Page 55 of Take the Bait

And yet, she couldn’t find it in her heart to label tonight a mistake. Professionally, it had been a risk. A huge one. Both of them had been sorely tempted to fall into bed with each other again. It had been a near miss with disaster.

But on a personal level, she could only think of Cam as a miracle. No doubt about it, he was a man worth waiting for.

If only he didn’t hold the key to saving her career. And if only revealing that key wouldn’t destroy his career. Particularly because neither of them would be able to forgive the other for taking away the profession they’d each worked so hard to achieve and to become.

How on God’s green earth was she supposed to choose between his professional survival or hers? Worse, how was she supposed to choose between her lifelong passion for law and love?

16

Dani was beyond nervous as she walked into the courtroom to enter Alex’s inexplicable plea. Not only was this her first real hearing by herself in front of a judge, but Cam would be here. By mutual agreement, they hadn’t spoken for the past four days. Not since his late-night visit to her apartment.

It had been a living hell not hearing Cam’s voice every night, not knowing what he was doing with his days, wondering if he was missing her as much as she was missing him. Their only correspondence had been a single professional e-mail to him and his brief, formal reply. She was a wreck.

If she’d been sleeping badly before their stolen kiss, she was sleeping horrifically, now. She’d woken up every night since his surprise visit, halfway orgasmic, reaching for him with empty arms, so frustrated she could scream.

The past few days, she’d thrown herself with gusto into researching Whitney, Marcos & Pinter’s history with women associates. It had been illuminating to say the least. A half-dozen women lawyers sent her signed affidavits testifying to all kinds of behavior by male associates and partners that skated right to the edge of sexual discrimination.

Individually, none of the stories were bad enough to nail WMP with. But taken as a group, a damning picture was forming of the company’s practices.

She’d decided to wait until after Alex’s trial was over to ask Cam outright who the raspy voiced WMP lawyer had been that night at the cocktail party. Hopefully, she would get a chance to do it in bed with him at a moment when he was distracted and would tell her anything she wanted to know.

If, of course, she didn’t die of frustration between now and then. Death by horniness. Now there was a lousy way to go.

The courtroom doors opened behind her and her breath caught as she spied a tall, golden-haired figure striding toward her.

Cam looked magnificent in a crisply tailored, gray pinstripe suit and starched white shirt. Gray pinstripes, huh? Her gaze lifted to his, and his eyes glinted with humor. She tried not to grin back but mostly failed.

She also recognized the tie as the same one he’d been wearing the night he took her to Ma Foulle…and when he took her to bed. She would never forget pulling it from around his neck while he made her scream in pleasure.

“Good morning, Ms. Wellford,” he said politely to her, his eyes so smoking hot with memory of the sex between them she could hardly breathe.

“Good morning, Mr. Townsend.“ Her eyes sparkled wickedly. “Nice tie.”

“Recently it has become my good luck tie.”

Her smile widened.

The side door opened and Alexei Koronov was ushered into the room by a bailiff. He, too, cleaned up well. His dark good looks were dashing in a suit no typical petty criminal could possibly afford.

“Hi, Alex. Any second thoughts about your plea? It’s still not too late to delay this hearing and think about it some more.”

He shot her a withering look.

“Right,” she murmured. She gestured for Alex to stand beside her at the defense table. “Ready to do this?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Alex said grimly.

“All rise,” a bailiff intoned.

Dani caught the sidelong glance Alex threw her as the door behind the judge’s bench opened. Her mental alarm bells clanged as if a four-alarm fire had just ignited in her skull.

Aww, crap.

Alex had something dastardly planned to mess with this hearing.

She should ask for a postponement?—

Too late. Judge Rasmussen emerged from his office and took his place at the bench.

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