Unleashed

  With her hair slicked straight back, her strong cheekbones and delicate forehead were beautifully accentuated. Stunning. The vibrant blue of the water brought out deep shades of twilight in her gray eyes. She was radiant this morning, glowing. Apparently he had a good effect on her. “So you think you’d want to do that, huh?” she asked, giving his arm a little pinch.

  “Absolutely,” he said, and meant it.

  “Well, I’d like that.”

  It was by no means any kind of commitment…but it perhaps hinted at one. He took a breath. The world around him was postcard perfect. He’d seen it all before, but he had never appreciated it nearly as much as he did now, with her. The realization was exhilarating and it scared the hell out of him. She’d always meant so much to him that taking this leap seemed an insane risk. He wanted to tell himself they had time, not to rush it, but he didn’t think he could stop himself. With her, at the point they’d arrived at last night, it was all or nothing. They couldn’t go back to the way they were before.

  He only hoped he knew what the hell he was getting himself into.

  After snorkeling and admiring the coral reefs and the sea turtles that came over to investigate their presence, they loaded back on the boat with the other tourists. Kelsey snuggled into Evan’s side and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She loved the weight of it there. She loved the beauty all around her. The sun warming her skin, the wind tossing her curls dry. Life was definitely worth living at times like this. If she had one care back in the real world, she couldn’t think of it right now.

  They were just resting that way, admiring the emerald greens, sapphire blues and sprinklings of pink slipping past them, when her cell phone rang in the bag by her sandaled feet. She leaned over to retrieve it and chuckled when she read the display. “It’s Lisa. She better not have given birth without me.”

  “You know, I terrorized that girl when she was Jack’s paralegal.”

  “I’ve heard. Over and over again.” Kelsey laughed as she flipped her phone open. “Lisa! Don’t tell me.”

  Lisa sounded tired, but content. “Sorry, girl. It’s not my fault. She wouldn’t wait for you.”

  She grabbed Evan’s hand in excitement. “Oh my God, congratulations! When?”

  “Last night. C-section this time. Can you believe it? By the third, you’d think they could fall out like paratroopers. But noooo. I told Daniel my uterus is officially retired. I don’t think he was too heartbroken about it.”

  Kelsey had been laughing since the “paratrooper” remark. “But everything went okay?”

  “Aside from being gutted like a fish? Sure. And she’s adorable, of course. We named her Meagan Rose like we’d planned. Seven-and-a-half pounds, lots of dark hair, big blue eyes…when she opens them. Lungs like mine.”

  “God help you.”

  “Tell me about it. So my trauma is done. How are things with you?”

  “Great, it’s gorgeous here. Beautiful weather. We’re having a blast.”

  Lisa’s voice took on a conspirator’s tone. “And how are the waves?”

  Kelsey was amazed Lisa gave a damn about “waves” and all that entailed at a time like this. And she supposed it would look weird to Evan if she started rattling off words like tsunami. Or storm surge. Rogue wave of Poseidon proportions, flipping her ship upside down. She kept her voice as level as possible. “They’re awesome.”

  Lisa trilled with laughter for a split second before giving a grunt of pain. Poor thing. “You dirty hag. I told you. You’ll learn to listen to me one of these days, I know about this stuff. Is Evan right there? Put his cute butt on the phone. I feel the need to torture him a bit, especially after he called me Pregzilla last time I saw him.”

  Crap. “Lisa, don’t…”

  “Oh, I won’t let on that I know you’re having the wild monkey sex.”

  “Hang on.” Kelsey held her phone over to Evan. “She wants to talk to you.”

  “Really.” He grinned and grabbed it. “Lisa Scott! Dammit, woman, what are you doing having my baby while I’m out of town? I’m outraged.”

  Even from several inches away and over her own laughter Kelsey heard Lisa squeal. Evan wore his most devilish grin as he listened to Lisa’s most likely obscenity-laden retort. As sharp as she was, she never could quite top him. Kelsey had a sinking feeling that now Lisa wouldn’t be able to resist nailing Evan with what she knew. The conversation was getting several amused glances from the others on the boat. She could only hear Evan’s half of it.

  “Playing with dolphins… Yes, I’ll get you a picture of that… You know I’m taking really good care of her, not letting her dance on any tabletops. You know how she is.” He laughed as Kelsey smacked his arm, and after a few more minutes he handed the phone back over after sincerely congratulating Lisa on her new baby.

  “Sometimes I cannot believe that crazy man is the same one who can make the entire jury box weep while Jack snaps pencils in his bare hands. I thought I pulled out a staple or two laughing at him just now.”

  “I know.” Kelsey had to bite her tongue to keep from adding Isn’t he amazing?

  “Are you sure you can handle him?”

  “Well, I’m doing my best.”

  “Good girl. You know, despite my new wriggling bundle of joy, I was tired and sore and feeling just a little depressed earlier, but you guys have perked me right up. I wish you the best of luck, Kelsey, I really do. I always thought you two would be awesome, if you could just get it together.”

  “Thank you. I can’t wait to meet my new niece.”

  They hung up and Kelsey put her phone back in her bag, a smile lingering on her lips. “I’m so glad for them.”

  “They’re good people.” Evan pulled her back to his side and pressed a kiss to her ear. She shifted a bit and wrapped her arms around him.

  “I don’t know what I would’ve done without them after everything that happened. I need to buy something for the baby while we’re here.”

  “We’ll go look around the shops this afternoon, if you want.” He pointed out to the water, where one of the dolphins was putting on a show for them, as if imploring them not to leave. Kelsey grabbed her camera and snapped a picture of it.

  “That’ll be fun.” Looking for baby clothes with Evan. Things just kept getting weirder.

  “I hope I didn’t upset you, joking around with her like that,” he murmured in her ear. “I didn’t really think before I said it. But that kind of stuff always gets her riled up.”

  “You didn’t. I thought it was funny.” Kelsey bit her lip on a retort that probably would have distressed him. She wasn’t some kind of delicate mental case who couldn’t take a joke, even if that seemed to be the situation. The teasing was just his way, no different than how he’d acted since she’d known him. But his concern touched her, so she let it slide. It was the first time he’d ever shown any in that particular area. Normally Evan didn’t seem to give a damn what people thought about him.

  The constant stream of innuendo he could keep up with anyone was one reason Kelsey had never thought he was serious any time he flirted with her. Why she’d always known how dangerous it was for her to feel the way she did about him. It might have bothered her more if she didn’t know how loyal he always was to the one he was with. Her heart gave funny little flip-flops at the thought of being that person for him now.

  The chatter on the boat went on around them, but in his arms she was in her own world. The hum of the engine and the spray of the water were real, but the only thing that mattered to her was the solidity of his chest beneath her cheek. She could’ve slept here, feeling safe as a kitten. She might have dozed for a bit; fuzzy, senseless thoughts were drifting lazily through her mind.

  When she finally lifted her head, they were pulling in to dock. A couple of girls were sitting across from them, very pretty, perhaps college age. They had been laughing the most at Evan’s conversation with Lisa. One was smiling at them now.

  “You guys are so cute togeth
er. Are you on your honeymoon?” she asked.

  Kelsey felt her cheeks redden and started to shake her head.

  “We’re just friends,” Evan said teasingly, giving her a light pinch on her side so that she giggled and pushed at him. Then he caught her in a kiss that could have straightened her hair.

  Somehow Kelsey heard the remark the girl made to her companion. “I think I need a friend like that.”

  They shopped at King’s Village. By the time the sun began to set, little Meagan had the makings of a wardrobe…that would last her first six months of life, anyway. It seemed once they started, they couldn’t stop.

  Evan wanted to stay around to show Kelsey the changing of the King’s Guard, and as impressive as she found their precision, she couldn’t concentrate on much aside from Evan’s hand holding hers. He’d been adorable shopping for Meagan. She had a warmth in her chest she sometimes found it difficult to breathe through without letting it spill out in a declaration of love that might ruin the tranquility of their day. It seemed so fragile, this safety she’d found with him. So precious she feared it slipping right through her fingers and shattering forever. She supposed it would feel that way until there was some certainty between them, yet asking for it was the very thing she knew could push it further from her grasp.

  “Well, I think you bought entirely too much frilly pink,” he teased in the car on the way back to the hotel.

  “Hey, Lisa did have a girl.”

  “So? My daughter will wear camouflage. She’ll be tough. I’ll take her hunting. She’ll whip all the boys.”

  “Yeah, right,” Kelsey laughed. “I didn’t see too much camouflage back there. I bet one thing is for sure about any daughter of yours: she’ll have her daddy wrapped right here.” She held up one pinky finger.

  “Can’t argue with that.” He flipped the blinker to turn into their hotel parking lot. “Did you and Todd ever talk about having kids?”

  “Not really. It was one of those topics that, when it got brought up, the subject was changed pretty quick.”

  “I don’t suppose I have to guess who changed it.”

  She shrugged. “You can’t fault someone for not wanting to have kids. It’s a personal choice.”

  “Courtney didn’t want kids, either. I didn’t find this out until I’d already asked her to marry me. We went around and around about it. Not that I wanted them right away, but you know. Someday. I hated to break off an engagement over something I hoped she’d change her mind about eventually.”

  “Sounds like they’re a match made in heaven, then. Or some other, hotter place,” Kelsey grumbled, facing out her window. “Can I ask you something? You don’t have to answer.”

  “Shoot.”

  “I’ve seen you get pretty serious about a few girls. What was so different about Courtney that made her the one you asked to marry you?”

  He seemed to debate for a moment, so at least he wasn’t going to shut her down. She just wondered if he was going to evade the question. “I don’t know if it was so much that she was different, or if I was.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You know. Established, getting older, tired of playing the field……ready to settle down, I guess. She just happened to be the one that was there.”

  “It had to be more than that.”

  “Well, yeah. We had a good time together, got along for the most part, families liked one another…” He trailed away as he pulled into an empty parking space. Once stopped, he turned to look at her. “You’re really wanting to ask if I was in love with her, aren’t you?”

  She shrugged, her cheeks starting to burn. “It’s not my business. But yeah.”

  “I can’t say that I was. I had feelings for her, of course, but I see what a huge mistake I’d have been making to marry her. I think I knew already, in the back of my mind, before it all went to hell. I’d have been doomed to contentment. Nothing more.”

  Evan was one of the lucky ones, to dodge that bullet. If only she could have been so fortunate.

  “Hey.” He reached over to stroke her hair. “Didn’t mean to dredge anything up there.”

  She turned to look at him, at his beautiful, precious face. The glow of the sunset sparked in his eyes. She had to take a breath. “No, it’s fine. I’m the one who asked. You’re right. I need to move past it all.”

  He toyed with her fingers, slowly rubbing each in turn with his thumb. “You really haven’t, have you?”

  She shrugged, her gaze on their joined hands. “It was such an upheaval. My mom begged me to move back home, and I couldn’t. I told her I thought one more huge change in my life would break me down completely.” He continued his caresses, letting her go on. “And all the cruel words that got thrown around. It was a rollercoaster, civil one minute, hateful the next. I have only one thing good to say about it: thank God we didn’t have kids.”

  “It probably was for the best,” he said soothingly. Damn him, he was using his prosecutor voice. The one he used with distraught victims on the stand. He must think she was a regular head case.

  “I know I’m not the only woman in the world who’s gone through a divorce. I’m not the only woman who’s ever been cheated on. I wish I could shake it off like other people seem to.”

  “From the eye that doesn’t know any better, you have. Whenever I see you around, you’re always smiling, dealing just fine. So maybe everyone else isn’t as together as you think they are, either.”

  She sniffed, proud of herself that she wasn’t crying. She didn’t want to start now. “You are.”

  “You think so, huh? I have my pain, too.”

  “You hide it well, then.”

  “My point exactly.”

  “I must be terrible at hiding mine. At least I have been this week.” She looked at him, feeling as if there were a crack in the door to his soul and she wanted to open it wide. “Tell me what hurts you?”

  He blew out a breath. “I can’t, honey. Maybe someday.”

  “Why not? I’m an open freakin’ book here, and—”

  “A lot of things hurt me. What they did…yeah, it hurt like hell. I got Courtney home that night and I couldn’t get near her. Not that I was afraid I’d hurt her or anything crazy like that, but I couldn’t stand to have her anywhere close to me. She was following me around begging me to listen to her and I couldn’t even deal with the sound of her voice.”

  She nodded. She understood completely. Except Todd had never begged. Evan wasn’t telling her everything, but she wouldn’t press the issue. It hurt her to know there was something he didn’t trust her with, but she’d done the very same thing to him last night.

  “There is one thing I need to tell you, Kelsey. It might matter to you and it might not, but it’s not right for me to keep it from you.”

  Her pulse rate doubled. “What?”

  “They aren’t together anymore.”

  Good. Serves them right. “Oh. Why not?”

  “She says it’s because he misses you.”

  Kelsey scoffed. “That’s unlikely.”

  “Do you really think so? Because, honey…” His stroking fingers moved up her bare arm, to her shoulder. “I’d miss you. I’d miss you like crazy. I don’t see how any man with a beating heart and rushing blood wouldn’t.” The fingers of his other hand skimmed her thigh, brushing up just under the hem of her skirt. That barest touch had her wanting to open her legs for him here in the car. His mouth moved swift to cover hers, a sensation she’d been longing for all day. She put her hand on the side of his neck, stroking his flesh, feeling the muscles work as his lips moved over hers with feverish insistence.

  “Bed?” she murmured against them, and felt rather than saw his smile.

  “No. I think first I’m taking you out to dinner.” And he chuckled at her frustrated growl.

  Chapter Eight

  Their table was nestled in the corner of the outdoor section, where the wind could caress her bare shoulders and wreak its havoc on her hair. Kelsey didn?
??t mind. She found she actually liked it. Since last night, Evan couldn’t seem to keep his hands out of her curls. Having it wild and tumbling around her face made her feel sexy. Brash and brazen.It wasn’t just her hair. It was the way his gaze lingered on her flesh. It was his nearness, the memory of him inside her, taking her to heights never before accessed…she still felt lush and sensitive and wanton. He sat to her left, and she wanted to get her hands on him under this tablecloth. She found herself inching her left knee toward him, trying to find contact with solid muscle. But it was a frustrating effort, so she tried to focus on the scenery.

  “This is beautiful,” she said, gazing out at the waves rolling in on the beach, the whitecaps glowing in the moonlight. “I never could have taken a trip like this without you.”

  Evan sipped his wine. “Sure you could have.”

  She cocked an eyebrow at him. “Oh yeah? How do you figure?”

  “You can do anything you want to. I know times are tight for you right now. But it won’t always be that way.”

  “You really are a glass-is-half-full kinda guy, aren’t you? I always knew it, but really, sometimes it’s just too much.”

  “Why?”

  “Oh, I wouldn’t change that about you,” she said quickly. “I love it. But…I don’t think you know what it’s like to have to struggle.”

  “Well, if you’re speaking strictly about finances, I guess you’re right. But if you’re thinking it isn’t sometimes a struggle for me to keep my rose-colored glasses after the things I’ve seen on the job, my dear, you’re mistaken.” He chucked her gently under her chin. “Some days it takes everything I am to walk into that courtroom.”

  The breeze blew a strand of his hair across his forehead and she reached up to move it away. It was becoming one of her favorite things to do. “Sorry. I need more optimism in my life, I know it. And I know you’ve seen some terrible things. I would never want your job to turn you into a cynic.”

  His eyes were distant for a moment, and she knew she’d just conjured up images of gruesome murders and sexual assaults and child abuse. Great job, Kels. “It won’t,” he said. “If it ever starts to, I can always do something else. See? There’s always a way out.”