Hot and Heavy - Erika Wilde Page 0,1
together. You’ve spent a whole lot of years looking out for me, so I’m trying to repay the favor.”
Cole shot his brother a pointed, direct look. “Can we get back to the original discussion?”
“Sure.” Noah sat up straighter in his chair, affecting a serious demeanor. “Let’s see, you need a woman and you think I can supply one for you. Is that it?”
Cole cringed when his secretary, Melodie Turner, walked through his open office door just in time to hear Noah’s outrageous comment. Her deep brown eyes grew wide with surprise, which quickly ebbed to curiosity as her gaze slid from Noah to Cole. She studied him with a look of feminine interest that made his skin prickle and the heat of awareness settle deep in his belly.
He shook off the not-so-subtle reaction and damned Noah for putting thoughts of sex into his head.
Dressed in a conservative navy dress that buttoned up the front to Melodie’s throat and covered her down to a few inches below the knee, and with her hair pulled back into a neat and tidy French braid, his prim and proper secretary was the last woman to inspire lustful thoughts. Or so he’d been trying to convince himself for the past few months.
Melodie was pretty enough in a fresh, wholesome kind of way, but she wasn’t even close to being the type of woman he’d favored since graduating college years ago. She was too sweet, innocent, and nurturing for his tastes. A quintessential good girl who looked prime for the prerequisite two point five kids, dog, and house in the suburbs.
After raising his brother and sister, Cole wasn’t in a hurry to repeat the process with kids of his own, if at all. He had no desire to be tied down. He liked his freedom—to come and go as he pleased, to stay as late at the office as he deemed necessary without being nagged. The only responsibilities he wanted were those he inflicted upon himself.
If his own personal credo wasn’t enough to give him a much-needed jolt of reality, then there was the important fact that he’d hired Melodie two years ago as a favor. His efficient secretary was the only child and daughter of Richard Turner, who’d been his father’s sergeant and best friend, and had become Cole’s mentor after his dad’s death. The elder man had been grateful that his little girl had accepted the position at the Sommers’ agency and was working for a man Turner highly respected and trusted.
Cole stamped that as a mantra in his brain, certain Richard wouldn’t appreciate knowing he’d entertained a fantasy or two of peeling off those buttoned-up dresses from his daughter’s body and finally getting an eyeful of the curves he suspected hid beneath the loose material. He’d often wondered if her breasts were as full and lush, and her legs as long and sleek, as he suspected. And did she wear serviceable cotton underwear, or lacy, silky lingerie that hinted at a softer, feminine side?
His brother cleared his throat, intruding on Cole’s private musings. He jerked his gaze back to Noah, who wore a goofy grin on his face.
Cole shifted in his seat, realized he was semi-aroused, and experienced a moment of disgust. What the hell had gotten into him? Christ, maybe he did need to get laid as his brother had suggested—especially since provocative thoughts of his secretary were beginning to distract him more and more lately.
He’d left his door open because his conversation with Noah wasn’t what he’d consider a private one. Melodie had been in his office plenty of times when he’d discussed a confidential case with his brother or Joelle. Her knowledge of his clients and cases was what made her such an exceptional, proficient secretary.
Keeping that in mind, he did his best to ignore her presence as she walked across the room to his oak cabinet to put away a client file and other paperwork. He figured she’d become familiar with the Russell case quickly enough. As soon as he talked to Noah, he planned to hand over the contract and initial hand written statement he’d taken from Elena Russell, so Melodie could type up the report for him before he began the investigative process.
While Melodie continued her filing, Cole inhaled a deep breath to clear his mind and refocused on his brother. “Let me give you the details of the case from the beginning, so you quit jumping to wrong conclusions,” he said meaningfully. Leaning forward, he opened