Tempting the Artist

by Sharon C. Cooper

  “CJ get serious. You had suddenly decided to stay in New York instead of coming back to Cincinnati with him. That probably had him imagining the worse. The poor guy probably didn’t know what to think.”

  “He should have known me well enough to know that I had a good reason. It had nothing to do with being involved with another man.”

  “How would he know that? You guys were still getting to know each other, and it was a long distance relationship. I’m sure he had no idea that there were secrets between you two. You could have handled that situation differently. You should have handled it differently especially if he meant anything to you.”

  “Do you still care for him?”

  “There hasn’t been a day that’s gone by that I haven’t thought about him. I know you never believed in everyone having a soul mate, but I honestly believe that he’s mine.”

  “I don’t know if I necessarily believe that everyone has a soul-mate, but being married to Zack has made me consider the possibility. Falling in love with him was like finding the missing puzzle piece to my life. We fit. I’m a better person because of my hubby.”

  “You can say that again,” Christina mumbled and then burst out laughing when Jada elbowed her in the arm almost knocking her off the bed. “I’m just sayin’, you were a mess before he came along. Selfish, superficial, and I could go on.”

  “Yeah, well don’t. We’re not talking about the old me. We’re talking about you. So answer me this, if you really cared about Luke, why didn’t you just tell him months ago what was going on with you?”

  Christina had asked herself that question a thousand times. Her other life had been a secret for so long, the thought of sharing it with anyone other than Jada seemed impossible.

  “I’m not sure. I guess I just don’t want any negative vibes circling me. When people don’t understand something, they tend to shoot you down.”

  “I know I promised to keep this secret, but honestly, I don’t see what the big deal is. So you have another life. So what? I kinda get why you haven’t told the family, but why not Luke? Is it that you don’t trust him?”

  “At the time I was still getting to know him.” The more she thought about it, the more she realized that she was making everything harder than it needed to be. “In hindsight I wish I would have just told him.”

  “He’s a lawyer. Couldn’t you have just given him a dollar and hired him? I think at that point, everything would have fallen under some client confidentiality thing.”

  Christina laughed. Leave it to Jada to come up with something like that. “I’ll have to keep that in mind if ever he gives me a chance to make things right between us.”

  “So are you going to tell the family soon? You don’t want them to hear from someone else.”

  “Yeah, I know. I guess I’m just afraid they’ll judge me.”

  “They might, but you’re a grown ass woman. Who cares what people think?”

  “Honestly? I do.” She had told her sister that she didn’t care what others thought, but deep in her heart, she did care. “I don’t want Grampa to be disappointed in me.”

  “Oh please. If he can get over Toni being arrested or get over all the nonsense that I’ve been a part of, he can deal with your stuff.”

  “Yeah … maybe.”

  Chapter Five

  Sitting in his office, Luke took out his cell phone and pulled up a picture he had taken of Christina during her last visit to New York. Despite being angry at her, he couldn’t bring himself to delete the photo. After seeing her three days ago, he couldn’t stop thinking about her. Just when he thought he had moved on – bam. She shot back into his life like a meteor plummeting to earth, leaving a trail of her lust-inducing scent.

  He tapped his cell phone screen, increasing the size of the photo and stared into eyes that had enraptured him from day one. And that smile. God he had missed her smile. When they were dating, the highlight of his evening after a tough day in court was seeing Christina. Either he would go home to her when she visited or they would Skype and talk well into the night.

  Frustration pumped through his veins as he stifled a groan. There had to be a way to get her out of his system. He wanted a simple life, and whatever she was hiding, was probably anything but simple.

  He glanced up when he heard a soft knock at his opened office door.

  “Are you ready for me?” Robin Drake, his paralegal asked. The suggestiveness of her words matched the seductive smile on her lips.

  Luke gave her a once over wondering how she managed to get away with dressing like she was going partying with her girlfriends – thin blouse, short skirt, stilettos and all.

  He waved her in. “Sure, we can meet now.” He shoved his cell phone back into his pocket. Not sure what he was going to do about Christina, he knew if he ever wanted to get some sleep again, he had to do something. Thinking about her all day and dreaming about her at night was starting to take its toll.

  Robin caught his attention when she made a production of pulling the guest chair in front of his desk back a few inches. She lowered her fit body and crossed her long legs.

  “Where would you like to start?”

  Luke ignored the sultriness of her voice and pulled a pile of files in front of him. “Jason Lake. I’ll need to talk to Gary regarding that case.” Days after Luke had started with the firm, Gary had given him several cases that he’d been overseeing, claiming that most of them just needed some follow-up. Not only did they need follow-up, there were two that Gary hadn’t even started. The attorney had barely interviewed the clients. “There’s not enough evidence to prove that Deluxe Construction did anything wrong. Unless Gary hasn’t given me everything. So let’s hold off on that one.”

  Luke pulled out the third file in his pile and handed it to Robin. “I’m not working with Mr. Hardy. There’s no way I can work with that man for the next two years with his attitude. And it will take at least that long and an infinite stream of funds to prove his claim. After our conversation last week, he won’t be surprised that I turned down the case.”

  There was a time when Luke would take almost every case that came across his desk, but those days were long gone.

  For the next twenty minutes, they went over a few more cases. When deciding to leave criminal law, he wasn’t sure what or where he’d practice. His biggest concern was that any other type of law wouldn’t hold his interest. Though some days he missed the intensity that came with taking on murder cases, this slower pace wasn’t all bad.

  “Is there anything else I can do for you?”

  Luke slowly lifted his head from the file in front of him, his eyebrow cocked at the sensual tone of his paralegal’s question. At the rate she was going, they were definitely going to have to have the talk. The talk where he told her he wasn’t interested in anything outside of a working relationship. Robin, a pretty red head with flawless skin and too tight clothes had been making suggestive comments to him since the day he started. It wasn’t so much the comments or the questions, but more so the way she phrased them. Every question she asked sounded like a proposition and spoken with a seductive tone. A tone that would make any red-blooded man stand at attention. But Luke had had just about enough.

  “I’ll also need everything you can find on the owners of the Pearson Corporation. I mean everything. Bank information, cell phone records. If they’re married, children - everything.”

  “No problem. Anything for you.” She scribbled on her notepad.

  “Oh and can you finish your report on the Hudson case by Friday? I want to make sure we’re ready to present the information to the client next week.”

  His gaze fell to her legs. How many times had she crossed and recrossed her legs causing her skirt to rise and show more leg than should be allowed in a professional environment? He would admit, she was a beautiful woman, but he wasn’t interested. She might have garnered his attention, but there was only one woman who ever made him want to throw caution to the wind and try something he ha
d never tried – being in a committed relationship.

  He set his pen down and sat back in the seat. Propping his elbow on the arm of his office chair, he rubbed his forehead. Thinking of Christina was driving him nuts. Robin offered a momentary distraction, but her antics just made him long for Christina that much more. Problem was, any chance they might have had at reconciling had been shot to hell thanks to him. He could have handled their run-in better. Actually, any other behavior from him would have been better than making her think that he didn’t still care. Heck, he more than cared and that’s what scared the hell out of him.

  His phone vibrated and chirped, signaling a text message. Before he could pull the device from his pocket, Robin cleared her throat. He knew he was tired, but rarely did he zone out to the point of forgetting she was sitting in front of him.

  She stood and leaned over the front of his desk, giving him a clear view of her lacy pink bra. His gaze lingered there for a hot second before lifting his eyes to meet hers.

  “It’s almost lunch time. Would you like to eat out?”

  Luke had spent most of his career reading body language, as well as in between the lines. Though she asked the question innocently enough, the look in her green eyes and the seductive smile on her ruby red lips, said otherwise.

  “If you value your job Ms. Drake, I suggest you start wearing attire that’s befitting of a professional environment.” The smile slipped from her lips, and she stood straighter, adjusting her low-cut blouse. “Also, I’m not sure how things work with the other attorneys you support, but whatever you’re offering, I’m not interested.”

  “I … I don’t know what you mean.” She fidgeted with the pen in her hand.

  Luke stood and smoothed down his Versace tie. “I think you do.” Not wanting his frankness to come back and bite him in the ass, he added, “You’re an excellent paralegal, and I like working with you professionally. I wouldn’t want there to be any misunderstanding that would hurt our working relationship.”

  She nodded and attempted a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “I wouldn’t want that either. I’ll take care of these items,” she mumbled and lifted the files from his desk. She started to say more but seemed to think better of it and left his office.

  After she had gone, Luke sighed and dropped back down into his seat. Every day he’d been questioning his decision to relocate. Between Robin, Gary, and the office as a whole, some days he wondered if he had made the right decision.

  His cell phone vibrated again, reminding him that he hadn’t checked the first message he had received before addressing Robin.

  Digging the phone from the interior pocket of his suit jacket, he tapped the screen. His heart leaped around in his chest just as it did whenever he nailed a closing argument in court.

  Christina.

  Staring down at his cell, he frowned trying to figure out what he was looking at on the screen. “What the …” An image of what appeared to be a picture of a lung covered the screen, followed by a similar image. There was no doubt that these were diseased lungs, considering the dark discoloration of the organ.

  His phone vibrated again, but this time with a message.

  Keep smoking & this is what ur lungs r going 2 look like. As u told me, I care about … your safety.

  Well, damn.

  He sat staring at the photos and then her message. A smile crept across his lips, and he chuckled. Talk about making a point. She had often voiced her dislike of his habit, but this was the first time she’d added images to express her point.

  A warm sensation flowed through his body. Apparently, they’d been thinking about each other.

  He laid his cell on top of a file folder without responding to the message, his fingers tapping on the desk. He was down to one cigarette a day, usually having one right after work. Knowing he needed to give them up and doing it was one of the hardest things he’d ever tried accomplishing, but right now, he needed to figure out what to do about Christina. On second thought, there was nothing to figure out. He wanted to see her. It was time he stopped pretending he didn’t. But first he owed her an apology for the way he had walked away the other day. When what he wanted to do was pull her into his arms and cover her mouth with his. Kissing her had once been his favorite pastime. Hell, anything with her was his favorite pastime.

  He picked up his cell phone and tapped against the screen.

  Thanks. I appreciate your concern. Need something to distract me from the smokes though.

  Minutes ticked by and just as he started to wonder if she would respond, a text came through.

  Is that right?

  He grinned, enjoying their banter. That’s correct. Any ideas?

  Yeah, one.

  Okay, I’ll bite. And what’s that?

  Yoga.

  Luke threw his head back and laughed. She knew good and damn well yoga wasn’t an option. There’s been only one thing that distracted him from wanting a smoke. Okay, maybe two things, but they both involved one person.

  Christina “CJ” Jenkins.

  Instead of texting her, he dialed her number.

  “Hello.” She answered on the first ring.

  “Hey.” Luke had never had a problem talking to women or going after what he wanted. Until now. Until Christina. Everything about this woman turned him on and threw him off his game. He wanted her, but the one thing he couldn’t tolerate – being lied to. He had always been slow to trust. To know she had lied to him on more than one occasion, still didn’t sit well with him. However, she had somehow bulldozed her way into his heart and now held a certain amount of power that no other woman had ever come close to possessing. And this scared him to death.

  “Luke?”

  “Yeah, I’m here. I was just …” His words were lodged in his throat, surprising the hell out of him. He had spent his adult life, arguing some of the most grueling cases, yet at that moment, words escaped him. Rubbing the back of his neck, he knew what he needed to do, but apologizing never came easy for him. Heck, he couldn’t remember the last time he had expressed regret to anyone for anything, but he did what he should have done days ago. “Look, I’m sorry about the other day. I was a total ass.”

  “Yeah … you were.” She chuckled, and Luke felt a smile form on his lips. “But, I think you were entitled. I’m the one who caused this strain between us.” She might have been the one who started them in the wrong direction, but he knew shutting the door on their relationship was all him.

  “It takes two and I know I’m not the most understanding or the easiest person to talk to, but …” he shrugged as if she could see him, “I am who I am. You were right the other night when you said we needed to talk. Can we hook up tonight or tomorrow?”

  “I’d like that. How about tonight? Do you want to stop by my place?”

  Luke was barely able to rein in his libido after seeing her the other night. If he went to her place, he had no doubt where things would end up. Christina had been the first woman he’d ever met whose sexual appetite was as intense as his and intimacy had never been a problem between them. He wanted her. He wanted her so bad his body ached just thinking about the last time they were together in that way.

  “I’m not sure meeting at your place is a good idea.”

  After a long pause, she said, “Actually, it’ll be better if we talked in private and there’s something I need to show you … here, at my place. Maybe we can start here and then if you want, we can leave and go somewhere else.” When Luke didn’t respond, she continued. “Luke, nothing will happen, that you don’t want to happen.”

  Yeah, that’s what he was afraid of. He wanted it to happen, and he was sure it would happen whether they intended on it happening or not.

  “How about we go out to eat or maybe have a drink and then see what happens afterward.” Being out in public would give them a chance to get reacquainted and force him to keep his hands and lips off of her.

  An hour later, Luke sat across from Christina trying not to stare at her.
Not only did she look incredibly sexy, she hadn’t given him a hard time about changing his mind and suddenly wanting to talk. Instead, she readily agreed to meet him and was sitting across from him as if he hadn’t slighted her days ago.

  His gaze raked over her while she talked on her cell phone, giving her sister, Peyton, information regarding a job. Dressier than usual, tonight she wore a low-cut, white sleeveless blouse showing off well-toned arms and flat abs. His shaft had leaped to attention when she had walked into the bar looking sexier than he had ever seen her. She was already the total package but swathed in a seductive outfit, she was like a Christmas present begging to be unwrapped. The fitted black skirt that molded over her shapely hips and stopped just above her knees, with a wide black belt that emphasized her narrow waist, had him glancing away to keep from salivating.

  Luke wondered if what he felt the other night upon seeing Christina had been a fluke. The way his mouth had gone dry and how his body had come alive when his hand had made contact with the small of her back. The electric charge that shot up his arm that night was almost his undoing. And then there was the quiver that had flitted around in his gut, that hadn’t let up until she was safely behind her closed door. She had stirred a longing within him that he struggled to contain and tonight was no different.

  He lifted the glass of Scotch to his lips hoping the smoothness of the liquid would tap down his growing need to hold her, to see if her body still responded to his touch. Who knew one woman could shake him up like this? Never one for dating exclusively, Christina had been his first real relationship. Luke worked so much that he hadn’t realized his life was missing anything – not until Christina had come along and shook up his world. He quickly remembered why he didn’t do relationships. When they parted ways, it was as if he had lost a part of himself. He never wanted to experience that type of pain again. He had already lost his parents, the people who had meant the world to him. No way would he allow his heart to be ripped out of his chest again. Yet … here he was thinking about giving this relationship crap another shot.