change is the fact they’d both fallen asleep before they’d utilized his bed. He’d just have to mark that down on his to-do list, provided Alisha agreed. He intended to ask as soon as he found her.
Without bothering to dress he began his search in the bathroom, but he didn’t discover her there. No one in the guest room either. He walked into the living room and found it deserted. Next stop, the kitchen, where he came upon a pot of coffee brewing but not the missing defense attorney. He did find a note taped to the refrigerator. After pouring himself a cup of the brew, he pulled the paper down and read the scribbled words.
I had a great time last night, Counselor. Here’s my number. Just keep it off the bathroom wall.
His laugh was part amusement, part disappointment. He’d planned to spend the day with her since neither would be required to work, even though he had plenty of work to do. But the day wasn’t close to being over, and hopefully a phone call would remedy her absence.
Alisha Hart was one hell of a woman, and he didn’t intend to let her get away that easily. At least, not until he argued his case.
When Alisha answered the phone, she expected to hear her mom or dad wishing her a happy new year. Instead “Why did you run off without waking me up?” came through the line in a deep, provocative tone.
Daniel Fortune was more intoxicating than ingesting a barrel of moonshine. Just the sound of his voice nearly caused her to drop the receiver. “I tried to wake you, but you were snoring away.”
“Did I keep you up with my snoring?”
“Not really.” She hadn’t minded it at all. But she hadn’t slept all that well either, mainly because she’d been in a strange bed with a man who by all rights was practically a stranger. However, she had gotten to know him much better last night, and that made her blush like the devil.
“I should’ve told you to jab me and I would’ve turned over,” he said. “I usually only snore when I’m on my back.”
He had been on his back, giving Alisha the opportunity to study all the little details—from his solid chest, which was covered in a thatch of hair that thinned into a stream running down his belly, and below that… Well, that was the stuff female fantasies were made of. “You weren’t that loud. It sounded kind of like a purr.”
“A purr? I sure as hell don’t purr.”
“I’m so sorry. I certainly didn’t mean to wound your macho pride.”
“I’m definitely wounded. Those scratches look pretty bad this morning.”
“You’re not going to let me forget that, are you?”
“I will as long as you promise me you’ll wake me before you leave the next time.”
Next time? “Actually I did try to get you up before I left.”
“I said wake me up. Believe me, you did get me up.”
Her face fired up, right on cue. “That’s not what I meant. I shook your shoulder. I swear, I don’t think a grenade would have roused you. Anyway, I needed to get home and get some work done.”
“It’s a holiday, Alisha. You should take the day off.”
She slid the reduced-calorie TV dinner into the microwave, stirred the good-luck black-eyed peas simmering on the stove and prepared to tell a little fib. “Actually I’m supposed to have dinner with friends, maybe watch a bowl game or two.”
“You like football?” He said it with typical male enthusiasm.
“Love it. My mother’s responsible for that. Nothing gets her more excited than the gridiron.”
“Now I know how to get you excited—turn on the game of the week.”
He had her excited now. So much so, she jumped when the microwave signaled it was time to rotate the container. “What are your plans for today?”
“I was hoping to spend the day with you.”
“Sorry, but I can’t.” And she was sorrier she’d lied. Earlier she’d turned down Julie’s dinner invitation because she intended to work. She’d turned Daniel down because she needed time to assess where this whole thing was going.
“I can’t change your mind?” he asked.
Oh, he probably could if she let him, which she wouldn’t. “Maybe some other time.” A big maybe.
“I’m going to see you again, Alisha. And next time we’ll do it right.”
“I didn’t know we did it wrong.”
He released a throaty chuckle. “I meant right as in having dinner. An actual date. I don’t want you to think that last night was only about sex.”
“It wasn’t?”
“I’d be lying if I said I don’t want you back in my bed, but I would like to get to know you better outside of bed.”
“Do I need to bring out the arguments again as to why we shouldn’t even consider that?” she asked.
“You can, but I’m not going to listen. We have no real conflict of interest at the moment and we can be discreet about it. I think we should just go for it and see where it leads.”
Probably places Alisha had never been before. In fact, she’d taken that first step last night when she’d gone to bed with him. Correction: gone to sofa with him. “I’ll think about it, but I’m not going to promise anything.”
“Go ahead and think about it. I’ll pick you up Monday night. We can have some dinner.”
“Daniel, I—”
“I’m not going to take no for an answer.”
“You’re definitely living up to your reputation. No negotiating, no settling.”
“No holds barred when it comes to us. And this is about us, not about our jobs. We deal with our careers during the day, and that leaves the night open for whatever we want to do together.”
Alisha shivered, even in the warmth of the kitchen. “I guess we could have dinner, as long as it’s in an out-of-the-way place.”
“You can come here. I’ll make dinner.”
“You cook?” This man was simply too good to be true.
“Yeah. I can cook. I can do quite a few things that would probably surprise you.”
She had no doubts about that. “Then I guess I’ll see you Monday night.”
“And if I happen to see you Monday during the day, I’ll try not to touch you in public, although it’s going to be damn hard.”
She’d definitely avoid the stairwell and Judge Riley’s chambers. “Have a nice day, Daniel. And happy new year.”
“You, too, Alisha. And if you start
