Lovers in law (8 page)

“Look, I know I said I wanted to
wait,” I went on, slipping my hand back inside his shirt and
running a fingernail down his back. Radford squirmed against me and
that deep, throaty sigh came again. “But I’m having a lot of
trouble keeping my hands off you.”

“Me too,” he said, stating the
obvious. “I can’t remember the last time I wanted a woman this
much.”

“So what’s the problem?” I laid a
trail of feather-light kisses along the underside of his jaw and
felt the rumble of a contented moan against my lips.

He kissed me again. Slowly
and passionately this time, absorbing me into him and wiping away
the last shred of doubt I might have had about sleeping with
him.

I leaned against him, lost to the
world around us, only conscious of the perfect way our two bodies
fitted together, as if they were meant to be in that position for
ever.

“You can’t say you don’t want
me,” I said when his lips finally left mine. “Your body’s saying
something different.”

He gave a soft laugh in the
darkness, tightened his arms around me and pulled me in close
again.

“I’m saying no because I
don’t want the first time between us to be a quick bonk on top of
my desk,” he said, taking me completely by surprise. “I want a bed.
A locked door. All the time in the world to undress you slowly and
kiss every inch of your sexy body. I want to look at you. Taste
you. Feel you. And hear you scream my name when you come. That
wouldn’t happen in chambers.”

“Then let’s go to your
apartment.”

One passionate kiss made me throw
my golden rule out of the window so I was certain Radford could
reignite the spark once we reached his place.

But again he shook his head.

“At the risk of sounding
boring, I have an early start tomorrow.” The kiss he planted on my
lips was far from boring however. Quite the reverse. “I’m in
Norwich for two days and I’m leaving at six in the morning. I need
a good night’s sleep.”

Sleep definitely wouldn’t be on the
agenda if I got Radford alone. I’d be too busy working my way
through the sexy tricks manual to close my eyes.

“You’re right,” I laughed. “It does
sound incredibly boring.”

“But true.” He pushed my hair back
from my face before kissing the tip of my nose. “Plus, you’ve had
half a bottle of wine. I wouldn’t want you telling everyone I got
you drunk and took advantage.” He was only half joking, I could
tell.

“I doubt there’d be enough evidence
for a conviction.”

“But even so, you’ve already told
me you want to wait until the end of the case. If you’re going to
sleep with me, I want you to make the decision with a clear
head.”

As if having Radford within ten
yards of me didn’t confuse things enough.

“Okay,” I agreed, pushing my hands
up inside his shirt once more to double check whether his abs
really were that well defined. They were. And then some. “We should
continue this conversation on Friday night.”

“What? Across the dinner
table?”

“Make a change from talking about
building negligence.”

He laughed and went to refasten his
buttons but I knocked his hands away. One last time I pushed the
shirt aside and licked along the dent between his pecs. My tongue
picked up the vibration of a soft sigh and I wished I dared drop to
my knees and take that magnificent cock in my mouth.

How the hell was I going to resist
this man for two hours at a stretch, let alone two whole
months?

When we stepped out of the
doorway, I expected Radford to walk a little apart from me but he
held my hand while we strolled through the dark alleyways, only
letting me go once we reached the main road. We arrived at the
entrance to the Tube far too quickly for my liking. I was desperate
to prolong every last second of the evening and couldn’t bear to
part from him so soon.

“I should let you go,” I
said, a voice inside me still praying that Radford would change his
mind and invite me back to his apartment after all. “I’ll see you
on Friday.”

Radford jammed his hands in his
pockets and gave me that slow, sexy smile of his. “I’d kiss you
goodbye but…”

He didn’t need to explain. We
didn’t want someone from the wine bar starting rumours because he’d
seen us snogging at the Tube station. Not that it would have been
innocent, you understand.

“Safe trip,” I said instead.
“Ring me if you have any thoughts on the case.”

“I doubt I’ll be thinking of
anything except but the taste of you,” he admitted. “If I lose the
case in Norwich, I’ll blame you.”

An unoccupied taxi cruised
along Embankment and Radford hailed it. “Don’t make any quick
decisions,” he warned. “Take your time. I don’t want us rushing
into anything and have you regret it.”

As the taxi pulled away from the
curb I doubted I’d regret anything I did with Radford. I’d only
ever regret the things he didn’t let me do.

Okay.
I know what you’re thinking but just let me explain. Here I
am, supposed to be chasing up expert testimony on building defects
but instead I’m in the beauticians having a full top to
toe.

If I were actually doing what
I’m paid for, I’d be ploughing my way through dusty old law books
right now, not having a manicure, pedicure and full wax. I’m not
saying anything’s going to happen with Radford tonight but a good
lawyer knows it’s best to be prepared.

However, a lawyer considering
behaving very badly indeed also knows that having a honed, toned
and moisturised body is the best insurance in the world.

All I needed was a dress to knock
his eyes out, the courage of my convictions and probably a glass of
champagne or two.

The rest would be up to
Radford.

Seven-thirty saw me dressed
up to the nines and hailing a taxi to take me to The Savoy. I’d
found the perfect dress in Selfridges – a little black number with
a plunging neckline and a short skirt that managed to look both
classy and dirty-sexy at the same time. It could have been made to
measure, clinging in all the right places and fitting perfectly. So
perfectly, in fact, that every pair of panties I tried on left a
visible line, even my almost-not-there, transparent black lace
ones.

I’d had no option but to leave them
off altogether.

I now know why they call it
going commando – because any woman who leaves the house without her
knickers is going to spend the entire evening either battling her
libido or fighting off men.

At the end of the night, when I
took off my dress, all I’d be wearing would be sheer, black
hold-ups, a pair of high heels and an encouraging smile.

Argue your way out of that
one, Radford Byrne.

The taxi dropped me at the
hotel just before eight and I went inside in search of the clients.
The maitre d’ escorted me to their table, telling me on the way
that Radford had left a message saying he was running late. I
couldn’t help but be disappointed. My dress and I had wanted to
make a big entrance.

Instead, I had to meet the clients
single-handedly and, as soon as I laid eyes on one of them, I knew
it was going to be a hard work evening.

I’ve already said how good I am at
reading men’s body language, and I saw instantly that Daniel Greene
had trouble written all over him. As the son of the major
shareholder, he was loaded, passably handsome and had a huge sense
of entitlement. Interest sparked in his eyes the moment we were
introduced and, when he sat me down next to him, I guessed I’d
spend the entire evening fending him off.

I wasn’t wrong.

Somewhere back in Daniel’s
family tree there must have been an octopus because the man had
more hands than I could count. If it wasn’t an arm around the back
of my chair while he plied me with drink, it was a quick pat on my
thigh, fingers on my bare neck or rubbing his hand up and down my
forearm. That was without factoring in the perpetual footsie under
the table and the suggestive comments dropped into my lap as he
stared down my cleavage.

The more he drank, the more lewd
and disgusting he became but I could hardly walk out on such an
important client. The other men around the table didn’t notice, or
chose to ignore his behaviour, so I was on my own until Radford
arrived.

Usually I can handle myself around
pushy men but there’s a huge difference between giving someone the
brush off in a bar and fighting off an important client who thinks
you come free with the rest of the legal package.

Eventually, when his hand
slid up my thigh, I had to resort to the old wine glass trick and
elbowed my drink right into Daniel Greene’s lap.

“Oh, my God. I’m so sorry,” I said,
jumping to my feet and backing away as he mopped his trousers dry.
“How clumsy of me.”

He handed me his napkin with a
lopsided, slightly drunken grin. “You can dry me off, if you like,”
he said, standing up and pointing to his groin. “Fair’s fair.”

I laughed and did a quick stock
take. Daniel Greene had been standing right at the back of the
queue in the trouser-bulge department. Had he had Radford’s size of
package, he might have been in with a chance but, without meaning
to sound crude, Daniel’s wasn’t worth a second glance.

By now waiters were milling around,
changing the table cloth and finding a replacement chair, while I
stood off to one side planning how I was going to manoeuvre myself
into a different seat away from Mr Tentacles. I was just wondering
whether I could get away with pleading a migraine when I heard
Radford’s voice in the distance and turned to see him walking
towards us across the restaurant.

Undignified as it was, I
swear my mouth dropped open at the sight of him in a dinner
suit.

Give up, Daniel, I wanted to say.
The competition’s just arrived.

I know expensive tailoring when I
see it and Radford’s suit looked like it had been air brushed onto
him. The black jacket accentuated his broad, powerful shoulders and
hugged his moulded torso. His trousers skimmed over his solid
thighs, the dark fabric unable to diminish their strength and
power. The crisp, white shirt emphasised his clean-shaven,
chiselled jaw line, while the bow tie made me imagine he’d been
gift wrapped. Just for me.

Eat your heart out, James Bond.

Radford Byrne was
double-oh-heaven and most definitely licensed to thrill.

It was all I could do to stop
myself sinking to my knees and giving him a blow job there and
then, clients or no clients.

Radford’s sharp blue eyes
took in the wet patch on Daniel Greene’s trousers before they
flicked across in my direction. I raised my eyebrows, as if to say,
don’t ask, but I think he’d weighed up the situation in a moment.
He held out his hand to the chief shareholder and apologised
beautifully for being late.

“My case overran,” he said.
“And then the traffic was appalling coming back. It seems I’ve
missed all the excitement.”

By now everyone had taken their
seats again, leaving my old place next to Daniel and one other on
the opposite side of the table. Without hesitating, Radford pulled
out the chair between two of Zeus Development’s directors and
invited me to take it.

“But Allie was next to me,” Daniel
said. “We were having a lovely chat.”

“Well you’ll have to make do with
me for the rest of the evening,” Radford said, taking the seat
beside Daniel and pouring them both a glass of wine. “I want to
hear all about your new Aston Martin. After the drive I’ve had
tonight, I’m thinking of trading up.”

Once Daniel was safely embroiled in
recounting every detail about his new car, Radford glanced across
at me. I smiled and mouthed a silent thank you, relaxing now I was
between two men who were more interested in my golf handicap than
my bra cup size.

Radford’s cheeky grin said, don’t
mention it, and he raised his glass to me before turning his full
attention back to Daniel.

Much later in the evening, when I
excused myself to freshen my lipstick, Radford followed me out of
the restaurant and steered me into a quiet corner where we wouldn’t
be overheard.

“Are you okay?” he asked. “I assume
Daniel Greene came on a bit strong.”

“A bit!” I laughed at the
understatement. “Hands everywhere and a filthy mouth. And not in a
good way either.”

Radford apologised sweetly.
“He’s known for it. It’s why both of his wives left him and he’s a
nuisance with the secretaries whenever he visits chambers. I’d
hoped I’d be here to protect you.”

I set his mind at ease. “Don’t
worry. I can handle men like Daniel Greene.” It’s big, strapping,
sexy hunks I have trouble with, I wanted to add. “I just didn’t
know how rude I could be to an important client.”

“It doesn’t matter how big the case
is, he has no right to disrespect one of my legal team.”

He sounded very proprietorial
all of a sudden and I won’t pretend I didn’t like it.

“Although you didn’t exactly give
the guy a fighting chance,” he added, looking me up and down. “That
dress is incredible. And after that kiss on Wednesday night, I’m
having a lot of trouble keeping my hands to myself.”

“Ah. About Wednesday,” I said,
blushing wildly. I don’t normally do girlie blushes but I was
actually slightly embarrassed about the way I’d wanted to drag
Radford back to his chambers and bonk him on the desk. “I got a bit
carried away in the moment. I hope you don’t think I throw myself
at every barrister I kiss in a doorway.”

Radford smiled, igniting flames of
desire in his deep blue eyes. I could have dived right in and
floated for the rest of the night.