Falling for Owen (14 page)

“What? Dinner one night and lunch the next day. That’s not fast, honey, that’s getting-to-know-you time. So go. Get to know him better and enjoy the afternoon. This place will be quiet for the next few hours, so don’t feel you have to rush back.”

“It’s lunch, not a weekend getaway.”

“Well, if it turns into a weekend getaway, don’t you worry about the store. I’ll lock up tonight.” Gayle smiled and tried to hold back a laugh when she scowled at her.

She wanted to grab the lunch basket she’d made and make a clean getaway, but she took Gayle’s advice and went to the back bathroom and brushed out her long hair. She swiped on some tinted lip balm and pressed her lips together to even out the color. Nervous and giddy at the same time, she pressed both hands to her fluttering belly and studied her face in the mirror.

“It’s just lunch. That’s all.”

Still, she hesitated. She squared her shoulders, spun on her heel, walked back to the front counter, and grabbed the basket Gayle had just finished packing with the last of the items she’d put together.

Without a word, she headed for the door.

“Have fun,” Gayle called, and she sailed through the door.

With her nerves in a tangle, easier said than done.

Chapter Sixteen

O
WEN CHECKED THE
time on his laptop for the fifth time in two minutes. He should have asked to see her for breakfast. Or stayed at her place last night. Not that she’d asked him to, or indicated she wanted him to stay. She wasn’t the sleep-with-a-guy-on-the-first-date kind of woman anyway. It had been one hell of a date too, despite Brody’s interference. Still, Claire had a good time and made a friend in Rain, who’d called him this morning with some random question about whether he remembered the softball game this weekend. Of course he remembered, Rain just wanted to ask him about Claire. He told her the truth. He liked her. A lot.

The morning dragged into afternoon slower than the courts doled out justice for many of his cases. He checked in with Dylan to see if he had any leads on Dale, but they had nothing, and other cases took priority at this point. For all they knew, Dale skipped town and wouldn’t be back. Owen didn’t think so. Dale had a thing for Shannon that went beyond reason, which is why he’d fixated on Owen’s involvement in what he believed was Owen taking away his wife.

His fingers flew across the keys, but his mind wasn’t really on the notes he typed out for his upcoming court appearance. He needed to see her, to know she’d made it to work this morning and everything was fine. Hell, he just wanted to look at her again. Images of her kept him up half the night. Most of them had been sex-filled dreams of her tempting him into a passion he’d never felt and craved like nothing else. Tired beyond reason, he’d fallen into a deep sleep in the early morning hours and woken out of a nightmare where Dale had killed Claire and taunted him with mocking laughter that Owen would never have her.

Owen shook off the nightmare even now, telling himself she was fine. He tapped out another sentence and tried to concentrate on each point he needed to make on his client’s behalf. All he wanted was for time to speed up and one thirty to arrive so he could spend time with Claire.

When was the last time he felt this anxious to see a woman? Never. Oh, there’d been women in his life he enjoyed spending time with and even looked forward to seeing again and again, but nothing like this. She was different. Seeing her with Brody and Rain last night, the way she fit in with them, with him, showed him that it might be possible for him to have what Brody and Rain shared. He didn’t know if he’d have that same kind of deep love with Claire, but there was something there. Something he wanted to explore and build on until he knew for sure one way or the other. The thought of this turning into something lasting didn’t faze him in the least. Hell, he welcomed it if he got to spend time with her.

“Hi.” Her soft voice broke into his concentration. He stared at the jumble of nonsense on his screen and sighed. He should be thinking about his client and winning his case, instead of daydreaming about a woman, but he couldn’t seem to help himself where she was concerned.

He looked up and his insides knotted. She leaned against the door frame, trying to look casual, but ended up looking sexy as hell with her head tipped just so and her long golden hair hanging over one shoulder and down her chest.

“Damn, you’re more beautiful today than yesterday.”

She smiled shyly and her gaze fell to the floor before coming back up to meet his. “I brought lunch.”

All I want is you.

“I’m starved,” he said instead of giving in to his baser needs and leaping up from his desk and diving for her.

“Shall we eat in here?”

He hit
SAVE
on his laptop, though he should have probably deleted just about all the rubbish he’d written over the last hour. Maybe he’d salvage some of it after lunch when he’d had his Claire fix and could hopefully think clearly again.

He stood and came around the desk. She smelled of flowers and baked goods. Musky and sweet and tempting. His mouth watered. He wanted to kiss her, but held back and tried to pull off “casual,” even if he felt nervous. He wanted this to go well, so he could see her again.

“Let’s go down the hall to my library. It’s more comfortable in there.”

“I hope you don’t mind my coming back. Janine wasn’t out front, so I let myself in.”

“No problem. She took a late lunch, too.”

“We’re alone?”

“Yeah. Why? Does that bother you?”

“No.” The word came too fast, but she smiled. “I just wondered if maybe you had an aunt or cousin joining us today.”

He laughed. “It’s just you and me. Thank God. I really did want to have dinner alone with you last night. I had no idea Brody and Rain would join us.”

They walked down the hall and entered the library.

“It’s fine. I’m just teasing. I liked them a lot, and I really did have a great time last night.”

“I’m glad. We’ll do it again soon.”

“Double date with your brother?”

“Well, I meant go to dinner, but yeah, I guess it would be fun to double date with them again.”

“I’d like that.”

She gave him another of those shy smiles he liked so much. They stood in the archway to the library. An awkward silence settled between them as he stared down at her.

“All I want to do is kiss you.”

“Maybe you should, so I can eat without thinking about it constantly.”

He cupped her face and leaned in, though the basket she held in front of her kept him from getting too close. Probably better that way, or he’d have her sprawled beneath him on the floor.

He brushed his thumbs over her soft cheeks and stared down into her beautiful green eyes. His lips hovered over hers. “I don’t think anything will stop me from thinking about you.”

He remembered the taste of her, the way she made his blood run hot, but he’d forgotten the sweetness of her that made his heart stop and everything inside him want to protect and keep her safe forever. She touched something deep inside of him and drew out all the feelings and emotions he’d never known he possessed. He fought to keep the kiss gentle and light, despite some great warrior inside of him demanding to strip her bare, sink his hard cock inside of her, and claim her as his prize.

Maybe he’d do it anyway, because he liked feeling this way about her. Still, she probably didn’t come today to be mauled by the guy who got her attacked just the other night. Shifting his thinking to match the kiss, he pressed his lips to hers and held it for a moment, letting her settle into him before he brushed his lips to hers again and stood back and looked down at her upturned face and the pretty flush of pink on her cheeks.

“See, it didn’t work. I’m still thinking about kissing you,” he teased.

“Maybe we should try that again.”

To his surprise, she shifted the basket to her side, reached up and grabbed his tie, pulled him down, and planted her lips over his. He’d kept things light, but she took him under with one sweep of her tongue against his lips. Every thought fled his mind but one:
Closer
. He needed to be closer to her. His hand slipped under her silky hair to the back of her neck, careful not to hit the lump on her head. He held her close, his tongue tangling with hers until the hand wrapped around his tie turned and, palm to his chest, she gently pushed him away, their mouths separating at the very last second when he could no longer reach her. She held him at arm’s length and inhaled deeply, letting it go on a sigh. Her heavy eyelids told him he’d affected her as much as she’d affected him.

“Want to try that one more time?” he asked, holding back a smile when she stared up at him and shook her head no.

“Not if we’re ever going to eat.”

He took her cue and held out his hand, indicating she should enter the room. She shifted the basket again. He took it from her. “Let’s sit on the sofa.”

“I love this room. It’s not what I expected.”

“It used to be the living room when this was somebody’s house. I wanted to keep the feel of the place because it’s got a history and it’s part of the feel of this downtown area. In the winter, I like to light a fire in the old stone fireplace and sit in here working. That’s why I have the couch and coffee table here in front and the conference table by the windows. This is sometimes a good place to sit and talk with clients. It’s more casual and less intimidating, especially if the case involves something traumatic.”

“You’ve got a lot of books. Are they all law books?”

He glanced over at the three towering bookcases that stretched floor to ceiling. “Most of them are current. I like to collect old law books. You never know when some obscure law that’s still on the books, but no one really knows about, will come in handy.”

“Smart.”

Settling in to the casual conversation, he waited for her to sit on the sofa. He took the seat next to her and stayed close. The heat and pull between them drew him in and made him wish they were at his place or hers, alone, with no opportunity for anyone to catch them in a compromising position. He’d already taken a chance, kissing her when anyone could walk into the office. Janine left to give him some privacy for lunch, but that didn’t mean a client wouldn’t stop by, or someone else looking to hire a lawyer.

“I try my best to do everything I can for my clients.” He didn’t want to talk about work, so he changed the subject. “What did you bring for lunch? This looks great.”

He liked the way she’d packed the rectangular basket. White dishes and linen napkins sat next to a pair of glasses and a bottle of chilled raspberry Italian soda. Two sandwiches were wrapped in white butcher paper. Two bags of his favorite potato chips. One of her amazing desserts hid in the Styrofoam container. He smelled chocolate and berries.

She took one of the plates and opened a sandwich, arranging it on the plate just so before she handed it to him with one of the napkins.

“I’m so glad it’s not one of those tea sandwiches with cucumbers.”

She laughed. The sound made his gut go tight.

“Those are for tea parties. This is for feeding a hungry man lunch.”

Things between them seemed so easy and comfortable, so he reached out and wrapped his arm around her back, pulling her close. He kissed the side of her head. “You remembered I like roast beef with cheddar on sourdough.”

“With pepperoncini’s.”

He took one from the sandwich and popped it into his mouth. “So good.”

She giggled again and his gut did that thing and everything inside him settled.

“What are you having?”

“Turkey club on sourdough. No peppers.”

“No, you’ve got those sprout things. Chick food.”

“You got man food, I’ll stick with this.”

He rubbed his hand up and down her back. She gave him a smile over her shoulder, her hair falling down over his hand and arm. He grabbed a handful and gave it a playful tug. He loved the softness of it and wanted to feel it draped over his bare chest when they made love.

“You’re the best.” He meant it. He appreciated how much thought she’d put into lunch, making it personal and nice with all the added extra stuff. He leaned back into the sofa with his plate, draped his napkin over his shirt and tie, and settled in to eat and spend time with her.

“How was last night? Did you sleep well?” he asked.

“Not really. Why? Do I look that bad?”

“You don’t need me to tell you how beautiful you are, but I will again if it makes you happy.”

He thought she’d smile or laugh, but instead she turned serious.

“The alarm system helped ease the worst of my fears. I did get a few hours’ sleep. I really appreciate that you did that for me.”

“The police will find Dale and you won’t have to worry. How are your feet and head?”

“Better. No headache and the stitched cuts don’t hurt anymore. They look better. My hip still aches.”

“How’s the shoulder?”

“Still sore. I’ve got more range of motion today. Working it out while I mix up batter for the baked goods helps.”