Winning Appeal (Lawyers in Love 4)

Wednesday 2:00 PM

I was getting coffee in the break room when Mark strolled in and my pulse immediately sped up. I had never met anyone who could affect my physiology so much just by entering a room. He was looking quite yummy in his navy suit and red tie. I could always tell when he had just gotten out of court. His stride was more forceful and his eyes had a certain shine to them. It was almost like he radiated adrenaline.

“Hey there,” he said with a smile. He paused and his gaze went to the steaming mug in my hand. I couldn’t say that I blamed him for being concerned. I put it down on the counter and he approached tentatively. Oh, and there it was, Armani Code. That stuff was becoming like heroine to me. I resisted the temptation to breathe it in deeply.

“Hey,” I said, returning his smile.

“So, how are you?” he asked with a slightly husky tone to his voice, staring at my body for a second and dragging his eyes back up to mine. I had on one of my favorite outfits, a lilac paisley dress that hugged my curves without being too tight. Just sayin’.

“Great, thanks. How are you?” If he sounded husky, I sounded like I had been drinking bourbon and smoking for fifty years. I started twisting my fingers together but I caught myself quickly and stopped. He twisted his head and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Great. Oh, hey, apparently, the Third Circuit judge who I chatted with the other night is going to appoint us to a big case. Braden was thrilled.”

“That’s wonderful. I have some good news too. First of all, I did get all of us into the mystery weekend. And secondly, my parents are going to be traveling a lot soon, and my mom has offered us use of the house in Bryn Mawr. I thought we could have a Justice Project pool party to really kick of summer.”

“A pool party…” He was starting to look a little flushed.

“Is something wrong?” Oh man, was I being too pushy?

“No, I was just remembering seeing you out by the pool at your parents’ place once, wearing this little white bikini. You had your belly button pierced, and I noticed what kind of looked like it might be a tattoo right about…” he reached out and gently touched my hip.

“You’re very observant. That was a tattoo,” I said, grinning. “I remember that you have one of Lady Justice in the middle of your back.”

“You remember that?”

“Yeah, it fascinated me.” I was starting to breathe more heavily.

“What do you have there on your hip?” He sounded really husky at that point.

“You’ll just have to find out for yourself someday,” I said and gave him a flirtatious look. His expression, in turn, took on a distinctly predatory quality. Steady, Beth. Don’t. Injure. Him.

“I’m going to be in my office for a while,” he said abruptly and left. Damn, I probably scared him away.

6:00 PM

It was six o’clock and I was about to head home. As I walked to my office door, I almost ran into Mark, who was coming down the hall. He stepped back just in time.

“Ha! No collision this time,” he said with a smile.

I didn’t answer immediately because I was busy noticing that he was dressed for the gym. His legs and his biceps were muscular, and there was the outline of a six-pack against the snug fabric of his t-shirt. Then there were the shorts. Tight shorts. And, oh wow. I felt like I wanted to cry. Suddenly, it dawned on me that I was openly checking out his equipment and I felt my face get hot. I looked up, and saw him trying not to smile.

“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to… ogle you.”

“It’s okay, I ogled you surreptitiously earlier.” He gave me the flirty smile. “I’m just headed for the gym, to work out and relieve some tension.”

“I’m going…” Suddenly, I couldn’t think straight. Where was I going again? “Uh, home. To relieve some tension,” I mumbled. “Painting! I’ll paint for a while to unwind.” I wandered out the door dazedly. He followed close behind and we got into the elevator together.

“Beth,” he said, a few beats after the doors slid shut.

“Hmm?” I asked, turning to look at him and willing myself to keep my eyes above his neckline, as elevator music played in the background. Just then the doors slid open on the floor below and a group of people got on with us.

“Nothing,” he replied, stepping closer to me to make room. “I’ll talk to you about it some other time.” I rode the rest of the way to the lobby, filled with curiosity, and intensely aware of every centimeter where our bodies were lightly touching. I went home that night and painted. And then I relieved some tension.

Friday 4:00 PM

We took our seats around the conference table and the meeting began. First we discussed how we soon would be taking on several new staff members. We were really growing. Then, when the lawyers started discussing their current caseloads, my mind started to drift.

As usual these days, it drifted to Mark. Specifically, I started having one of my favorite daydreams, about the two of us being alone in the office one evening, and having sex right there on the conference table. The meeting went much more quickly after that. I caught Mark giving me curious looks a couple of times, and I wondered if my expression gave away what I was thinking about.

When the meeting concluded, we all filed back to our offices. Liz stopped me in the hallway a few minutes later, as I was coming back from the ladies room, and asked me if I would drop a file off with Mark for her. I took the file down to his office, but he wasn’t there, so I just put it on his desk. When I turned to go, though, I realized that I had dropped a paper. So I picked it up and bent over the desk to pop it into the file. Just then, I heard Mark’s voice.

“Okay, I’ll be back in a minute,” he called out to somebody. Before I could move, he spoke again. “Oh my God. You’re bent over my desk. And you look even better like that than I imagined. All those times.” I quickly stood up and turned around in time to see him rake both hands through his hair. “Oh shit! I can’t believe I’m sexually harassing you in a law office.”

“You’re not sexually harassing me.” Before I could stop myself, the words were out of my mouth. “It would be sexual harassment if it was unwanted attention. Mark, I want you to bend me over your desk.”

He closed his door and came toward me, pulling me into his arms and bringing his mouth crashing down on mine. I responded by offering him my lips, my tongue, my whole body, arching my back and burying my fingers in his hair as we consumed each other wildly. His hand slid up between us and he began kneading my breast through my blouse, making me want to rip it off, the blouse, not his hand.