Page 61 of Legal Seduction
“And I can’t have him looking like that,” Stone said, “not when I have a jury trial coming up.”
She wasn’t certain why or how Simon looked would affect Stone’s case, but she didn’t ask that. Instead, she asked, “What makes you think his not eating or sleeping has anything to do with me?”
Ronan stepped closer to her and studied her face. “Are you eating or sleeping?”
The dark circles beneath her eyes and thinness of her face provided the evidence he was looking for. She didn’t have to answer his question.
But then he asked another. “Do you miss him as much as he’s missing you?”
She snorted. “I doubt he’s missing me.”
“Why do you doubt that?” Stone asked.
“Because Simon Kramer goes after what he wants,” she reminded them. “And if he wanted me, he’d be here instead of the three of you.”
“That’s what makes you different than everyone else,” Ronan said as if he’d come to a sudden realization of his own. “You know him. You know him probably as well as we do, and we grew up with him.”
Again she wasn’t following the lawyer. These guys were brilliant of course, like Simon, but she wasn’t stupid. “Yes, I know him, so I know if he was missing me, he’d be here—charming me back into his bed.”
Trevor laughed. “It’s almost eerie how well she knows him.”
“Yes,” Stone agreed. “That’s why she’s scared the hell out of him like no one else ever has.”
Ronan nodded. “And we came up against some scary guys on the street. But Simon never flinched until now—until you.”
“I don’t understand,” she admitted.
“When I met Simon, he’d been living on the streets for a while already,” Stone said. “He’s a little younger than us. Back then he was a lot smaller than us.”
“And a hell of a lot prettier,” Trevor added.
“Which put him in great danger living on the streets,” Stone said. “From other street kids and from adults looking to take sick advantage of runaways like him.”
She shuddered, thinking of what could have happened to the man she...
She what?
Before she could answer herself, Ronan was picking up the story. “But Simon wasn’t the least bit scared,” he said. “He owned those streets and could outsmart everyone else on them.”
“Including you,” Stone added the verbal jab.
“You, too,” Ronan said.
“And he, younger and smaller than us, took care of us,” Trevor said.
And she had her answer. She loved him.
“Now we’re trying to take care of him,” Stone said.
“But I don’t understand why he won’t come to me himself,” she said, “if he’s really missing me.” He obviously didn’t return her feelings.
“He’s scared,” Ronan said.
“First time I’ve ever seen him like this,” Stone said. “Maybe it’s because he cares more about you than he ever has anyone else. I don’t know what it is, but he’s scared.”
“I hate seeing him like this,” Ronan said and all his frustration was back in the gruffness of his voice. It was obviously killing him that he couldn’t help his friend. Was he really the monster Muriel thought he was? “And I think you’re the only one who can give us back the old Simon.”
That was why he was here. She doubted he was convinced that she’d had nothing to do with the information Muriel had received. But for his friend, he was willing to put aside his anger and animosity toward her.
She had always wondered how four alpha dogs worked together without killing each other. It was because they all loved and respected each other. And because Simon was the alpha in charge. His being scared seemed to be scaring them, as well.
But they had no idea what true fear was. She did; it filled her now. It filled her because she knew she loved Simon Kramer. And she wasn’t sure what the hell to do about her feelings or about him.
