A Good Kind of Trouble (A Trouble in Twin Rivers Novel Book 1) (18 page)

"Lindsey, they've already hurt you," Ben said, reaching up to trace the knot on her head. Her eyes widened at the light touch and he had the urge to continue tracing a path down her face, her neck, and then...
 

Get a grip
. Kath was standing right next to him, but still his finger and his gaze lingered on Lindsey's face.
 

She pulled away first, averting her eyes. "I doubt he meant to. Probably just wanted my bag, or something that was in it. Or just to intimidate me."
 

"Doesn't matter, Lins. As long as you're on this idiot's radar, you cannot stay at your house," Kath said. "At least not alone."
 

Kath let that suggestion hang in the air and excused herself to help an incoming customer, leaving Ben alone with Lindsey amidst the lingerie.
 

"She's right, Lindsey. This is serious," Ben said, watching Lindsey turn back to the stack of filmy negligees. He picked up a light green silky number by the thin straps, imagining it on Lindsey. She snatched it out of his hands and hung it up to steam.
 

"It's been serious for a long time," she said, whirling around, steamer in hand. "It's been serious, but no one believed me. I can take care of myself. I think I've proven that."
 

She was furious and Ben didn’t blame her. "Of course you can. I'm not saying that. No one is. But you have friends willing to help you."

Lindsey set the hand steamer down. She ran a hand through her hair, her face troubled. "I don't want you to—"
 

She met Ben's eye and his breath caught in his chest. God, those eyes. A man could get lost in them.
 

"I don't want you to get the wrong idea about the other night," Lindsey said, her back stiff.
 

"Well, what part about that night?" Ben asked, his own anger rising. "The part where I helped you figure out the contracts so you could do your job? Or the part where we nearly got naked and—"

Lindsey's hand slapped over his mouth quickly. "Shh!"

He grabbed Lindsey's slender wrist and held her hand, turning it over, kissing her wrist, but not releasing it. "I think Kath has figured out what's going on between us," he said, leaning in close to her ear.
 

"I don't even know what's going on between us," she protested.
 

He smiled.
Me, either
. Then he ducked his head to kiss her, brushing his lips along her jaw, then lower, tasting the soft skin and relishing her shiver at the contact.
 

"Don't do that," she said. Her voice trembled, but her hands gripped his shirt and pulled him closer.
 

"I think I will do that," he said, tightening his grip on her body and taking her earlobe between his teeth. She groaned and he pulled her around the corner to the dressing rooms, shutting a door behind them.
 

Once they had privacy, he took her face in his hands and kissed her deeply. He hadn't been able to concentrate on anything except her all day. It made for an unbearably long day, remembering how her body had fit against his. Now she wanted, what? To ignore this? That wasn't going to happen.
 

"Ben, please," she whispered against his ear. "God, Ben, please."
 

Her hands were behind his head, urging him closer, her tongue meeting his with an eager hunger he recognized. His hands roved down her body, pulling her tighter against him, lifting her so her legs encircled his waist, the hem of her dress riding up her thighs. He leaned forward, pinning her between him and the wall and kissed her again, his tongue thrusting deep into her mouth. She squirmed and the friction drove him crazy.
 

He broke off the kiss, breathing heavily, still holding her against his body. Her face was flushed. She licked her slightly swollen lips and raised her eyes to his face.
 

"We need to talk about your safety," he said softly.

She shook her head and started to talk, but he stopped her with another kiss, not wanting to hear a denial from her.
 

"You're not staying alone tonight," he whispered in her ear. He kissed her neck where he knew it drove her crazy and she whimpered, moving against him. "Now, you can have Kath sleeping on your couch. Or..."
 

He wrapped one arm tightly around her waist, keeping her close to him, while his other hand moved under her dress, up her thigh to the gentle curve of her ass. He traced the border of her lacy panties. She gasped at the touch of his fingers on her smooth skin.
 

"Or?" she whispered.
 

His finger grazed the soft skin under the lace. Lindsey's eyes closed and her head lolled to one side. It wasn't fair, what he was doing. But it was in her best interest. And it wasn't exactly a chore.
 

"Or we can continue this later," Ben said.
 

He shifted, lifting her away from his body and standing her on unsteady feet. He continued to hold her waist, trying to get his racing pulse under control. She raised her wide eyes to his, bit her lip as she considered her options, and he nearly came undone. At least she seemed to be as affected by the kiss as he was.
 

He felt the buzz of his cell phone in his pocket and pulled away from Lindsey to answer the phone.
 

“Gillespie, it’s Stanton. Bad news.”
 

That went without saying
. He walked a few feet away to regain his composure, running a hand through his hair.
 

“That mediation is going forward on Monday and I need you to come in and prepare the Lawson case.”
 

Ben closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. Stanton was notorious for waiting until the last minute to recruit other attorneys to prepare his cases. But waiting until Saturday afternoon? That was a new low.

“Sure thing,” Ben said. “I’ll be in tomorrow morning.”

“That won’t do,” Stanton said. “Going to need to start tonight.”
 

His chest tightened. “I have plans tonight, Stanton,” he said through clenched teeth.
 

“Well cancel them,” Stanton snapped. “You’re up for partner, right? Well, let me tell you something. This is what the partners need to see. That you’re a team player.”
 

Team player? He’d worked weekends, nights, gave up a social life, and put up with Stanton. That should be more than enough to show he was a team player. Hell, he should be MVP for all the bullshit he’d put up with.
 

But Stanton had him over a barrel here. He had veto power over partnership offers and Ben wouldn’t put it past Stanton to make an example of him to all the other partner-track associates at the firm.
 

“Fine,” he said. “What time?”

“I’m here now,” Stanton said. “We can start when you get here.”
 

Ben disconnected the phone and turned to Lindsey, who was smoothing her dress.
 

“I have to go to work,” he said.
 

“Is everything all right?”
 

He shook his head and reached for her hand, aching to finish what they’d started. Her fingers entwined around his and he lifted her hand to his lips, kissing the soft skin.
 

“Promise me that you’ll stay at Kath’s tonight,” he said. “I’ll feel better if I know you’re not alone.”
 

“I—uh—”

He pulled her roughly to him and kissed her again. Deeply.
 

“Promise me, Lindsey,” he said.
 

She nodded.
 

“Thank you,” he whispered against her hair. “And I promise to make it up to you.”
 

She pulled away and smiled. “I know you will.”

Chapter Fifteen

Sam's rage was so intense, Lindsey could almost feel it rolling off him like heat waves off a desert highway. He sat behind his desk, his broad shoulders squared and his eyes narrowed. All his anger was focused on her—the nearest target. It wasn't how she wanted to start the week.

"What the fuck, Fox? What. The. Fuck."

Lindsey was unsure how to answer that. It sounded like a rhetorical question.
 

"How did this happen?" he asked, waving the sports page in her direction.
 

The Sunday sports section had featured a banner headline:
Sports Complex A Go!
Jeff’s story was a puff piece full of anonymous cheerleaders for the arena complex, half-truths, and beautiful artwork illustrating a state-of-the-art stadium in the heart of Twin Rivers’ downtown. Sam would never have signed off on such obvious promotion. But it ran in the sports section, bypassing Sam’s approval. It was the capper on Lindsey’s horrible weekend—first disappointed and frustrated when Ben got called in to work, then having to face her professional disappointment and frustration when faced with the screaming headline.
 

"You took me off the arena story and made Jeff the lead reporter. He wrote that story, not me. And he didn't advance it, either. You want to yell at someone, yell at him." Lindsey stood and started toward the door.
 

Sam slammed the paper on his desk with his fist. "Sit down! I'm not finished yet."
 

This tantrum was lasting longer than usual. And why was she the target? She had nothing to do with Jeff's headliner. The story had made her seethe when she read it Sunday morning and now she was alternating between despair and rage that the newspaper was printing second-rate journalism, especially for a story that was so important to the city.
 

She returned to the chair opposite Sam's desk and perched on the edge of the seat. Why was she even putting up with this? Especially from Sam, who must know that she was about to be fired.
 

"Who's his source?"

"How should I know?"

Lindsey had been wondering the same thing. She suspected it was either O'Bannion or someone else connected with ValCorp, since they'd have the most to gain if they got the contract to build the arena. But it could have been someone from the city council, trying to drum up support for their eventual approval of the bonds. She recalled Councilwoman Rae Waters' eagerness to sell the sewer bond package. Knowing how the two deals were linked, Lindsey could see her leaking the false story to drum up support for the arena. Or it could have been someone representing EFB, the bank that would reap millions through the bad bond deals.

Sam paced angrily behind his desk. "I cannot believe that pissant sports editor thought he could get this past me without severe repercussions."
 

He continued to pace. Lindsey could practically hear his teeth grinding.
 

"Is any of this bullshit true?" Sam asked.

Lindsey raised her chin to meet Sam’s glare. "Half of it."
 

He stopped pacing. "What do you mean?"

She hesitated. Sam had taken her off the arena story and she had defied him by continuing to research the story.
 

"You took me off this story. You threatened to fire me if I went near it."
 

He waved a hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah. I had reasons. You're back on the arena story. Now what do you mean Jeff's story is half-true?"

"The bank is giving the city a good deal on the bonds, cutting the fees to get the business, and they'll be considered a 'safe' investment and have a low interest rate, so the city won't rack up too many extra costs," she said. "But there's a catch. The same bank is issuing the bonds for the sewer plant renovation, and that deal is horrible. The bad language is included in the sewer bonds, not the stadium bonds. But the deals are linked."
 

"Because they know no one will ever read the sewer bonds."
 

"Well, guess what? I read the damn things. I even found someone to interpret them for me."
 

Sam’s expression softened ever so slightly.
 

"God damn it, Fox. If you ever,
ever
, come up with information like that and don't bring it to me immediately, I will bust you out to some suburban bureau covering school board meetings and yogurt shop openings so damn fast, it will make your head spin. You got that?"

He leaned across the desk in a threatening manner. Lindsey stood up and put her hands on Sam's desk, leaning toward him. She would not be intimidated by him. She wasn't a first-year reporter, cowed by his temper. She met his glare with one of her own.
 

"It's kind of hard to cover the suburbs from the unemployment line."
 

Sam looked away quickly.
 

"I didn't have anything to do with that call," he said, his voice lower. "I'm doing what I can to keep you off the chopping block."
 

Sam’s jaw tensed and he studied his desktop, avoiding her eyes. Damn. He probably was going to bat for her. Sam was a good editor and had a reputation for having his reporters' backs. Hell, he'd had her back when ValCorp threatened a lawsuit. The price had been that he'd agreed to put someone else on the arena story, but she'd kept her job.
 

"I need to get the copies of the bond documents from the city. I only have drafts from an anonymous source."
 

"So get them."

"I've been trying. The city is stonewalling me."
 

"Start writing using what you have. When you get the docs from the city, we'll make sure they're the same." He gnawed on the end of a pen for a moment, squinting into the newsroom. "Anything else?"

Lindsey squirmed, her bravado vanishing as she thought about telling Sam about her other lead. "Yeah, maybe."
 

His eyes narrowed. "Yogurt shop openings, Fox. That what you want your next byline on?"

She sighed. "There's something about the properties surrounding the arena site. I haven't checked it out fully, but they all sold just before the project site was announced. It looks fishy."