Impulsive (15 page)

His mouth broke away from her amazing body as he strained to keep from spilling too soon. With his head balanced against the chair, he could see her in her full glory. Head tipped back, arms stiff from where they held on behind him, and body rising and falling above him.

He wanted to watch her come but his eyes slipped shut. The closer he got, the stronger the pull inside him became. Tension coiled ready to spring. When she squeezed her inner muscles around him and sat down hard, energy pounded through him. Every muscle and cell compressed and then let go. The orgasm hit him hard and fast, taking every ounce of stamina and whipping the life out of it.

He groaned his satisfaction against the soft underside of her breasts just as her body began to buck. Her long strokes turned to a staccato thump of her chest against his. With her mouth open and her thighs tight against his sides, she came. Her body trembled and her arms shook. When she finally came down, she crumpled in a soft heap on top of him.

This room had seen a lot of legal action but never anything like this. He lay there with the faint scent of sex filling his senses. He'd never again be able to sit in this chair without seeing her looming over him on the verge of coming.

He felt her smile against the base of his neck. “Happy?”

“I think my plan worked.”

“The seduction? Yeah, you could say that.” She sat up. The shift pushed him deeper inside her and had them both groaning. “You're killing me.”

“I'm trying to get you to forgive me.”

Those eyes looked wary. They'd cleared out some ghosts, but some still lingered. He guessed he wore a similar expression.

“I'm trying to understand why you did it,” he said.

“I needed money.”

He brushed the hair off her face. “For?”

“School, life…does it really matter?”

“I guess not.”

Her mouth met his in a kiss without any real heat. It was more to soothe than entice. “Then let's go back to your place and watch the sunrise.”

He glanced around at all the work he had to do and decided to get to it tomorrow. “That's not for a few hours.”

“I'm sure we can find something to do until then.”

S
tanding in his office and remembering the night before, Eric was in a good mood. Tired, but pretty damn satisfied.

What he had with Katie—he was convinced it wasn't a part of some huge conspiracy or con. She'd come to his office looking like that, and moved her mouth over him later at home, because she wanted to be with him. They'd figure out the rest later.

The door opened without a knock. Kevin walked in, his steps long and full of purpose. Seth followed, shutting the door. A heavy mood followed both of them. For Kevin that wasn't unusual. Outside the courtroom, it was unheard of for Seth.

Eric was most concerned with the nasty habit Kevin had picked up of thinking he was in charge. “I'm not sure how your law office works, but people tend to knock before they walk in around here.”

“We have an issue,” Kevin said without breaking stride.

Since his campaign manager viewed everything as dire, Eric's pulse didn't even jump at the warning. “Both of you?”

Seth claimed the open seat in front of Eric's desk first. “I'm here because he summoned me.”

“Anyone want to tell me why I'm here?” Eric asked.

Kevin stopped behind Seth. Just hovered there looking more concerned with every breath he took. “You're the one with the problem.”

Eric tapped his intercom button and told the receptionist to hold his calls. “If this is about the election, we have to take it elsewhere. The political stuff stays separate from my current position.”

Kevin knew better. Campaign work in a government office was a definite no. Eric had no intention of breaking those rules. Some people might question his ethics, but he still lived by a code.

“I'm all for protocol but we don't have time.

Eric eased back into his chair. If he turned his head a certain way, he could smell the faint ginger aroma he now associated with Katie. “Just tell me what you're doing here.”

“I got a call this morning,” Kevin said.

Seth crossed an ankle over his knee and tapped the bottom of his shoe. “Is that unusual for you?”

“The reporter was asking if Eric had any comment on the story that's about to run on him.”

Eric couldn't believe they'd assembled this War Room over something so mundane. Another Deana rumor. So what? He had better things to worry about. “That happens all the time. It's not a big deal.”

“This one is.”

The pained expression on Kevin's face never wavered. Eric decided to end the twenty questions before his friend popped a blood vessel. “Give me a clue here. What's going on?”

“There is a video of you.” Kevin paused as if he expected a huge reaction to that piece of information. “It shows you having sex in your office with a woman.”

“That's better than a farm animal.” Seth's laughter quickly died out when no one joined him. “Wait, are you serious?”

The world went blank. Just as Eric was reclaiming his balance after the incident at the temple, something new came along to tilt his world. Something unbelievable that didn't make any sense. “What are you talking about?”

“You with a naked woman on your lap.”

The memories came rushing back at Eric. Sex with Katie. He spun his chair around and stared out the window. A few office buildings stood nearby. There was a grassy space in front of the building where someone could set up a camera. So many places for prying eyes to get a peek.

How could he be so fucking careless?
“Damn it.”

He'd handed it right to them. Sat right there and made love to Katie where anyone could watch. He'd always been so precise but this time he'd slipped up. Huge.

“I haven't seen the thing but I do have a photo still.” Kevin looked from Seth back to Eric. “Just tell me if it was Deana.”

Eric's temper split in a million directions, each one racing and picking up speed toward an inevitable crash. He wrestled with his part in this, furious he'd let such a private moment spin into something dirty. But another, angrier piece of him wanted to shout Kevin down for harping on the Deana fears.

“For the hundredth time, I'm not sneaking around with Deana.”

Kevin ignored the outburst. “The date stamp says it happened last night.”

“Oh, boy.” Seth whistled. The realization that he knew all about what had happened and when was stamped across his face.

Kevin stared down at him. “What do you know about this?”

“It's not a big deal,” Seth said.

The red on Kevin's cheeks spread to his entire face. “Eric is using state property for sex. He's been the poster boy for ethical behavior. Trust me. This is a problem.”

Eric was too shell-shocked to argue. He'd run his entire work life as straight as possible. He didn't fudge on cases. Didn't cover or hide facts. Hell, he'd sabotaged a relationship with Deana in order to keep his ethics in line. Now this.

“He's allowed to have sex,” Seth pointed out.

Kevin reached in his inside jacket pocket and pulled out a paper.

Eric didn't want to ask but did it anyway. “What is that?”

“The damning evidence.” Kevin dumped the grainy photo on the desk in front of Eric. “The reporter thinks she's a prostitute. I'm not sure if that's worse or better than it being Deana.”

Eric glanced at it but didn't have to study it. The position was burned into his brain because he lived it. “Jesus.”

Seth took longer. When he finally sat back, his mouth had pulled into a grim line. “She's not. Eric, tell Kevin the truth about her.”

A flicker of doubt danced across Eric's senses. The chill on the back of his neck was hard to ignore. The timing was so damning. Her history worked against her. But he couldn't reconcile the vibrant, passionate woman who'd crawled all over him with the bloodless con woman she would have to be to pull this off.

He'd spent years digging through people's lives. He'd seen unbelievable violence and despair. Victims cried on his shoulder and killers lied to his face. It wasn't as if he lived in a naïve world. He knew people had the ability to act like shit. The combination of politics and criminal law left him whipped at the end of some days. It was a constant fight to stay positive, to believe in something.

But from the beginning he had connected with Katie. It started with sex, but the desire to be with her went beyond getting naked. Even now, as the evidence piled against her, he kept falling for her. What he felt for her wasn't easy. It was raw and emotional and punched him every day.

He cleared his throat. “She's the woman I'm seeing. She came in last night and…well, I guess you know the rest.”

Seth turned the photo over in his hand. “Is this all you have?”

“That's enough.” Eric grabbed it and left it facedown against the desk. Some things should be private. A man should be able to make love to his woman without having the entire press corps sneak a look.

Seth made a face but his gaze never left the photo. “I meant from the perspective of figuring out what we're dealing with here. Maybe if we could get our hands on the actual tape we could get a clue as to the maker. If we figure out where this was shot, we might be able to find out who did it.”

“I can't even confirm who the lady is. All I have is this shot. Haven't seen the tape, but from what I understand, her identity is hidden.” Kevin slid his thigh onto the desk. “You see Eric's face and her—”

Eric remembered how they'd sat in that chair. How they'd moved. “Everything.”

“Apparently.”

He blew out a long breath. He had hoped it would ease the building pressure in his chest. No luck. “That's good, at least.”

“What are you talking about? This is a disaster.” Kevin's voice climbed in volume as he spoke.

“We can control it.”

Kevin thumped his finger against the back of the photo. “This?”

“I'm a grown man. I'm allowed to have sex and a private life. I'd prefer if there wasn't photographic evidence, but I can't fix that now.” But he could track down the dumbass who took the video and make sure it wasn't splashed anywhere else.

“Have you thought this through?” Kevin asked.

“Hard to since I've known about the problem for about ten seconds.”

“Then let me boil it down for you. You were set up.”

Kevin rushed right to the place Eric was trying to avoid. “No. Absolutely not.”

Kevin shifted and huffed in exasperation. The man with an abundance of control looked ready to burst. “How do you think someone got the video or knew to take it in the first place?”

Out of nowhere, Katie's comments about someone close to him wanting information came back to him. “Good question.”

“You think Gunnery is behind this?” Seth asked.

Eric mentally played that angle and it led nowhere. Gunnery had just announced his intentions. The guy had little money and even less name recognition. Worse than having no support, he had very little ambition. This had the mark of someone with more skill and more focus on making some money. “I don't think he's focused enough to have spies following me.”

“Forget Gunnery.” Kevin's voice cut through the discussion. “Let's stick with the girl.”

Eric didn't appreciate the dismissive attitude. “Woman.”

“Did you invite her here?”

“No.”

The facts kept stacking up against Katie. The more Kevin talked, the more reasonable his theory sounded. But none of those pieces matched the woman Eric knew, and he did know her. He refused to believe otherwise.

“She showed up and there just happened to be a camera crew lurking outside.” A crack rang out as Kevin slapped his open palm against the desk. “Do you hear that theory? It's crazy obvious.”

Seth drummed his hands against the chair's armrest. “You think she planned all of this.”

“You got it.” Kevin's gaze whipped back to Eric. “Can you see it?”

Saw it, analyzed it, and tried to ignore it. He wanted to keep his private life clean and safe from all this bullshit, but the bad kept intruding. Reality slapped him in the face with Deana. She had been rock solid but the tragedy in her family changed everything. Katie seemed to wallow in disaster.

Katie's life was a series of missteps. He hoped like hell he wasn't one more.

“What did you tell the reporter?” he asked.

“What?” Kevin yelled the question.

“Calm down before security runs in here.”

Kevin stared at the door. “Right.”

Eric tried to regulate his breathing and come up with a plan. “Now, this reporter wants a statement, right?”

“We aren't saying anything. I'm going to look at the tape and see if we have any deniability.” Kevin reached for the photo but Eric stopped the slide across the table with his hand.

“It's me.”

“Depending on the angle—”

Eric had no intention of lying about this or trying to blame someone else. “Kevin, hear me on this. I had sex here last night. It's definitely me.”

“Yeah, Kev. I saw the woman. Before the event in question, of course, but it's her,” Seth said.

Kevin went wild at that admission. “You didn't stop him?”

Eric ended the fight before it could get off the ground. “Again, I make my own decisions. This is my fault, not Seth's. Keep your anger focused where it belongs.”

“Unbelievable.” If Kevin was going for a mumble he failed; the word came out loud and clear.

“How long do we have before it airs?” Eric asked.

Kevin went from furious to looking like he'd been hit with a baseball bat. “A few hours. Tops.”

“I'll talk to the reporter.” Once Eric figured out what to say and how to say it, he'd take care of the problem. Until then, his mind would spin and the doubt would grow. He dreaded the day ahead.

“I don't think you understand what's happening here,” Kevin said. “Some woman is selling you out.”

“Maybe you should go with ‘no comment' for now. You know, until you can talk with Katie,” Seth suggested.

Kevin perked up. “Katie who?”

It was tempting to avoid the question, but Eric answered it. “The woman in the video.”

Kevin clicked the tip of his pen as he grabbed a piece of paper off Eric's desk. “I want to investigate her.”

“No.”

“Eric.”

This was the only part of the plan Eric knew was right. He needed to take charge of this, shoulder the responsibility, and not get mucked up in the political speak that sometimes accompanied this sort of thing. They were a long way from the election. He could bounce back, but he had to be honest. Ducking would raise more suspicions and invite the press into every aspect of his life. That was his nightmare.

What would happen with Katie was a different issue. He had to ask her the hard questions. With the fragile state of their relationship, this might be one push too many. Maybe it should be. If she was involved…no. Eric didn't even want to go there. He had to see her face when she answered. He would know then.

“Go back to your office,” Eric directed. “I'll call you later.”

Kevin fumbled for his words. “You can't be serious.”

“Eric's right. We shouldn't be talking about this on State grounds and State time.”

Eric appreciated the assist from Seth. “Just give me an hour.”

Kevin shook his head. “By all means take your time. It's not as if your political career is on the line or anything.”

Eric started to say something, but Kevin had stormed to the door and slammed it behind him. The look on Seth's face wasn't much better. Instead of joking, he fumed.

Since he trusted his friend's opinion and instincts, Eric went right to the issue on both of their minds. “Tell me what you're thinking.”

“Katie.”

“What about her?”

Seth stared at the ceiling for a second, then lowered his head again. “This is me, Eric. Forget about Kevin and his anal-retentive bullshit. Do you think she's in on it?”