She Did a Bad, Bad Thing

“That’s the cable TV station, isn’t it?”

She nodded.

“What do you do for them?”

Jane squirmed, reluctant to give the man any more ammunition to use against her.

“I work on a local talk show.”

“What’s the name of the show?”

“Just Between Us.”

“Hey, that’s the show with the looker host, right?”

“Eve Best…yes, she’s beautiful.” Jane looked out the window, with the words that he’d said about her own appearance looping in her head. Homely little geek…homely little geek…homely little geek. She inched closer to the door.

“Sounds like an exciting job,” he said, but she didn’t offer any commentary. The silence stretched awkwardly, and she willed the morning traffic to move faster.

His cell phone rang and he said, “Excuse me,” then hit a hands-free speaker button on his visor. “Perry Brewer.”

“You’re late,” a woman’s voice accused.

“Good morning to you, too, Theresa. I’m on my way.”

“You’re due in court in thirty minutes, cowboy. Are you going to make it?”

“I’ll be there,” he said smoothly. “And I have the files I need.”

“I don’t have to tell you what’s riding on this hearing, Perry.”

“No, Theresa, you don’t,” he said, his voice more solemn.

“Good luck. Call me when it’s over.”

“Will do.” He disconnected the call, then glanced over at Jane. “Sorry about that.”

“No problem,” she said. “But it sounds as if I’m making you late. You can let me out here and I’ll get a taxi.”

“No need,” he said easily. “We’re almost there, and I’ll be going against traffic when I leave your office.”

Silence fell between them again, and Jane started to feel rude for not reciprocating his small talk. “So you’re an attorney?”

He cracked a little smile. “That’s what my business card says.”

“And you have a big case today?”

“Bigger than most.”

She pictured him in front of a courtroom and realized that the man was probably good at what he did—he was, after all, charming, convincing…two-faced.

With the requisite small talk out of the way, she concentrated on the bumper of the car in front of them, checked the strap on her shoulder bag and generally fidgeted. The man made her nervous and hyperaware of her appearance. Next to his ultra-feminine girlfriend, she felt like a boy.

And she didn’t like it.

PERRY WATCHED the slender woman next to him out of the corner of his eye, squirming, positioning herself as far away from him as possible. He felt like a jerk. Seeing those puffy eyes of hers this morning was like a punch to his gut—it didn’t take a genius to figure out that his callous words of the night before had upset her…had made her cry all night from the looks of it.

He tightened his grip on the steering wheel, remorse coursing through him. Words of apology watered in his mouth, but he had a feeling that he’d only make things worse if he brought it up. Still, he had to own up to his bad behavior.

“Listen…Jane,” he said, choosing his words carefully. “I have a big mouth and I have a feeling that you overheard something I said last night that…was unkind.”

She didn’t say anything, but he could tell by the way she stiffened that he was right—she had over-heard him…and her red-rimmed eyes had nothing to do with allergies.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly.

“No need to apologize,” she said quickly, tugging on the strap of her bag. “You have a right to your opinion.”

“But I didn’t mean it. I was in a bad mood and I’d had too much to drink.”

She gave him a little half smile. “It’s okay, Mr. Brewer—I have a mirror. I know that I’m not…exciting.”

The resignation in her voice tugged at his heart. “Jane—”

“That’s my building on the corner. I’ll get out here.”

“I’ll drive you to the front—”

But she was already out of the vehicle, swinging down to the curb.

“Do you need a ride home?” he shouted, strangely eager to do something else for her.

“No, thanks. Good luck on your case.” Then she slammed the door and took off jogging toward the entrance of her building.

He watched her moving away from him, juggling her oversized shoulder bag, her ponytail bouncing like a teenager’s. Dressed like a coed, she looked young…and alone. And she had wished him luck on his case…even after what he’d said about her, she had tried to be nice.

Were there really people like that left in the world?

A horn sounded behind him, jarring him out of his reverie. He hit the gas pedal and told himself to focus—he was facing the biggest case of his career this morning.

Yet all he could think about on the way to the courthouse was the young woman he had wounded with his careless words. And he realized with a start that he’d like to get to know Jane Kurtz better…if only he could convince her to let him.

4

JANE’S SKIN TINGLED with humiliation as she hurried to her office. She wasn’t sure what was worse—knowing what Perry had said about her, or him knowing that she knew.

And him knowing that his words had affected her.

One thing was certain, she realized when she removed her sunglasses in the makeup room and got a good look at her red, swollen eyes—she was going to have to call upon some major concealer today, or she would spend the day fending off questions from her coworkers.