Like Silk. Mary Baxter Lynn

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      “Well, it’s a done deal, so there’s no point in arguing about it now.”

      “Does Mason know?”

      “Hell no, and he’s not going to, either.”

      

      “Then you’d better pray nothing comes of this. If that little tramp decides to accuse you of trying to rape her…”

      Fury choked off Collier’s voice. But when he spoke, his words were cold and hard. “She’s not a tramp. Don’t ever say that again.”

      Kyle was taken aback by his tone. His face drained of color. “Sorry, boss, didn’t mean any offense.”

      “Just forget it, okay?”

      “No problem for me, as long as it isn’t one for you. Just keep the dangers in mind, that’s all.”

      Kyle’s refusal to back down made Collier respect him even more. Right now, he needed someone to keep him on the straight and narrow.

      The mere thought of Brittany melted his bones and gave him a hard-on. No matter, there could never be a repeat performance. No more self-indulgence.

      “It’s not like I’ll be seeing her again.”

      “I hope that would go without saying.”

      “Well, I’m saying it. I have no intention of jeopardizing anything.”

      “That’s music to my ears.” Kyle reached for his cup, then took a sip, only to frown. “Damn, nothing’s worse than cold coffee.”

      Collier nodded toward the bar. “Make a fresh pot, then.”

      “Nah. Gotta get to work. My desk is piled almost as high as yours.”

      “Let me know when you dig up something on Virginia Warner.” He frowned as he said the name of the woman who had brought suit against Brickman. “She can’t be as lily-white as she appears.”

      “No one is. We just have to find her skeletons.”

      “Get on it.”

      

      “Will do.” Kyle rose and headed for the door. “I’ll check in later.”

      Collier nodded, his thoughts turning inward as he felt a sudden prick of conscience. What was the matter with him? He’d never let going for someone’s jugular bother him before, though he never veered from the law. He’d never had a grievance filed against him, and he enjoyed a reputation for being honest and above reproach in his work.

      But he didn’t like to lose and rarely did. However, he’d never tried anyone on sexual harassment charges before, and, as he’d told Kyle, he fully expected things to get nasty.

      If anything would catapult him to the top of the judgeship list, it would be his integrity and his dogged determination. All the more reason why he couldn’t let this soul-draining attraction to another woman cost him everything he held near and dear.

      Suddenly Collier went numb all over, Kyle’s words coming back to haunt him. Then he dismissed those words as crap. Brittany wouldn’t accuse him of being the one to assault her. She wasn’t that type of woman.

      How do you know? a little voice asked.

      He didn’t, nor did he want to. He didn’t want to know anything about her. He just wanted her; he wanted her body. He wanted only to taste every morsel of her delicious flesh, then bury himself inside her.

      Shit!

      Sweat saturated his entire body, while his mouth went as dry as cotton. He had to stop thinking like that. He had to stop thinking about her. When they left the cabin, she’d spoken very little. In fact, she’d told him how to get to her trailer and that was it. Only after he’d pulled up at the curb in a run-down part of Chaney did she speak. She’d thanked him in her gentle, husky-toned voice, keeping her eyes averted. It had been all he could do not to grab her, the desperate feeling gnawing inside him threatening to override his sanity.

      But he’d quelled that sexual urge and just nodded, then watched as she’d walked up onto the rickety porch and disappeared inside. He’d gripped the steering wheel so hard he thought his knuckles would surely crack while his stomach pitched.

      Finally he’d rammed the Lexus into gear and driven back to Haven, back to his upscale condo with the words “from two different worlds” seared on his brain with a red-hot branding iron.

      Now, as he blew out a ravaged breath and tried to regroup, his phone jangled. He automatically punched the lighted button and listened to his secretary, Pamela Nixon, say, “Ms. Frazier’s on line one, sir.”

      Lana, he thought, despising himself because he had no desire to talk to her.

      “My God, what happened to you?”

      Sissy Newman stood inside the door of Brittany’s living room with her mouth gaping and her cloudy green eyes wide, something Brittany didn’t often see. Usually Sissy was unflappable; that was why she made such a good travel agent. The public rarely rattled her.

      Though she was slightly overweight, with gray hair she refused to color, she had a lot going for her. She wore stylish clothes and had a great personality. Childless and widowed, having lost her husband a few years ago right after she turned sixty, Sissy’s whole life was wrapped up in her work and her friends. Brittany considered herself fortunate to be part of both.

      

      “It’s a long story, so you’d better come on in and sit down.” Brittany paused. “You have time, right?”

      “After seeing your face, you bet I do.”

      “Want some hot chocolate?” Brittany asked, once Sissy was seated.

      “That does sound good.”

      Brittany thought so, too, since it was a cold, drizzly day, more characteristic of winter than fall. She had the space heater in the room up as high as it would go, and still she was cold. But she knew it wasn’t altogether the weather that kept her chilly. Her heightened nerves were responsible; it was like they were sitting on the outside of her skin.

      “Are you sure you’re all right?” Sissy asked, her eyes tracking Brittany as she returned from the kitchen and sat on the sofa, folding her legs under her.

      “Drink some of your chocolate,” Brittany said lightly, dreading the next few minutes, when she would have to rehash the horror she’d endured. Sissy wouldn’t rest until she told her, though Brittany had no intention of telling her the whole story.

      “To hell with the cocoa. I want to know whose fist you ran into. I can’t accuse Tommy—”

      “Sissy!”

      “Just kidding.”

      A short silence ensued while both women sipped the steaming cocoa. Then Sissy put her cup down and said pointedly, “I’m waiting.”

      “It’s СКАЧАТЬ