Like Silk

“Nope. Just tell me what I need to do and it’ll be done.” Kyle paused. “By the way, did you get through all those depositions?”

“No.”

Kyle’s jaw went slack. “No? How ’bout some of them?”

“Didn’t do that, either.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“Exactly what I said,” Collier said impatiently.

“But that’s why you went to the cabin.” Kyle’s tone was incredulous. “I thought you said you got a lot of work done?”

Collier knew he should cut the other man some slack, but he was reluctant to talk about Brittany. Just the thought sent cold chills through him. Not that he had to give Kyle any of the juicy details, he reminded himself with a trace of sarcasm. Yet he felt it necessary to tell him the bare facts, just in case the incident came back to bite him on the butt. Under the circumstances, he was probably overreacting. But with the stakes being so high, he couldn’t take that chance.

“What’s wrong?” Kyle’s words were as blunt as his tone.

“Nothing’s wrong, exactly.”

“Hell, man, stop hedging. Something happened, and of all people who should know, it’s me.”

Collier took a deep breath. “I picked up a woman.”

“Where?”

“On the side of the highway.”

“Holy shit,” Kyle said under his breath. “I think you’d better pretend I’m a priest and you’re in a confessional.”

Collier told him the gist of what had happened.

“Holy shit,” Kyle muttered again, getting to his feet, his eyes narrowed on Collier. “That was about the craziest-assed stunt you could’ve pulled.”

“You would’ve stopped, too, and you damn well know it.”

“Not if I had as much to lose as you,” Kyle shot back.

“Well, it’s a done deal, so there’s no point in arguing about it now.”

“Does Mason know?”

“Hell no, and he’s not going to, either.”

“Then you’d better pray nothing comes of this. If that little tramp decides to accuse you of trying to rape her…”

Fury choked off Collier’s voice. But when he spoke, his words were cold and hard. “She’s not a tramp. Don’t ever say that again.”

Kyle was taken aback by his tone. His face drained of color. “Sorry, boss, didn’t mean any offense.”

“Just forget it, okay?”

“No problem for me, as long as it isn’t one for you. Just keep the dangers in mind, that’s all.”

Kyle’s refusal to back down made Collier respect him even more. Right now, he needed someone to keep him on the straight and narrow.

The mere thought of Brittany melted his bones and gave him a hard-on. No matter, there could never be a repeat performance. No more self-indulgence.

“It’s not like I’ll be seeing her again.”

“I hope that would go without saying.”

“Well, I’m saying it. I have no intention of jeopardizing anything.”

“That’s music to my ears.” Kyle reached for his cup, then took a sip, only to frown. “Damn, nothing’s worse than cold coffee.”

Collier nodded toward the bar. “Make a fresh pot, then.”

“Nah. Gotta get to work. My desk is piled almost as high as yours.”

“Let me know when you dig up something on Virginia Warner.” He frowned as he said the name of the woman who had brought suit against Brickman. “She can’t be as lily-white as she appears.”

“No one is. We just have to find her skeletons.”

“Get on it.”

“Will do.” Kyle rose and headed for the door. “I’ll check in later.”

Collier nodded, his thoughts turning inward as he felt a sudden prick of conscience. What was the matter with him? He’d never let going for someone’s jugular bother him before, though he never veered from the law. He’d never had a grievance filed against him, and he enjoyed a reputation for being honest and above reproach in his work.

But he didn’t like to lose and rarely did. However, he’d never tried anyone on sexual harassment charges before, and, as he’d told Kyle, he fully expected things to get nasty.

If anything would catapult him to the top of the judgeship list, it would be his integrity and his dogged determination. All the more reason why he couldn’t let this soul-draining attraction to another woman cost him everything he held near and dear.

Suddenly Collier went numb all over, Kyle’s words coming back to haunt him. Then he dismissed those words as crap. Brittany wouldn’t accuse him of being the one to assault her. She wasn’t that type of woman.

How do you know? a little voice asked.

He didn’t, nor did he want to. He didn’t want to know anything about her. He just wanted her; he wanted her body. He wanted only to taste every morsel of her delicious flesh, then bury himself inside her.

Shit!

Sweat saturated his entire body, while his mouth went as dry as cotton. He had to stop thinking like that. He had to stop thinking about her. When they left the cabin, she’d spoken very little. In fact, she’d told him how to get to her trailer and that was it. Only after he’d pulled up at the curb in a run-down part of Chaney did she speak. She’d thanked him in her gentle, husky-toned voice, keeping her eyes averted. It had been all he could do not to grab her, the desperate feeling gnawing inside him threatening to override his sanity.

But he’d quelled that sexual urge and just nodded, then watched as she’d walked up onto the rickety porch and disappeared inside. He’d gripped the steering wheel so hard he thought his knuckles would surely crack while his stomach pitched.

Finally he’d rammed the Lexus into gear and driven back to Haven, back to his upscale condo with the words “from two different worlds” seared on his brain with a red-hot branding iron.

Now, as he blew out a ravaged breath and tried to regroup, his phone jangled. He automatically punched the lighted button and listened to his secretary, Pamela Nixon, say, “Ms. Frazier’s on line one, sir.”