Tempted (A Player Brother Romance Book) (A Standalone Novel) (Player Brothers Book 1) (16 page)

"We are still on course for the current court
date,” Ms. Klein announced once we all got settled that morning. "The
client has been remanded to family, under our advisement. The prosecution fought
it, but the judge saw things our way in the end."

"That's good," I said. "It's comforting
to know that he is with family and not locked up needlessly."

Aiden gave me a quizzical look. I kept his eyes for a
moment before looking down at the files I had in front of me, deciding that I
would much rather focus on the work than worry about Aiden's responses. I had
my reasons, and he had his, for doing things the way we did. We had already
determined that our work methods might be quite different from each other. It
was up to the partners to decide which might be a better fit for the firm.

We all dug into our work, confirming and discussing
the elements of our statements, strengthened by the collected evidence. Our
client was innocent, and I stood by that knowledge as we worked. We finished
just before lunchtime, and the senior partners gave us the rest of the day off.
I knew that once the full time schedule kicked in there would not be so many
leisurely days. Now we were working on one case, a big one but only one.
Whoever received the full time position would be working on several cases at
once, and have to be available most of the time. The schedule would be sporadic
and hectic. Days off would become a luxury. This kind of schedule appealed to
me, as I had a tendency to get antsy if I didn’t have enough to do, as my
mother pointed out while she had been here.

"Blair," Aiden caught up with me at the
elevator. "What are you doing for lunch?"

"I was heading back to my apartment,” I said,
trying to avoid an invitation. "I've got some things I need to work
on."

The elevator door opened and we both stepped inside. I
still had difficulty keeping my mind from wandering when we were in this close
proximity. In the office I could stay busy with work. When away from him I
could keep busy and occupy my mind on something else, but in these quiet
moments between activities, if I found myself with him my mind began to wander,
weakening my resolve as much as I hated to admit it. I still hadn’t been able
to shake my recurring thoughts on the night we had spent together as much as I
wanted to forget it.

I couldn’t.

Nor did I think that I wanted to.

"There's a place I'd like to take you,” he said.
"This awesome hiking trail I've discovered. I remembered how much you loved
to go hiking."

"Do I?" I said.

 
"We used
to go all the time,” he insisted.

"I haven't been hiking in years,” I said.

He had been right that we used to go nearly every
weekend, I remembered, during our later high school years. I couldn’t think of
a reason to say no. I had missed being active and it would be nice to get out
of the office. I didn’t want him to think I was agreeing too easily though.

"That was more of a high school thing,
Aiden."

He looked at me sideways underneath his eyelashes. I
averted my eyes both for the effect of aloofness and to try and suppress the
butterflies in my stomach.

"But,” I started. “I don't have anything else
going on today. Why not."

"Great," he said grinning as we stepped off
the elevator into the lobby.

"I just want to go home and change. I'll need to
grab a few things,” I said. "Pick me up at my place in an hour?"

He glanced at his watch. "Around one-
ish
. Yeah that works. I'll see you then."

He trotted off towards his car with purpose in his
steps. I shook my head. He seemed to be up to something but I couldn’t make it
out. I turned and headed towards my car.

The green sloping hills rolled up before us to the
bright blue cloudless sky. The parking lot nestled just at the foot of the
climb, and the small dusty path disappeared into the foliage. I had changed
into a pair of shorts and an athletic top which clung to me, made of a fabric
which would pull the sweat from my skin as we climbed. The heat of the
California atmosphere and the work out would make me sweat and I decided to
dress according to the weather. I adjusted the ties on my tennis shoes before
we headed down the path and into the welcome shade of the forest.

"How long has it been since I have gone
hiking?" I wondered out loud.

"Think you can keep up?" he asked playfully
over his shoulder.

"Whatever," I said. "See if you
can."

The path went steep rather quickly and we stopped
talking to conserve our breath as we worked our way up the mountainside. My
muscles started to feel it right away, aching already. I had been behind a desk
for too long, but I wasn't about to let him know that. I reached inside my
shoulder bag and pulled out the bottle of water, taking a long swig. My breath
had gone ragged and the sweat poured off of me creating a little dark half-moons
on my shirt.

Aiden had made it a few steps ahead of me and when he
turned around, I handed him his bottle. We stopped to refresh for a moment.
Between the trees, I could see that we had gained some altitude. The
surrounding emerald hills framed by the deep blue sky took my breath away.

"Just up here a little ways is the look out,”
Aiden said. "It's supposed to be a really nice view. You can see for
miles."

I splashed a little bit of water into my hand and
rubbed it across my forehead and along the back of my neck.

"Let's go,” I said.

We headed out again. Every once in a while we passed
other hikers coming or going, young couples, one guy with a back pack. We
reached a rocky outcropping in the path which we had no choice but to climb.
Aiden reached back and extended his hand to me. Without thought, I reached up
and took his hand, finding my footing and letting him help me up. I pushed on
my knees to gain leverage on the steep path.

After a few more steps the path leveled out and came
to a Y in the road. Aiden paused, peering down each branch. They both looked
identical and I thought about saying something about the brochure we had picked
up at the visitor's center.

"Are we lost?" I asked.

"Not at all," he said.

"Which way do we go then?"

"This way," he said, grabbing my hand and
pulling me down the left path.

We walked along for a little while like this. He
remained a few steps ahead of me under the guise of leading me down the path,
but I didn’t pretend that I didn't notice he still had my hand tucked into his.
The path curved and we came to a clearing. We had arrived close to the top of
the mountain overlooking the city. We could see everything, the buildings,
the
surrounding hill sides rolling along the edges like
concentric circles after a pebble dropped into a pond. The sky soared above us
for miles.

"This is..." I said truly at a loss for
words.

I pulled my hand carefully away from his and covered
my mouth. The move was twofold. On the one hand I wanted to separate from him.
On the other hand my jaw had dropped at the spectacular vision. I didn’t know
how else to react.

Out in the distance on the horizon I saw a small
gathering of clouds on the other side of the city where the Pacific Ocean lay,
just out of sight. I approached the edge of the overlook, placing my hands
gently on the edge of the rail. Below me I saw the dusty ground, dotted with
the desert foliage and disappearing into the sloping trees.

I felt Aiden step up next to me. He turned and leaned
against the railing with his back to the sprawling view.

"Blair," he said. I could hear his intention
in his voice, and I closed my eyes.

He didn’t say another word, but reached up and brushed
away a tendril of hair that had plastered to my forehead from the sweat. His
touch made me shiver despite the midday heat. He lowered his hand and placed
his palms against the rail, steadying his balance.

"You did pretty
good
out
there on the trail," he informed me.

"You think so? Well, you didn’t do badly
yourself," I said, shading my eyes with my hand and turning to look at
him.

The clouds in the distance had grown larger and seemed
to be drifting towards us. I silently wished they would, so as to provide us
some welcome shade. Aiden had worn a tank top which hung loosely around his
torso. I could easily see the outline of his muscles, still taut from the hike
up the strenuous path.

I looked away and took a drink of water.

"We should do this more often,” he suggested. I
could tell that he wanted to say something else, but as was his habit he was
dancing around the subject, leading me to it without saying it out right.

"What are you getting at, Aiden?" I asked,
turning to look him straight in the eye.

"You know we would be good together Blair,” he
said.

There it was.

He couldn’t seem to take a hint or let it go. I didn’t
want him to know how difficult I found it to keep him at bay.

"This again?" I asked, trying to keep the
atmosphere playful, but feeling my annoyance rising.

The sky had taken on a grayish cast, now completely
covered over with clouds. The pressure began to drop in the atmosphere and the
air had gotten cooler by a few degrees.

"You know it's true, Blair,” he said, his voice
serious as he took a tentative step towards me.

"Aiden," I said, patiently shaking my head.
"The case comes first. We need to stay friends for now. If you recall, the
fate of Darius Shaw rests in our hands. We have to keep that as our primary
focus."

"Darius Shaw," Aiden said.

"Yes," I said in deadpan. "The man who
had been falsely accused of murder, and who may go to jail for it if we don't
do our job properly. That Darius Shaw. We need to focus on him, on the
case."

"Ah yes. The case,” he said. "I knew
that."

I could no longer take being that close to him and my
anger had begun to bubble to the top. I needed some distance to gain control of
my emotions. I stepped away from the rail and headed back across the clearing
towards the path at the edge of the forest.

He continued speaking and kept pace a few steps behind
me. "It just seems as if the case is more important to you than anything
else. Every time I try to get close to you, Blair, you throw the case at me.
The case isn't always going to be there. Why is it so important to you?"

With a crack of thunder the clouds above us gave way
to a sudden shower, drenching us both in the sudden downpour. I turned around
fully intent on unleashing my ire on him.

"Why now, Aiden!" I shouted over the
downpour.

"What?" he asked, taking a step
back.
I walked towards him, my fists clenched at my sides.

"Why not back in high school! Where was this then?!"

Under the rain I felt tears begin to stream down my
face, relieved that he couldn’t see them.

"What do you mean, I..."

"You didn't even pretend to come on to me! Not
once! I saw you with girl after girl on your arm! Do you know what that did to
me back then! Do you know how much that hurt?! All those years and you never
even looked at me! I had no choice but to get over you! Don't you get it! I'm
throwing the case at you because it's the only thing I have! You had your
chance, and it has passed a long time ago. Don't you see that! So what's so
different! Dammit, Aiden. Why now?"

He stopped and let me finish my tirade. I stood with
my fists tightened, white knuckles burning, as the rain soaked us fully, hair
and clothes plastered to us in the down pour.

"You done?" he asked with fire in his eyes.

I nodded.

"I'll tell you why now, Blair! Because we are
different now.
You're
different now."
  

"In what say am I different?" I asked.

He paced in front of me like a caged lion, furious.

"God, look at you!" he shouted. "You're
stunning. Whether you’re sweating without make up or dressed up for work. I can
hardly stand it when you wear those damn little skirts at the office. I mean,
are you fucking kidding me! We didn't have this back in high school. Everything
is different now and you know it!"

Before I had realized he had stopped talking he
stalked towards me. He reached for me, took my face in his hands and pulled me
towards him. My arms hung limp at my side as he kissed me. I resisted the urge
to wrap myself around him.

The rain.

The fight.

The kiss.

All of it washed over me igniting the fire inside me,
the same fire that had been there for as long as I could remember. I wanted
more than anything for this kiss to mean something, but in this moment, this
one time, I refused to kiss him back.

He pulled away, but kept a hold on my face. His eyes
stayed on mine flashing a challenge that I returned with mine.