Shaken (13 page)

“No. That’s not why we’re here. If he planned on issuing his judgment, we’d either be in a courtroom to hear it, or he’d send us the paperwork. He hasn’t done either—”

A quick knock on the door interrupted him, and a middle-aged black woman peeked inside. “Gentlemen, the judge will see you now.”

Tony’s heart wanted to freeze in his chest, every thump a bruising pain. Standing, he followed Derek out of the conference room and down the hall. Like he walked toward his execution—and the only thing he didn’t know was the method.

****

Zip’s phone vibrated as she found an open spot on the train. She swung her backpack around to balance on her lap, dug out her phone, and sat with a groan. Exhaustion rubbed every bone in her body. Marathon meetings for the last two days had seen her process taxes for nearly a dozen clients.

It was a mass message text from Kaley.

Won’t make Friday drinks. Unexpected commission out of town. Back next week.

Bummed, Zip started to reply when Jem’s name popped up in the message.

I’m in California. Thought I’d be back but it looks like we’re going to be pulling a long weekend on the Magic 8 Ball. How’d it work out for you, Z?

Lucy’s response hit right on top of Jem’s, and Kaley responded, all before Zip managed to type more than one word.

I’ll try to be there, might be late. Lots of flu at the hospital and we’re understaffed. Z hasn’t answered any e-mails. I think she’s shacked up with Tony.

Kaley’s note seemed a little more circumspect. No glove, no love, right Z?

Biting her lip to keep from bursting out laughing in the middle of the busy train, Zip considered letting them all hang and wait to find out. But her lack of response didn’t deter them.

Jem: She’s too practical for any other way. Where are you headed, K?

Lucy: We’re all too practical, but sometimes it feels good not to be practical. And did I know you were going to California?

Kaley: Maine. I’m on the train right now.

Jem: I don’t know. I don’t think I’ve slept since Monday—what day is it?

Veronica: Thursday. And some of us have court, so drop me from the message.

Jem: Uh oh, who pushed V’s bitch button?

Lucy: Her ex.

Kaley: Aww, V, divorce case?

Veronica: Yes. This one may run over. Maybe we should call it for Friday and hook up next week?

Lucy: Might be a good idea.

Zip shook her head and finally managed to type in. I’ll be at C on Friday at six. Be there or I’ll drink all the martinis by myself.

The phone went crazy with a riot of texts hitting all at once, and, by the time, Zip made it to her station she was laughing. If no one else called out sick, Lucy promised she’d try to show up for an hour. Veronica couldn’t commit, but she wanted to be there, while Jem and Kaley were definitely out.

Zip spent the rest of her evening organizing another folder of receipts and preparing her end of week reports. She showered late, blew her hair dry, and dressed in her comfy clothes, only to fall asleep waiting for Tony’s shift to end. When the doorbell rang at one a.m., she stumbled to answer it.

“Hey,” she murmured, then all but leapt into his arms. Carrying the bite of frost in with him, he picked her up and nuzzled a kiss to her cheek.

“Hey. Dammit, I woke you. I’m sorry. I know we said I wouldn’t see you until tomorrow night with your meetings and my schedule—but I wanted to see you.” He locked the door and carried her up the hall toward her bedroom. “I missed you.”

“I’m glad you did.” And, though she yawned the words, she burrowed against him and inhaled his rich, masculine scent. “I missed you, too.”

“Someone wasn’t sleeping in her bed.” His voice dipped in teasing fashion, and he settled her on the cool covers. Funny how she hadn’t shivered when nestled against his frosty jacket. At her complaint, he gave her a long, slow kiss. “Gimme a sec to shower, okay? I didn’t have a chance before I went to work.”

Sliding to the edge of the bed, she enjoyed the view as he stripped out of his clothes. “Are you hungry? I could go throw something in the nuke….”

“No.” He shook his head. “You stay in bed. I’ll be right out.”

Falling onto the pillows after he disappeared into the bathroom, Zip tried to smother the giggles bubbling up. The water turned on in the other room, and she sighed. He was really there, in her place, taking a shower and getting ready to climb into bed with her. Working opposing schedules sucked, but it was—she checked the clock—nearly one-thirty in the morning and she had him to herself, even if only for a few hours.

A chill raced over her, and she nudged the covers aside and slid under them, snuggling up to his pillow. His pillow. The thought slapped some clarity into her drowsy state. But the pillow smelled like him—like Tony. He’d slept at her place the last five out of six nights.

Chewing her lip, she looked toward the bathroom, and a nervous flutter erupted in her belly. The water turned off, and she listened to him pulling a towel off the rack and, a moment later, he appeared in the open door. Light gleamed off the water droplets on his chest even as he toweled off with speed.

“Tony?”

“Yeah?”

“Are we—you know—a thing?” A thing? What the hell was wrong with her? The minute she’d tried to frame the question, her tongue had stuck to the roof of her mouth. It had to be watching him, the way his muscles moved with every stroke of the towel—bunching and releasing.

Hanging the towel on the rack, he finger-combed his hair and strode toward her, all glorious in his nudity. “Yeah, Zip. We’re a thing.” No hesitation or question, just rough possession whispering beneath the deep words.

Shutting off the light, he nudged her over and enfolded her in his arms. She came up against the hardness of his chest, and he cradled her. The gentle, almost sweet nature of his embrace belied the hard weight of his erection.

“That’s okay with you, right?” he asked in a soft tone against her hair. Cocooned in his heat, she sighed.

“It’s more than okay, I just didn’t want to assume….”

Trailing his fingers up her thigh and under her shirt, he splayed them over her abdomen. Her stomach went taut at the touch, and she tilted her head. The whisper of his kiss stroked along the shell of her ear. “What don’t you want to assume?”

“We’re going so fast.” It was easier to give a voice to her fear in the dark. Tony’s arms flexed around her. “A week ago, you were the guy at the bar I lusted after….”

“Hmm.” He nipped her earlobe and tugged it lightly with his teeth. Everything in her went low and tight, liquid heat soaking her panties. “So I’m not the guy at the bar you lust after anymore?”

“Oh.” The word more of a groan. “You are not just the guy in the bar—you’re Tony.”

His chuckle teased her, and he kissed a path down her jaw, the faint bristle of growth along his cheeks rasping and adding a roughness to his gentle touches. “And you’re Zip.” Settling her once more, he traced a circle over her belly with his thumb. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?”

“Are you worried we’re going too fast? That we didn’t spend enough time getting to know each other?” She officially hated how pathetic she sounded. “I am so saying this the wrong way.”

“No, you’re not. You’re protecting yourself; I get that.” He sighed. “I was in court this morning.”

“Is everything okay?” She tried to turn in his arms, but he held her still.

“Stop that. I like holding you. And, if you turn over, I’m going to have to peel this T-shirt up and play with your beautiful breasts, and then we won’t be talking.”

“You really shouldn’t make a threat sound like a promise.” But she stilled, fighting the urge to rub her bottom against his cock, which lay snug against her lace-covered ass like a hot, silken rod.

“I promise to make good on both later.” He cupped her breast as though in illustration, but his fingers didn’t brush her suddenly aching nipples. Good God, it was torture.

“What happened in court?” I can be good. Ask about his day. Find out more about him. He’s not just a sex god for my pleasure…. But he was definitely a sex god.

“Judge had a lot of questions for me.” The playfulness in his voice began to dissipate. “He wanted to know about my plans, what my thoughts were when Robin told me about Lindsey’s parentage—what I hoped to gain from suing for my rights. Why I thought I had rights to begin with.”

The last words crashed through her, and she reached up to hold the arm he’d curled under her head. “Because she’s your daughter.” What kind of a stupid question was that to ask him? Maybe she’d only gotten to know Tony in the last few days, but she’d seen the love he had for his little girl every time he mentioned her. A tiny part of her had experienced a flare of jealousy and disbelief that he had a child, but the wonder at how much he adored that child quickly squashed the selfishness in her.

“Thank you.” A smile echoed in the words. “That’s exactly what I told him. I think it was a little more passionate, or maybe pissy. But Derek—he’s my attorney—I told you about him, right?”

“Yes,” she said. “You did.”

“Derek said my being pissed at the question was an honest reaction—and he thought it played well with the judge.” Tony nuzzled an absent kiss to her cheek. “I miss my little girl, Zip. It’s been a long time since I got to hold her and play with her—hear her laugh. Robin’s kept that restraining order in place, and, even once the proceedings started, the judge didn’t lift it.”

“Did you ask him to?” She hurt for him.

“Derek and I talked about it, and we made a request. But the judge stayed it for the duration of the hearing because he didn’t want to upset Lindsey if he didn’t rule in my favor. In some ways—he’s right. She doesn’t need to have her life turned upside down any more than it already has been….”

“Tony, you have a right to see her.” It angered Zip that Robin had done this to him.

“That’s just it—I don’t. Not until the judge says I do. Derek says it’s all in a good place, and I shouldn’t worry until the judge makes a decision, but that’s damn hard.”

Uncertain of what to say to make it better, she rubbed her hand along his arm. “Did they say when you’ll know?”

“No. Could be tomorrow, could be next week. Fuck—it could be next month.” Another sigh, and another kiss. “And now I’m depressing you, sweetheart. I’m sorry.”

That decided it for her. She twisted, and he let her that time. Rolling over to face him, she bumped her nose to his. “If we’re a thing, then we’re a thing, Tony. That means I get to be here for you whether it’s all sexy times or not. I want to be here for you.”

“You’re fucking awesome, you know that?” He tightened his arms around her again, and she nuzzled the corner of his mouth, offering affection.

“No, but I did hear a rumor from this really hot Italian guy.” Levity helped, and his chuckle was her reward.

“I’m glad you asked me out. But you need to go to sleep.” He gave her a soft, gentle kiss—and she ached for more. “You have to work in the morning, sweetheart.”

“That’s hours away…. I’d rather be with you right now.”

He must have agreed because his mouth sealed over hers and chased away any lingering thoughts of her day job. He made love to her slowly, thoroughly, and left no part of her untouched. When he finally slid inside of her, she thought she might die from the pleasure of it all. Still floating, she drifted to sleep in his arms. Unfortunately, when she woke the next morning—Tony had already gone, and a note on the pillow promised he’d see her later that night at Coveted.

Chapter Ten

Tony had Zip’s corner table set up and the first round of martinis ready to mix before she came up the stairs, but one look at the weariness on her face had him cursing under his breath. “Jerry, cover me for ten?”

“No problem.”

Ducking out from the bar, he circled the room until he caught up to Zip and pulled her in for a quick kiss. He tugged the backpack off her shoulder. “Hey, you’re exhausted.”

The fatigue around her eyes lightened with her smile, and she practically fell into his arms. “Meetings. Oh, my God, the meetings.”

“You’re not drinking tonight, right?” He walked her to her booth and set her stuff inside. He spared a look back at the bar—but Jerry had it under control.

“I’d kill for a glass of wine, but then I’d be asleep in five minutes. How do you feel about massive amounts of caffeine?”

A tight feeling unfurled in his chest, and he recognized it for exactly what it was. Tenderness. Cupping her cheek, he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I’m going to put in an order for food and send Tiffany over with the coffee. Then, when you’re ready, you give me the signal, and I’ll call a cab. You go home early tonight and
sleep
.”

“Tony—”

He’d expected the protest, but he shook his head. “No. You
haven’t
been getting any real rest because I’ve been there every night. And I adore you, but you need to go to bed and sleep late. I’ll crash at my place tonight.” No matter how much he hated the idea of being away from her.

“You could come over anyway. I don’t—crap, I do have to work tomorrow.” She buried her face in her hands and made a low noise.

Rubbing her back soothingly, he tried to ease her disappointment—and his. “Tonight you rest, work tomorrow, and I’ll come tomorrow night. I promise.” She needed it and, if she wouldn’t do it on her own, he needed to make sure she did.

A small smile turned her miserable expression to something he might charitably call a pout and he had to fight the urge to kiss her until she gasped. He was still technically at work—and, damn it, even if they had been at her place, she needed rest, not seduction. “You’re bossy.”

“Only when I think you’re not taking care of yourself.”
Or when I’ve been pushing to take too much.
And he had. He’d taken an awful lot of her time that week, even if selfishly he wanted more. “So, do we have a deal?”

“Well, that depends on what she’s agreeing to. Legal decisions should always be represented.” The lazy, feminine drawl mixed humor with warning, and Tony turned to find the blonde attorney giving him a thoughtful, if hard-eyed, stare.