or at least assuaged. He wanted her to feel the way he had. He didn’t care if that was right or fair. And a weekend with Sophia was a good start.
“Counselor, you’ve got a deal.”
First thing tomorrow morning he was going to be all over Florida case records like a rash. He’d have to have Deke and a couple of assistants come out from L.A. to help. But he was going to put together an airtight case. Not just to save Spinder’s ass but to win this side wager.
He needed to have Sophia under his control. He even knew the first thing he’d make her do. Take off that damned suit and put on the velvet ribbon.
She fished her valet claim check from her purse and left some bills on the table. “Good. Well, I guess I’ll get going, then.”
He grabbed her hand to keep her from standing. He wasn’t ready to go up to his room and deal with Dev’s troubles. That was all that awaited him tonight, worry for a friend that he didn’t know how to rescue from himself.
He did have a strategy meeting with Marcus, Jason’s publicist. But that wasn’t until later. He wanted to spend more time with Sophia, which he didn’t examine too closely. “What’s the hurry?”
“I’ve got work to do.” She watched him with those wide blue eyes of hers, guarding her words.
“You work too much.”
“How do you know?”
“You’ve got circles under your eyes,” he said, tracing the fine purple shadows. Her skin was porcelain smooth and softer than the down pillows on his bed. He hadn’t taken the time to notice earlier.
“You sure know the way to a girl’s heart.”
Her heart. Damned if he was going after that again. He’d learned the hard way that Sophia’s heart was kept under lock and key and only a masochist would even try to get at it. And as kinky as he liked his sex, he’d never liked physical pleasure and emotional pain together. “I’m not interested in your heart.”
She blanched and looked down at her purse. “No, you aren’t.”
What a bastard he could be. “Don’t try to make me feel bad about that. I wanted your heart once upon a time.”
She sighed and tilted her head to the side. Her careful gaze moved over his face and he knew she wasn’t seeing him but the younger man he’d been. “But I was afraid to give it to you.”
“Was it fear that stopped you? Funny, I thought it was greed.” As arousal was dying down in his veins, anger was rising. Why were they talking about the past? It might be what brought them together tonight, but beyond that he didn’t want to delve into it.
“Greed? Is that what you’ve thought of me all these years?”
“Babe, I respect you too much to tell you what I really thought of you.”
“I don’t blame you. I never should have lied to you,” she said.
She’d never been a woman to try to manipulate a man and he’d trusted that sweet innocent face and of course that sexy body that he knew as well as his own.
“Why did you?” he asked before he could think better of it.
She twisted the valet claim check in her hands. He watched her try to find the words to answer him.
“I was losing myself, Mitch.”
Never in a million years would he comprehend what she’d just said. She’d been in the top five at Harvard Law. Her mentor was one of the most powerful women in the law community and had in the intervening years become a Supreme Court Judge. Sophia had been a woman on the cusp of becoming very capable and powerful in her own right. For her to say she had feared losing herself sounded like a cop-out to him.
“I don’t understand.”
“You can’t. You’ve always known who you were. Even when life shakes you up, you land on your feet.”
She was the second person to say as much in less than three hours. He didn’t like the sound of it. Sure he had a plan and nothing was going to stop him from achieving his goals. That didn’t mean that life was any easier for him than it was for others.
“You had some pretty strong supporters at Harvard. And I’ve stumbled plenty of times.”
“You look like you made it back to your feet.”
“Of course I did. And I didn’t have to shove anyone out of my way to do it.” He had to get out of here before he did something really foolish like let her see how badly that had affected him.
He stood, tossed some bills on the table. “See you around, babe.”
He walked out of the bar without a backward glance. The lobby was opulent and crowded. Mitch blended in with the businessmen returning from a day of meetings heading toward the elevator.
“Mitch?”
He stopped, but didn’t turn around. He was still angry. More than angry—he was pissed and he’d never been one of those people who could be polite when he was mad. He knew he’d say something he’d regret especially if he turned around.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “Maybe we should call the bet off.”
He pivoted and walked over to her. “Babe, there’s no way in hell we’re calling that wager off. You’re going to be mine for a weekend and when I leave you’re going to miss me for a long, long time.”
The elevator car arrived and he walked away from the woman who’d given him the greatest joy in life, and the sharpest pain.
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