Counselor Undone

by Lisa Rayne

  “Nowhere in particular.”

  “I see.” A slow tick pulsed in Michael’s jaw. “No one, from nowhere in particular. Sounds like a guy I should meet since he’s so interested in my sister.” Michael put his beer down and pushed on the table to rise.

  Raina shot a hand out and grabbed his forearm. “Don’t you dare!”

  “Then start talking.”

  Raina glanced over at Jordis.

  “What are you looking at her for? She can’t help you.”

  Raina looked embarrassed by his words and heavy-handed tactics, but he didn’t care. Their father had died when Raina was in high school, and Michael had always felt it his responsibility to be the protector their father didn’t get the chance to be.

  Jordis placed her hand on Raina’s arm. “Raina, I know what it’s like to have an overprotective brother meddling in your love life.” Ignoring Michael’s scowl, she suggested, “Maybe if you give your brother some background information on the young man, he’ll relax.”

  “Or, he’ll take it and run a full background check then call the guy and make sure he’s so afraid of what will happen if he makes one wrong move the guy won’t even ask me out.” Her words poured out in a rapid-fire gush.

  Jordis laughed. “Okay, that’s a bit of an exaggeration don’t you think?”

  “Humph.” Raina snorted and flopped back in her seat. “Ask him.”

  Jordis glanced at Michael who met her gaze with a blank expression. “Michael, you didn’t?”

  He simply shrugged and finished off his beer.

  Jordis returned her attention to an unhappy Raina. “Raina, what’s the gentleman’s name?”

  Raina glared at her brother then gave an exaggerated sigh. “Christian.”

  “Christian what?” Michael demanded.

  “Let’s leave it at Christian for the moment.” Jordis gave him a closed-mouth smile when he shot a glare at her.

  She knew why he wanted the boy’s last name, and she was intentionally blocking for his sister. He didn’t like it. Raina, however, visibly relaxed.

  Turning back to Raina, Jordis asked, “How do you know Christian?”

  “His brother Jon attends the Art Institute with me. They share a car so sometimes, Christian drops him at school and sometimes when we all go out after class, Christian and his buddies are there, too.”

  “Wait a minute.” Michael leaned forward. “Is he the clown who honked for you last week at mom’s instead of coming to the door to pick you up?”

  Raina blushed. “It’s not as if he was picking me up for a date. He and Jon were giving me a ride to class.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Michael insisted. “A man doesn’t sit outside in his car and honk for a woman to come out. You should expect better than that.”

  “Don’t be such a dinosaur,” Raina groused.

  Jordis coughed and picked up her sweet tea to mask her urge to laugh.

  Michael gave her a warning look, but Jordis ignored him. “I may be a dinosaur,” he said to his sister, “but I guarantee you after being out with me, a woman wouldn’t give a bozo like him a second thought.”

  Raina rolled her eyes.

  Continuing with her meal, Jordis changed the subject. “So, Raina, how did you get your brother out of the office so early?”

  Raina laughed. “Easy. I just asked.”

  “You mean you just texted,” Michael clarified.

  “Same diff.”

  “You just asked . . . um, texted what?” Jordis asked her.

  “I asked if he wanted to have dinner with me.” Raina snagged the phone clipped to her brother’s hip and typed in the code to unlock the phone. She clicked on their text message conversation and handed the phone to Jordis. “See?”

  Jordis looked at Michael, hesitant to look at his phone log. His hand tipped up from his empty beer bottle as he gave a one-shoulder shrug, indicating he didn’t mind.

  Jordis glanced at the text exchange and chuckled when she read the part about Mickey D’s.

  “I see.” Jordis handed him back his phone, with an enigmatic smile he’d seen several times. The first time was the day she’d broken down Eric Covington’s ass-backwards argument over the pro bono case selection. He’d surmised it usually foretold the pieces of some puzzle had fallen into place for her, and she had her analysis carefully delineated in her mind.

  That she now gave him that look made him uneasy. “What exactly do you see?”

  Jordis simply forked a piece of salmon.

  “Jordis?” He narrowed his eyes and gave her a don’t-play-with-me look.

  Her eyes went wide and innocent as she batted her eyelashes at him. “Michael?” She matched the lilt he’d put on the end of her name.

  They stared at each other. She had no intention of backing down or giving in to him. He could tell by the set of her lips.

  He wasn’t used to women balking at his requests. They usually did exactly what he asked, too afraid a denial would cross them off his little black list. Women at his firm were particularly compliant. His position as future Managing Partner pretty much made his word their law. He didn’t intentionally cultivate such behavior, but he had accepted and gotten used to never being challenged. Jordis must not have gotten the memo. She sat completely comfortable with her obstinate actions.

  Despite his annoyance, Michael found himself fighting a smile at the deceptively innocent look on her face. He relaxed into his seat and placed his arm along the back of the booth. To hide his peeved amusement, he took a swig of the fresh beer he’d recently received from the waiter.

  She was intentionally pushing his buttons. Maybe it was time he started pushing back.

  Chapter 8

  Jordis felt an unfamiliar contentment spread through her chest. Even when perturbed, Michael Remington managed to make her feel warm and playfully feminine.

  He’d asked her what she saw. She saw that his prickly blustering and grumpy mood swings covered a man with a soft heart and a love of family. He had a hidden sense of humor and a depth of personality those who didn’t know him outside the office never saw.

  She liked the guy as a person. He’d already earned her respect as a capable lawyer, but for the first time, she could see the real man behind the Michael Remington mystique. He had a whole other side the professional façade and legal reputation masked.

  As he watched her over his beer bottle, Jordis sat back. Raina temporarily forgotten, she returned his perusal with an innocent smile. The clearing of a throat interrupted the mutual scrutiny. Their heads swiveled towards Raina. She rewarded them with a speculative smile.

  Great, Jordis thought. Had her emotions shown on her face? Did Raina realize she was developing the hots for her brother?

  She quickly returned her attention to her plate, and Raina graciously gave them a reprieve by turning the conversation to mundane topics. After a while, Michael drifted away, allowing the two women to get to know one another. They continued that way until the waiter brought the bill.

  Jordis reached for the bill to check her total.

  Michael stopped her. He rubbed his fingertips along the back of her hand. “I’ve got it.” His voice sounded intentionally seductive.

  The pulsing physical awareness Jordis experienced whenever his skin made contact with hers sparked across the back of her hand. She jerked her hand back. He watched her with a challenging glint in his eyes.

  “Don’t be silly, Michael. You were supposed to have dinner with your sister. I got unexpectedly thrown into the mix. I can pay my own share.”

  “I’m sure you can, but that’s not the point.” He dug for his wallet so he missed Mr. Blond and Shaggy tilt his head quickly two times at Raina in a come-here motion.

  Jordis caught the summons out of the corner of her eye.

  “Excuse me.” Raina slid toward her, trying to take advantage of the exchange between Jordis and her brother to make a getaway.

  Jordis put her hand on Raina’s arm. “You are not going to respond to a
come-hither-babe head shake. If he wants to talk to you, he should come over to the table.”

  “Like he’s going to come over with Michael sitting here.” Raina flopped back against the seat and crossed her arms.

  “If he doesn’t have the guts to speak to you in front of your brother, he’s unlikely to be the kind of guy worth your time in the long run.”

  Raina made a face, but didn’t respond.

  Jordis sighed. “Trust me, Raina. I have one of him of my own.” Jordis tipped her head in Michael’s direction. “I learned the hard way that if a guy didn’t have the guts to brave my brother to take me out, he ultimately proved himself without enough spine to keep my respect.”

  Raina’s lips slid right, and she bit her lip in contemplation. The low hum of conversation pulsed from neighboring tables. A bus boy dropped a large plastic bin on the table left of Jordis and began to remove the abandoned plates, glasses and silverware. The clink of knifes and spoons hitting glassware tinkled while Jordis waited for Raina to make a decision.

  “Okay,” Raina finally whispered from the cocoon she’d folded in on herself.

  “Good.” Jordis sensed Michael watched her, but she ignored him. She didn’t want him to sway her from encouraging Raina to garner her young man’s attention, despite Michael’s desire she do anything but.

  Christian and his four buddies hovered in various stages of departure. Some stood by their chairs, others tossed dollar bills onto the table, and Raina’s blond slid his wallet into his back pocket.

  Jordis coached Raina. “Smile when he makes eye contact with you then wait for him to make the next move.”

  The young lady looked at her doubtfully, still in a slouched position.

  “And you might want to sit up straight so he can see you,” Jordis added with a grin.

  Sure enough, once he settled his wallet into his back pocket, Christian’s eyes slid towards Raina. Raina repositioned herself in her seat and smiled at him. Jordis watched Christian’s pleasured surprise transform slowly into the cocky grin of a guy who’d figured out he’d finally gotten the attention of the girl he wanted. He turned and murmured something to his buddies. Although they had a clear shot to the front door from their table, the group detoured to pass the booth Raina shared with Michael and Jordis.

  “Hey, Raina.” Christian’s eyes never left Raina’s face. “A bunch of us are headed over to the movie theater to catch the new sci-fi flick. Want to join us?”

  “Sure.” Raina scooted across the bench in the direction of her brother as she responded.

  Begrudgingly, Michael rose to let her out. He stood next to Christian, who eyed him warily. Raina introduced the two men.

  Thinking Michael preoccupied with his introduction to Christian, Jordis reached for the bill lying next to Michael’s empty dinner plate.

  Ever aware of his surroundings, Michael placed his left hand atop hers and chastised, “Nice try.” Still grasping Jordis’s hand over the check wallet, Michael grabbed his sister around the waist with his other arm and kissed her on the temple. “Thanks for having dinner with me. Even if you are leaving me hanging.”

  Raina laughed. “Somehow, big brother, I don’t think you’re going to miss me.” She darted a quick glance at Jordis.

  The hug Raina bestowed on her brother hid his answering expression from Jordis. He squeezed Raina. “Have a good time, but be careful. Call if you need anything.” He looked at Christian and finished, “Anything at all.”

  “I’ll be fine. Stop worrying.” Raina fairly skipped out of her brother’s arms as she joined Christian and his exiting entourage. At the last minute, she turned. Dipping her head towards the battle of hands over the restaurant check, she called to Jordis, “Good luck with that.” Although she smiled as she said it, Raina’s voice held a doubtful tone that made it clear she had no confidence Jordis would succeed in her attempt to pay any part of the dinner bill.

  As his sister walked away, Michael replaced the hand he held over Jordis’s with his other so he could slide into the booth facing the right direction. Once seated, he adjusted his hand so he held Jordis’s instead of merely pressing it down on top of the check. He turned the full force of those gray eyes on her. “Now that you’ve managed to get rid of my sister, explain to me why you refuse to let me do something as simple as buy you dinner.”

  * * *

  Jordis slid past Michael while he held the restaurant door open. She’d given in and let him pay for dinner. When he’d slipped his hand under hers and began rubbing the back with his thumb, explaining she didn’t want to owe him anything hadn’t seemed important. She’d looked into his eyes and had one thought: retreat and retreat immediately.

  Michael still had her bag of books. She extended her hand for them and thanked him once again for dinner.

  He angled the bag out of her reach. “Take a walk with me.” His eyes slid down to her boots. “That is, if those boots are conducive to strolling.”

  With her hand on the book bag handle resting on his shoulder, Jordis looked at her boots then back up. She gave him a sexy, flirty smile. “What’s the matter? Don’t you like my boots?”

  “Cara mia, I like your boots just fine.” He had a wicked look in his eyes. “But trust me, the last thing I think about you doing in those boots is taking a stroll.”

  “Hmm, really?” A tremor shimmied down her spine. “That sounds . . . interesting.” The words purred out before she could censor them.

  Michael’s eyes flashed and the provocative nature of her comment hit her after the fact.

  What had possessed her to say that out loud? And what had he called her?

  “Cara mia?” She repeated the phrase in a flat voice, as if simply trying out the phrase, but her expression made it a question. “Is that what you called me?”

  “Did I?” Michael grasped her upper arm and turned her to walk beside him without answering her question.

  “Was that Italian?”

  He glanced at her quickly. “You speak Italian?”

  “No. I spent my junior year of college in France and the summer after in Spain, but I never got to Italy. What does that mean?” From her residual knowledge of French and Spanish, she had an inkling of what the expression might mean, but her intuitive guess didn’t make sense to her.

  “It’s just an Italian expression.” When she continued to stare at him, he added, “Don’t worry. It’s nothing bad.”

  Her bicep flexed under his grip. His refusal to answer caused naughty speculation to titter along her already hyperaware nerve endings.

  After he placed her so he walked closest to the street, a thought occurred to her. Until Michael Remington, she hadn’t paid attention that most men didn’t follow such simple rules of gallantry anymore. Now, being around a man who behaved in a chivalrous manner regularly and without conscious thought, his actions stood out like a lighthouse beacon through heavy fog. She couldn’t miss the subtle nuisances of care it suggested, and surprisingly, she liked the way it made her feel—special and . . . womanly.

  Attractive, gallant and he spoke Italian? Was he kidding her? “You speak Italian?”

  “Yes.”

  “Fluently?”

  “Yes.”

  “And where did you learn to speak fluent Italian?”

  “At home.” He let go of her arm and continued walking at a facile pace.

  Without breaking her stride, which effortlessly matched his, she stared sideways at him waiting for him to elaborate.

  “And my grandparents’ place.” He darted a glance at her before adding, “In Milan.”

  “Milan?” She stopped walking. “Your grandparents live in Milan?”

  “My maternal grandparents, yes. I—”

  “Jordis! Jordis Morgan is that you?” The familiar masculine voice made Jordis’s skin crawl.

  She turned towards the interruption. The tall, well-dressed man from her past advanced, his almond complexion and dark-brown fade flawless as ever. His eyes roved over her boot-clad feet
then back to the front of her sweater, lingering a bit too long. Keith.

  Counter to the cheerfulness of his voice, Jordis replied in a substantially less welcoming tone. “Keith.” She expelled a slow breath. “What are you doing in Kansas City?”

  “I’m in town on business. I’m consulting with the Sprint Center as they work through the viability of bringing a WNBA team to the City of Fountains.”

  “That’s nice. Well, it’s been good seeing you.” She whipped around to head the opposite direction.

  “Hey, wait.” Keith touched her arm. The chafing look she gave his hand led to its quick removal from her person. He cleared his throat and looked from Jordis to Michael.

  She reluctantly introduced the two men. “Keith Wilson meet Michael Remington.”

  Keith extended a hand towards Michael. “Mike, it’s nice to meet you.”

  Michael shook his hand. “Likewise. And the name is Michael.”

  Keith shot Michael what Jordis considered his charismatic smile. The look usually charmed everyone he met. Guys wanted to be his buddy; business associates wanted to do his deals; and women simply wanted to do him. At the moment, the look made her sick to her stomach.

  “No disrespect meant, man. Figured we could cut through the formalities. Any friend of Jordis’s is a friend of mine.”

  Michael replied in a smooth, even tone, “My friends call me Michael.”

  Keith hesitated then chuckled awkwardly. “Well, sure. No problem.” Keith shifted and stuck the hand he’d shook with into his pocket. His gaze moved back to Jordis. “I thought maybe we could have dinner together while I’m in town.”

  “Keith, we’ve said everything we need to say to each other. Dinner won’t be necessary.”

  He stepped forward as if to touch her again. “Look, Jordis, I’d like a chance to clear the air. We both said some things last time I know we regret.”

  Jordis’s tension mounted. She tried to play it cool, but she was having a hard time dealing with the mixture of emotions assaulting her with Michael standing by as a witness.

  At some point, Michael positioned himself closer to her. Jordis hadn’t sensed him move, but his warmth now radiated along her side. His hand rested above the small of her back. The touch wasn’t sexual. After a brief glance at his face, she intuited it also wasn’t meant to be possessive.