He held the elevator door for her and she paused in front of him. “Need someone to keep you warm, honey? I know just how to handle a wicked winter night.”
Julie sucked in a soft breath, feeling the bite of the woman’s words, unable to stop her reaction. It wasn’t like she didn’t know how women responded to Luke. He was the proverbial tall, dark, and handsome with a rock-hard body and gorgeous eyes. To make matters worse, the woman was actually quite attractive with legs that could reach to China and a slender, lean body, so very unlike Julie’s. Suddenly, Julie felt short and stubby, and lost.
Then, to her utter and complete shock, Luke’s arm folded over her shoulder. “This one here is in charge of my wicked winter nights, but thanks anyway.”
Feeling his body against hers, the sensitivity of his actions, rather than the implication, warmth rushed over her. He let the door go, but not before she saw disappointment flash on the woman’s face. Luke glanced down at her. He dropped his arm and they started to walk. “You could have put your arm around me, too, you know?” he asked, cutting her a sideways look. “I don’t bite, and,” he grinned, “a guy needs to stay warm.”
Without giving herself time to think about her actions, she wrapped her arm through his and gave him her own mischievous smile. “Sometimes you bite.”
He laughed. “Maybe I do.”
They walked together like that, like a couple, and she remembered doing just this in the past, strolling down a Manhattan sidewalk, chatting on their way to dinner. She remembered how good it had felt, how she’d felt like a part of a couple for the first time in her life. How for a few weeks she let it feel good, too, knowing he’d be gone, knowing there was no risk. Only there had been an aftermath, a change in her she still didn’t understand.
The restaurant consisted of empty tables that formed a half circle around a bar. “I guess it’s a good thing everyone is at the front desk,” Luke said. “We have plenty of seating choices.”
“Your choice,” confirmed the hostess, who looked maybe eighteen at most, but was probably twenty-one considering the bar, confirmed.
Luke motioned toward the first booth and glanced at Julie. “Work for you?”
“As long as it’s close to the kitchen.”
The hostess laughed. “Best seat in the place.”
“Then it’s a winner,” Julie confirmed and made her way to the seat facing the exit.
Luke slid in across from her and grabbed a menu, about the same time as a young male waiter appeared. “Drinks?”
Luke quirked a brow at Julie. “Tequila Sunrise?”
He remembered her drink and it pleased her way too much. “Yes,” she said without looking at the waiter. “Still a ‘Shiner Beer’ guy?”
“You bet I am,” he said, leaning back and stretching his arms over the seat. “Shiner for me.”
“Check,” the waiter said, shoving a pencil behind his ear. “Tequila Sunrise for the lady and Shiner for the dude, coming up.” He headed out, one of the many pins with funny sayings clipped to the front of his yellow and black striped apron falling to the ground in his wake. Julie bend down and scooped it up.
She checked the weather on her cell phone. “It says the snow is supposed to stop around two in the morning. I sure hope they’re right.”
“Me too,” he said. “We are both cutting it short.”
“Why are you here so close to the wedding?” she asked.
“I had ticked off a client that I didn’t want Royce to find out about before the wedding. I’m guessing you had a divorce emergency?”
“Divorce of the rich and famous,” she said. “It’s not a pretty business, but it’s what I do.”
“You might not have planned to be a divorce attorney,” he said, already knowing her story, “but it sure seems to be treating you right. I hear you’ve become a regular Hollywood star.”
“Not Hollywood,” she said. “Mostly athletes. I handled one player and they all flocked to me. Same stories I’m used to, but more money and nastiness in the breakups. That’s just how divorce goes down.”
“More demands from the clients on you too, I assume?”
“Oh yes. In this case, not only was the wife threatening a tell-all book my client didn’t want to see light, the threat was all over the tabloids. I didn’t want to risk this escalating anymore than it had to, smack in the middle of the wedding.” Of course, now she faced another problem with Judge Moore that might hit her in the face at the wrong time.
The waiter set their drinks in front of them. “Ready to order?”
Julie hadn’t even opened her menu but she knew what she wanted. “How about a cheeseburger well-done and fries?”
“Ditto for me,” Luke agreed and exchanged a few casual words with the waiter before they were alone again, and his attention returned to her. “So, back to your reason for being here. I’m guessing from the tabloids you’re here for New York’s star pitcher David Rodriguez’s divorce?”
She gave a nod. “Yes. His ex is from Chicago.”
“So is he,” Luke said, and then spat off some random David Rodriguez stats and Julie arched a brow that had him adding, “Did I mention I’m a David Rodriguez fan? Big, big fan.”
“I’m not.” The man hit on everything with a skirt including her. “And if you knew the man personally, you wouldn’t be either. And if you repeat that, I’ll deny it. There were plenty of reasons that man didn’t want a tell-all book to be published. Things he, fortunately, had enough sense to not want his ten year old daughter to ever find out, or have to deal with, publicly.”
Luke tipped back his beer and studied her a long moment. “You came here because you were worried about the daughter, not because David demanded you come.”
His ability to read her so easily flustered her. He saw too much, and she told herself to ignore his comment, but for reasons she didn’t understand, she found herself saying, “Yes. Because I was worried about the daughter.”
“Because you know what divorce does to a kid.”
She sipped her drink. “I have a little experience in that area, yes. Parents involved in divorce are often so wrapped up in their own pain they forget their actions have long term effects on the kids.” A swell of discomfort formed in her chest. She didn’t want to talk about this. “You’re lucky. Your parents stayed together.”
“Forty years,” he said. “My mother is dating again.” He shook his head. “I can hardly get my head around it.”
“But it’s also been three years since your father passed,” she said and their eyes met, and she knew he was remembering two years before, and the night he’d told her about his father, his hero, dying of a heart attack. They’d been at a Japanese restaurant drinking sake and laughing when things had turned serious. It had been the night that she’d known she was in unfamiliar waters with this man, that she felt so much more for him than just attraction.
“Yes,” he finally agreed. “Three years ago last month.” His lips curved. “I guess that means she’s allowed to date. And he’s a nice guy. A retired school teacher who lives down the road from her in Jersey. A real scholarly type who is night and day from my career military father.”
“Maybe she needed night and day to move on,” Julie suggested thoughtfully.
“Maybe,” he conceded. “I suppose that’s true.” He took a drink of his beer. “Blake doesn’t like the guy.”
“You said he was nice.”
He laughed. “That’s why Blake doesn’t like him. He says no one is that nice.”
“Cynical, isn’t he?”
“Aren’t you?”
She didn’t even try to deny the truth. “Yes. I am.”
He arched a brow. “That was an easy confession.”
“I’m a divorce attorney.”
“And maid of honor at your best friend’s wedding. That can’t be an easy match.”
“My job is incentive for the groom to be sure he keeps the bride happy. And he’d better or I’ll personally kick his ass. Screw d
ivorce court.”
He chuckled. “I don’t think you have to worry about that. Lauren turns my big grumpy brother into a teddy bear. But if Royce screws this up, I’ll help you kick his ass. She’s good for him. He needs her.”
“In contradiction to my cynicism, I believe she needs him, too.”
The waiter showed up with the food and they both dug in. “I’m curious,” Julie said, after a small silence to enjoy a bite of her surprisingly good burger. “Why did you leave the SEALs? You were so adamant about being career Navy.”
He poured ketchup on his plate and then motioned to hers, and she nodded, letting him put some on her plate too. “The official story,” he said, “is that I had an injury to my leg.”
“The unofficial story?”
“It healed, but Blake is a loose cannon, damaged and in a big way.”
“His fiancée was killed on an ATF mission,” she said. “I heard.”
“And he’s a time bomb waiting on his chance to explode. He wants vengeance to the point of absolute obsession. It’s why he left the ATF. He wants it at all costs; he’ll even ignore the law.”
“And you intend to do what?”
“Keep him alive.”
“Royce couldn’t have done that?”
“My brothers would die for each other, but most of the time, they also want to kill each other.”
She inhaled and let it out. “I see. That’s...intense. And honorable, Luke. I know how much the SEALs meant to you. You–” That same shiver of foreboding slid down her spine and her gaze lifted to find the man from the elevator at the hostess stand. His eyes met hers and then suddenly he stalked toward their table. Julie did something she never did under pressure. She froze.
Chapter Four
“You dropped your phone, miss,” the man said in a heavy Spanish accent, squatting down beside her and offering her phone, his hand on Julie’s chair for balance.
Julie let out a breath that she didn’t even know she’d been holding, because for the past two seconds, she’d pretty much didn’t know anything but panic. Her phone. Right. Which she probably knocked off the table when she’d picked up the waiter’s pin. Or while distracted by Luke, which was pretty much always.
Thank you,” she said, accepting her cell from the stranger, but not looking at him. Her spine was buzzing with ridiculous unease. The man was just helping her. “I had no idea I dropped it.”
“My pleasure to help,” he said, and pushed to his feet and left.
Julie held the phone, staring down at it. What was wrong with her? This wasn’t like her at all.
“What just happened,” Luke prodded urgently. “What upset you?”
She shook her head. “Nothing.” She refocused on Luke, glad he was here. “I’m just tired.”
“No,” he insisted. “That man upset you.”
“No, I-”
“Yes,” he said. “And if you don’t tell me why, I’ll go find out myself. I’ve never seen you like this.” He started to get up.
“No. Wait. Luke. Please stay here. I’m just embarrassed. It’s me being paranoid.”
He relaxed back into his seat. “You don’t need to ever be embarrassed with me, Julie. And you aren’t a paranoid person. If something feels wrong to you, it probably is.”
“Maybe,” she agreed. “But not here or with that man. I think one of my cases has me worried and it’s got me seeing demons everywhere.”
“Talk to me, sweetheart.”
She inhaled and let it out. “I can’t.” But she wanted to. She really wanted someone’s advice and Lauren didn’t need this right now. “Client-attorney privilege.”
He scooted his plate aside. “Do you have a dollar?”
Her brows furrowed and she reached for her purse. “Well, yes. Sure. I always carry cash when I travel.” She pulled out a bill and slid it on the table.
“Great,” he said. “Walker Security is now your private investigation firm. We are bound by privacy laws as well. So talk to me.”
Relief washed over her. “I actually think that hiring you might be exactly what I need to do.” She told him the entire story about Elizabeth’s visit.
“Blake was ATF,” he said when she’d finished. “They deal with art theft and money laundering so I’ll want to get him involved in this.”
“Money laundering?” she asked, the idea opening up all kinds of new concerns for her. “That’s what you think is going on?”
“What do you think is going on? You’re close to this. You must have had some initial thought pop into your head when Elizabeth made this claim.”
“My fear was some sort of illicit pornography.”
“That’s certainly a possibility, but one thing is for sure. You don’t want to be accused of covering it up. Ignorance has benefits when it comes to the law in this case.”
“But I’m not ignorant when I’ve been warned,” she said, “so I need to know what it going on.”
“You could drop out of the case.”
“I could,” she said, “but I could still be connected, or even become a fall guy. I’ve seen some nasty things since I started practicing. I’d rather be on the offensive and be sure this goes away for me.”
“That makes sense,” he said, “and while Elizabeth thinks her husband isn’t capable of hurting her, or you for that matter, I’ve seen some things myself. Desperation brings out the worst in people.”
“I saw that in Elizabeth. It worried me.”
“What worries me more than anything,” he said. ”is this other party who’d be dangerous if they found out whatever the secret is. If this is something illicit, and the wrong person–”
“I’m in trouble.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You were going to.”
“No,” he corrected. “I was going to say you could be linked to something really nasty that you don’t want to be. There’s no reason to get as worked up as you are, though, when you know nothing right now about what is really going on. But it doesn’t hurt to be cautious either. I’m going to get Blake on this tonight and look into it more myself when we get home.”
She swiped hair behind her ear. “Thank you, Luke. I’m really glad things worked out like they did and I ended up telling you about this. I didn’t want to bring it up to Lauren and Royce right now. Not with the wedding coming up.” And Lauren was her family, the only real person she counted on. The one person she would say anything to, admit anything to.
“I’m a friend, Julie,” he said. “I hope you’ll remember that. You can come to me. I’ll help you.”
Friend. That word changed everything between them. You didn’t have a fling with a friend. You had a relationship. She smiled through the tight ball of emotion coiling in her gut at that claim. “Be careful what you wish for,” she teased. “I might take you up on that and ask you to, oh I don’t know, do some manly thing like put brakes on my car.”
“You don’t have a car.”
“I might get one.”
“You don’t want to pay $600 a month to park it, anymore than you can stand to sit in traffic rather than take the subway.”
“You don’t forget anything do you?”
“Nothing,” he said softly. “Especially where you’re concerned.”
The confession took her off guard and left her tongue tied. Where had the sexy seductress persona she’d created to deal with men gone to? And why did his confession make that ball of emotion in her chest turn into a boulder? “Maybe you should,” she said, knowing they were on dangerous territory, desperate to find safe ground, justifying that desperation with the fact that Lauren was marrying his brother.
“I tried to forget,” he said. “It didn’t work.”
He’d tried and it didn’t work? What did that mean? She didn’t get the chance to ask. He tossed cash on the table, including the dollar she’d given him. “How about we get out of here?”
She shook herself inside and told herself it didn’t matter what he meant. She pushed
to her feet. “Yeah. Let’s get out of here.” This didn’t have to be about emotions. They were in each other’s heads. The best way to fix that was to stop talking. Talking complicated things. Talking led to emotion, to heartache, to places she didn’t want to go. It was way past time to get back to the hotel room. They’d work each other out of their systems and move on. Maybe then, when this burn they created in each other was through, they really could be friends.
***
The crowd at the front desk had thinned and it didn’t take Julie long to get what she needed. In a matter of minutes, she and Luke were at her room. She swiped the new key and received a green light.
“It works,” she said, smiling. “Excellent.”
“I’ll grab your things,” Luke said, disappearing and reappearing quickly. She held her door open as he rolled her bag inside. Once she’d joined him and let the door shut behind them, nerves tightened her throat and sent flutters through her stomach, belying the idea that sex with Luke somehow gave her control. She didn’t feel in control at all.
He settled the suitcase in the corner by the desk and turned to face her. “We’ll want to be at the airport early to be sure we’re on the first flight out. I say we should leave no later than eight.”
“Should we go earlier?”
“I called and talked to a contact at the airport,” he said. “Nothing is leaving before ten.”
“Okay then, yes. That sounds good.”
He motioned to a separate door that connected their rooms. “Knock if you need me.”
He intended to leave, she realized with surprise. This wasn’t how she thought this night would end. Maybe he wanted her to show she wanted him. Maybe he thought they were a complication he didn’t want, regardless of the connection. She’d certainly thought that as well. That should come with relief, but it didn’t. Not at all. “I’ll be fine. Thanks. Thanks for everything.”
“Just the same,” he said. “You know I’m close.” He grabbed his cell from his belt. “We should also exchange numbers.”