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And in doing so, face off with a woman he wanted so badly he could taste her. The little taste he’d gotten two nights ago hadn’t been nearly enough. Now it might have to be, unless he could somehow get out of this whole thing. “I don’t have time to handle some frivolous trial just to satisfy the city leaders.”
Allan ran a hand over his balding head and kicked back in the office chair, hands resting on his bulbous belly. “Those city leaders make sure you get paid. And they answer to the citizens, who pay your salary.”
“I handle felonies, not misdemeanors.”
“Don’t forget this one involves an assault of an elderly woman who broke her arm. That’s serious business. If we don’t stop him, someone else is going to get hurt, maybe worse next time. The city wants this guy off the streets, and in order to ensure this they want the best on the case.”
Daniel couldn’t disagree that the guy should be stopped. He just didn’t want to be the one to do it. “Why don’t you take it?”
“No can do. I’m about to go on vacation in a few weeks, so I need to take care of my own business. I’m taking the wife skiing in Purgatory.”
And in turn sending Daniel straight to hell. The devil would be joining Vera on the slopes before he agreed to this. “We can put Goeble on it. He’s got tenure.”
“Goeble’s a suck-up, not a decent jurist. He’s more interested in parading his ass around, pretending to be a lawyer just to impress his father’s cronies. As soon as he’s able, he’ll be out of here to join some high-dollar firm.”
Daniel couldn’t argue with Vera’s assessment of Goeble either. “I’ll find someone else then.”
“No. You’ll do it. Mayor Davies has been inquiring on the status of the case on a daily basis. He trusts you to get Massey tried and punished to the fullest extent of the law before he causes more harm.”
Easier said than done with Alisha acting in Massey’s defense. “Do you realize who’s representing him?”
Vera pulled a file in front of him and flipped it open. “Alisha Hart, formerly of Gailey and Breedlove. I hear she’s pretty good.”
“She’s damn good.” And Daniel knew that on more than one level.
“And that’s why we need you to do this, Daniel. If she’s a formidable opponent, then we need to throw the best at her. You’re the best.”
Daniel had worked hard to earn that reputation and now he wanted to curse it. “I’ll cut a deal and be done with it.”
“No deals.”
He held back a string of foul expletives threatening to explode out of his mouth. “No deals? Hell, Allan, I’m not suggesting we let him walk. I can get him some time on the assault charge without dragging this into court.”
“We want him in court. People like this Massey guy need to see that we don’t tolerate this kind of thing on our streets. Pettigrew insists we make an example out of him, and you know what kind of power he wields with the party.”
Daniel didn’t like the wealthy city council member and he liked him even less now. “Why is he so involved?”
“It seems his soon-to-be-ex trophy wife has joined Massey’s fan club.”
“The guy has a fan club?”
“Yeah. They call themselves Masses for Massey. Best I understand, it’s made up of mostly women.”
“This case has the potential of getting way out of hand.”
“True, and I know you’ll handle that aspect, as well.”
Damn Les Massey for screwing up his life. “I’m still not comfortable with any of this.”
“Get comfortable with it. The party’s going to be watching you closely. If you play your cards right and get a solid conviction on this one as well as the Jamison case, you’re in as the next candidate. You’ll be sitting at this desk this time next year.”
Right now Daniel didn’t give a damn about the party or the election. “Then you’re saying I don’t have a choice in this matter.”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” Vera stood and walked around the desk, laying a palm on Daniel’s shoulder and guiding him to the door. “I trust that you’ll have this menace tried and convicted so quickly that you won’t have to waste more than a minute of necessary time. You’ll handle it well.”
For months now Daniel had wanted to handle Alisha Hart and he wished he hadn’t waited so long. Hadn’t been so cautious. Now he wouldn’t be able to handle her at all except during the trial, and that would have to be strictly business. At least for now.
As Daniel strode down the hallway on the heels of his anger, Allan called after him, “One more thing, Daniel.”
He turned to face his boss, reluctant to even consider what that one last thing might be. “What?”
“You have a press conference at noon to announce that you’ll be in charge of this case.”
Great. Just freakin’ great. “Is that necessary?”
“Pettigrew thinks it is, and he has the mayor in his corner.”
Pettigrew could kiss his ass, Daniel thought as he walked into his office and slammed the door behind him. The last thing he needed was to try some idiot who got his rocks off getting naked in public. Getting naked was much safer when done in the confines of a private residence. An unexpected image of Alisha Hart—naked—vaulted into his brain. He jerked back the chair from behind his desk and collapsed into it, cursing his bad luck and overboard libido.
He needed to get his priorities straight. He couldn’t let his major need for Alisha Hart’s company derail his goals. Since he’d signed on with the district attorney’s office at the beginning of his career he’d had designs on the top position. Since that first time as a kid when he’d witnessed his father knocking around his mother—and couldn’t do a damn thing about it—he’d vowed to see justice done. His desire to put criminals behind bars hadn’t lessened a bit, and neither would his desire for Alisha. At least, not anytime soon.
Right now he was charged with the unenviable position of telling her the news—and being in the line of fire when all hell broke loose.
Alisha breezed into her office to find Joe sitting on the edge of the reception desk, concentrating on the portable TV set in the corner of the deserted waiting room. “Do we have so little business that you’re watching cartoons again?”
Joe sent her only a cursory glance before turning his attention back to the tube. “Not cartoons. A press conference. And I think you should be watching it, too.”
Crossing the room, Alisha took her place beside Joe and nearly dropped the bag containing her meager lunch. “That’s Daniel Fortune.”
“Yep. That’s Daniel Fortune answering questions about your client’s prosecution and the new prosecutor who’ll be handling the case.”
Alisha tugged off her jacket and tossed it and the bag onto the desk. “Krauss isn’t in charge anymore?”
“No, and you’re not going to like who’s taking his place.”
“Please don’t tell me it’s that creep, Goeble.”
“No, not Goeble.”
“Then who?”
“The iceman’s going to do it himself.”
Alisha’s mouth hung open for a few seconds before she said, “You’re kidding, right?”
“No, I’m not kidding.” He reached behind him and handed her a piece of paper. “He called earlier while you were out, I assume to let you know.”
Alisha took the paper from Joe only to find the number to the D.A.’s office. “I can’t believe he didn’t tell me New Year’s Eve.”
“I wouldn’t think a bar would be a good place to discuss it.”
She wadded up the note and tossed it in the waste bin. “Not in the bar. Outside of the bar, after I left.”
Joe had the gall to grin. “Well, did you do—”
“No, I did not. I went home and he went home, end of story.” And she was telling one whopper of a story.
She tossed Joe the sack. “Here. It’s a sub sandwich. Take half an hour to eat lunch, then get moving on the Massey case. Start working on the motions we’ve discussed. Now’s your chance to play attorney before you have to pass the bar. And call the temp agency. Have them send someone over to field phone calls, preferably one who’s worked in a law office before. We’re going to need all the help we can get.”
When she started for the door, Joe asked, “Where are you going?”
“Out.”
“Aren’t you going to call Fortune?”
“Nope.” She turned with a hand poised on the knob. “I’m going to pay him a personal visit.”
“I’d like to buy tickets to that little meeting.”
“You need to get to work. I’ll handle the A.D.A.”
Joe unfolded the paper from around the sandwich and crammed a big bite in his mouth. “Good luck,” he said without even swallowing.
As Alisha headed for the courthouse, she realized she was going to need plenty of luck and plenty of strength. Just because Daniel Fortune happened to be the most gorgeous, multitalented, intelligent man she’d ever known didn’t mean she couldn’t hold her own with him. And she would, no matter what he tried to throw at her.
Alisha Hart strode into Daniel’s office looking as if she’d like to throw something at him. Fortunately she set her briefcase down on the chair instead of hurling it at his head. “I believe you know why I’m here.”
She sounded calm, but she looked fighting mad—and sexy as hell in her tailored blue dress that gave Daniel just a glimpse of her knees. Really great knees. “You came by to call off our dinner plans?”
“Very funny,” she said without one whit of amusement in her tone.
Daniel noticed the partially open door and pointed behind her. “Close it.”
She looked over her shoulder, then back to him, before complying. Instead of sitting, she braced her palms on the edge of his desk and leaned into them. “First of all, do you mind telling me why you didn’t inform me the other night you were going to be taking the Massey case?”
Daniel greatly minded that her breasts were eye level and the cut of the dress showed a hint of cleavage. He forced his gaze to her face. “Because I didn’t know until this morning. And I don’t like it any more than you do. And if I recall, we decided not to discuss it the other night. In fact, I remember we stopped talking altogether after a while.”
After snatching up her briefcase, she finally sat, giving Daniel only minimal relief. “We’re certainly going to discuss it now.”
Daniel leaned back in his chair and laced his hands behind his head. “Go ahead, Counselor. But if you’re here to make a deal, you’ll be wasting your breath.”
“It’s my breath to waste, and I don’t see why we can’t come to some sort of agreement and save the taxpayers money.”
“What exactly are you proposing?” he asked.
“One count of disorderly conduct, drop the indecent exposure and the trumped-up assault charge.”
“You’re not serious.”
“Do I look like I’m jesting?”
No, but she looked pretty damn good, Daniel thought. So good he almost couldn’t think. But he had to think. “Let’s start with the indecent exposure. We have a witness who claims she saw his genitals during his little show on the river taxi and that he in fact was aroused.” That much he did know, although he knew nothing about the witness. Truth was, he hadn’t had time to thoroughly review the case. He sure as hell hadn’t prepared for the impact of seeing Alisha again—and knowing he couldn’t touch her now. Or later, for that matter. At least not until this mess was over.
Her expression remained battle-ready. “My client was strategically covered by a wide sash, therefore his genitals were not exposed. As far as his alleged arousal is concerned, the temperature was below forty degrees. In those kinds of elements, I highly doubt Mr. Massey capable of an erection.”
The last thing Daniel needed to hear coming out of her pretty coral-painted mouth was the word erection. “Our witness says otherwise.”
“Your witness is mistaken. Or perhaps she was engaged in some wishful thinking.” Alisha looked at him straight on. “You know, if Mr. Massey were a woman, we wouldn’t even be having this argument.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because a woman’s arousal wouldn’t be noticeable.”
“Any man worth his salt can tell if a woman’s aroused, obvious or not.”
“Not in the dark.”
“Oh, yeah. Definitely in the dark. I can always tell. One of these days I’ll prove it to you.”
“We’re not going to talk about that.” Her gaze drifted away before coming back to him. “My point is, only one witness claiming my client was exposed and aroused isn’t solid evidence.”
“You can argue that during the trial.”
She stared at him again. “I guarantee I will if we have a trial. I’ll have my motions on your desk by tomorrow.”
Frustrated with her persistence and his own lack of research, Daniel said, “If you’re trying to convince me to go easy on this guy, forget it, Counselor. Mr. Massey assaulted a senior citizen. That’s a class A misdemeanor. The state isn’t going to budge.” That fact had been more than apparent during his earlier conversation with Allan Vera.
She grabbed her briefcase and stood. “Okay. Have it your way. Hopefully the presiding judge will see it my way.”
Daniel came to his feet. “Anything else?”
“Not at the moment, but if I think of something else, I’ll let you know.” She swept her hair away from her face with one hand. Today it fell to her shoulders in soft curls, just as it had the other night. Daniel was assaulted by the sudden fantasy of having those curls raking over his bare chest—and lower. He needed to get a grip, and not on her.
“I hope you’re ready for this, Counselor,” she said.
Daniel rounded the desk and stood before her. Not too close, but close enough to get the full effect of her vivid blue eyes. “I’ll be ready.”
“So will I.”
“But you’re not going to win this one, Alisha.”
She lifted her chin and sent him a smug smile. “Wanna bet?”
He streaked a hand over his jaw. “Sure. What should we wager?”
Her smile faded into a frown. “I wasn’t serious.”
“I am.” He shoved his hands in his pockets to keep from reaching out to her. “How confident are you that you’ll win?”
“Might I remind you, if anyone found out money exchanged hands between us, we’d both be disbarred.”
“I didn’t say a thing about money.”
Alisha eyed him skeptically. “What exactly do you have in mind?”
Something that would be deemed downright dirty. “I’d have to think on it, but I have a few ideas.”
“So do I,” she said, continuing to clutch the briefcase to her breasts. “If you lose—which you will—I’d consider something involving a little public humiliation. Maybe I’ll make you wear Les’s sequined toreador outfit, sans pants, and you can give a speech on the courthouse steps.”
“You know, Alisha, if you want to get me naked again, you don’t have to win a bet. You only have to ask me.”
She wagged a finger at him. “We’re not going to go there again, Counselor. Not now.”
That “not now” thing gave him some hope. “Later?”
“You’re going to continue to give me a hard time, aren’t you?”
“I’ll give you whatever you want me to give you,” he said.
She drew in a shaky breath and her eyes took on a hazy cast. No way could he miss it. “I want you to consider keeping this case out of court.”
“I’m not talking about the case and you know it.”
“I know, and we can’t talk about what’s happening between us,” she said. “We certainly can’t act on it.”
At least she’d admitted there was an “us.” “True, but this trial isn’t going to stop me from thinking about it.” He took her hand and pulled her forward. “And you’ll be thinking about it, too.”
“Daniel, this isn’t a good idea at all,” she said without much conviction. And even more telling, she didn’t yank her hand out of his grasp.
“Yeah, I know. That’s why I’m not going to do anything but this.” Lifting her hand, he turned it over and brushed a kiss on her palm, followed by a streak of his tongue, before releasing her. “If that’s what I have to settle for right now, then I’ll live with it.”
After a slight catch of her breath, the confidence returned to her face. “A hand kiss. And I thought chivalry was dead.”
He brushed her hair from her shoulders and rested his mouth at her ear. “Sometime in the future I’m going to kiss more than your hand, starting with that sexy mouth of yours, then I’m going to move my lips lower until—”
She pulled back and started backing to the door. “We’re going to behave ourselves during this trial, Daniel.”
“Sure. Whatever you say.” But he bit back a laugh when he realized she was trying to convince herself as well as him.
“I’m going now,” she said without making a move to leave.
“Fine. I’m not stopping you. Not this time.”
“Since when have you ever stopped me?”
He couldn’t resist getting in one last comment before she disappeared. “I sure didn’t stop you Saturday night. And I’m not going to stop you if you decide you want a repeat performance in the future. But it’s going to be your decision. You know where to find me.”
“Yes, I do. Opposing me in a courtroom.” With that she jerked open the door and rushed away, leaving Daniel assessing his total loss of logic.
For years he’d walked the straight and narrow, never veering off course, never doing anything that could ruin his aspirations, especially not with a woman. But Alisha wasn’t just another woman. She was tough. She didn’t give a damn about what his status could bring her. And most important, she was nothing at all like his mother—a woman who suffered abuse from her alcoholic husband at the expense of her own children’s sense of safety. And still she’d stayed with him, until staying had cost her her life.
But that was all in the past, where Daniel intended to keep it. He also intended to see where this thing with Alisha Hart might lead. Hopefully not down the path of destruction.
Four
As if her little encounter with Daniel Fortune hadn’t been bad enough two days ago, now she found herself at the jail for another meeting with Les Massey. She’d had very little sleep and too much to think about—namely the prosecutor. Right now she had to think about her client, who sat across from her giving her a suggestive smile that probably worked on most women but not on her.
She shuffled her notes to keep from looking at him. “Okay, Mr. Massey, we need to go over a few things before I have to go before the judge for the hearing.”
“I’m all yours, Ms. Hart. Knock yourself out.”
When she finally looked up to discover his orange prison-issue jumpsuit unzipped to his sternum, she wanted to knock him out. “First of all, in reference to the woman you pushed—”
“I told you I didn’t push her.”
“All right, the woman you allegedly pushed while making your escape down the walkway following the river-taxi incident—”
“I wasn’t escaping.”
“You were running.”
“I was sprinting. No one was after me except maybe a few girls. They were trying to take my sash.” And he looked proud of it.
“You don’t remember even accidentally nudging the woman?”
“I don’t even remember her. In fact, the last thing I remember was running headlong into the cop. He cuffed me and brought me down here.”
Alisha leaned forward and gave him the full extent of her scowl. “One of you is lying.”
“She’s lying. I didn’t push anyone. I’m not that stupid.”
Since the guy delighted in putting on a show half-naked in public, leaving himself wide open for arrest, Alisha could definitely debate that. “Next point. You haven’t been formally charged with a concealed-weapons violation, but it’s a possibility. Did you have a gun?”
Now Les scowled. “I swear I didn’t have one. Where would I have stuck it?”
Where Alisha had wanted to stick Billy Wade’s toupee on New Year’s Eve? She didn’t dare ask that for fear he might confirm her suspicions. “I only know that the prosecution has a witness’s statement that claims you tossed something into the water and it looked a lot like a gun. I don’t want any surprises if they happen to recover it from the river.”
Les sat back and rubbed his chin with one tanned hand. “It was probably the maracas.”
“Maracas?” This was the first she’d heard about that.
“Yeah. I was shaking them while I was singing ‘Jingle Bells’ on the riverboat. I was going to throw them to this group of girls standing on the riverbank, but I missed and they fell into the water.”
Good thing, otherwise he might have hit one of the girls in the head, resulting in another assault charge. “Okay, this is where we stand. I’m going to argue against the weapons charge, but my guess is we’re going to have to go to trial on the other charges.”
“There’s going to be a trial?”
Wake up and smell the coffee, you jerk, Alisha wanted to say to him. Instead she said, “Yes, and that means you’ll need to clean up your act and be on your best behavior.”
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