Trust Me
TRUST
ME
by
ANNA
WELLS
Anna
Wells
Trust
Me
Cover
art by Seductive Designs
http://seductivemusingsdesigns.blogspot.ca/
©
2013, Anna Wells Publishing
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International
and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of
this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or
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without express written permission from the author.
me I should have done
this years
ago.
Table of Contents
Alaina rushed out the door of her three-bedroom
bungalow. She had intended to be at the office earlier, but for some
inexplicable reason she was running late. She also had a splitting
headache and not a single aspirin in her house. She was going to have to
make a quick trip to the drugstore, which was going to make her even
later. There was no way she was going to get through a meeting with
opposing counsel with this headache.
Climbing into her new black Ford Focus, she made a
conscious effort to relax by taking a calming breath and absorbing the
California sunshine. She was going to be late so she might as well accept
it and stop worrying. Besides, Californians were much less worried about
being on time. Obviously she had yet to shed her east coast mentality. It
would take her about a half an hour to get to work since she lived in Chula
Vista, a surrounding residential community of San Diego. She chose a
drugstore close to her home, quickly parked and rushed inside. The store,
a chain she frequently patronized, was quiet at this early hour of the morning
and essentially empty of customers. Alaina hastily made her away across the
white tile floors in search of pain relievers and finally spotted them in aisle
four. So intent on her quest, she didn't notice the tall dark haired man in her
path until a very hard masculine chest halted her.
Alaina slowly lifted her head to find herself staring
into deep blue eyes with thick black lashes. Apparently the gorgeous eyes
belonged to an equally gorgeous face. Frankly the man was striking, and
in that brief moment she wondered why her friends never tried to set her up
with a hottie like the one before. His hair was black and his sculpted
features, reminded her of those guys in the cologne ads. His tall and
perfectly shaped frame filled out his well-tailored navy suit and from him
emanated an unmistakable aura of strength and confidence. As their eyes
met there was an instant mutual awareness as the physical attraction vibrated
between them. Never had she felt anything remotely like this and
certainly not with a complete stranger. She realized she was staring and
was completely mortified by the awareness that he had caught her doing
it. Alaina decided it was probably the time to apologize.
She opened her mouth and stammered, “I'm sorry, I'm
late for an appointment and I was rushing. I didn't even see you.”
Gleaming white teeth appeared as he said, “It was my
pleasure.” The blatant sexual undertone sent goose bumps down her
arms. His spicy cologne wafted over her as she stared up into his
penetrating eyes. His eyes that seemed to know her most intimate secrets,
what an absurd thought, Alaina chided herself. This is ridiculous; he’s
just some strange guy she would probably never see again and she was completely
turned on. She felt like a teenager being overwhelmed by his
appearance. It was not as if she had never seen an attractive man before,
but this one was somehow different. She couldn't put her finger on it.
Okay so maybe it was because just looking at him was making her wet.
Well, she thought, two can play at the flirting game. She returned his
smile with a sexy one of her own, a smile that had a history of turning many
heads. Her smile appeared to throw him a little off balance and she took
advantage of his apparent discomposure, responding in her most sensual tone
“Well, I'll make sure I look where I'm going from now on. Again, I really am
sorry.” Her statement had been innocuous but her tone and smile had let
him know how attractive she found him.
“Don’t worry about it. Like I said before it was
my pleasure, and feel free to run into me any time you want.” He smiled revealing
an engaging dimple.
Alaina thought that sounded like a great idea when she
came to her senses and realized that she was flirting with a perfect stranger
in a drugstore before nine in the freaking morning, who could, for all she
knew, be an axe murderer. On top of that she had been so caught up in
their encounter that she completely forgot she was late for work and she still
hadn't picked up any aspirin. Suddenly she realized that she no longer
had a headache. A little sexual turn-on and the headache had disappeared.
Maybe it had been caused by lack of sex? If that was the case she
definitely needed to get laid.
She looked up at him with regret and almost
sighed. She really didn’t want to walk away from this one, but really you
can’t pick up a stranger in a drugstore. “As much as I’d like to take you
up on that offer I gotta run.
Sorry again.”
“Stop apologizing,” he said. “Are you sure you won’t
change your mind? We could go for coffee?” He flashed another sexy grin.
She couldn’t help but return his smile. “I’m
really tempted, but I don’t know you and I‘ve got to get to work,” Alaina said
as she quickly grabbed a bottle of aspirin from the shelf.
He looked down at the bottle. “Why don’t you call the
office and tell them you’re not feeling well?” His voice was coaxing,
seductive.
If she didn’t have such an important meeting this
morning she would have actually gone with him. She shook her head
regretfully. “I have an appointment I just can’t miss.
Maybe some other time?”
She turned and dashed to the
cash register not giving him time to respond. After making
her purchase she quickly tossed the bottle in her purse while she rushed out of
the store leaving her unexpected flirtation behind. As she got into her
car she wondered why she felt like she’d just made a big mistake. Maybe
she should have given him her number?
Donovan Prentice watched her walk away wondering what
had led him to be so careless. He had never let anyone he was following
be aware of his presence, but somehow he hadn't been able to resist the
opportunity to meet her before she knew who he was. Unfortunately, he was
extremely attracted to her. When he first observed her running out of her
house, he had noticed how much more beautiful she was in person than in the
surveillance pictures he’d seen of her. The photographs had not done her
justice: they had failed to capture that sway in her walk, the confidence she
exuded, and the fresh citrus scent of her perfume. Not to mention that
fine ass and firm chest, a chest that he had the pleasure to feel bump up
against him. Her features were soft and delicate: a small pert nose, large
green eyes and a somewhat determined chin surrounded by a thick mass of dark
brown hair. It was enchanting. A small woman, probably not much more than
5'2”, but her shape was perfect. Had they met in different circumstances
he wouldn't have let her go, he would have
tried
to find out more about her and definitely had her in his bed by
nightfall.
The problem was he already knew everything about her.
He knew where she was born, who her parents were, how many siblings she had,
where she had grown up, where she had gone to school, what she had majored in,
where she worked and lived. He even knew what credit cards she had and
what she purchased with them. He was always thorough in his research and
he probably knew more about her than her own mother. The only thing he
didn't know about Alaina Simmons was whether or not she was guilty. That
was something he was going to find out, after all it was his specialty.
Alaina arrived at the office, a low rise in downtown
San Diego, thankfully noticing there was no one waiting for her in the
lobby. The front lobby was decorated sparsely; two black leather couches
were placed perpendicular to each other with a black lacquered coffee table
between them. The walls were an austere white, which was relieved by a
modern abstract painting. Alaina could still not determine what the artist was
trying to convey even after a year and a half of looking at it every day.
Several potted palms on the black tiled ceramic floor put a little life into
the otherwise sterile environment. What saved the lobby completely was
Marlene's cheerful presence at the large semicircular reception
desk. Marlene was a tall and very chic red head. She wore her
long hair pulled back severely from her face which effectively showed off her
high cheekbones and large blue eyes. She dressed as if she had just
walked off the cover of Vogue and Alaina had often wondered why the receptionist
had not pursued a modeling career.
Marlene looked up and smiled, “Hi Alaina, you've got a
message from Elise Vincent, she wants you to call her right away.”
“Thanks Marlene. I've got a 9:30 appointment
with a Donovan Prentice. He hasn't shown up yet has he?”
Marlene shook her head. “Nope you're safe. Did
you have a late night?” she grinned teasingly, showing perfect pearly white
teeth. Marlene was the same age as Alaina, but unlike Alaina had a very active
social life. Since Alaina had begun working at Blake, Thompson and
MacKenzie, Marlene had made it her personal goal to convince Alaina to go out
more and in Marlene's words “party.” After all, as far as the
receptionist was concerned that's what life was all about.
“No, I did not have a late night and keep it down, I
don't want the whole office to know I was late,” Alaina chided good-naturedly.
“Let me know when Mr. Prentice arrives.”
Alaina made her way to her office and wondered why she
had become a lawyer. Oh yeah, it had been all of those TV law dramas.
Unfortunately, practicing law was nothing like it was on television.
There was too much paperwork and frankly it could be rather mundane at
times.
Alaina entered her office, and before she could pick
up her phone to call Elise, her cell phone began to ring. Digging into
her purse Alaina looked at her phone.