Page 22 of Resisting the Lawyer (Dirty Hot Resistance 3)

Maybe this had been the turning point for me which hardened me a little bit.

Back then, Lucas and I had been friendly and he would sometimes flirt with me but the shock of that one single experience had made me stick to friendship and nothing else. Back then, I had a bucket load of confidence and a cheery personality. Bit by bit, that part of me has eroded over these past few months. The incident with Darren, the difficult pregnancy, raising a child alone, it’d taken its toll on me and although I pretend to hold my head high, I sometimes feel like my confidence has taken a beating.

I know Lucas wouldn’t do something like that to me but the trembling fear in my heart isn’t something I can get rid of. I don’t ever want to be so vulnerable again, at any man’s mercy. But then again, Lucas’s desire to take me out, I don’t think much of it. The woman he was interested in is long gone. Now, I’m just playing pretense at being something I’m not.

So, I don’t want to encourage him in any way or form.

But the way he looks at me with a protective gleam in his eyes, the raging fury in his eyes as he gripped my chin today in such a forceful manner, it makes me ponder over whether I’ve gotten the wrong impression of this man over the years. I’d always thought of him as someone jovial, lighthearted. Where had this strong-willed, dominant man come from?

Although I knew he was one of the top lawyers in the country, I’d just never seen him like that. It stunned me actually.

My feelings conflicted, I sip at the whiskey in my hand, one ear tuned towards the baby monitor.

Suddenly, unable to handle it, I stand up abruptly and make my way to the filing cabinet that holds most of my important documents and I take out the contract. My eyes roam over the contents and I growl under my breath before stuffing it back into the drawer. In my haste to get the document out of my sight, I forget to close the drawer completely.

I curse Darren.

I wish I had never met him.

I wish I hadn’t said yes to that one accursed date he’d asked for.

How could I not have said yes?

The man had been charming, funny and he would flirt outrageously. I had been flattered beyond belief when he had asked me out.

Suddenly my mind went back to that night when he had me pressed against his bedroom door, my mind hazy with alcohol. I recall the moment when he had thrust into me roughly and sought only his own pleasure, and I can hear myself pleading with him

to put on a condom.

My legs feel weak and I sink onto the couch. I want nothing more than to scrub the events of that night from my mind.

Darren had cornered me a few days after I had told him that I intended to keep the child. He had backed me into the alley behind the office. The glint of the knife in his hand had frightened me out of my wits and all I could think was that I had to keep my baby safe.

So, I had signed the contract that said that I couldn’t ask him for anything for Sophie. I couldn’t bring the child near him to entice him to take a role in her upbringing. I couldn’t take him to court for child support and I definitely couldn’t reveal to anyone who the child’s father was. I hadn’t understood why he was being so forceful until later when I had been put into the role of the assaulter. How that works or how people were stupid enough to buy that, I still don’t know.

It was after I had put my name and thumbprint on the contract when I’d wondered how many other women have had to sign such a thing.

There had been no one I could have turned to. No one who would have believed that the soft tongued Darren Hall who was so helpful and kind would be capable of this. Instead, Darren had ensured to spread rumors that I had convinced him to sleep with me and lied about being on the pill and now I was trying to manipulate him into paying child support for a baby he never wanted.

At least, that’s the gist of what I’ve become aware of ever since a few of the women in the office took it upon themselves to accuse me of trying to take advantage of the kind hearted Darren.

“Kind-hearted, my ass,” I say, loudly.

In my drunk anger, I toss the glass on the ground and it shatters into pieces.

I blink at it and feel remorseful. That was from my good set.

A knock on the door distracts me from my woes and without thinking, I head to the front door. “Who is it?” My voice is a little slurred and I feel a little tipsy as I stand on my tiptoes to look through the peephole.

A second later, I’m opening the front door, and staring at the person standing there while completely dumbfounded. “What are you doing here?”

Lucas’ shirt is missing a tie and the first two buttons of his shirt are open. His sleeves are rolled up and his hair is all mused up as if he’s spent hours running his hands through it. “I had to…” He pauses and then frowns. “Are you drunk?”

I make a face at him. “So what if I am?”

He looks a little taken aback at my aggressive tone and then looks over my head, “Where’s Sophie?”

I feel a little resentful. “She’s sleeping. Why are you here, Lucas?”

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