and dipped his head. ‘Aw, Sunny, what have you got yourself into?’
She melted inside. Nobody called her that any more. ‘Please, Colt? Take me out. Just the two of us. Just once?’
He ran a hand through his hair. It was shorter than it had been the last time she’d seen him, but still long enough for her to want to touch. ‘I’ll take you to dinner,’ he finally said, ‘but only because we need to talk about this.’
The circular gesture he made with his hand was jerky.
‘Then I’m taking you home.’
She beamed at him. Absolutely felt like she’d sprouted wings. She’d dreamed about him taking her home for ever. ‘Great,’ she said, her voice thick. ‘Then I can show you my new apartment.’
He frowned. ‘You didn’t move back in with your parents?’
So he’d heard about her break-up.
‘No.’ Summoning the confidence Nina insisted she should have, Erin crossed the room and looped her arm through his. He stiffened but didn’t pull away. Her breast ached where his arm touched her, and she leaned into him more heavily. He felt warm and hard and thoroughly male. ‘I’m not a little girl any more. I’m all grown up.’
In every sense of the word.
‘Take me on a date, Colt.’ Show her what she’d been missing.
The mean, tough trial attorney looked fit to be tied as he led Erin out of the room. Nina folded her arms across her chest and nodded her goodbye. It wasn’t two minutes later when Rielle snuck back into the room.
‘He didn’t look happy.’
‘But Erin does.’ Nina unlocked her knees and felt them waver once again. That had been too close. She’d known she was running a risk choosing him. If he came after her, she’d have a fight on her hands. She had connections in the legal system, but they didn’t climb much higher than Colton King. The guy was a shark in the courtroom. She didn’t want him swimming around her company, looking for weak spots.
But little Erin had out-manoeuvred him.
Nina ran her fingers along the blue glass paperweight that held down both her clients’ files. She was good at seeking out weak spots too, and she already knew what King’s was.
‘He had me worried,’ Rielle admitted.
‘Listening at the door?’
Her employee looked guilty, but then flipped her hair over her shoulder. ‘I was ready to ride to the rescue.’
‘I don’t believe that will be needed,’ Nina said. ‘I think we just did a very good thing.’
Or so she hoped.
Rielle sat down and let out a shaky breath. ‘Did I hear right? Did he call her “Sunny”?’
‘It’s a family nickname, I believe. For her hair.’
‘It didn’t sound that way when he said it.’
No. No, it hadn’t.
But the stern lawyer had a spine made of titanium. If he couldn’t bend or give in to the sweetness being so innocently offered to him, they could have problems.
‘What do we do now?’ Rielle asked.
‘We sit back and see what happens.’
Nina had a feeling she’d be watching with both hands covering her eyes, because they’d either just fixed things or got themselves into one hell of a fix.
Erin got onto the elevator and stood close to Colton’s side. She barely heard the floors ticking off over the pounding of her heart. She couldn’t believe this was happening. Her biggest secret wish.
Had Sienna known?
Oh, who cared? Her roommate was going to get the biggest hug when she saw her.
Erin snuggled closer to Colt’s arm, but his muscles were tense. He hadn’t said a word to her since they’d left Luxxor’s offices.
‘Why are you upset?’ she asked softly. She knew when he was in a temper. It was when he was at his quietest.
‘Not here,’ he said, jerking his chin at the security camera in the upper corner of the lift.
Erin frowned. She hadn’t even known it was there.
Rubbing his arm uncertainly, she waited until they were on the first floor, heading for the door. ‘Well, I’m happy to see you,’ she whispered.
‘I’m happy to see you, too,’ he said, jaw tight. ‘Just not like this.’
‘Like what?’
He pointed at a Town Car waiting at the curb. The gesture moved him out of her reach, and she folded her arms across herself, pulling her wrap tighter. His coldness hurt. Why was he so angry?
With a sigh, he caught her hand and wrapped his around it. It felt warm and protective in the crisp autumn evening. November had arrived, and the nip in the air was biting. Palm to palm, he warded off the chill.
Erin started to get nervous again when the driver climbed out and opened the back door for them. Colton got in and, not letting go of her hand, tugged her in after him. He didn’t move all the way over, and she took that as a hopeful sign.
Could she pull this off? Could she make him see her as an adult and not a lovesick teen? She’d prepared for an intense, exciting evening, but she hadn’t prepared for him.
‘Is the idea of going on a date with me so repugnant?’ she asked.
He silenced her once again with a hiss and hit the button to raise the tinted window that would separate them from the front seat.
‘Why are you acting like this?’ she demanded. He’d always treated her as Dustin’s little sister, but he’d never treated her like a child.
He twisted in his seat. ‘Because you are the last person on earth I expected to find there.’
‘Why? I’m single.’
His teeth clenched. ‘I heard that. I can’t say I’m sorry, but that’s no reason for you to go to these extremes.’
‘What extremes? I’m dating again. It happens.’
‘Dating?’ he snapped. He looked at her like she’d grown two heads.
‘At least I’m not going online or hitting the bar scene. I chose Luxxor for the personal attention.’
‘Personal attention is right.’ His eyes were fierce as he leaned towards her, and colour shone on his cheekbones as streetlights flashed by. ‘Luxxor isn’t Match.com, Erin. It’s an escort service.’
It took a moment for the words to sink in. When they did, her head snapped back so hard, it bumped
