To All a Good Night

by Donna Kauffman, Jill Shalvis

  Slow and deliberate, he lowered her until her back touched the floor and his arms surrounded her. His fingertips caressed her cheek as his lips tasted her soft skin. Never breaking contact, his mouth hovered over hers, deepening his touch with each kiss.

  When he lifted his head, her lips were puffy and red and her eyes soft and loving. “Hi.”

  “Hi,” she said with a rough, seductive voice.

  “Now do you believe I like you?”

  She treated him to one of her sly smiles. “I’m starting to.”

  “Are your ready to try the pizza?” He continued to hold her. He realized he would be happy to hold her all evening.

  “Depends.”

  “On the toppings?”

  “On whether you’re going to tell me how you plan to steal the tape back?”

  “Not yet.” He placed a quick, hard kiss on her mouth. “But I am going to eat something.”

  Her shoulders fell. “That’s it?”

  He sat back up and brought her with him. “Not just food. I’ll probably have some more wine, too.”

  “You talk about desire and kiss me, and now you’re ready to eat?”

  “I’m a complex guy.”

  “And a hungry one, apparently.”

  “Now you’re getting it.”

  7

  N atalie made it the whole way to three o’clock the next day before seeing Spence. Not that she’d planned the time away or that he had the decency to stay out of her head in the interim. Oh, no. By the time she’d left his house the evening before, she had eaten a piece of pizza and two bowls of salad and not heard one word about the tape.

  But she did get two more kisses. One quick and sweet, while she put her dishes in the sink. Another long and lingering after he walked her to her car and clicked her seat belt closed.

  He had her hot and hanging on the edge. No man had ever bothered her this way. This man should not have any effect on her. He was way out of her league. Like, in a different ball park on another planet.

  Nothing from their past suggested an attraction. If he wanted a conquest or subconscious shot at Charlie, he could look somewhere else.

  But none of that explained why she stood outside his office door at two-fifty-nine with a gift in one hand, and a question on her tongue. The confusing feelings for him bouncing around inside her did not bode well either.

  “Go on inside.” Sue sat at her desk outside Spence’s office and made a shooing motion with her fingers.

  “The door’s closed.”

  “That because of Charlie and his…well, forget that. Spence won’t mind seeing you.”

  Charlie. Nat blamed Charlie for all of this. Without dating him, without that damned tape, she would not have come to Spence. They would have continued with their antagonistic, reluctant-respect-type of relationship but never ventured into kissing. Then she would be able to think of something other than kissing Spence. An impossible thing to accomplish at the moment.

  “I can come back later,” Nat said.

  “Nonsense.” Sue hit the phone intercom. “Boss? Natalie is here for you.”

  Sue sent her a smug smile when Spence said to send her in. “See?”

  “We don’t even like each other, you know.” Nat said the words just to make sure Sue did not get the wrong idea.

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Really.”

  Sue stared at the gift in Nat’s hands. “Sure looks like you feel something other than dislike for each other.”

  “We’re working on a project.”

  “Then get inside and get to it.” Sue went back to staring at her computer screen.

  Nat refused to explain it all again. It would not help anyway. Sue would think whatever she wanted to think, just like the clerks at that courthouse holiday party had thought whatever they’d wanted—which was that Nat had ventured a bit too close to Spence. She’d gotten the hint from the scowls this morning and the fact that two of the reports she’d filed were now missing somewhere in the loose papers of the courthouse.

  “He’s waiting,” Sue mumbled without looking away from the screen.

  “Stop pushing me.”

  “Just doing my job. And, no need to knock. He knows you’re coming.”

  Despite Sue’s comment, Nat tapped once on the door before opening it. Spence sat at his desk, smiling and watching the door. Dressed in his dark suit and bright red Christmas tie, he looked anything but serious. And a bit too delicious for her to ignore.

  She walked up to his desk and dumped the wrapped box on it. “Here.”

  “What’s this?”

  “A Christmas gift.”

  “Christmas is next week.”

  She wondered if it would kill the holiday mood to slap that silly grin right off his face. “I’m early. Sue me.”

  “And a bit grumpy, I see.”

  A state that was totally his fault. A bit of touching and kissing and he had her insides all balled up and twisted.

  “I was going to give it to you next week, but I needed something to lighten your mood now.” A bribe of sorts.

  “You have my attention.” He fingered the big white bow on the red package. “Because?”

  “A couple of reasons.”

  “Give me one.”

  She unloaded the worst. “I had to hit the Cassidy kid with a VOP this morning.”

  Spence’s hand froze on top of the package. “You violated his probation the week before Christmas?”

  And she felt like crap about the situation. “I didn’t have a choice. He got caught with drugs again.”

  “Damn it, Nat. The kid’s home life is a mess. Couldn’t you give him a break? Maybe issue a warning or come up with something less severe?”

  He could not have surprised her more if he’d jumped out the window and tried to fly. “Since when do you get all emotional about a client’s personal situation?”

  “That’s not fair.”

  “Spence, I’ve asked you a hundred times to help with clients before they go too far and land in trouble a second, third, or even fourth time. You always tell me that they’re grown-ups and have made their choices. That we can’t hold their hands forever.”

  “This is different. Cassidy is a kid with an addiction problem.”

  “Which is why he’ll be back in a live-in program before he loses complete control. Christmas or not, I had no choice.” Which was the truth. She debated putting off the inevitable, but the boy needed help fast.

  Spence acted as if he was going to say something. Instead, he closed his mouth and sat back in his chair. For what felt like hours, he sat in silence.

  “Fine,” he finally said, through clenched teeth.

  “Spence—”

  “Let me see the gift.” He grabbed the package and tore off the bow.

  “Good thing it’s not alive.”

  “Sorry.” He gentled his touch.

  He got the paper off and flipped open the top of the box to lift out a wineglass.

  “There are four. Didn’t seem right to only buy one since I couldn’t find a match to the one I broke.”

  “You didn’t have to replace the glass.”

  “I wanted to.”

  “Well, thank you.” His smile returned, a bit strained but still there.

  “You’re welcome.”

  She nibbled on her bottom lip as an awkward quiet filled the room. She refused to ask again. She was standing there. He should just fess up about whatever plan he’d concocted for stealing the tape without her having to beg.

  “Well?” he asked.

  “What?”

  “You haven’t asked me about the tape in the almost ten minutes since you’ve been in my office. That could be a record.”

  She flattened her palms against his desk. “I can be patient.”

  “That is not my experience.”

  “Maybe I was too busy being impressed with your show of compassion for Joe Cassidy.”

  “Whatever you say.”

  “See, I knew it. Y
ou care even though you pretend you don’t.” She clapped her hands in triumph. “You know what that makes you?”

  “A girl?”

  “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that sexist remark.”

  “I can talk louder,” he said.

  So could she. “It makes you a decent guy.”

  He screwed up his face in a look of horror. “That’s a shitty thing to say.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Decent guys never get chicks.”

  “Sorry to ruin your future chick-chasing plans, but it’s true.”

  “Well, hold onto that thought.” He moved the box with the glasses to the credenza behind his desk. “You may not think I’m such a great guy in a second.”

  Now she knew why he’d taken the box out of her reach. So she could not use the glass as a weapon. “You’re not going to help me with the tape.”

  “What?” Confusion crossed his face. “Of course I am. I promised.”

  Relief raced through her with a powerful push. “So?”

  “I’ve decided what I want in return for my help.”

  Time to sit down. She dreaded this moment. “My gratitude?”

  “I was thinking of something more long-term and memorable.”

  “I’m ready.”

  “The tape.”

  “You want my tape?” The idea appalled her. She wanted the tape ripped into little pieces and destroyed by fire.

  “Nope.”

  The relief did not come back but she no longer wanted to push him out the window. “Then what?”

  “I want to see what’s on the tape.”

  Wasn’t that what she’d just said? “I don’t understand.”

  “A private showing.”

  “You’d better be kidding.”

  “You were willing to do…whatever…for Charlie. What I want is to see you.”

  “You’re about to see my fist. Will that satisfy you?”

  “What’s on the tape?”

  “Spence, we’ve been through this.”

  “You expect me to put my safety and ethics on the line. The least you can do is answer a clear-cut question about the tape’s contents.”

  “Okay. Me.”

  “You told me that part already.”

  And she did not want to say anything more, but his argument made sense. She was asking a lot without providing any information. It was just so embarrassing. So stupid.

  “Why in the world are you asking for this?” she asked.

  “Because I want you. I thought I’d made that clear last night.”

  In her view, everything had gotten very muddy last night. “No.”

  “We kissed. You spilled wine. Any of this ringing a bell?”

  “I’m not part of the deal.”

  “This is separate.” He shrugged. “Sort of.”

  “No, this is about getting one up on Charlie.” The realization made her both furious and sad. She’d started opening up, seeing Spence in another way, and the door clamped shut. She felt the loss down to her feet.

  “This doesn’t have anything to do with Charlie.” Spence got up from his chair.

  She was faster. She made it to the door before he could catch her. “Come up with another form of payment.”

  “You’re taking this the wrong way.”

  She held onto the doorknob as if it were the only thing holding her upright. “There isn’t a good way to take it. I’m desperate, but I have my limits. The main one is that you leave me out of your office squabbles.”

  Nat opened the door and rushed past Sue’s desk. She tried to stay calm, but she ended up running to the elevator. She did not want to be friendly or answer questions or engage in mindless chitchat.

  She felt Sue watching and heard Spence’s door opening. All Nat wanted was to be on the elevator and out of the building. She did not see anything or notice anyone.

  Until she stepped in the car and walked right into Charlie.

  8

  S pence stepped out of his office and faced off with Sue. “Where did Natalie go?”

  “She looked upset,” Sue said in an accusing tone.

  “She’s fine.”

  Sue tucked a pen behind her ear. “What did you do to her?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Hmpf. Ever think that could be the problem?”

  He did not have the time to debate his relationship with Nat. He had done enough to screw that up on his own. He wanted to use the tape to show her that her body was beautiful and not something to hide or be ashamed of. Instead, he’d sounded like a letch and had scared her off. Worse, he’d pissed her off.

  “Did she take the elevator?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  Spence took off in the direction of the elevator bank.

  “Charlie is with her,” Sue called after him.

  Spence stopped in mid-stride and turned around. “She left with Charlie?”

  The idea made him furious and sort of sick inside. Not being with him was bad enough; going back to Charlie and his indifferent treatment was worse.

  “That’s not what I said.” Sue took her time making her point.

  “What did you say, then?” He glanced at the elevator. “And make it quick before I miss her.”

  “She got on.”

  “Yeah? And?”

  “Charlie was in there.” Sue lowered her glasses to look at Spence straight on. “Now they’re in there together.”

  “I’ll take the stairs.”

  “Happy to hear you’re finally talking sense.”

  “I was going to call you today,” Charlie said.

  As if she needed another reason to disconnect her telephone. “I’m not there.”

  “Where?”

  “Wherever you were calling.”

  Nat moved to the very front of the glass-walled car and kept her back to Charlie. Being in the confined space with him raised every defensive cell in her body—put them on notice to get ready to fight.

  “You visiting Spence again?”

  “It’s a case, Charlie.”

  “Sure.” Charlie nodded.

  “Believe whatever you want.”

  “Did he invite you there for a meeting? Tell you he had some information for you? That’s how he works, you know.”

  “You’ve got this all wrong.”

  “He starts out subtle. Reels you in. I’ve seen it a million times. He’s smooth, I’ll give him that. Women looking for a bit of attention fall fast.”

  Nat dissected his words. Just last week, the suggestion of her being lonely and desperate would have rung true. She would have taken his comment as a shot at her. Being away from those biting remarks had dulled their impact. She did not understand Spence’s motives, but she knew she was more to him than an ego stroke.

  “Don’t kick yourself. All types of women fall for Spence’s lines. It was inevitable, what with everything going on, that you would take his flirting too personally,” Charlie said.

  She glanced up and saw Charlie’s reflection in the glass. Anyone else would come off as relaxed, slouching against the back wall with his arms folded across his chest. Charlie looked ready to pounce.

  “He uses clients as an aphrodisiac. Talks about them, plants the seed about what a good guy he is, then moves in.” Charlie continued to press his case.

  She knew from experience Spence did not rely on those tricks. The man could seduce and kiss. No need for subterfuge there. So she let Charlie talk. Let him think he was scoring points. When, in reality, he just dug the hole deeper.

  She had to fight off the urge to laugh, or at the very least, smile. For once, Charlie’s words bounced right off her. The syllables did not chip away at her self-esteem or make her feel worthless like they had in the past.

  And it felt great. The progress empowered her, flooded her with a sense of security and self-respect. For the first in a long time, she did not spend every minute with Charlie thinking about her weight or how she looked in an outfit or be on gua
rd about what he might say.

  “It’s scam, but it works for him.” Charlie chuckled as he warmed up to his lame story. “The ladies can’t get enough.”

  Two weeks ago she would have bought into Charlie’s talk. She’d let him do her thinking and believed him when he insinuated she had all these failings that needed fixing.

  Those days were gone.

  She finally understood that Charlie’s big talk and subtle slaps had more to do with how he felt about himself than about other people. “Why do you hate Spence so much?”

  “I don’t.”

  “You have a vendetta.”

  “He’s not who you think he is.” Charlie pushed away from the wall and stood right behind her. His gaze traveled along her neckline and his finger followed.

  She pulled away from his touch. “Charlie. Don’t.”

  “You’re not falling for his lines, are you? You’re smarter than that.”

  All of a sudden she was smart? Interesting. A few more minutes of this and Charlie might actually call her pretty. More than likely he would if he thought he had to in order to win his point.

  “Have I told you how good you look these days?”

  She glanced up at the floor indicator panel and saw she only had two more to go. “Almost never.”

  “Give me another chance, honey.”

  He dropped a kiss on her neck. She shivered, but not from excitement like she did with Spence. No, this was from distaste.

  She’d shared something with Charlie once. Something unhealthy. She did not want to go there again.

  “It’s over.”

  “It doesn’t have to be. We could spend a few nights together. See where we go and how we feel.”

  He wrapped his arms around her waist just as the bell chimed for the ground floor. She tried to step out, but he put his foot in the opening and held her tight.

  “Does Spence make you feel like this?”

  She tried to pry Charlie’s fingers off her. “Let me go.”

  “Babe, he’s using you to get to me.”

  Charlie’d voiced her biggest fear. Her hidden worry. “Spence is a friend.”

  “You don’t want him like you want me.” Charlie kissed her ear, then her neck.