brushed her hair back behind her ear so he was able to see her face in profile as she moved down the bed, moved down on him. Anticipation shook through him as she licked her lips. He clenched the sheet—and his teeth, the sigh whistling through them as she took him in her mouth.

---