Love Proof (Laws of Attraction) - By Elizabeth Ruston Page 0,101

now.”

He shook his head. “Henley . . . ”

“That’s right,” Sarah said. “It is Henley to you. Because right now I’m thinking like your opponent. But in a few minutes, I’m going to start acting like your lover again, so if you have anything else of a lawyer-like nature to say to me, you’d better say it right now.”

“So it’s already done,” Joe said. “You’ve already sent the e-mail, there’s no room for interpretation.”

“No. I think the phrase, ‘have to remove myself from this case due to a personal conflict of interest’ is going to be pretty clear once Calvin discusses it with Mickey.”

“You’re sure about this,” Joe said.

“I’m sure this is how it is,” Sarah answered, “and now we’ll just have to see what happens.”

“I had a plan, you know,” Joe said.

“I’m sure you did.” She shifted one knee, then another, crawling higher up toward his hips. “Anything else, Burke?”

“I think you’re beautiful. And smart. And sexy as hell. And I agree you’re entitled to a redo. But Sarah, if we’re in this together, then we’re in this together. I still wish you’d talked to me about it first.”

“I couldn’t,” Sarah said. “It wasn’t in my client’s interests. And I was still their attorney as of this evening, which meant it wasn’t any of your business what I did. Now that’s all I’m saying about it for the rest of the night. Off-duty. Do you want me or not?”

Joe moved so quickly it shocked the breath from her lungs. He flipped her over onto her back and had her beneath him in a second, his knees pinning her hips instead.

“So I’m part of your bottom line?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“That could be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

“Then I must be a very cold woman.”

“Far from it,” Joe said, then he set about to prove it.

***

Joe dropped her back at her hotel around five o’clock in the morning. He grumbled about the two of them having to leave his warm bed, but Sarah convinced him fairly quickly that she was already back to business mode and it might be dangerous to stand in her way.

He parked at side of the hotel closest to her room, and left the car idling while he gave her a proper kiss.

“You’ll be all right today?”

Sarah nodded. Already her stomach was twisting at the thought of what messages awaited her. She had deliberately left her phone off the night before. But now it was time to hear everyone’s reactions to the e-mail she’d sent out.

“Are you flying home tonight?” Joe asked.

“I don’t know yet.” She kissed him one more time, then got out and prepared to go to work.

Back in her room, she booted up her laptop and turned on her phone.

Mickey had called her four times.

“You’d better be joking, Sarah.”

“Sarah, call me back right away.”

“Where are you—with him? Call me back, damn it.”

“Do you understand I did you a favor? How do you think this makes me look? You can’t keep your legs together for five min—”

She stopped listening after that.

There was a series of e-mails from the associates on her team. Questions about what was going on, what they were supposed to do now, what the status of the case was, who should take over which of her assignments . . .

A short e-mail from Calvin stating simply, “I’ll expect you to meet with me immediately upon your return. Please notify my secretary of the time.”

Sarah felt tired already. She hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before, but she was used to that by now. What she needed, she decided, was coffee—and strong, not just what she could brew up on the hotel coffee maker.

So she donned her warmest layers, including the hat and gloves she bought with Joe what seemed like months ago instead of weeks, and took off in the pre-dawn for the two-block walk to a Starbucks. She wanted to feel the cold air on her face and the long stretch of her limbs on a brisk walk as much as she wanted the caffeine.

The first few sips of the dark roast hit her like a mallet and alerted her mind that it had better shift into a higher gear for what Sarah expected of it that day. She walked back, sipping along the way, warming her hands on the cup, and by the time she returned to her room felt better ready to face the onslaught.

She had learned over the years not to give people options or to