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Authors: Pepper Anthony

Tags: #romance, #erotic, #love story, #contemporary, #food, #evernight, #pepper anthony

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BOOK: Naked Treats
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“Betty, this is Rose Phelps, Mike’s sister. We’ll be
in conference. Please hold all my calls.”

“Yes, Mr. Cranston,” said Betty as they walked past
her to a second door.

Once inside his office, Zack captured her hand before
she could move away. Looking up into his face, Rose felt her belly
do a crazy flip. Was he going to try to kiss her? She backed
up.

“Mr. Cranston—”

“Zack.”

“All right. Zack. I understand you’re taking Mike’s
case.”

“That’s right.” His body angled in. She felt his warm
breath on her cheek. Tingles began in certain intimate parts of her
body.

“And that you think he has a good chance at
appeal.”

“Yes I do.”

She stared up at him.

“Why? Why are you doing this?”

“Our firm has a special budget for pro bono cases
like Mike’s. The kid deserves a new trial.”

“Yes. I know he does. But is that the only reason
you’re doing this? Because I don’t want you to get some crazy idea
that I’ll—”

“What? That you’ll fall into my bed, Rose?” he
interrupted, his eyes crinkling with mocking laughter. Oh those
eyes. She thought she might swoon. She stamped her foot.

“You can’t buy me, Zack, if that’s what you’re
hoping.”

He turned and strolled across the room, picked up a
pen from the top of his enormous desk, laid it back down.

“Maybe getting to you
was
in the back of my
mind when I first met with Mike. I felt plenty pissed off when I
woke up and found you gone, Rose. I thought we had a pretty special
night together.”

“We did,” she allowed, remembering all too clearly
the pull of his lips on her nipples, the thrust of his cock between
her quivering thighs.

“I’m glad you remember it that way too. I freely
admit I was reaching for some way to reconnect with you.” He gave a
deep sigh and sat down in his leather chair, leaning back,
interlaced fingers cradling his head. He looked at her as he spoke.
“But after I talked with Mike and reviewed his case file, I became
convinced I should help him regardless of our status.”

“Thank you,” she said stiffly. “As long as we’re both
clear that I’m not sleeping with you again.”

His eyes smoldered. She waited for some insolent
response. It would be just like him to remind her of how easily she
had bent to his will once before. A memory flashed through her
mind; her body reflected in his entry way mirror, naked and willing
as he played with her pussy. Heat rushed up into her face.

But he seemed not to notice. His expression was
bleak, his voice flat. “All right, Rose. If that’s what you really
want. I’ll help your brother, no strings attached.”

“No strings,” she echoed, nodding.

****

Zack watched as Rose turned and went out the door.
Betty would escort her to the main reception area. He would stay
here in his cave and lick his wounds.

Damn. He’d been such a fool to think this gesture of
representing her brother would change things between them. But he
had to try, didn’t he?

Besides, the kid
was
innocent, he was sure of
it, and deserved the chance to prove his innocence in court. But it
was going to be hell sitting in the courtroom with Rose there,
right behind him, her lush body telegraphing all manner of sexy
vibes to his beleaguered mind. She’d looked so hot just now in her
slim navy suit and button-down blouse. She’d worn her hair in some
kind of shining knot low on her neck and looked, for all the world,
like an ultra-conservative business woman. But he knew better.
Beneath that staid exterior beat the heart of a sexual vixen.

He let his eyes close, imagining his fingers
loosening the knot of hair so it fell around her face in a bronzed
sheaf. Then those tiny buttons would come undone, one by one, and
he’d slide his hands inside her shirt to find her braless. Oh yeah.
Nipples already hard and standing at attention, just for him. And
under that plain blue skirt? Garters and stockings and not a stitch
more.

He shifted in his chair to ease his discomfort,
sighed, and opened his eyes. Then he grabbed Mike’s file to go over
the details one more time.

 

 

Chapter Nine

 

Snow drifted down in lazy fat flakes as Rose stepped
from the cab and made her way up the courthouse steps. It was
closing arguments day, the final day of Mikey’s trial. Today she
would sit in her customary chair behind him and listen as both
sides summed up their cases. Zack would speak last.

She felt certain he would win. Over the past two
months, as the trial unfolded, she’d become convinced that no one
could have defended her little brother better. Zack was smart and
adept, at ease with all phases of the legal process. But more than
that, he was truly passionate about justice. As she looked into the
faces of the twelve jurors, she could see his passion reflected
there. He had gotten to them. They had bought in to Mike’s
innocence, as they should have. Her brother might be home free by
the end of the day. She had every reason to hope for that.

In the hallway outside the courtroom, she caught
sight of Zack at the water fountain. Her heart skipped a beat or
two as he straightened and looked at her, smiling, seeming
genuinely glad to see her.

“Today’s the day, Rose.”

“Yes. I–I can’t thank you enough, Zack. No matter how
the trial turns out, you were wonderful.”

“We’ll win,” he said simply.

“Yes, I think so too.”

“What about afterward?”

“Afterward?” Her heart fluttered. Was he asking her
out?

He’d stood by his promise not to bother her for all
these months. At some point along the way she’d begun to regret
that she’d made him promise that. Was it seeing him day after day,
fighting so eloquently for Mikey’s freedom? Was it his broad
shoulders, his smile, the way he smelled when he walked past her?
Was it the way the other women buzzed around him like a swarm of
bees at a lantana bush? Or was it all those factors? Rose wasn’t
sure. She just knew she had an ongoing ache in her chest in the
approximate location of her heart.

“Yeah, after we win. Are you taking Mike out for a
celebration dinner?”

“Yes. I guess we are.” Lizzie would be in court
today, too, and the sisters had discussed treating Mike to a
five-star restaurant dinner. He said he wanted pizza instead, at
his favorite neighborhood hang-out. So the plan was to go to
Angelo’s. Assuming everything went well with the jury.

She smiled at him. “You want to join us for pizza and
beer?” Of course he’d have better things to do, fancier places to
go.

Zack hesitated, seeming to weigh the pros and cons as
if showing up for pizza later was some kind of federal case.
“You’re on,” he said finally.

****

 

A four o’clock that afternoon, the jury came back
after deliberating for only two hours. They asked to go over the
file of new evidence Zack brought to light, and then they had voted
unanimously to set Mikey free.

Lizzie leaped up, screamed with joy, and reached
across the bar to hug their smiling brother.

Rose went absolutely numb.

Was the ordeal really over? After more than two years
in prison, would Mikey really be coming home with them tonight? A
cluster of bodies pressed in around them, surging and crowding at
the defense table. Rose struggled to breathe. Somehow she stood and
reached out, grasping her brother’s hand, then losing hold of it in
the crowd. Lizzie kept squealing and bouncing up and down. And then
the flow of bodies carried Rose out into the aisle and through the
courtroom doors.

She waited in a quiet corner. Finally Mikey and
Lizzie found her there. The three of them stood for several minutes
in a close huddle, hugging. Rose felt the tears start in earnest
then. It
was
over. Really over.

****

Zack parked his BMW on a side street and walked the
half block to the seedy little pizza place. Through the window he
spotted Rose and Mike and the sister Lizzie, plus several other
well wishers, seated at a long table near the back. He’d stopped at
home first to change into jeans and t-shirt, and he was glad he
had. He would have stuck out like a sore thumb in his Armani
suit.

Inside, the air was thick with the fragrant odors of
hot cheese and fresh crusty bread. A TV over the bar blared a
basketball game. He stopped at the counter and ordered the beer on
tap, a dark ale, then took his cold mug to the table. As he
approached, Mike looked up and saw him and waved him over.

“Glad you could come, Zack. You’re the man of the
hour.” Mike had to shout to be heard over the noise.

“I think you’re the man of the hour, Mike. I just did
my job.”

“Whatever. Glad you could make it.”

He slid into a rickety captain’s chair across the
table from Rose and Lizzie.

“Hi,” he mouthed. Both sisters smiled at him. But
then Lizzie looked away, distracted by something the young man next
to her said; and Rose continued to stare directly at him.

“Thank you,” she yelled over the din.

“You’re welcome,” he yelled back. The atmosphere
certainly didn’t lend itself to the more intimate conversation he’d
hoped to have with her.

But something felt different, he realized. She wasn’t
avoiding making eye contact with him. In fact, she held his gaze
almost as she had on that night in his bedroom so many months ago.
As he registered that fact, his pulse sped up and his cock
stirred.

Or was he imagining her interest in him because he
wanted it to be true?

She looked beautiful, as she always did to him, in a
simple, dark green sweater and black slacks. The sweater hugged and
defined her breasts, and he wondered if she was wearing a bra. He
couldn’t seem to think about Rose without thinking about her naked
body and how much he missed being with her on Sunday mornings.

But over the course of the trial he’d come to notice
and appreciate more than just her body. Now that they’d be parting
ways for the last time, he guessed he could admit to himself what
had really happened. He’d fallen in love with Rose.

And it sure as hell hurt.

But hey, he could buck up and get through this
evening of celebration, couldn’t he? For Mike’s sake he could drink
his beer and chow down on some pizza and make a little small talk
when there was a break in the noise. And as for being in love, he’d
get over it. Yeah, he’d be okay again once he didn’t have to see
Rose in the courtroom every day, prim and gorgeous in her navy
suit.

The pizza came, several huge platters of it, steaming
hot and loaded with toppings. Everyone fell to eating. More beer
flowed. The volume on the TV got turned down some and Rose tried to
strike up a conversation with him.

“What ever happened to your escaped client? Did the
authorities catch him?”

“Nope. He’s long gone. The fool had less than a year
left to serve, too.”

“That’s a shame.”

“How about you, Rose? Did you ever find another
Sunday morning client?”

“No.” She leaned across the table and brought her
hand up to her mouth. “I’m the head chef in a real restaurant
now.”

“Seriously? You quit naked cheffing?” Why did that
please him so?

She nodded. “One of my other clients, a woman, went
rogue on me. I figured it was only a matter of time till they all
did.”

He grinned. “Wouldn’t blame them. You were definitely
the tastiest thing on the menu, Rose.”

Even in the low light he could see her pleased
blush.

Another round of beers appeared at the table and a
few more well wishers dropped in. Chairs were rearranged to make
room, separating him from Rose. He checked his watch. Almost ten.
He could make a graceful exit now and not be missed.

He went over to Mike and shook his hand and said
goodnight. Then he glanced toward Rose. She stared at him from
across the crowded space, her eyes big and dark.

“Good night,” he mouthed and gave her a little
wave.

She raised her hand in response.

He shrugged into his jacket, then made his way
through the maze of tables and out the front door.

He’d gone maybe two hundred feet when he heard his
name called. His heart began to pound. In a pool of light from a
nearby street lamp, he turned to see Rose sprinting toward him.

“Wait up,” she called.

In her clicky heels it took several seconds for her
to reach him even though she hurried. He ascertained that she was
definitely not wearing a bra. In her haste to reach him she’d left
her coat behind. Her breath made a cloud in her wake.

“It’s freezing out here,” he said as she drew near.
“Where’s your coat?”

“I’ll just be a second,” she said. His belly clenched
in pain, his foolish hopes fading. “I have a favor to ask you.”

“A favor? Sure, name it.” His nonchalance sounded
forced even to him.

She came up close so that the tips of her breasts
brushed the front of his jacket. Her big brown eyes searched his
face. In the yellow glow of the streetlight her hair appeared
haloed, ethereal.
This is how I will remember her
, he
thought,
looking like some kind of glorious angel
.

“The favor?” he prompted.

She bit her lip. Then she laid her hand on his chest
and took a big breath.

“Take me to your bed, Zack. Make me lose control.
Make me forget everything but you.”

 

 

Epilogue

 

Weak sunlight streamed into his apartment that Sunday
morning. The winter solstice had passed and Christmas loomed. Zack
lounged at the table in his favorite robe, a cup of exotic coffee
in hand.

At the stove, Rose stirred the Hollandaise and
poached the eggs, just as she had in his fantasies these last six
months. Her soft, naked breasts jiggled and swayed, her hips
undulated, she hummed a tuneless song under her breath as she
worked. Now and then she glanced up and smiled at him, her
beautiful face smooth and rested.

BOOK: Naked Treats
8.01Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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