Slow Hands

‘Tell me about your set up.’

Her face, which had lost a little of the heat, started to burn again under his intense scrutiny. She had the disconcerting feeling that this man didn’t miss anything. That he listened, absorbed, dissected, and then either accepted what you said or spit it right out. Straight down the line. No middle way.

She took a covert deep breath. ‘Like I said, I run an online shop. It’s mostly mail order, but I also party-plan.’

‘Party-plan? How does that work?’

The glint in his eye indicated he already had a pretty good handle on how it worked, but she hiked a shoulder.

‘Women get together with a bunch of friends, they order what they want, and I arrange to have their purchases delivered.’

‘How do they make their choices?’

Oh, here we go, she thought. Nudge, nudge. Wink, wink. She’d handled this sort of smutty inference so many times before, and she’d handle it now.

Except this time it wasn’t so easy—not with his eyes taking a long, slow perusal of her and making her womanly parts do a happy dance. She squeezed her knees together as the gleam in his eye shot across the desk like an electrical current and arrowed straight to her clit. Heat rose in her body, thick and potent, making her limbs feel heavy, her core muscles tight.

This reaction to him was ridiculous—especially since he was likely just having his fun before showing her the door.

She thought about leaving. Simply gathering up her bag, thanking him for his time and leaving with her head held high. Problem was, he was basically her last resort.

She met his gaze full-on. ‘Website, catalogue and theoretical product demonstration.’

He nodded, then went back to perusing the screen.

While he hadn’t been openly derogatory, April didn’t much like his attitude. Although, she had to admit that at least he was listening to her. So far this appointment had lasted longer than any of the others, and the fact he was still checking out her website was surely a good sign. Unless he was just a pervert and was enjoying the models displaying the latest in sexy underwear. They were some of her most visited pages.

‘What model of vibrator?’ he asked suddenly, his eyes not leaving the screen. ‘There are dozens listed here.’

‘It’s no longer listed. I took it down right after this happened, although I kept a sample.’

His eyes met hers, held there. ‘I’ll need to see it, check out how it works. Theoretically.’

She couldn’t tell if he was being deliberately suggestive or if she was just being too sensitive, but he needed to realise that, like him, she wasn’t about to take any crap. ‘I run an online adult store. A legitimate business. If you can’t help me, just say so. But please don’t insult me or my business.’

His eyebrows rose in sardonic fashion. ‘There’s no insult—to you or your business. I merely need to be in possession of all the facts. If my request to see the vibrator offends your delicate sensibilities, maybe you’re in the wrong business.’

Arrogant prick.

But he was right, of course. He did need all the facts. She could have kicked herself for not bringing a sample of the vibrator along, but in her defence she’d thought this would be a quickie appointment that would have her leaving with the sound of his laughter ringing in her ears.

He unsettled her. Not just his cool and commanding manner, but the fact she hadn’t felt quite so attracted to a man in a long time, and certainly hadn’t indulged in fantasies of the screwing variety for even longer. It was insane.

Shouldn’t it take more than sinfully handsome features all wrapped up in one sexy and self-assured package to make a woman react the way she was reacting? Shouldn’t it be about trust and respect? But then, in her experience, both of those qualities were in very short supply, so maybe there was something to be said for simple lust.

‘I’d be happy to let you have a sample,’ April said, yanking her focus back to the matter in hand. ‘I can get it couriered over to you. Discreet packaging, of course. Wouldn’t want to offend any of your delicate sensibilities.’

CHAPTER TWO

TOUCHÉ, LOGAN THOUGHT as she batted his comment back to him.

He was enjoying himself. There was something about her edgy manner, in the way she sat upright and determined in her functional grey jacket and black skirt, that made him want to push, see how far she’d push back.

Heat lay beneath the businesslike demeanour. Strength in the warm brown gaze. She was elegant, feminine and classy, but with a fuck you tilt to her pretty chin when she didn’t like the flavour of his questioning.

Every now and again he caught a flash of thigh as she crossed and uncrossed her legs. A glimpse of cleavage every time she folded her arms. And, while her body was a definite cause for celebration, there was no real hardship in meeting her eyes. They were brown, with an intriguing mix of steel and satin glowing in their depths. Like the warmest cognac...soothing and yet with a punch that could momentarily steal a man’s breath away.

He’d had sex on the brain from the moment April Sinclair had waltzed into his office, which wasn’t really surprising. Self-imposed celibacy could do that to a man. But he’d sailed too close to the wind with his last lover, had allowed their casual liaison to slide dangerously into relationship territory. Her parting words still rang in his ears:

‘What are you going to do, Logan? Fuck and then leave every woman you meet because you don’t have the balls for anything bordering on a serious relationship?’

Yeah, that was pretty much it. Safer that way. Then he wouldn’t have to hear the door slam as they left him. Wouldn’t be forced to watch as they walked out of his life.

Since April was watching him with an air of expectation, he took a breath and stroked his chin. ‘Never been accused of having “delicate” anything before. Certainly not to the point of worrying about people knowing the contents of my mail.’

Even her frown was sexy.

‘I have to say I don’t think you’re particularly professional in your approach.’

Logan had to admit she was right. But she was testing his focus. ‘Which shouldn’t bother you any more than it bothers me.’

‘It bothers me that you don’t seem to be taking my problem seriously.’

‘I take every problem that lands on my desk seriously.’

She stuck that chin in the air. It was slightly pointed, like a sexy fairy, and went with the rest of her. Sharp cheekbones, pert nose, mouth—and what a mouth it was. All her features came together to form one hell of a package.

‘I’ll have it delivered to your office.’

Logan blinked. He’d lost the gist of the conversation. Too busy deliberating on the very delicious prospect of stripping her out of those conservative clothes and discovering what lay beneath. Sexy underwear? Like the kind he’d seen on her website? Wouldn’t that be a sight? He’d strip her out of that, too. Slowly. Until she was naked, willing and ready for him...

‘After you’ve inspected it, can we discuss things further?’

No, let’s discuss something entirely more gratifying.

Using what he considered heroic effort, Logan dragged himself back to the business at hand. He really wasn’t behaving much like a professional. Time to rein it all back before he got himself some unwelcome tabloid attention when April Sinclair reported him for being a sleazebag.

He sucked in a breath. ‘I’ll be straight with you. I’m not your best bet for this.’

How could he be when Veronica Lebeck was the current lover of the man who was the closest thing to a father Logan had ever had? Okay, Haydon collected women—young ones—like the proverbial sugar daddy, and chances were that Haydon had already moved on to new pastures. But Logan owed the property tycoon. Big-time.

‘Not my best bet?’ Panic shot into her eyes. ‘You’re saying you can’t advise me?’

Without Haydon’s link to Veronica, Logan wondered if he might have represented April. It would have been interesting to see how far he could get with this leggy blonde with her throaty voice and tight-assed attitude. But, taking everything into account, and since he was involved in a case that would require a fair amount of overseas travel and a great deal of media coverage, he couldn’t indulge.

Briefly, he considered telling her about his conflict of interest, but that panic in her eyes stopped him, pulling at something deep inside him that always sought to protect the vulnerable.

Not that it applied to her. He sensed a backbone there, and an integrity he had to admire. She hadn’t technically been required to alert potential insurers of a lawsuit that might never happen, especially since it was outside their culpability as a future provider, but he liked that she’d been upfront about it.

‘I’m saying I specialise in family law. You need a civil litigator. I can put you in touch with someone.’

She leaned forward and fixed him with a solid stare, and another fascinating glimpse of cleavage that did something interesting in the vicinity of his loins.

‘Look, I just want to know what I might be facing. I’m tired of being dismissed and shoved out the door. I don’t want to have to explain all this to someone else, only to have them pass me on yet again.’

Her frustration shimmered in the air, and Logan found himself sympathising. He knew what it was to be pushed from pillar to post, to feel as if nobody listened or cared. He’d experienced plenty of that when life had forced him to grow up and take charge. Feeling powerless was no fun, and he’d learned quickly to take control, to protect his brothers and sister and keep them safe after his parents walked out on them. His siblings had trusted him to act in their best interests. They still did. As did his clients.

‘Okay.’ The least he could do for April was gather all the facts, then she’d be spared having to explain it all over again when he passed her along to someone else. ‘Where do you get your stock?’

‘Mostly I use drop shipping,’ April said. ‘Do you know what that is?’

He did, but he shook his head as he folded his arms. ‘Explain it to me.’

The fact was, he liked listening to her. Enjoyed the throaty timbre of her voice. Even more, he liked watching the way her mouth moved around words. The way that narrow upper lip and the fuller lower lip curved around the syllables and sounds. A mouth like that could do sensational damage to a man...

‘And, since I have several regular repeat orders,’ she went on, unaware of the fire throbbing in his cock, ‘I rarely have a problem with supply.’

Logan tried to convince himself that she could be explaining the ordering procedure for tinned peas, but his mind kept straying to the items of her trade, how much he’d like to experiment, how much he’d enjoy using them on her, and his damn cock wouldn’t let up.

To add insult to injury, blood pounded in his veins, shooting his imagination into overdrive. He pictured her mouth clamped around his erection, her blonde hair flowing over his thighs, her naked body stretched out while he explored every inch of her. Slowly. He’d use his hands, his mouth, his teeth, and he’d have her screaming and begging before he...

‘Does all that make sense?’ She sat back, her eyes wide. ‘I’m sure you’ve got questions.’

Questions? He needed to think of some bloody questions. While she’d been busy outlining her ordering procedure, he’d been busy mind-fucking her. He was a real prince. What the hell had happened to his legendary professionalism? The professionalism that had heads of industry, eminent politicians and A-list celebrities knocking at his door, begging to be his clients.

He sucked in a breath. ‘Yeah. The vibrator in question,’ he improvised. ‘It was supplied by one of these drop shippers?’

She frowned. ‘No. Like I explained, they were on special offer from a source I’d never used before.’ She reached into her bag, pulled out a wad of papers and handed them to him. ‘When this blew up, I emailed the company to check if the stock was faulty. They haven’t replied yet.’

Unlikely they’d reply at all, Logan thought as he flicked through the wad. Bogus companies sprang up all the time, especially online, and at the first sign of trouble they were the devil’s own job to trace.

Since April seemed like a savvy cookie, he didn’t understand why she’d taken a chance on an unknown and untested source. Nor why she’d allowed her insurance to lapse. There had to be more to it. Was she telling him everything?

He watched her closely, felt the stir in his blood as she levelled her gaze back at him. ‘If you want my advice, you need to understand that I won’t tolerate any fudging around the facts.’

She nodded, her shoulders visibly relaxing. ‘No fudging. I’ve given you the facts.’

He maintained eye contact, pleased when she didn’t flinch. But there was more here—more to her than she was letting on. The woman intrigued him more with every passing minute.

‘Let me take a look at this,’ Logan said, flicking through the file she’d given him. ‘I’ll get back to you.’

‘Can you give me your initial thoughts now? Is there a case to answer?’

Not from what he’d gleaned so far. And from what he knew of Lebeck, she was an opportunist. Likely she’d yield to the prospect of some freebies, or cave to an out-of-court settlement with a token compensation claim. But he couldn’t discount the possibility that she’d go to the press, and they’d have a frigging field day.

Until he checked out the current status of Veronica’s connection with Haydon he wasn’t going to risk upsetting his mentor and friend by helping April. But in the meantime, there was no harm in gathering those facts, so she wouldn’t need to explain it all over again when he passed her on.

‘Like I said, I’ll get back to you.’

She hesitated, obviously wanting to press him for an answer, then closed her bag and stood. Logan followed her to the door, determined not to check out her ass in the process. He failed. Miserably. She had an exceptional ass.

At the door, she faced him, making his pulse hammer. He was tempted to hike her into his arms, bring that tempting mouth right up against his and kiss the life out of her. See if she tasted as potent as he imagined she would.

‘I know for you this seems small fry and unimportant,’ April said, cutting into his thoughts. ‘But—’

‘I never consider the threat of being sued unimportant.’

Her eyelids fluttered closed over those stunning eyes before he could once again be caught in their cognac depths. He’d need a freaking life jacket if he stared into them too long.

‘Thanks for saying that. This thing has me tied up in knots.’

How he’d love to tie her up in knots. Watch those eyes turn languid and sultry...hear her moan his name as he drove her to the heights of sexual desire.

He had a sudden desire to take on her case himself. Whether to sate the intense sexual attraction that fired in his veins or just to make sure the likes of Veronica Lebeck didn’t get away with screwing people using cockamamie stories about rabid vibrators.

Maybe both.

‘I’m going away tomorrow, but I’ll take a closer look at your file tonight.’

She drew a breath, the movement highlighting the curve of her breasts beneath the conservative jacket. ‘I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that. Thanks for fitting me in.’

Logan went to his desk, grabbed one of his business cards and scribbled on the back, all the while imagining how April could fit him in just fine. All the way. Hard. Fast. Deep.

With that particular thought thrumming through his head, he walked back to the door. He timed it perfectly, his hand connecting with hers as they both reached for the door handle. There was heat in her eyes, a definite pink tinge across her cheekbones.

‘You like Italian?’

Suspicion layered over the heat. ‘Why?’

With his free hand he held out his card, keeping hold of it for a moment too long when she tried to take it. ‘I’m inviting you to supper.’

And hopefully more, Logan thought as her gaze held his. He wanted her in his bed, but he also wanted her to look at him without wariness clouding her brown eyes. That might make him a fool, but he was a well-prepared one. Forewarned was forearmed, or so the saying went. What was wrong with a casual and mutually agreeable hook-up with a woman who intrigued him almost as much as she attracted him?

‘Do you feed all your clients, Mr Fitzpatrick?’

He shrugged as her question pulled him from his thoughts. ‘Two birds. One stone. And, since I’ll need that sample, you can bring it with you.’

He caught another glimmer of suspicion, right before she looked down at the card. It made him smile. And push. ‘And, since we both know we’re heading way past formalities, let’s make it Logan.’

She tapped the card a few times before her gaze met his. ‘Isn’t there some kind of code that says we should stick to formalities? A kind of client-and-lawyer thing?’

He liked it that she didn’t pretend to misunderstand his meaning. ‘You’re not technically my client. I’m just giving you advice.’

A slight smile turned up the corners of her sensual mouth. ‘I assume you’re billing me for your time? That makes it official lawyer/client territory.’

He leaned closer, pleased when she stood her ground. ‘Even so, there’s no problem, since there’s no code.’

Still she didn’t move, but she looked at him with a measure of heat that shot straight to his loins. Fuck, but he wanted her more than he’d wanted a woman in a long time.

Hot nights. Hot sex. No strings.

‘Maybe I’m not looking for a man, just a lawyer.’

‘Who says you can’t have both?’

She tilted her head as if she was weighing him up. ‘I’ve got too much at stake to muddy the waters.’

That suited him just fine. ‘Then we’ll make sure to keep those waters nice and clear.’ He waited a beat. ‘My private address is on the back of the card.’

She tapped the card to her chin, considering, then she turned to the door.

Logan opened it.

‘Seven o’clock.’

Unable to resist he leaned down as she passed him, his mouth close to her ear.

‘Don’t forget the vibrator.’

CHAPTER THREE

APRIL ARRIVED BACK at the small apartment she shared with Lizzie, her body still throbbing from the interaction with Logan. All kinds of lewd things had shot through her brain when he’d told her in that deep, gravelly voice to remember to bring the vibrator, his breath warm and sensual against her ear. His intoxicating scent had wrapped around her and accompanied her all the way home.

He’d done it on purpose, of course, anticipating a reaction. And that was after he’d basically propositioned her.

Had he expected she’d get all flustered, skittish and embarrassed?

Dream on.

She was used to insinuations, and she was used to propositions. In her line of work it came with the territory. Most men made some smutty comment when they found out she ran an adult toy business, insinuating she might give them a personal demonstration of her products. A minority actually asked her flat-out if she’d have sex with them.

Although irritated, she generally fielded those comments with a sardonic response or simply ignored them. Logan’s smoky allusion had shot a reaction between her legs that had taken her by surprise. Well, kind of... The truth was she hadn’t been able to steady her hormones since setting eyes on the man, ensuring she’d been thinking about vibrator-play with a certain sexy lawyer all the way home on the tube.

She’d told him she wanted a lawyer, not a man. He’d said she could have both.

Could she?

Wouldn’t that make things complicated?

What if they had hot, steamy sex and then the attraction fizzled out?

But what if they had hot, steamy sex and it didn’t fizzle out?

Hell, she could imagine Logan would be amazing in bed. She’d bet he didn’t shy away from adventure, either. Not like Richard.

She blew out a breath, picked up her mail and took it with her down the hall, tossing her jacket on a chair as she went. The cosy apartment wrapped around her, settling her a little after the tumult of the day. In the galley kitchen, she switched on the coffee machine and gave only a cursory thought to the wisdom of adding caffeine to her edgy mood. She’d been jittery since leaving Logan’s office—actually, she’d been that way since walking into his office. He’d pulled all kinds of weird things from her.

It was just sex, of course. Pure and simple. He made her think about sex. Made her want sex. All that hot and steamy sex.

Maybe part of the attraction was his directness, the way he’d warned her he wouldn’t tolerate any fudging around the facts. After what she’d been through with Richard, dealing with someone honest and upfront was refreshing to say the least.

Sex with someone like Logan could be all kinds of interesting, and she was due, wasn’t she?

It had been a while since Richard. Not that sex with him had been great. Richard had liked it vanilla, blatantly disregarding her occasional attempts to try something new and exciting using the perks afforded by the products of her trade.

It was only recently that she’d realised he’d controlled her in the bedroom, too, and while she wasn’t entirely averse to that she would have liked to take the lead on occasion. To have made their sex life exciting, adventurous...electrifying. With Richard it never had been. Any time she’d tried to take things to another level he’d made her feel dirty and sluttish. Bad enough, he’d said, that she ran the kind of business she did. Didn’t she know that men would see her as an easy target?

Worse than any of that was the fact that he’d kicked her when she was at her lowest point. She might have learned to live with their lack-lustre sex-life, and his pointed remarks about the nature of her business, but the way he’d controlled, manipulated and ultimately betrayed her was unforgivable. He’d fed on her fears, shattered her confidence, made her doubt herself and her abilities.

It wouldn’t happen again. Ever. No way would she be that vulnerable, that naïve. Never again. Lessons had been learned and digested. Now she was in control. She was the one who knew what was best for her and her business. And if she wanted sex she’d have it. On her own terms.

She would keep control. She would call the shots. And, by God, this time she’d keep her wits about her. No man was ever going to screw with her again.

Before she could slide further down memory lane, her phone buzzed.

‘How did it go?’ Lizzie asked, without preamble. She was currently on a modelling assignment in Copenhagen. ‘Did he give you any idea of how things stand?’

‘Not really. When I first told him why I was there he could barely keep his face straight. Kept sticking an unlit cigar in his mouth.’

And damned if she wasn’t remembering the way that cigar had sat between his impossibly perfect white teeth as he’d smiled wickedly around it. Her core muscles clenched hard, but she made herself focus.

‘I’ll wager you soon put him right?’

‘I told him to treat me with the same respect he’d give anyone seeking his advice. He’s looking through the paperwork tonight.’ She waited, for effect. ‘He invited me to supper.’

‘Hmm...’

‘What does that mean?’

But April knew only too well what it meant. Lizzie had been encouraging her to get out there and have some fun since she’d moved back to London.

‘He wants me to bring a sample vibrator. And he told me to call him Logan.’

‘Hmm... Are you interested?’

She could have lied, but what was the point? ‘Very, as it happens. But I’m not sure it’s a good idea. It has “complicated” written all over it.’

‘Don’t see why. Where does he live?’