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He’d never felt such an instant connection to someone before.
It was fucking unnerving.
“Eric?” Brian hissed.
Eric jerked himself out of his thoughts and reluctantly turned his attention away from the woman. Brian sat across the aisle, staring at him with a furrowed brow. “What?”
“The judge asked you a question.”
Well, shit.
Get yourself together, man.
“Yes, your honor. I’m ready,” he said, straightening his spine.
Judge Michaelson nodded once. “Excellent. Counsel?” he said, nodding at Brian. “You have the floor first.”
Eric leaned forward, listening to Brian and carefully keeping his attention off the court reporter. He’d been so busy staring at her that he’d lost track of what he was really here to do—win this case.
He still couldn’t figure out what it was that pulled him to her, but there was no denying the attraction was there, and he was going to let it tug him in for a time, until he could get her out of his system. Then he’d walk away.
It’s what he did.
He would, of course, make that perfectly clear ahead of time. He wasn’t in the habit of breaking hearts or crushing dreams. He always made sure women knew well in advance what they were getting with him. No surprises. No empty promises. No pain. Just pleasure.
Lots of pleasure.
“—and that’s why we also think the purchase of the land in question would be a good move for the stability and the prosperity of Fifth Street.”
Judge Michaelson nodded and looked at Eric. “Counsel? Your argument?”
Eric stood and straightened his jacket, shooting his client a reassuring grin. Things were going exactly as planned. At this rate, he’d have this in the bag within five minutes. “Your Honor, I’d like to take this time to point out that Mr. Walter has a proven track record of bringing economic boosts to downtrodden areas with his chain of restaurants. He is a man of many talents, and when he decides to build somewhere, he never lets down the community. The last restaurant he built downtown, one of his famous Southern Comfort restaurants, brought in over a million people in its first year alone. Those numbers show every promise of continuing to climb this year.”
As he spoke, he paced back and forth, gesturing toward his client, who sat still with a smile on his face, looking every inch the prosperous businessman he was. The judge nodded in approval here and there, and Brian studied his nails. By the time he was finished, he was out of breath and ready to take on the whole goddamned world.
He got his approval within seconds.
Case closed.
It was easy. Too easy.
Grinning, he spoke with his client, shook his hand, told him the invoice for his services would be on his desk by the end of the day, and collected his things. Then, and only then, he let himself think of her again. Hopefully she would prove to be more of a challenge than this case—he loved the chase more than the actual catching itself.
Shrugging his briefcase on his shoulder, he turned to where she’d been sitting…
And she was gone.
Son of a bitch.
He gripped his bag then shrugged the loss off. He knew where she worked and what she looked like. It was only a matter of time until they were in the same courtroom again.
And when they were?
He wouldn’t miss his chance a second time.
Chapter Two
Shelby Jefferson ran down the street, inwardly shouting curses while outwardly doing her best to keep her mouth shut so she didn’t drown in the pouring rain. Of course she’d picked today of all days to wear a white blouse without a rain jacket, since it had been sunny and dry this morning, so by the time she skidded onto the steps of her building, she was basically wearing a see-through curtain that highlighted pretty much everything…and hid nothing at all.
