“So tell me about Carson,” he says, his voice low.
And…I’m back in hell.
“What do you want to know?” I slurp down the noodles and frown at him.
“How do you know him?”
I suck down some more noodles before setting the bowl back down. “He worked for my father. Carson was CFO of Dresser Holdings.”
Understanding washes over him. “I’m sorry about your father then, Miss Dresser.”
Bitter tears well in my eyes but I quickly blink them away. “Thank you, Judge.”
He reaches forward and pats my knee. I’ve known him all of an hour and he’s touched me more than I’ve allowed anyone in the last few months. I’m not even weirded out by his affectionate nature, which surprises me. I don’t like people. Especially men. And here I am cozied up in a cabin with the judge who presided over my hated ex-boyfriend’s case as if we’re best buds.
“Max.”
“What?”
“Max Rowe. You don’t have to call me Judge.” His lips quirk up on one side. Sexy. Endearing. Flirtatious. It’s been so long since anyone has flirted with me in a harmless way. In a way that I don’t feel they’re out to get me or to get inside my pants.
“You look like a Max,” I say, a small smile escaping.
My smile seems to infect him because he beams at me. Max Rowe is beautiful when he smiles. Heat floods through me and I suddenly wish I had something cold to drink.
“He hurt you.” His words come out as a statement and we both sober up. When his thumb brushes across my scarred cheekbone, I close my eyes and relish the tender touch.
“So many times.”
When his thumb brushes across my bottom lip, I open my eyes in surprise and find myself snared in his intense stare. “How could anyone want to hurt you?” His brows furrow together as if he’s genuinely confused by this notion.
I’m overcome with emotion and a choked sob escapes me. His kindness and affection draws me in. I crave it. After having been denied it for so long, I want to cling to it. As if sensing my need, he wraps his arms around me to draw me in for a hug. I meet him halfway and then some as I move into his lap, my legs straddling his waist so I can get closer. He strokes my hair in a sweet way as I cry against his neck. Our hearts are pounding in our chests that are pressed together.
“Shhh,” he coos. “You’re safe now.”
And I feel it down to my bones.
This feeling isn’t one I’m accustomed to.
Always running and hiding and evading Carson while somehow trying to hold on to what shreds of my old life that are still within reach.
With my lips hovering over his flesh, I blurt out my sob story. One that tells of a young woman who fell hopelessly in love with her father’s employee. A woman who allowed this man to control her every word and action. She fell into his trap and never could seem to claw her way out. He destroyed everything in her world, including her father. Ripped apart her father’s legacy from the inside out as he swindled money from the company and brought it to its knees. I tell Max a story of a girl who had to find her father blue and bloated from an overdose because he couldn’t take the fact that his company had been driven into the ground. And the perpetrator got away scot-free because he was well-loved in the community and really good at hiding his trail of destruction. Behind closed doors, he was a monster. A rapist. A man who hit his woman because he could. It wasn’t until the trial where he was found not guilty that she found the courage to run from him.
She’s been running ever since.
He squeezes me tighter. I haven’t told anyone about Carson. They wouldn’t believe me anyways. But this man does believe me. I feel it down to my toes as he strokes my hair and promises justice.
Eventually, I stop crying and his hands come to rest at my ass. It’s far from sexual but my body becomes aware of our nearness. The attraction I’d felt earlier flares back to life and my body seems to overheat. My nerves thrum with excitement. I want him to move his palms up under my shirt and touch my flesh.
You never realize how much you need to be touched until you haven’t been. Now, it’s all I can think about.
“Thank you for believing me. For saving me from him tonight…” I trail off and shudder. Had Max not intervened, Carson would have hurt me again. Like always. Each time I fear it will be the last. One day he won’t be able to hold back and he’ll end me. I just know it.
Max’s powerful hands thread into my hair and he pulls me slightly away from him so he can look at me. His green eyes blaze with possessiveness. But it isn’t a need to overpower like it was with Carson. With Max, his eyes seem to scream that he’ll do whatever it takes to protect me. I don’t understand this connection between us—foreign and strong—but I like it.
“I believed you that day in the courtroom and I didn’t even know your story,” he says, his eyes dropping to my mouth.
Kiss me.
My thought comes so suddenly, I’m embarrassed by it.
I lick my lips, in a way hoping it will entice him. I’m disappointed when he drops his palms down to my hips. But for once, I’m brave. I’m not afraid. Leaning forward, I brush my lips against his soft ones.
“Dorian…” he mutters against my mouth, his grip on my hips tightening. “You’ve had a long night.”
I tentatively cup his scruffy cheeks in my palms and deepen our kiss. When our tongues brush against each other, he lets out a pleased groan. It gives me the courage to kiss him harder. My desperation bleeds into our kiss. I sense his own neediness as his thumbs rub circles over my shirt just below my hips and close enough to my sex to have me mewling. He’s hard beneath me and I can tell he’s rather large. To be sure, I adjust my body so that I can rub against him. This makes both of us hiss in pleasure. His grip on me becomes almost brutal as he guides my hips so that I’m grinding against him.
Our kiss doesn’t last long because just as soon as it’s started, he’s pulling me away.
“I’m sorry,” he says, his brows furrowing.
I can’t stop staring at his strong, masculine mouth. Wondering what the five o’clock shadow would feel like between my thighs. Heat creeps up my neck giving my dirty thoughts away.
“Sorry for what?”
Instead of answering, he’s gentle as he picks me up and plops me down beside him. “Want to help roll out the sofa?” I’m disappointed but give him a nod.
I stand and together we move the table and pull out the couch into a bed. We put the bedding on it and I’m just crawling onto it when I notice him making a pallet on the floor.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Max,” I tell him, pointing at the bed beside me. “We’re adults. You don’t have to sleep on the floor to protect my virtue.”
His shoulders relax and he flashes me another one of his handsome grins. “I am too old to be getting on the floor.”
“Old?” I snort as I slip under the covers. “Hardly.”
He unbuttons his dress shirt and tosses it on the chair. The wife beater he’s wearing is molded to his body. His belt slips from the hoops with a swoosh that has me shivering as more dirty thoughts ripple through me. He leaves his slacks on much to my dismay.
“Seriously. How old are you anyway?”
Embarrassment causes his face to redden slightly. “Fifty-two.” His palm rubs at the back of his neck giving me a delicious view of his veiny forearm that’s muscular and tanned. When he looks up at me under his dark lashes, a shy, boyish grin on his handsome face, my heart rate quickens. “See? Old.”
Same age as my dad. Color me shocked. He’s far more built than Carson, who is fifteen years his junior, ever was. Max is like Hugh Jackman—talk about getting better with age. “You look good.”
He jerks his head my way and smiles. “Thanks.” His mouth twitches as if he wants to say more but he refrains and turns off all the lights. The moment the bed dips and his manly scent envelops me, I crave to touch him.
Why am I such a creep with this man?
There’s mutual attraction here though. I’m not imagining it. I certainly didn’t imagine his tongue in my mouth and how hard he was when we kissed.
I start to ask him if I can scoot closer but then I harness the same bravery I’d latched onto earlier. Instead of asking, I snuggle up against him. My palm slides up his chest and I rest my thigh on top of his. He doesn’t push away but instead positions me so that my head rests on his shoulder and his arm is wrapped around me.
Safe.
The word pops up inside of me again, suddenly and without warning.
Max Rowe isn’t a monster like Carson.
“Tomorrow, I’m going to make some calls,” he says, his voice low and velvety in the darkness.
My heart patters. “Yeah?”
“It pisses me off this asshole has hurt you and continues to hurt you. I’m going to make sure we nail him for something. Sheriff McMahon is a good buddy of mine. I’ll call him first.”
Hope blossoms inside of me. “Thank you.”
“I’m going to help you get your life back, Dorian.”
CHAPTER 3
Judge
When you live in the same town for as long as I have, you know people. You make alliances and friends in all sorts of places. As soon as I started sniffing around, I discovered Carson Jennings wasn’t exactly as loved as he outwardly portrayed.
He ruined Dresser Holdings.
Singlehandedly.
But apparently, he also did some shady shit at his own father’s company. Old man Jennings fired his own son. It was kept hush-hush but some digging produced all kinds of fruitful information. Because I know people.
Sheriff and policemen. Attorneys. Businessmen.
All my friends.
All men who are loyal and have integrity.
All men who bend over backwards to help Judge Rowe.
I’m satisfied as I drink some coffee I managed to dig out of Dane’s cabinet. This morning, when the sun came up, I got to work. Dorian, the poor, exhausted woman, slept dead to the world. She looked as though she could sleep for days.
Sleeping in the same bed with her proved to be difficult. I haven’t had a woman in my bed since Evie passed. After over a decade of being alone, it felt nice to have the hot breath of a woman against my neck while she slept softly.
I lift my gaze from my mug to regard her sleeping form. Dorian is drop dead gorgeous in an understated kind of way. Her blonde hair is silky and this morning I selfishly ran my fingers through it before I slipped out of bed. She’s tiny but underneath her skittish nature, I can tell she’s fierce. That motherfucker took and took from her. I just want to help her get it back.
She moans in her sleep and rolls to her back. The oversized T-shirt has been pulled up her body so that the bottom swells of her breasts are revealed. They’re so smooth and perfect, I find myself mesmerized by them. Put under a damn spell just by looking at a small portion of her naked breasts. My cock hardens in my slacks. It’s pure fucking torture being cooped up in this cabin with her. Last night, when we kissed, I’d felt as though my chest was going to explode. She lit me up from the inside. I haven’t felt that way in so long that it took me by complete surprise.
But as much as I want the sexy young woman, she’s not in the right headspace and I’m in no position to start something with her. I can help her, sure. I certainly don’t need to fuck her though. I’m not the kind of guy who screws just to get my dick wet. I’d fall in way too deep and get too damned hurt when she had the sense to go find a man closer to her own age.
“Not a morning person?” she asks, her voice raspy with sleep. She hasn’t made any moves to cover her breasts. I drag my gaze to her half-lidded eyes.
“I was just thinking I’d be one helluva morning person if this was my view each day,” I say, a grin turning up one corner of my lips. Okay, so maybe a little flirting is fine.
She beams at me. “My view isn’t so bad either. Got any more of that coffee?”
While I make her some, she spends a few minutes in the bathroom. When she exits, her hair has been smoothed out and her face washed clean. Without her makeup, she seems younger. Maybe even Olivia’s age.
“How old are you?” I question.
“Just turned twenty-two last month.”
I hand her the coffee. She inhales the aroma before sipping it.
“Why does it taste so good this morning?” she asks, her eyes closed in pleasure.
“I’m kind of a freak about coffee,” I admit, a sheepish grin on my lips.
Her eyes fly to mine. “Me too. I wanted the Starbucks job but apparently, I’m overqualified.” She snorts as if she has trouble believing that.
“What are you qualified to do?” I’m genuinely curious to know the answer.
Her brows crinkle together as she rests the mug on her knee. “Business. Management. Finance. My degree was in business because I’d wanted to help my father run his company. But…” She bites on her bottom lip and I can tell it’s to keep from crying. “But it didn’t work out that way. It’s hard to keep a solid, good job when all you’re doing is running from your past.” A frustrated sigh escapes her.
“Dorian…” I scrub at my face. There are so many things I want to do to help her. I’ve never wanted to help anyone as much as I do right now. Maybe it makes me desperate or a freak. And normally, I’d keep my mouth shut because I have an image to uphold. But with this girl baring all her dark secrets to me, I feel compelled to tell her exactly what’s on my mind. “I think you should stay with me until we sort this out. I have the means to protect you and…”
Her blue eyes light up with such a hopeful expression that it has me blurting out my next words without hesitation.
“I could always use an intern.”
She blinks in surprise, her mouth opening and closing for a moment before she speaks again. “What exactly does an intern do for a judge?”
I rub at the back of my neck. “Honestly?”
She nods, a cute smile on her lips.
“I have no fucking idea.”
We both laugh but the hope has dimmed in her bright eyes. She thinks I’m fucking with her I guess.
“I don’t know,” I explain, “but we’ll figure it out. I’ve been asked a few times if I’d take an intern and I had never been interested. Usually, I pass the opportunities on to other employees and judges at the courthouse. Normally, I don’t have the time nor the patience.”
Her back straightens as she listens.
“But there are some things I do need help with. You’d have to pass a drug test and a background check. Sign a non-disclosure agreement. And of course, HR will want to confirm your education and degree.”
“Of course,” she says, excitement in her voice. “I can do this.” Then her features fall. “I’ll still need my night job though. Internships are unpaid usually.”
I shake my head. “You’ll get paid. I’ll see to it that you do. You can tell Miles you’re done. It didn’t look like you enjoyed that job too much anyway.”
Her lip curls up. “I hated it. How do you know Miles anyway?”
This is something I don’t want to talk about. He’s family now but it doesn’t mean I have to like him. “I see him around. What do you think?” I ask, changing the subject. “Start tomorrow?”
She beams at me and she’s positively beautiful. I don’t know why I’m so enraptured by this woman. I need to get a handle on myself though. Especially if she’s going to work with me. The kiss was fun but it can’t happen again. Neither can sleeping with her.
“You really want me to come stay with you? You don’t think he’ll find me there?” She’s already transforming from the battered and frightened woman. It’s beautiful to watch. The way her shoulders are no longer hunched. How her eyes shimmer with anticipation.
“I have multiple spare rooms. My daughter Sophia is kind of a bear but I don’t think it’ll be a problem,” I assure her. Sophia is going through so much lately and I don’t know how to help her. She claims sh
e’s fine but ever since her softball accident, which left her hip all messed up, she hasn’t been the same. “We should probably swing by your place and grab some things.”
She sets her coffee down on the end table and climbs off the bed, before walking over to me. I’m taken by surprise when she leans forward and kisses my forehead. “Thank you.”
While she gathers her uniform and we tidy up the cabin, I can’t help but want to tell her the same. Thank you, Dorian. Fire burns in my chest and purpose thrums through me. It’s been years since I’ve felt this alive.
* * *
“Have you always lived here?” My shoulders are tense as we walk through the apartment complex. It’s on the crummy side of town and the people loitering about are questionable, even at this time of morning. The place is rundown and weeds overrun the cracks in the sidewalks. She’ll be much fucking safer at my house.
“For the past two months. They let me pay my rent in cash to keep me out of the system. Apparently, that isn’t unusual for them. Aside from the occasional creeper offering to give me a good time and the couple above me who have loud, strange sex, it’s been fine.” She walks up to a door and hesitates. I drag my attention from the apartment next door that has a dirty used diaper sitting on the welcome mat.
The moment I realize her door is ajar, I step in front of her. “Stay back,” I order, a low growl in my throat.
She nods rapidly at me, the terrified woman from before back in place.
I push through the door and my heart sinks. The place has been trashed. Holes punched in walls. Her couch sliced to shreds. Dishes broken all over the kitchen floor.
“Fuck,” I curse under my breath.
“What—” A whine in her throat lets me know she sees the destruction.
“Stay here. Let me make sure nobody is here.” I stalk through the place opening closet doors and looking under her bed, but nobody is here. In her bedroom, all of her clothes have been yanked from her closet and drawers. Everything has been shredded. Whoever did this was a fucking asshole. My bet is on her stalker abusive ex. “It’s safe,” I call out.
Drawn to Him: A Romance Collection Page 20