Desire's Edge (10 page)

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Authors: Eve Berlin

Tags: #Romance, #Erotica, #Adult, #Legal, #Fiction

BOOK: Desire's Edge
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It couldn’t be Dante. But Lyle was guiding him to a seat right next to his, at the head of the table. The older man was smiling, looking pleased, bobbing his gray head as he exchanged a few quiet words with
the new junior partner
.
Shit
.
Everyone else filed in and sat, and Lyle rose to his feet. He was close to seventy, but still stood ramrod straight, an elegant, powerful man. “I’d like to introduce you all to Dante De Matteo, the newest junior partner at Kelleher, Landers and Tate.”
Everyone applauded as Dante stood and smiled to the staff. Kara tried to smile back, but knew her face was frozen. Dante glanced at her, then quickly away. His expression revealed nothing. Surely he must be as bowled over as she was?
Lyle went on. “Dante has an astonishing track record for a man of his age and experience. We were lucky to convince him to join us here. I’m sure you’ll all do your best to welcome him, to help him acclimate to our firm. And I’m sure you’ll all be as pleased with his presence among us as I am. We expect great things from this young man. Big things.” Lyle smiled indulgently.
Oh yes, big things, where Dante was concerned . . .
God, she shouldn’t be thinking this way at work! But she couldn’t help herself. Even as the resentment over the position going to someone other than Theresa or Gary filtered through her system, as well as the shock of seeing Dante in her office, desire ran thick in her veins.
He looked wonderful in his dark gray suit. His shirt was a stark white, his tie a rich, glowing amber, making his eyes an almost liquid gold.
The man sure cleaned up good. Better than good.
She crossed her legs, trying to ignore the sudden sharp ache between them.
This was not acceptable. She could not lust over a man she worked with. She certainly couldn’t see him anymore. That was a recipe for disaster. And he was a junior partner, which meant, basically, that she was working under him.
Shit again.
She had to calm down. Figure this out. She had to get back to her office and call Lucie to talk it out with her. She wasn’t the kind of woman who habitually told her best friend every detail of her sex life, but this was more than she could handle on her own.
A disaster. That was what this was.
Lyle finished his speech; then the other partners, Edward Tate and Charles Landers, each got up and extolled Dante’s virtues before the meeting broke up and everyone got up to introduce themselves and shake his hand.
Kara hung back, clenching her fists at her sides to keep from twisting her fingers together like some anxious old woman.
Ruby came up beside her. “I know you’re angry Gary or Theresa didn’t get this,” she said, keeping her voice down, “but you seem really upset, Kara.”
“What? I’m fine. It’s just . . . Yes, I’m upset. For them.”
Ruby nodded sympathetically, her brown spiral curls brushing her cheeks. “Maybe he’ll crash and burn and the bosses will see their mistake.”
Kara shook her head, her gaze on Dante, who was chatting confidently with the staff. “No. I don’t think so.”
“Are you okay?” Ruby asked.
“Of course.” She turned to look at her. “I guess I’d better go say hello.” She smiled wanly and moved toward the small crowd gathered around Dante.
He caught her gaze as she approached, flashed her a brief smile.
So, he was playing it cool. A good idea, she knew. Still, there was a small knot in her stomach. Something in her that wanted him to acknowledge her in some way.
Don’t be silly
.
She couldn’t afford to be. This was work. Her career. One her parents had wanted for her more than she had herself, but she’d sweated through school and the bar exam to achieve it. And she wasn’t about to get silly—or risk her job—over a man.
Theresa, standing next to Dante, grabbed Kara’s hand. “Dante, this is Kara Crawford.”
“It’s nice to see you,” he said smoothly.
She had to swallow, hard, taking his cue. “And you. It’s been a long time. High school was more years ago than I like to think about. I hope you’ll like it here.”
He grinned, his dimples creasing his cheeks. Gorgeous and charming as ever. “I’m sure I will.”
Why the hell did she feel so shaky? Only a few minutes ago they’d been flirting on the phone.
Only a few hours ago they’d been naked together in his bed.
He was just a man. Just another man.
Liar, liar
. . .
She had to get out of there.
Pants on fire
. . .
“If you’ll excuse me, there’s a client waiting for my call,” she managed to choke out.
She nodded, ducked her head and left the conference room, making her way as quickly as she could back to the privacy of her office. She shut the door behind her, stood leaning against it for a few moments, trying to catch her breath. Then she moved to her desk, picked up her phone and dialed Lucie’s number.
She listened to the ringing, her heart hammering, hoping Lucie wasn’t busy and could talk. She’d just expanded her catering company, Luscious, and she’d been spending a lot of hours directing the remodeling of the new kitchen she was renting, an enormous undertaking, Kara knew.
“Come on, come on,” she muttered, pacing her office, her phone gripped in her fingers.
“Hello?”
“Lucie! Thank God you’re there.”
“Jesus, Kara, are you all right?”
“Everyone keeps asking me that.”
“Well, are you?”
“Yes. I’m fine. At least I think . . .” She paused, blew out a long breath. “I don’t know what I am.”
“Could you clarify a bit? Is there a hospital involved?”
“What? No, nothing like that. Nothing that serious. I mean, it
is
serious, but no one is dying. Except for me.” She moved behind her desk and sat down in her chair, pushing her hair from her face. “I’m sorry. I’m not making sense, am I?”
“Nope. Care to try?” Lucie asked her.
“Okay. Okay.” Kara reached for the bottled water she always kept on her desk and took a sip. “You remember the other night at your housewarming party?”
“Well, I did drink a lot of wine. What are we referring to specifically?”
“Dante De Matteo.”
Even saying his name made her warm all over.
“Oh yes. You two were out on the porch talking and I came out and . . . I
did
interrupt something!” Lucie sounded triumphant.
“Not really. Not at that point.”
“Out with it, Kara. What happened between you two? And don’t even try to deny that something did. I can hear it in your voice.”
“Oh, I’m not denying it. I’m calling to tell you about it. I just . . . I’m a little breathless.”
“That good, huh?”
“Lucie . . .”
“Well, was it?” Lucie pressed her.
Kara groaned. “Yes.”
“So, you two got a little wild together? That’s not such a big deal. You’re no virgin, and neither am I. I’m not going to judge you, sweetie.”
“It’s not that.” Kara took another sip from her water bottle, wishing for some fresh coffee. She picked up her latte cup and shook it, but it was empty. She put it back on the desk with a small sigh. “We spent the entire weekend at his place. And it was . . . amazing. And I’m not saying I’m in love with the guy or anything, just that the sex was incredible. And we’d planned to see each other again. And then this morning . . . Oh God.”
Kara closed her eyes, her hand pressing against her aching forehead.
“What? Was he a jerk to you? Because I don’t care if we were all friends in high school, I will be perfectly happy to call him and give him a good tongue-lashing.”
“He wasn’t a jerk. He drove me home this morning. After we had sex at the crack of dawn. For about the hundredth time. But then I got to work . . . and he’s
here
.”
“At your office? He came to see you at work?”
“No. He was just . . . here. He works here, Lucie. Not only does he work here; he’s the new junior partner.”
“What?” Lucie had heard Kara complaining for weeks about the firm refusing to promote from within, so she was familiar with what the position meant to her. “You’re kidding.”
“I wish I was.”
“That must have been a shock. And you can’t even hate him because he was great in bed. Can you?”
“No.” Kara sighed. “Definitely not. But I can’t see him again, either. And we have to talk about it. After work tonight, I guess. I’m not looking forward to it. And working with him is going to be really uncomfortable. Especially because . . . I’d really love to keep sleeping with him.”
“It was that good? Really?”
“Really.”
“Wow.”
She could remember even now, through her pounding pulse beat, the feel of his body pressed against hers. The dark, masculine scent of his skin. His hands on her. His mouth . . .
“So you’ll talk to him tonight?”
“Hmm? Oh yes. I’ll have to. I’d talk to him sooner, but he’s the star of the show around here at the moment. The partners are gloating, showing him off like a prize horse. Everyone is fawning over him. And I’m locked in my office so I don’t have to face him in front of them all.”
“It’ll be a lot easier once you’ve talked to him. Just tell him that since you work together, seeing each other would be a bad idea.”
“It is, isn’t it, Lucie?” Kara asked quietly.
“Yes. You’re not considering—”
“No! Of course not.” Even if the man could kiss her breathless. Even if simply being with him felt so good. Wonderful. Safe, for some reason she didn’t understand. Her gaze went to the window, and she remembered that sensation of feeling cocooned with him, all weekend in his apartment, the same gray sky outside. Remembered how warm and strong his hands were on her flesh . . . “Definitely not.”
“Call me after you talk to him, Kara. And maybe we should have lunch sometime soon.”
“Are you free? I know you’re deep into the remodel.”
“Sure. The guys can get by without me for an hour. I’m mostly getting in the way, anyway. They’re probably tired of me micromanaging the job. And the new kitchen’s not too far from you.”
“That would be great. I just feel . . . a little shaken by all this. I don’t know why.”
“We’ll talk it out when I see you. And, you know, some of these construction guys are pretty cute. Maybe I can set you up with one of them? They say there’s no better way to get over one man than with a new one.”
“I don’t think I’m in the mood, but thanks, Lucie.”
She heard her friend clucking her tongue. “You do have it bad.”
“I’ll see you soon.”
“Okay. Hang in there, sweetie. Bye.”
They hung up and Kara turned to her computer screen and began clicking through e-mail.
Lucie was right. She’d get over this. It wasn’t as if she’d wanted more than some great sex, anyway. It was nicer to be with someone she was familiar with, that was all. It was comfortable.
Not comfortable. Safe. But safe didn’t mean he didn’t make her pulse race, her heart pound with more than simple lust.
No. It’s just chemistry, nothing more. Dante just . . . smells right.
She shook her head. She really had to stop thinking of him like that, and more as a coworker.
One she was going to have to see every single day.
She sighed once more. This was not going to be easy.
She brought her focus back to the monitor and her in-box. Two messages from clients. Several from other attorneys in her office she was working cases with. A number of e-mails from Ruby reminding her of calls she should make, new appointments to put in her calendar. And one from Dante, sent only moments earlier.
Damn it.
She bit her lip and clicked on it.
 
Meet me for lunch?
 
It was signed “D.”
She started typing about it not being a good idea to let the whole office know they already knew each other after pretending to not have seen each other since high school, and how she was sure the partners would want to have lunch with him to celebrate his first day, anyway, and how they probably shouldn’t have lunch together at all,
ever
. Then she hit the delete key and started over. She simply wrote that she didn’t think it was a good idea and they should talk later.
Too short? But he was a man; they usually preferred to get right to the point, rather than have a long, drawn-out conversation. And it wasn’t as if he’d be hurt. She was certain it had been just sex for him, too. Especially after what he’d told her about his kink lifestyle. He’d probably be relieved to be let off the hook without having to have “the talk” with some weepy female about how things just weren’t working out.

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