Too Charming (5 page)

‘Consider, yes,’ her mother replied gently. ‘Hide behind, no.’

Megan winced, but thankfully the arrival of her father and Sally saved her from having to reply. Just as well, because the conversation had all the hallmarks of turning into a full-scale argument: one she’d had with her mother several times over the last few years. Of course it was true that Megan hadn’t really dated, at least not seriously, since Luke had left her over three years ago. A few men had tried to get close to her, including those that had a bizarre fetish for female cops. Pretty soon she’d realised their interest lay solely in getting her into bed. Probably imagining her using the handcuffs. Then there had been the other extreme. The men who, when they’d found out she was a cop, had been totally put off. Intimidated. Sadly no one had fitted into that healthy middle ground: finding her attractive for who she was, and respecting what she did.

The sad truth was that three years
was
a long time to be without a stable man in her life. Apparently not long enough for her to forget the joy of being touched, kissed, caressed. Loved. Or the heartbreak of finding out that the loving was all one-sided. That was something she wasn’t in a rush to experience again.

Chapter Five

Scott had never been happier to reach Friday afternoon. The week had been a tough one. In between court appearances, he was having a hard time trying to put together a
defence for his latest case, Kevin Rogers. Accused of raping a prostitute, Rogers was a belligerent man who Scott couldn’t see any jury warming to. Especially the women. But beneath the aggressive manner, Scott had a strong feeling there was some truth in what the man was saying. It wasn’t hard to understand why the police might, if Rogers was correct, have resorted to some shady practice in order get their suspect put away. Clearly he’d been in trouble in the past, and by all accounts wasn’t exactly up for a man of the year award. Indeed, the prostitutes questioned had all declared he was rough, often hostile and rarely paid up. But being a mean bastard didn’t automatically imply that Rogers had committed rape. At least not in Scott’s book. The man had been charged with a similar crime a few years back, but just before the case came to court the victim had withdrawn her statement. Though the feeling from the prosecution team had been that she’d been leant on, Rogers insisted it was the other way round. That the so-called victim had been told to cry rape, but at the last minute had backed down, scared of committing perjury. Now Rogers was claiming that another false victim had been found. One who was, so far, sticking to her story.

‘We need to talk to the woman involved in the previous case again,’ Scott told Nancy as he gathered together the contents of the file they’d been working through. ‘We need to find out who leant on her and why. Though we won’t be able to use the information in court, it will at least give us some insight into what’s going on.’

‘Agreed. I’ll set something up.’ She sat back in her chair and crossed her elegant legs. ‘So, any plans for this evening?’

Scott had to forcibly stop himself from laughing out loud. Christ, he’d do well to even get to Friday evening, never mind actually do something with it. He shook his head. ‘I know, all work and no play makes Scott a dull boy, but no, my only plans are to
finalise one of my cases for court on Monday.’ Sounded simple. In truth, it would probably take him the most part of the weekend. One thing he was never accused of was being under-prepared for a case. It didn’t matter if he had to work all night on it. He’d be ready to give his best come Monday morning.

‘No time for a quick drink?’

She was looking at him expectantly, her body language indicating that it wasn’t just a drink she had in mind. Wearily Scott rubbed a hand across his shoulders, trying to iron out the knotted muscles. A night out with a willing woman was probably just what he needed. A few drinks, a few laughs and then back to his for some steamy sex. Yeah, he could really go for that. Sadly, much as he still liked Nancy, she was no longer what he had in mind when he thought of his perfect evening. Or sex. The woman he was thinking of was younger, slimmer, with short dark hair and huge blue eyes. A woman he hadn’t seen since he’d looked after her daughter a few days ago. Irritatingly, he’d even found himself hanging round the gym slightly longer than usual, hoping to bump into her.

Shaking his head he gave Nancy an apologetic smile. ‘Sorry, I’ll have to give that a miss tonight. Some other time.’

Megan was standing in the chambers, right outside Scott’s room, a split second away from turning round and walking straight out again. She would have done, had the clerk not been sitting by the only exit. Was she really going to knock on his door and ask him over for dinner? The hand that she’d raised, ready to knock, hesitated. She couldn’t do this. Didn’t even want to. It was her daughter who’d insisted they should invite Scott round. Megan knew that her daughter’s ulterior motive was to spend some more time with the man who’d taught her how to draw. What she wasn’t sure on was her own motive in agreeing to invite him. Why hadn’t she just said
no?

As she stood outside debating with herself whether to simply ignore the embarrassment factor and turn around, the door suddenly opened and she came face-to-face with an attractive blonde woman.
Older than herself, but with the type of classic beauty that didn’t dim with age.

‘Oh, sorry.’ She stood back to let her past.

‘It’s DS Taylor, isn’t it?’

Megan nodded,
realising that the other woman looked familiar.

‘Nancy Whitehead.
Solicitor. I’ve seen you round the police station and in court a few times, but I don’t think we’ve ever formally been introduced.’

Megan took the hand that was offered.
‘Nice to meet you, Nancy. I’m Megan.’

It was then that Scott appeared in the doorway.
All six-foot-plus of him. Again he wore his white court shirt, opened sufficiently to show the tanned column of his neck. Finding the palms of her hand suddenly and annoyingly damp, Megan rubbed them discreetly on her trousers.

‘DS Taylor.’ He nodded towards her, casual, his face unreadable. ‘What brings you here?’

No way. What she had to say to him was embarrassing enough, without the addition of an audience. One who was looking at her and Scott with undisguised interest. ‘I, umm.’ She nodded towards Nancy. ‘Perhaps you should show your visitor out first.’

He gave her a cool, speculative look before turning back to Nancy and bending to give her a quick kiss on the cheek. ‘See you next week.’

Nancy didn’t immediately move. Instead she gazed at Megan a moment longer, her eyes positively swimming with speculation. Then she turned to give Scott a slow smile. ‘Don’t forget, if you get through your work, my offer tonight still stands.’

With a nod in Megan’s direction, Nancy sashayed out of the office.

‘Well, that was a warning shot across my bows, if ever I heard one,’ Megan remarked dryly, her nostrils twitching from Nancy’s perfume.

Scott grinned down at her. ‘Do you need it?’

‘Hardly.’ She strode past him into his office, but when she turned she found he hadn’t followed her. Instead he was leaning against the doorway, gazing at her with a look of amused disbelief. ‘Look, let’s get this quite clear. I have no romantic interest in you whatsoever.’ And she hadn’t. At least not in the cocky man who was looking at her right now.

‘And yet here you are, in my office, for the second time this week.’

Nonchalantly he shut door before moving back into the room. Megan told herself she was just being a woman when her attention was caught by the way his taut, muscular thigh stretched the material of his trousers as he perched on to the corner of his desk. ‘I’m here at the request of my daughter, not myself,’ she clarified quickly, shifting her gaze to above his waist. ‘It seems you’ve made quite a conquest there.’

The smug grin changed to one of genuine warmth. ‘Ditto.’

For a moment their eyes met. There were so many things she could find to dislike about him, but it was hard to ignore the obvious affection he had for her daughter. It was also hard to ignore the mesmerising glare of his smoky grey eyes. The way they tugged at her, drawing her in. ‘Sally …’ The name came out in a croak. She pulled her eyes away from his and coughed to clear the sudden tightness from her throat. ‘My daughter wanted to know if you were free to come round for tea tomorrow.’

‘I see.’ He shifted off the desk, moving to stand directly in front of her. Slowly he raised his right hand and placed it gently on her chin, forcing her to look up at him. ‘And her mother?’

The thumping of her heart went up a notch at the feel of his hands. At this close distance she could see that his eyes weren’t just grey. There were flecks of blue and silver, too. And a pulsing, shimmering heat. ‘Her mother is here, asking you.’ Try as she might, she couldn’t keep her voice steady. ‘Isn’t that enough?’

He studied her for a few seconds longer before moving round to the other side his desk. She found herself pathetically grateful for the physical barrier between them. ‘I guess I’m naturally interested to know whether this is purely tea with your daughter, or whether you’ll be there, too.’

‘I’ll be there and my parents will be there.’ She took some satisfaction in the startled look he gave her. ‘I guess it won’t be your average Saturday night out, so if you’re not interested …’

‘I didn’t say I wasn’t. I’m just curious to know the ground rules, that’s all.’

‘It’s quite simple. My daughter likes you. Any friend of hers is a friend of mine.’

The corners of his lips twitched. ‘Okay, I can live with that. For the time being.’

There he went again. Pushing for more just when she thought she’d put him firmly in his box. ‘Friendship is all that’s on offer. Take it or leave it.’

‘Well, as you’ve put it so graciously, how can I possibly refuse?’ he countered smoothly.

Knowing she was never going to win a verbal sparring match with him, she quit before one got started. ‘Right then. We’ll see you tomorrow around six.’ She quickly gave him the address, anxious to get away from his searching, knowing eyes and her increasing awareness of him. Not as a pain in the arse lawyer, but as a man.

‘Any particular dress code?’

‘Casual.’ She went to open the door. ‘Oh and bring some pens. I think Sally has another art session in mind for you both.’

‘And flowers?’

The boyish grin was back. The one she was beginning to find disarming. She found her lips turning up in a responding smile. ‘My mother would love some. Tulips are her favourite.’ With that she quickly let herself out.

As the door clicked shut, Scott sank back into his chair and let out a deep breath. Well, that invitation was out of the blue all right. He mulled it over in his head, not quite sure how he felt about it. Seeing Megan again was a definite plus.
Her daughter, too. But meeting the parents? That was something he avoided at all costs, even with the women he actually dated. Yet here he was, on the brink of meeting Megan’s parents and they hadn’t even shared a kiss. Still, he had a feeling she was warming to him. Or at least getting less cold. A meal, even with her family in tow, was certainly progress. If he kept it moving in that direction, surely it wouldn’t be long before his dreams became reality and he’d have the real Megan beneath him. Naked, and writhing in ecstasy.

‘Well?’

Megan had hardly stepped foot in the house before her mother fixed her with a piercing look in the hallway. ‘Well what? Did I have a good day? Not bad, as it happens. I had a couple of leads on a big murder case I’m involved in, and I’m halfway through clearing my in-tray. All in all, worthy of a small celebration, I think.’

‘That’s good to hear, darling, but you know perfectly well that wasn’t what I was asking. Can we expect this mysterious Scott of yours for dinner tomorrow?’

‘He isn’t my Scott, but yes, he did say he would come.’

‘Yippee!’

Megan hadn’t been aware that Sally had snuck into the room. Reaching out her arms towards her, she sighed with contentment as her daughter rushed into them.

‘Is he really coming round tomorrow? Really and truly?’

‘He said he would, so I guess he will.’

‘Then I need to find all my pictures,’ she said excitedly, wriggling away from the arms she’d only been too happy to settle into a moment ago. ‘He’ll want to see what I’ve done.’

As she dashed off up stairs, Megan was left wondering if she’d done the right thing by giving in to her daughter’s demands. What if the man didn’t turn up? Or worse, turned up and didn’t pay Sally any attention? She could only hope against hope that she hadn’t set her daughter up for a harsh early lesson on the unreliable nature of the male species. 

‘This Scott must be pretty special to have inspired such adoration in Sally,’ her mother remarked as she hobbled on crutches towards the kitchen.

‘I think it’s more the case that a six year old can’t see past the flashing good looks and easy smile.’

‘Hmm, good looks, eh?’ Her mother mockingly patted her hair. ‘Well, I’m looking forward to his visit even more now. I can’t remember the last time we had a handsome young man within these four walls.’

There was a loud cough from the front room. ‘Don’t think I can’t hear you,’ her father muttered, making them both dissolve with laughter.

‘Present company accepted, Stanley.’ Her mother shuffled over to the sink and was about to start peeling the potatoes when Megan gently pushed her to one side.

‘I’ll do that. You go and sit down. Take the weight off that ankle.’

‘I will if I can sit down here and listen to you tell me something about the man we’ll be welcoming into our house tomorrow.’

‘My God, Mum, you’re like a dog with a bone.’

‘Yes, I am. And as any self-respecting dog will tell you, they won’t let go of the bone until they’re well and truly satisfied.’

Her eyes were twinkling with devilment and Megan had to laugh. ‘Okay, okay. Where do you want me to start?’ Taking the potatoes out of the bag, she set to work, concentrating on removing the skin from the potato and not her fingers. ‘He’s been working out of the local chambers for nearly two years now. I bump into him from time to time in court. Usually when he’s trying to defend a man I know is guilty as hell.’

‘Ah, I can see the tension straight away.’

‘Yes, I’m sure you can.’ And so would her father. He might be retired, but he was still very much a cop. ‘
Though his job isn’t the only thing that annoys me about him. It’s his whole demeanour. He’s so damnably sure of himself. So certain that he only has to smile at a woman and she’s putty in his hands.’