Texas Pride. Gerry Bartlett

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СКАЧАТЬ He grabbed Shannon’s elbow. “Now it’s lunchtime. I’m thinking sushi. You like stuff like that. There’s a place just a block from here. We can go over the list of charities and I’ll put the dates of those events on my calendar. Strictly a business lunch. Are you game?”

      Shannon glanced at her phone. It wasn’t quite eleven o’clock. Lunchtime? But he’d thrown her a lifeline. Now she wouldn’t have to call those people. She nodded then waved at her sister before she let him guide her out to the elevators. She had just time to wish for her purse and lipstick before the doors opened. Oh boy, was she going down.

      * * * *

      William P. Pagan sat across from Shannon Calhoun and figured he had to be the dumbest son of a bitch on the planet. This whole move was going to cost him over a million dollars when all was said and done. For what? To have a half dozen dates with a woman who didn’t want him? Goddamn it.

      The truth? He wanted her. This was all about proving to her once and for all that they belonged together. He’d come up hard, poor, and working angles all his life. God had blessed him with a brain that saw everything, and he knew how to use what he saw to his advantage. This charity thing? An opportunity he could not resist. A scholarship to college got him where he needed to be to make the right connections, and he’d quickly figured out who those were. Dylan MacKenzie had been one of them. He and Dylan had become fast friends and that son of an important family in Houston had opened many doors for him after law school. Dylan chose the paper pushing; Billy had always known that his flair for the dramatic needed to play out in a courtroom. Lucky for him, unlucky for his clients, the rich also needed a good criminal lawyer. Dylan had come through for him with referrals when he was getting started. Now he was sitting pretty. He could afford to blow a cool million on a strategy to get Shannon back in his bed and into his life.

      He didn’t know why he still wanted her. God knows, she’d hurt him when she’d dumped him on his ass the first time. Yet they kept circling each other. Had tried again over the years, three or four times. It seemed like whenever they got close to making it work, she’d run. Because he couldn’t keep his mouth shut about her drinking. Yeah, he’d fallen for a party girl, the last thing he should want with his family history. And yet the beautiful, fascinating Shannon Calhoun kept pulling him in. He’d go along for the ride until he couldn’t stand it and would ask her to give up the booze. She called it controlling. And, boy, did she hate anyone who tried to control her.

      He’d known as soon as he’d heard about the Calhoun crisis that she would be taking it hard. She had worshiped her daddy. So far they’d been successful in keeping it quiet. Dylan had asked Billy to look into it or he wouldn’t know a thing about it. But if they didn’t get this problem under control, Shannon and her family could lose everything. Maybe once, when the pain of losing her had been fresh, Billy had wanted her to suffer. But he’d gotten over it. Grown up. Now, he just wanted to help. And to see if maybe she was finally ready to make it work between them. Was it too late for them to reconnect?

      “If you’re going to polish up that image, Billy, you need to quit taking on clients like Rupert Billingsley.” Shannon ate the olive out of her martini.

      “He didn’t kill his wife, Shan. I’ll prove it.” Billy shook his head when the waiter hovered.

      “But he could have hired it done. I saw the story online. And everyone who knew the couple heard them fighting. I almost felt sorry for him. Evelyn was a bitch.” Shannon looked around. “I could use another drink.”

      “Nope. You have to go back to work. As for my case? Can’t talk about it. But it doesn’t matter if Evelyn was a bitch or not. Rupert is innocent. I don’t take on clients I don’t believe in.” He called for the check. “You’re a working girl. I think you have a boss now, right?”

      Shannon made a face. “Ms. Wilson. Dragon Lady. You think they’ll dock my tiny pay if I’m late getting back from lunch?” She sighed. “You should see my desk, Billy. I don’t even have an office. And my paycheck? I spend more than that a week on cocktails and manicures.”

      “Cassidy said your father wanted you to work for a year in the company. To prove you could stick with something to gain your inheritance. Surely you can put up with anything for a year.” Billy handed the waiter cash to cover the bill.

      “A year is a long time.” She rested her head on her hand. “I have to live at home too. Which I’ve figured out is actually a good thing. Free room and board. And a car and gas are provided, along with housekeeping.”

      “There you go then.” Billy stood. “We’d better get you back.”

      Shannon got up, holding onto the table when she wobbled on those high heels of hers. “Why are you doing this, Billy? Helping Calhoun? I know you have a busy law practice.”

      He looked her over. She had a natural grace and he remembered she’d done ballet for years before going off to college. Her blonde hair had a bunch of colors in it that seemed to catch the light when she ran her hands carelessly through it before she picked up her papers and her phone. She looked up at him through her lashes, her gray blue eyes gleaming. Shannon worked the angles too and he admired the way she usually saw right through him. Yep, just like she was seeing right through him now.

      “You know why.” He pulled her in, ignoring the chatter and clatter of the lunch crowd around them. “How long are we going to pretend there’s still not this thing between us?”

      “Ah, Billy.” She ran her fingernails over his jaw. “This thing is bad for both of us. That’s why we don’t need to start up again.” She let her thumb drift over his lips and he got so hard he ached.

      “No other woman does it for me like you, Shannon.” He felt the bump of a waiter at his back and came to his senses. “We need to get out of here.”

      “Back to work.” She smiled and led the way through the tangle of tables to the glass door then out to the sidewalk. “Thanks for lunch.”

      “I’ll walk you.” Billy really wanted to pull her in, kiss that mouth that had lost its lipstick when she’d devoured her lunch. Shannon had always had a healthy appetite. For everything.

      “No, you go do your lawyerly thing. I have phone calls to make. And you don’t need to show up in my office and meet my boss. She’ll think I was out on a date.” Shannon touched his chest. “You should wear a blue tie, to match your eyes.” And with that she was on her way.

      Billy watched the sway of her hips in a narrow black skirt that hugged her butt. Her legs in those high heels made him remember the way they’d wrapped around him, holding him in. She was stronger than she looked. He needed to remember that.

      Chapter 2

      “I guess you saw his noisy motorcycle out front.” Mai Murakami, Billy’s paralegal and invaluable assistant, greeted him at the door with her hands on her hips as soon as he hit the office. “Of course, Albert just barged in without an appointment. One of his ‘emergencies.’”

      “That’s not good news.” Billy glanced at his watch while she reached for her purse which matched the designer suit she wore. Mai always looked professional but today even Billy could tell she was going all out. She had a perfect figure, though she didn’t come up to the middle of his chest.

      “I’m late for lunch, but I wasn’t about to leave him here by himself.” She glanced back at Billy’s open office door. “But if you need me…”

      “Go. I’ll take care of this.” СКАЧАТЬ