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  “Learn something!” Bryan exploded in laughter. The screen went black, and I realized he must’ve knocked his phone off the table. He was still chuckling softly when he got it back to its usual spot. “That sounds nothing like the BJ I know. Since when do you want to learn anything except what every attractive person looks like under their clothes?”

  I glared at him. “I improve myself from time to time.”

  “Right, right. This has nothing to do with that one hook-up. Being friends after having sex always works so well. There’s never any leftover sexual tension. Just look at you and me, and how we’ve been totally platonic for the past five years.”

  He might’ve had a point.

  “Whatever, dude.”

  A few muffled yips came through the door. Sounded like Teensy was up to something. “I better go,” I told Bryan.

  “Off to hang out with your new ‘friend,’ are you? Catch you later.”

  In the main room, Leanne stood in front of Teensy’s crate. She was frowning, which I would’ve thought completely impossible when faced with a tiny puppy, and her jaw was as tight as ever. Even being in sweatpants and a T-shirt didn’t do much to help her look of constant stress.

  “What are you doing to her?” I asked.

  She turned slightly. Was that the outline of her nipples under that T-shirt? “I figured I should start crate training. This is supposed to be like her own personal living room, so she needs to get used to it. Something about it’s getting her back up, though.”

  The crate looked more like a cage, what with the bars across the front. At least the blanket lining the bottom would be comfortable. I peeked in, seeing the treats Leanne had scattered across the floor. Altogether the crate wasn’t so bad, I supposed.

  “Maybe we should stick her inside,” I said. “Then she’ll have no choice but to get used to it.” I reached for her.

  “No!” Leanne yelped. “Are you crazy? She’ll be terrified, and she’ll never get used to it.”

  Oh. That did sound like something one of those puppy websites would say. “So what do you suggest, smart girl?”

  “She has to adjust to it on her own. We can try putting one of her toys inside. Have you seen that squeaky thing she likes?”

  “The pink one, or the bone one?”

  Leanne put her hands on her back, pushing her chest forward in a stretch as she considered. Definitely a nipple outline. “The bone one.”

  Shaking my head, I went to grab it from a corner of the kitchen. Leanne couldn’t have teased me any harder if she’d tried. I was pretty sure she actually had no idea how sexy she was, and that made her even more attractive.

  “All right, here we go.”

  I let Teensy sniff the toy, then tossed it into the crate. She took a few unsteady steps inside. As soon as she was all the way in, she turned halfway as if wondering whether she should come out. I slammed the door behind her.

  “BJ! What the hell?”

  Teensy’s eyes were bigger than usual, and she stuck her nose through the bars. As soon as she gave up on that, her little paws started poking through instead. A whiny sound I’d never heard her make before came out of her.

  “Fucking shit!”

  I knew I’d messed up, but I couldn’t help giving Leanne an appreciative glance as I let Teensy out. “I haven’t heard you curse that much since the night I—”

  “Never happened.” She scooped Teensy up and cradled her like a baby, glaring at me. “You never did anything that made me curse, all right?”

  I raised an eyebrow at her. “Are you sure about that? Because I have some very clear memories of you swearing up a storm when I—”

  “No. No. You must’ve dreamed it.” She put Teensy down, then sat on the sofa. Her breath was slightly ragged, and as I peered at her, I saw her pupils were blown huge.

  She did still want me — as if I’d ever doubted otherwise. So what was up? She did realize I wouldn’t be here forever, right? We could’ve been banging 24/7 if she’d only say the word. I squeezed her into me. “Or you have a very short memory,” I murmured.

  She swallowed. I pushed my nose into her neck, not even trying to seduce her for the moment, just drinking in the smell of her shampoo or perfume or whatever the hell she was using.

  “I told you we’re going to be friends,” she said, a slight quaver in her voice.

  “We could be friends who fuck.”

  She closed her eyes and shivered. “I can’t. Cool it, okay? Friends.”

  I tightened my grip on her shoulders. “We’ve already done it once.” I lowered my voice, putting my lips up close to her ear. “It was good, wasn’t it? You know you’ve never been fucked like that before.”

  “Once was enough.”

  This was seriously getting frustrating now. I’d thought I’d get her into bed again within a day, and now two had passed. If she wasn’t into me I could live with that, but why was she holding back from what we both wanted?

  “I don’t see why.” I kept my tone silky and smooth. “I liked it. You liked it. How would twice be worse than once?” I fidgeted, turned on at the mere thought of having her again. I wanted to see her all wild and uninhibited. To hear her saying the dirty things I would never have thought would pass her lips.

  “Once was bad enough.”

  My lips tightened, and I pulled away from her. “Do you have someone? Boyfriend? Girlfriend? Husband? Wife?”

  “No!” The force of the exclamation made me believe it. “I’m totally single,” she said. “No need to worry about that. I just plan to keep it that way for a couple years after I make partner. Then I can start looking. And ‘friends who fuck’ doesn’t fit into my plans.”

  Teensy walked through the room, glancing over at us and then going on to the kitchen as if she could tell we were having a private moment.

  “A couple years? What plans?”

  “Never mind. You’ll laugh at me.”

  “I won’t, I swear. Tell me.” I softened my tone. “What is it? I’m curious.”

  “Nothing. Forget I said anything.” She climbed to her feet. “I’m going to get changed. I have dinner plans.”

  Oh. I’d planned on going back to the store and cooking for her. From the amazement on her face when she saw the breakfast spread this morning, I wanted to see how she’d react when I made an actual meal.

  She had dinner plans, though. Sounded like a date. We’d established she was single, but it could be an early date. That thought irritated me more than I cared to admit.

  “All right,” was all I said.

  I watched her ass move as she made her way to the hall. Fuck, she looked as good from the back as from the front. I leaned on the door frame to keep watching her as she walked to her bedroom. “Sure you don’t want some company before you go? I’d make it worth your while.”

  She snorted, doing her best to sound sarcastic. “I’ll live.”

  So why were her eyes so full of longing?

  SEVEN — LEANNE

  I rubbed my eyes, staring at the computer screen. If only doing so could change the facts of this case. I’d been going over and over this all morning, and things only looked worse for my client. Randy Tripton had definitely committed the twelve counts of unlawful activity and securities fraud he was accused of.

  “Damn it, Tripton…”

  Massaging my temples, I clicked over to my summary of the case again. The more details I added to it, the worse it made Tripton out to be. The man was one of those legitimately evil people you didn’t want to believe existed. Even as a defense lawyer, I rarely came across them.

  He hadn’t been trying to feed his family or to provide a comfortable end for an aging parent. There was no possible justification for his crime. He’d bilked a whole heap of people out of a whole lot of money. Entire retirement funds, in several cases. And he refused to admit it.

  Last night at dinner, my parents were horrified by my description of the case. “Can’t you drop this person for being such a scumbag?” my mo
m had asked. They didn’t understand that if I did that, I wouldn’t get the partnership they wanted for me.

  In their minds, Chatham & Associates should’ve been begging me to be a partner. After all, I was the star of the family — the first to finish college, never mind going to law school. Since I’d done so well their expectations of me were high. They only wanted the same things for me that I wanted for myself, but having them watching so closely and cheering so loudly got a little intense sometimes.

  Clicking over to the Lexis database, I spent another hour searching for some way to get Randy off the hook. There was no precedent to cut him a break, though. The case seemed pretty cut-and-dry to me, and I was his damn lawyer.

  With a sigh, I picked up the phone. I doubted this call would go the way I wanted it to.

  The phone rang once. “Hello?” Randy said.

  “Hello, Mr. Tripton, it’s your attorney. Listen, I’ve been going through your case files all day, and—”

  “And you’ve found the perfect angle to sway the jury? I knew you would,” he said. “Your reputation does you justice, Ms. Stevenson. Let’s have it, then. What do you plan to tell them?”

  “That’s the issue,” I said. “I don’t believe there is a good angle to take with your case—at least, not one which would get you out of trouble. The case against you is, quite frankly, airtight.”

  “Nothing is airtight in this world, my dear. Spaceships, on the other hand…” He roared with laughter at his own joke.

  “Mr. Tripton, with all due respect, the evidence against you is quite damning. I don’t believe it’s possible to get you off entirely. However—”

  “Of course it’s possible.” His voice darkened. “My old lawyer could clear me of anything. He worked magic in the courtroom, I tell you.”

  And where was this old lawyer of his, if he was so wonderful? Why come to me talking about how I was going to be able to pull off courtroom feats worthy of Johnnie Cochran if he’d already worked with such an amazing person?

  “The closest I can do to magic is to get you a lesser sentence. Mr. Tripton, if you plead—”

  He cut me off before I could finish explaining he’d only get a few years compared to the fifteen or more he’d have to serve if convicted by a jury. “I won’t! I didn’t do it, now, did I? My investments were completely legitimate.”

  Although I seethed internally, I let him finish. Interrupting was bad form… even if he’d apparently never been taught that. “The thing is, striking a plea bargain will get you a lesser sentence. If you go to court with this kind of evidence against you, it won’t be pretty.”

  Randy didn’t hesitate for a moment. “Good thing I have such a wonderful lawyer to defend me, then, isn’t it? Thank you for your call, Ms. Stevenson. I have complete faith in your abilities.”

  “But Mr. Tripton…”

  “Thank you for your call.”

  The line went dead and I stared at the phone in my hand. My stomach formed into a knot, and I took a few deep breaths. The luxurious office around me seemed to taunt me. All the leather-bound books, the rich mahogany, the window overlooking the grassy park… I didn’t deserve any of it if I couldn’t even convince a two-bit criminal to put in a plea bargain.

  My chances of making partner were dropping by the minute.

  *

  When I got back to my condo, BJ was lounging naked on the couch.

  “What in the world?” I covered my eyes, my heart suddenly pounding. After the day I’d had, this was the last thing I needed. Or was it the best thing that could happen?

  “Sorry.” BJ sounded like she was moving around, but not all that fast. Definitely not fast enough for her to have gotten her clothes back on yet.

  I wasn’t going to peek. I’d seen it all before. There was no reason for me to peek… even if I was dying to see it all again.

  “You don’t even have an excuse for defiling my furniture?”

  BJ’s laugh sounded even sexier when I couldn’t see her face. “Defiling? I wasn’t aware the couch was a religious artifact. I find clothes restricting. I’m more comfortable naked. Aren’t you?”

  My eyelashes fluttered against my palm in a silent war between my groin and my brain. My brain was winning — for now.

  Answering BJ’s question was impossible. Clothes had always seemed like a necessity, not something you could just do away with on a whim. Although I slept nude, there were sheets covering me. Walking around the condo without a stitch on, letting the air waft over my skin and my nether regions… the idea was as foreign to me as all the rest of the lifestyle BJ lived.

  “Civilized people wear clothing,” I said.

  “You didn’t answer me.” Her voice was right beside me now and I trembled, wondering what — if anything — she had on. “Aren’t you more comfortable naked?”

  “I don’t lounge around naked.”

  “But sometimes you’re naked while doing other things. Or do I need to remind you again of the other night?”

  That was enough to make me drop my hand. For a moment I’d forgotten about her nudity, and I gasped as I took her in. She hadn’t put anything on, and she was inches away from me in all her glory. And it was a lot of glory.

  Sure, I’d seen it before — but that was at night, with the lights off and a few drinks in me. In the daylight, her skin glowed with an almost unnatural sheen. Her breasts were high and plump, her waist narrow. A few freckles were dotted here and there as if to remind me she wasn’t, in fact, a statue carved out of marble.

  She’d finally told me about her heritage the other night — apparently she had black and white grandparents on her mother’s side, while her father was a Thai-Chinese mix via Malaysia. That explained the brown tint to her flawless skin, as well as her near-total lack of body hair.

  I was only human. I couldn’t stop myself from looking. As my gaze instinctively moved downward, I saw her body was exactly as gorgeous as I remembered it. The somewhat androgynous way she dressed concealed the pure womanly perfection underneath. My throat closed up, and I bit my lip. Had I really had my hands all over that flawless figure?

  “Take a picture, it’ll last longer.”

  Her teasing tone spurred me to leap away from her. “Get dressed!”

  Yet even as she sulked and grabbed her clothes, I wondered what she’d do if I actually whipped out a camera. Somehow I had a feeling she’d laugh and strike a pose…

  Teensy chose that moment to rocket into the room, putting her paws on my calf and sniffing for treats. I had none on me, but I took the moment to stroke her head and try to get the image of BJ’s nude figure out of my mind.

  By the time I looked up again, she had jeans and a top on, although evidently no bra. “You’re going to have to be fully dressed in common areas if you plan to stay here,” I told her.

  “Why?”

  “Lying around without clothes isn’t sanitary.” And I’m too weak to keep resisting you if you tempt me like that.

  She sprawled on the couch in the exact position she’d been in a few minutes earlier. I could still picture every inch of her without her clothes. I suspected that wasn’t a coincidence. BJ was good at these games.

  “Sure it’s for sanitary reasons?” She rested her hand on her thigh just below her groin as if to draw my attention that way. As if my attention wasn’t there already! “I seem to remember doing some not-exactly-sterilized activities the other night.”

  “Would you stop bringing that up?” I grabbed a dog treat and tossed it into Teensy’s crate. She ignored it.

  “Sure you don’t want to come over here and take a ride on my tongue?”

  A twinge went through me, and I wanted that more than ever. Instead of looking at BJ, I petted the puppy. “You have to cut that out.”

  “Or what?” BJ leaped down from the couch, gracefully coming to stand at my side. Her hand brushed over mine as she petted Teensy, too. “What exactly do you think will happen if you sleep with me? What are you scared of?”

&nbs
p; “I don’t have to be scared of anything,” I lied. “I don’t want to. That’s all. Sex with an itinerant vagabond doesn’t fit into my plans.”

  At the last second, I thought I might’ve been too harsh. As it turned out, a belly laugh rumbled out of BJ. “An itinerant vagabond? Well, I’m glad it’s nothing personal. At least I can be assured the next vagabond to show up won’t be getting into your pants either.”

  Despite myself, I smiled. “Hey, I have nothing against vagabonds. Just the itinerant ones. Look!”

  We both watched as Teensy wandered into the crate. I shut the door softly behind her. Without a hint of panic, she ate her treat, made a few circles, and sat down.

  “We can leave her in there until she starts complaining. Then we work up to having her stay in it for a few hours at a time.”

  “I know,” BJ said. “I’ve probably read all the same websites as you.”

  Fair enough. Realizing how close she still was to me, my breath caught. My willpower was holding up so far, and it could last a little longer. I stood up slowly, taking a few steps to lean against the wall.

  BJ stayed by the crate. “So everything in your life has to fit the five-year plan, huh? You never do anything for fun?”

  “Fun?”

  “Yeah, fun. You know, having a good time, enjoying yourself…”

  I turned my cheek to the wall, hoping its coolness would bring down my body temperature. Even with some space between us, BJ had me all heated up. “Sure, I have fun. I go out for walks. I grab drinks. Have dinner with friends, family…” More often family than friends, but BJ didn’t need to know that. “I got a puppy. What could be more fun?”

  “All right, you get points for the puppy — although I have to point out you got her after I came into your life.”

  So conceited. And it turns me on so much. “What’s your idea of fun, then?”

  “Things that make you laugh. Actually laugh, not like a sitcom, I mean laughing until your sides hurt and you can’t stop yourself. Things where you can’t stop smiling. Where you can’t believe you’re doing it. Things that make you say ‘I love being alive.’”

  I frowned. Once again, BJ had lost me somewhere along the way. I did remember times like that from when I was a little girl — skipping stones at the lake, running through the darkened house with a flashlight, playing dress-up in my mom’s heels. Did fun like that even exist for adults?