DEFENSE (8 page)

Katie

I bounded up the steps to Nick’s apartment. When I’d left here the night before last, I’d never thought I’d be seeing this place, or him, again. I felt like a completely different person from the one who’d fucked Nick on his kitchen table. That woman hadn’t been touched or lusted after by a man in over a year. The one pacing down the corridor towards the elevator had been transformed by the power of Harrison Wrexler. He hadn’t even had the opportunity to penetrate me, and it was already the best sexual experience of my life.

As I slammed my palm onto the call button for the elevator, my cell started vibrating in my pocket.

“For fuck’s sake,” I growled. I pulled it out and saw that Newland & Rook were calling. Harrison again. I answered the call. “What is it, Harrison?”

I was expecting to hear Harrison’s voice on the line, but instead the voice that answered me was Galiema’s.

“Katie, you need to get here now,” she said.

“Why?” I demanded, panicking slightly that my boss had felt the need to return to our office on her day off. “What’s wrong?”

The elevator arrived and I stepped inside, punching in the floor where Nick and Seb’s apartment was located.

“I’ve just had Brent Johnson screaming over the phone at me,” Galiema said. “Apparently he’s been trying to get hold of you all day, and when he called the office, Harrison said you’d left. He’s headed here now, so I rushed right over. Someone has to be here holding the fort.”

I could hear the bitterness in her voice. She’d left the case to me to handle, and I’d let her down.

“My friend’s in the hospital,” I said, knowing the excuse wouldn’t hold with Galiema.

“So?” she shot back. “We’re this close to losing one of our highest paying clients.”

Her callousness shocked me. Galiema always said that business was business. Her ability to shut down her emotions was admirable. But being on the receiving end of it stung, especially when it was coming from a woman I looked up to.

“My. Friend. Is. In. The. Hospital,” I repeated through my teeth.

There was a pause while Galiema digested my words and the angry tone in which I’d said them. She tended to respect people who stood up for themselves, who didn’t take the shit she dished out, but something told me this time was different.

“Katie, if your ass is not in your office chair in an hour, you’re fired. Got it?”

I shook my head and jabbed the end-call button with a finger. I didn’t doubt her for a second.

The elevator doors opened, and I stepped out into the dingy corridor. God, what had Jessica and I been thinking when we followed Nick and Seb home that night? This place was a dive. It practically screamed
rape.

I went up to their apartment door. It was a Saturday, so I knew it was likely at least one of them would be at home. The sound of the TV playing sports coming from the other side confirmed my suspicion. I took a deep breath, trying to calm my jangling nerves, then knocked.

Nick answered. His hair was disheveled, as though he’d only just woken despite it being late in the afternoon. His eyes widened with surprise when he saw it was me. I couldn’t believe how much he looked like a little boy. When we’d been together I’d felt grateful for his attention. Now I could see that he’d been the one punching way above his weight.

“Katie? Wow, man, I didn’t think I’d see you again,” he said groggily.

I tried to smile sweetly.

“Nick,” I said. “I, uh, thought we could hang out?”

He looked me up and down. I was still wearing my sexiest work dress and stilettos—an attempt to attract Harrison earlier that day—and his eyes practically boggled at the sight.

“Yeah. Great. Come in.”

He swung the door open, and I strode inside.

“I would have called,” he said, rubbing the sleep from his face. “But you left before I got your number.”

I wanted to scream at him that his roommate raping my friend had sort of put a bit of a damper on the whole evening, but I didn’t. I kept my cool and waltzed brazenly over to the couch before plonking down upon it.

“What are you watching?” I said.

“Oh,” Nick said, looking surprised by my feigned interest. “Just catching up with the NBA highlights.”

The NBA. Harrison’s sport. Typical. Even when I was doing everything in my power to get Harrison Wrexler out of my mind, Fate was intervening, forcing me to think of him and his gorgeous, powerful body.

“Isn’t Seb into sports?” I asked, innocently enough.

“Nah, not really. He’s out at the moment. Lunch with his uncle or something.”

I could feel my anger rising. That Seb would be out having a casual lunch with my boss while his latest victim was fighting for her life in the hospital was more than I could bear. But somehow, I kept my emotions in check. Maybe a bit of Galiema was rubbing off on me.

“In that case,” I said, “would you mind if I quickly looked for Jessica’s earring in his room? She lost it while we were here.” The lie rolled easily off my tongue.

“Oh sure,” Nick said, smoothing his flyaway hair down. “That was a wild night. I can’t remember much. How is Jessica?”

On death’s door, no thanks to you.

“The usual free-spirited man-eater,” I said. “She’s moved on, as you’d expect.”

Nick smiled shyly, and I shoved myself off the couch, heading down the hall to Seb’s room. I knew I was flirting with disaster here, and that there was a chance whatever I found would be inadmissible as a result, but I had to do something.

I went into Seb’s room and shivered. The place was immaculately clean and smelled of detergent. Seb was clearly smart enough to wash his sheets, to make sure no DNA traces of the girls he fucked against their will were left behind. But even meticulous people left clues. Sometimes they even kept trophies.

I bent down, peered under Seb’s bed, and had an eureka moment. There, neatly stacked in date order—the date written in neat Sharpie—was column after column of DVDs, the type you used to burn home videos on. I reached for one. The date was the night Jessica and I had been in the house. I opened the case and read the notes from inside.

Blonde. Tan. 5 ft 6.

It was a description of Jessica’s appearance. With trembling hands, I shut the case and shoved the DVD into my bag.

When I stood I flinched at finding Nick standing in the doorway, his shoulder up against the frame.

“Found what you were looking for?” he said suspiciously.

“Yup,” I replied, trying to sound breezy but struggling to hide the tremble in my voice.

I knew that whatever was on the DVD I’d stashed in my bag might not be the answer I was looking for, and so keeping things cordial with Nick was a must. I also knew that if I weren’t in a cab heading towards the Newland & Rook offices in fifteen minutes, I was as good as fired.

I paced over to Nick and rested my hand on his chest.

“We should hang out again sometime,” I said seductively, in that way I’d seen Jessica do a thousand times. I had never had the confidence—or need—to try it myself.

I watched Nick’s Adam’s apple bob up and down as he swallowed.

“How about now?” he suggested.

A little flutter of panic raced through me. I wanted Nick to think that future sex was in the cards, but I definitely didn’t want to act on it. Maybe once, before I’d been touched by Harrison, the thought of having a second encounter with Nick would have thrilled me, but now the thought left me cold. Nick had been good, but he was no Harrison.

“I don’t want you to miss the NBA,” I said with a suggestive smile.

“Fuck the NBA,” Nick said, sweeping me up in his arms and pressing his mouth against mine.

I tried not to stiffen, to at least act like I was into it, but every fiber in my being was rebelling. Every part of me was telling me that the only man I wanted to touch me was Harrison Wrexler.

I kissed Nick back, trying to match the hungry movements of his lips and tongue. Then I pushed him away from me.

“Why don’t you call me this time?” I said, giving him a sexy wink.

I sauntered off, leaving him standing in the doorway to Seb’s room looking bemused, relieved to have successfully extracted myself from the situation.

I hopped in a cab and headed towards the offices of Newland & Rook, my precious cargo in my bag and thoughts of Harrison Wrexler swirling in my mind.

Harrison

Brent was staring Galiema down across the shiny, varnished table in the meeting room of Newland & Rook, when in waltzed Katie. The sight of her in her sexy crimson dress reminded me of the way I’d been peeling it off her body just a few hours earlier. I coughed into my palm.

“Oh, someone’s finally decided to join us,” Brent barked.

“I’m sorry,” Katie said with a smile, as though his demeanor hadn’t ruffled her at all. “My best friend almost died of alcohol poisoning after being raped, so I had to see her in the hospital.”

Silence fell. Everyone stared at Katie, stunned. I couldn’t tell if what she’d said was true or whether she’d just said it to teach Brent a lesson for being so glib. I hoped to God it wasn’t true.

Katie sat down beside her boss. Her gaze didn’t even flick over to me for a second. The rejection stung.

“Now,” she said, pulling out a file, getting right to work. “We have a meeting scheduled with the DA’s office first thing Monday morning. Thank you, Mr. Johnson, for pulling those strings to get us fast-tracked. I think I speak for everyone here when I say that we want to get this case over and done with as quickly as possible.”

Finally, she looked at me. Her stare was impassive. It was as though she’d blanked our encounter from her mind entirely. When I looked at her I was reminded of her small, soft breasts, the curve of her hip, the taste of her as my tongue explored her clitoris. But I could tell in her eyes that when she looked at me she saw nothing.

Brent sat up, a little stunned. He’d clearly been expecting Katie to be some kind of pushover. He didn’t know how to behave when a woman outsmarted him. I’d told him she was good at her job—maybe now he’d believe me.

“Er, yeah,” he said. “The media are playing ball at the moment, but there’s only so long I can pay them to keep quiet. Wrexler’s lucky he had such a dire season. If he’d been up to his usual standards, there wouldn’t be enough money in the world to keep the paps quiet about this.”

Katie folded her hands over her documents. “Of course, I understand. The most important thing is that this doesn’t make it onto any more TV channels or websites. We’ll do everything in our power to make sure Harrison’s sponsorship deal with Adidas won’t be blighted by this. Galiema’s already had a few injunctions put in place.”

Galiema was holding her face in a neutral expression, but I could tell that even she was shocked by Katie’s demeanor.

“Other than that,” Katie added, “we’ll be fighting hard with the prosecutor tomorrow to find a way of keeping this out of court. They’ll be arguing for jail time, but don’t worry, we’ll make sure we Harrison doesn’t ever set foot inside a prison again.” Katie smiled, looking every inch the professional, accomplished lawyer. “Now, is there anything else you’d like to discuss, Mr. Johnson?”

Brent looked like a naughty schoolboy caught whispering in class. “No, I, er, can’t think of anything in particular....”

“No concerns about my availability over the weekend?” Katie pressed. “I admit I’ve been a little distracted by matters out of my hands. And I know being called to a case at midnight on a Friday night is no excuse, but I do hope you understand how hard I’m working for Mr. Wrexler in rather difficult circumstances and with a lightning fast turnaround. We’d usually spend months on a case like this, so the forty-eight-hour turnaround time is quite the challenge.” She lowered her head and smiled. “But I do like a challenge.”

I smirked to myself. Katie was kicking Brent’s ass, and he thoroughly deserved it.

Brent shook his head, completely tongue-tied. “No, I appreciate what you guys are doing here,” he said, looking at Galiema as though he couldn’t quite bring himself to make eye contact with Katie.

“That’s good to know,” Katie added. “Especially after I picked up that voice-mail conversation you and Mr. Wrexler accidentally left on my answering machine.”

My face turned suddenly cold. Katie had heard our conversation? I wracked my brain, trying to remember what I’d said. Had I defended her to Brent, or had I sat back passively as he’d insulted her?

“You called me some rather colorful names,” she continued. “So I’m pleased to hear that you’re now completely confident in my ability to represent Mr. Wrexler.”

Brent swallowed. “Completely confident,” he muttered.

A small smile flickered across Galiema’s lips.

“Great,” Katie said. “In that case, we’ll be in touch.”

She stood and offered her hand to Brent. The meeting was over, and it had all been on Katie’s terms. Brent stood and shook Katie’s hand, then Galiema’s in turn. I’d never seen him look so flustered. Yet despite having his ass well and truly whooped by Katie, his eyes still skimmed over her body, still widened at the extraordinary sight of her in her skintight crimson dress. It made me seethe.

He nodded to me, then left.

“Well, that went well,” Galiema said as soon as Brent had gone.

Katie smiled. But her confident facade had slipped somewhat, and whatever was troubling her made doubt creep across her features.

“Are you okay?” I said gently.

Katie looked at me properly for the first time since she’d gotten here. She looked startled, almost as though she’d forgotten I was there. Or maybe because she’d suddenly remembered what we’d been up to earlier that morning.

“I’m fine,” she said.

“I’m sorry about your friend.”

“Thanks.” Her tone was mournful. She looked at Galiema. “Sorry for going AWOL. But John’s representing the guy who raped my friend, and it’s messing with my head.”

Galiema looked stunned. “Oh,” she said.

“I’ll be more focused now,” Katie added. Then she produced a DVD from her bag. “Now that I have this.”

“What is that?” Galiema asked.

“I think he made a tape of her. I’m going to take it to the DA’s office on Monday, see if they can use it in their case against him.”

Galiema raised an eyebrow. “You know anything stolen will be considered inadmissible.”

Katie just shrugged. “That’s for them to decide, not us.”

I could tell that Galiema was filled with pride for the way Katie had handled the Brent situation, and she seemed even more impressed by what Katie was doing now.

“Katie,” she said. “I’m going to represent your friend. Pro bono.”

Katie’s mouth dropped open. “Why? That would be going behind John’s back.”

Galiema wiggled her eyebrows. “I know. That’s half the point. I told you I hate rich, entitled boys. John’s nephew will walk free unless someone intervenes. Well, that someone is going to be me.”

Katie looked visibly moved. “I thought you were pissed at me for ruining your weekend.”

Galiema laughed and took the DVD as she stood. “I’m sixty years old, Katie. I never had a family. I gave my life to my job. What does someone like me need weekends for?”

With a wink, she left, and Katie and I were alone once again.

Immediately, the silence swelled around us. Neither Katie nor I had any idea how to behave now. Last time we were alone we’d given in to our passions. Now we were sitting on either side of a formal, varnished table in a large, corporately decorated meeting room. There was even a bowl of mints in the middle of the table. The environment couldn’t have been more different than the last steamy time we’d been together.

I could feel a burning desire seeping into my groin. I couldn’t help the way Katie made me feel, and I didn’t want to. I wanted to lay her gently across the table and make love to her. I wanted to penetrate her like I hadn’t gotten the chance to do before. And I knew she wanted it too, deep down, but there was too much going on in her head to let herself act on it.

“I really am sorry about your friend,” I said. “After what happened to Catherine, I can empathize.”

Katie looked at me. Her bottom lip was trembling. “What did happen to Catherine?”

I shuffled awkwardly. It hurt to dredge this stuff up, and it scared me how close to the brink it could take me. I never wanted to feel like I had that night with Shantelle again, and opening my wounds now was hard. But I also wanted to deepen my connection with Katie. And I trusted her, even if she was a lawyer.

“Catherine was a brilliant woman,” I said. “Complex. She was incredibly intelligent, a university professor. No one understood why we were together, or what she saw in me. Everyone assumes that if you do sports for a living then it’s because you don’t have a mind in your head. Her family hated me. Anyone who would leave England, leave Oxford University to play basketball in America, of all places, wasn’t worthy of their daughter’s love. But Catherine picked me over them, and the guilt ate her up over the years. They cut all contact. She couldn’t cope. I tried to be everything to her, you know? I tried to fill that void with holidays and penthouses and clothes. But it wasn’t enough. I didn’t know that she was being medicated. She’d gone to a different doctor and not claimed it on the insurance. It was prescription drugs that killed her, not cocaine like they printed in the newspaper. Anti-anxiety drugs, antidepressants, a sleeping aid, and a stimulant to counter the effect of the sleeping pills, a whole goddamn cocktail. She hid it from me for so long. I’d be away for months touring the US with the team. I had no idea what depths she’d fallen to until it was too late.”

My heart clenched as I bore my soul to Katie. But it was also cathartic. I’d told my shrink all this stuff, of course, but his job was to be unmoved by my words, to just act as someone to vent towards and steer me when needed. Katie, on the other hand, was looking at me with a look of utter sympathy and affection. Her hand twitched on the table as though she were debating whether to reach for me and pull me in for an embrace. I wanted her to. God, how I wanted to feel her touch again.

“Enough about me,” I said, snapping out of it. “We were talking about Jessica.”

“Yes,” Katie said quietly, looking down at her hands. “But I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Why not?”

She locked her steady gaze on me. “You just told me you’re an intelligent man, Harrison,” she said. “But you’re stupid enough not to feel that magnetism between us.”

Her honesty disarmed me, and her words inflamed my desire. I shuffled in my seat, adjusting my pants, which were feeling suddenly tight.

“I feel it,” I said.

“Then let’s not pretend we can have a deep conversation and bare our souls to one another without it leading somewhere.”

“I’m not pretending,” I countered. “I think this should lead somewhere.”

Now it was my turn to be honest. Katie’s head darted up. “I already told you I was risking my career for you. Do you know how close I came to getting fired just now?”

“Because of what’s going on with Jessica. That has nothing to do with me.”

“It has everything to do with you,” she shot back. “I can’t get you out of my head. I had to do something to block you out! Throwing myself headfirst into Jessica’s case was the only way I could do it. And even that didn’t work!”

She was shaking her head, looking increasingly distressed. It hurt to think that something that felt so right could cause her so much anguish. To hear her say those words to me, that she was thinking of me as much as I was of her, and yet seeing her fight those feelings so passionately, was making my mind spin.

“You don’t seriously think that I haven’t spent every second since I left this place thinking of your touch on my skin…” Katie added. “Wanting to feel it again. Yearning for it.”

Heat raced up my neck. I could feel sweat collecting on my back. I could spend all day listening to her talk about her feelings for me. If she were attempting to put me off her, she was failing miserably. Just listening to her was making me aroused.

I willed her to keep talking, to keep telling me how strong my power over her was. Listening to her voice was like an aphrodisiac.

“I can’t get close to you, Harrison,” she said with finality. “I don’t trust myself around you. I don’t even recognize myself when I’m with you.”

I could feel my heart racing in my chest. She’d confirmed to me that she felt the same intense attraction for me that I felt for her. I had to tread carefully so as not to scare her off.

“Do you mean you don’t recognize the sexual side of you?” I said, thinking back to my therapy sessions, encouraging her to divulge more. “Because you can’t see yourself as a stunning, accomplished woman deserving of sex?”

Katie looked away and shook her head a little as though dismissing my words.

“Maybe,” I added gently, “you’re anxious about unlocking that part of you, knowing that once you start you’ll never be able to stop....”

Her eyes were fixed on her notes in front of her. She sighed. “You’re going to think I’m crazy.”

“Try me.”

Her gaze flicked up. “It’s just that whenever I give in to my desires, bad things happen.”

“Like what?” I pressed, grateful that she was opening up to me and hadn’t shut me out entirely.

“Well, the night Jessica was raped was the first night I’d been intimate with anyone for over a year.” A blush crept up her neck. “Then you and me…well, you were there when I got the call saying she was in the hospital.”