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But that would be really stupid. Despite her present predicament, Sophia was rarely a victim to her own whims. But her body argued that Mitch was a known quantity and dallying with him wouldn’t be stupid and her heart agreed.
Her mind…her mind said if she was going to listen to those two she needed a plan to protect herself. Only a fool would start anything with a man she had once betrayed without planning for the fallout. Because no matter what Mitch felt physically for her, sooner or later the hormones were going to ebb, and he was going to start thinking again and remembering.
“Do you want to talk about the past?” she asked. She kept repeating herself but she was still in a haze of arousal from his kiss.
Ultimately that was why she’d sabotaged Mitch years ago. He’d held a power over her that she doubted he had even known he had. But she’d known. She’d felt it every time they were together and more sharply when they were apart.
Not a day went by that she didn’t relive their last moments together and wish she’d been a different woman. One who could have blended both her professional and personal lives and not sacrifice either one.
“Do you?” he asked in that cocky way of his that made her want to smack him.
“Only if it will make you go away,” she said. Which was honest. But she hoped he wouldn’t go away. Until that basket of beer had landed on her desk she hadn’t realized she’d been substituting court wins for real excitement.
He laughed. “Babe, I’m not going anywhere.”
Big surprise. This was her penance and semigood Catholic girl that she was, she’d do it. “I was afraid of that.”
“Fear can be a good thing.”
Their lovemaking had always had an aura of danger around it. Mitch was very dominant and had used that to master her completely. She hadn’t minded it in the bedroom, but outside she’d found herself getting lost in the image of what Mitch saw instead of who she really was. “Maybe from where you’re sitting.”
“The view’s very delicious from my seat,” he said, eyeing her breasts.
She glanced down and saw that her nipples were plainly visible beneath her silk shirt and lacy bra. Her first impulse was to cross her arms over her chest and hide from him. But hiding wouldn’t do any good, so she just thrust back her shoulders and let him look his fill.
“Are you here to ruin my career?” she asked, while he was distracted.
“Babe, don’t give yourself too much influence over my actions. I’m here for my client.”
That cut her, which wasn’t surprising since she’d never really gotten over Mitch. There had been no natural end to their affair. Only that abrupt ending that she’d forced on them. “Why did you send me Corona and Stevie Ray, then?”
“I thought we covered that?” He rubbed the back of his neck and stretched in the too-tight space. Was he a workaholic like her? She hoped not. She hoped he had a balanced life. And she’d always wished that he’d started the family he’d wanted with a nice girl.
“Exorcism?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
She thought about what Mitch wanted from her. She was tired of staying home by herself and though self-pleasure worked as a temporary ease, she needed a man. Not just any man but Mitch Hollaran. She needed to find the bridge between the passionate woman she’d once been and the cold one she’d become.
“I’ve got a deal for you, Mitch,” she said. She thought of that tub of Coronas in the car and the bag of limes and how years ago she’d always let him set the tone of their encounters. It hit her that she needed to find something of herself she’d lost. Something that her recent affairs had lacked. Something she suspected she’d given away when she’d betrayed Mitch.
“What kind of deal?” he asked. The waitress brought his second beer and he took a swallow.
“One weekend of love slavery.”
There was a sparkle in his eye that told her he liked her plan. It had been a long time since she’d had this kind of fun—this kind of sexual excitement in her life.
“Who gets to be the master?” he asked. His hand fell on the back of her neck and she prayed he wouldn’t move it. She was still aroused from that one kiss. One damned kiss and her panties were damp and she was ready to lie down for him.
“Me,” she said. She needed to be the master. She needed to control him and use him as her sex toy for a weekend. Then maybe she’d reclaim what she’d lost and be able to move on.
“I don’t think so,” he said, caressing the side of her neck.
Of course he didn’t. Mitch had never been malleable. Why would he suddenly start now? “What do you propose?”
“That we let our prowess decide.”
His caressing finger was distracting and she decided two could play at that game. She dropped her hand to his thigh, kneading the firm muscle under the taut fabric of his pants. “Meaning?”
“Whoever wins in court is the master. Whoever loses the slave.”
A vibration started in the center of her body and spread outward. “Will that satisfy you?”
IT WOULD TAKE MORE than a weekend to satisfy him, but his plans for vengeance might be quenched, or at least assuaged. He wanted her to feel the way he had. He didn’t care if that was right or fair. And a weekend with Sophia was a good start.
“Counselor, you’ve got a deal.”
First thing tomorrow morning he was going to be all over Florida case records like a rash. He’d have to have Deke and a couple of assistants come out from L.A. to help. But he was going to put together an airtight case. Not just to save Spinder’s ass but to win this side wager.
He needed to have Sophia under his control. He even knew the first thing he’d make her do. Take off that damned suit and put on the velvet ribbon.
She fished her valet claim check from her purse and left some bills on the table. “Good. Well, I guess I’ll get going, then.”
He grabbed her hand to keep her from standing. He wasn’t ready to go up to his room and deal with Dev’s troubles. That was all that awaited him tonight, worry for a friend that he didn’t know how to rescue from himself.
He did have a strategy meeting with Marcus, Jason’s publicist. But that wasn’t until later. He wanted to spend more time with Sophia, which he didn’t examine too closely. “What’s the hurry?”
“I’ve got work to do.” She watched him with those wide blue eyes of hers, guarding her words.
“You work too much.”
“How do you know?”
“You’ve got circles under your eyes,” he said, tracing the fine purple shadows. Her skin was porcelain smooth and softer than the down pillows on his bed. He hadn’t taken the time to notice earlier.
“You sure know the way to a girl’s heart.”
Her heart. Damned if he was going after that again. He’d learned the hard way that Sophia’s heart was kept under lock and key and only a masochist would even try to get at it. And as kinky as he liked his sex, he’d never liked physical pleasure and emotional pain together. “I’m not interested in your heart.”
She blanched and looked down at her purse. “No, you aren’t.”
What a bastard he could be. “Don’t try to make me feel bad about that. I wanted your heart once upon a time.”
She sighed and tilted her head to the side. Her careful gaze moved over his face and he knew she wasn’t seeing him but the younger man he’d been. “But I was afraid to give it to you.”
“Was it fear that stopped you? Funny, I thought it was greed.” As arousal was dying down in his veins, anger was rising. Why were they talking about the past? It might be what brought them together tonight, but beyond that he didn’t want to delve into it.
“Greed? Is that what you’ve thought of me all these years?”
“Babe, I respect you too much to tell you what I really thought of you.”
“I don’t blame you. I never should have lied to you,” she said.
She’d never been a woman to try to manipulate a man and he’d trusted that sweet innocent face and of course that sexy body that he knew as well as his own.
“Why did you?” he asked before he could think better of it.
She twisted the valet claim check in her hands. He watched her try to find the words to answer him.
“I was losing myself, Mitch.”
Never in a million years would he comprehend what she’d just said. She’d been in the top five at Harvard Law. Her mentor was one of the most powerful women in the law community and had in the intervening years become a Supreme Court Judge. Sophia had been a woman on the cusp of becoming very capable and powerful in her own right. For her to say she had feared losing herself sounded like a cop-out to him.
“I don’t understand.”
“You can’t. You’ve always known who you were. Even when life shakes you up, you land on your feet.”
She was the second person to say as much in less than three hours. He didn’t like the sound of it. Sure he had a plan and nothing was going to stop him from achieving his goals. That didn’t mean that life was any easier for him than it was for others.
“You had some pretty strong supporters at Harvard. And I’ve stumbled plenty of times.”
“You look like you made it back to your feet.”
“Of course I did. And I didn’t have to shove anyone out of my way to do it.” He had to get out of here before he did something really foolish like let her see how badly that had affected him.
He stood, tossed some bills on the table. “See you around, babe.”
He walked out of the bar without a backward glance. The lobby was opulent and crowded. Mitch blended in with the businessmen returning from a day of meetings heading toward the elevator.
“Mitch?”
He stopped, but didn’t turn around. He was still angry. More than angry—he was pissed and he’d never been one of those people who could be polite when he was mad. He knew he’d say something he’d regret especially if he turned around.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “Maybe we should call the bet off.”
He pivoted and walked over to her. “Babe, there’s no way in hell we’re calling that wager off. You’re going to be mine for a weekend and when I leave you’re going to miss me for a long, long time.”
The elevator car arrived and he walked away from the woman who’d given him the greatest joy in life, and the sharpest pain.
4
SOPHIA’S FIRST INSTINCT was to run away but she knew better than to start giving ground. So she did the only thing she could think of and went on the offensive. Mitch Hollaran wasn’t going to make her doubt herself or the course she’d put them both on. And if she knew one thing about the woman she’d become it was that the scared emotional woman deep inside wasn’t going to start having any say in any decision now.
She pivoted on her heel, intent on reaching her car and tormenting her old lover on the phone. He knew what buttons to push to make her respond and she knew likewise. This time with Mitch she wasn’t a girl discovering fire in a man’s arms for the first time. This time she was a woman in full control of her life and her body. She wasn’t taking the passive role with any man.
She bumped into a man and paused to apologize. But found herself face-to-face with one of her coworkers, Joseph O’Neill. O’Neill had recently joined the office, moving to Orlando from Miami where he’d had an impressive record of wins. They were lucky to have him on their staff. Sophia had hired him and liked the fact that Joseph, though a family man, worked as hard as any other attorney in the office.
“O’Neill, sorry about that.”
Joseph wasn’t particularly tall but he was well built and he had thick mane of midnight-black hair that he kept closely trimmed. He was of Hispanic descent on his mother’s side and looked like a young Andy Garcia.
“No problem, Deltonio. I should know to get out of your way when I see you coming.”
She wasn’t sure what he meant by that. Had she become too ruthless at work? And could a district attorney ever be too ruthless? “Having drinks with friends?”
“Not tonight. I’m meeting with Mueller. Want to join us?”
Sophia knew she had work to do…on her cases and with Mitch. But saying no to meeting with their boss wasn’t something she could do. Her career plans were the most important in her life. “Sure.”
Sophia reentered the Bösendorfer Lounge and wondered if Joan and O’Neill had been there while she’d had her drink with Mitch. She’d been totally focused on him and wouldn’t have noticed if the Governor of Florida had sat down next to her.
“Look who I ran into in the lobby,” O’Neill said.
“Good evening, Sophia.”
Joan was seated at the very table she and Mitch had sat at earlier. Joan was sitting in the same spot that Sophia had been in. O’Neill pulled up a chair, leaving Sophia Mitch’s former spot.
“Joan. I was meeting with one of the attorneys on the Spinder case.”
She knew it was impossible but she could still smell Mitch’s aftershave. She closed her eyes for a second and inhaled deeply. Shivers raced through her and when she opened them she found Joan staring at her. The feeling that everything was spinning out of control hovered on the edge of her conscious.
“Good. Did you get the names of the other attorneys who’ll be on the case?”
Was it her imagination or did O’Neill have too many teeth? If he smiled at her again she was going to be tempted to toss something at him. Sophia suddenly realized what this little meeting was about. And it wasn’t the Spinder case though that was part of it. Joan was trolling around for another D.A. to move into the deputy slot if Sophia lost her edge.
No. Dammit, she hadn’t discussed anything related to the case. “Of course.”
“Joseph, will you go get us a couple of drinks. I’ll have a White Zin and Sophia, Pinot Grigio?”
Sophia nodded. Joseph didn’t look too happy at being sent for drinks, but Sophia recognized this meeting and this moment for what it was. Usually Sophia envied her boss, the poise that she had and the life that she’d carved for herself, but sitting in this lounge at ten o’clock at night she realized that Joan lived for the law.
Did she ever get lonely? Had she ever made a sexy wager with an ex-lover? Probably not. Mueller was a single-minded woman when it came to her career, and she was everything Sophia had ever wanted to be.
Did she still want that? Of course she did. Sophia made up her mind to focus on her career. She hadn’t really stopped focusing on it, she reminded herself. She’d only let Mitch Hollaran distract her for a millisecond and look what had happened. She vowed it wouldn’t happen again.
“I’ve asked Joseph to move some of his caseload and assist you with this one,” Joan said.
Sophia straightened up and banished Mitch Hollaran from her senses. “That’s not necessary, Joan. I can handle this.”
“Are you sure?” Joan asked.
Sophia bit her lip. “Of course I am. I’ve already scheduled an interview with Holly McBride and her family.”
“Hollaran is a big gun and you were making noises this afternoon about not wanting the case.”
“Well, I don’t need help. I’ve got the case locked up. The trial’s not for two months.”
Joan leaned back in the seat and studied her. Sophia struggled not to squirm under the scrutiny.
“Something’s off about you, Sophia.”
“Nothing is off. I’m just tired.”
“A vacation will fix that,” Joan said, after a few minutes of silence had passed.
“Yes, it will.”
“Sophia, I’ve always seen a lot of myself in you.”
“I’m flattered.”
“Don’t be. I’ve made some tough choices, and I regret some of them.”
“I’m not sure what you’re trying to say.”
“Only make sure you’ll be happy living for the job. It’s kind of lonely here and not everyone would be happy with it.”
“Joan, you know me, I live for work.”
“Actually, Deltonio, I’m not sure you know yourself,” Joan said.
Joseph returned with the drinks before Sophia could comment. The conversation settled around the panty-raider case she’d won this afternoon, but Sophia didn’t feel like celebrating. She knew that the next two months were going to be hard. Harder than she’d thought they’d be because Joan was right. She didn’t know herself anymore. And that was never a good place to be.
MITCH HAD SPENT the last few hours on the phone trying to help Dev out. The best he could do was get Dev assigned to a very strict detox program that came with a twenty-four-hour-a-day counselor when you were released. The judge had promised if Dev used again he’d be in jail for a long time. Dev had muttered his thanks, but Mitch knew something still wasn’t right with his friend.
He’d had a meeting with Marcus, Spinder’s manager, to discuss strategy. The plan he and Marcus had come up with was for Jason to appear untouched by the trial. Jason would play the media with his usual finesse. Marcus booked Spinder on several talk shows over the weekend, and an officer of the court would accompany Jason on his out-of-town gigs, ensuring he didn’t skip bail.
Mitch had a list of people to interview, mostly cast and crew members who’d been at the bar that night with Jason. At least one of the other guys had been out with Holly before.
In fact, Mitch thought, as he reentered his own room and prepared to relax for the evening, everything was going well. Still, he was too wired to sleep. He paced over to the window. Glancing out at the Orlando skyline he saw his own reflection in the glass.
Mitch wished he really were the man he saw in the glass. The reflection looked successful. And if he could stop at success Mitch wouldn’t have any problems.
But there was no escaping the demons pushing him forward, nor the knowledge that revenge wasn’t the solution he was searching for and that even leaving Sophia in the same state he’d been in years ago wasn’t going to turn his life around.
He cursed and turned on his heel. Maybe he’d go to the weight room and work off some of this tension that lingered from his meeting with Sophia.
He wished he hadn’t let his anger get the better of him with Sophia. If he’d kept his mouth shut he probably would have been able to coax her up to his suite for the kind of reunion they’d both wanted.
But a few hours in the sack weren’t going to give him the kind of satisfaction he wanted. He needed to take Sophia’s well-ordered world and make it into chaos. He cursed again and decided against working out. He went to the minibar and pulled out a Heineken. Twisting off the cap, he took a long draw from the bottle.
He turned off the lights and moved his chair in front of the window. Propping his feet on the sill, he watched the lights for a while and tried to ignore the pImages** in his head. Tried to tune out Stevie Ray Vaughan’s electric guitar riffs and the woman who was swaying to the music wearing nothing but a sexy smile.
But the image wouldn’t leave and he leaned back and let Sophia seduce him here in the privacy of his room where only he would know about it. His cock twitched, tension spread throughout his body and he knew he should have left the room earlier, rather than staying here with the memories.
But this was part of his nightly routine ever since learning he’d be coming to Orlando and facing the woman who’d changed him. He’d been living with memories of everything he’d done with her. He’d been mostly focusing on the sex and the ending because if he remembered how good it had been between them he might start wanting something else. Something he knew better than to want because it wasn’t real.
The only real things were cases fought in a court of law, and old friendships. And he and Sophia weren’t old friends. They were ex-lovers with bad blood between them.
Remember that, old man, he reminded himself. Tilting back the bottle he drained it. He thought about having another one but wasn’t planning on getting drunk tonight when he had so much work to do tomorrow. So he focused on planning his next move on Sophia.
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