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“How exactly do you propose to do that?”
We’d all been pushovers when it came to Alma. My almost ex-wife always got her way. But if she wanted her freedom, she’d have to make some concessions. Ones that hurt.
“I have my ways.” There was a confidence in the statement that intrigued me.
I narrowed my gaze. “The problem is if I deliver what you want first, you might leave me hanging out to dry.”
“You have my word I won’t.”
“I need more than that.”
“What’s more than my word?”
I tapped my finger on the desk. “I need a sign of good faith.”
“And what guarantee do I have that if I give you this sign that you won’t renege on your end of the deal?”
The dress moved, though I wasn’t sure if she’d crossed her leg or had something living under there.
“We’ll have to trust each other.”
She stared at me. “I’d rather sit in a den of snakes.”
I stood and rounded the desk, resting against it when I was in front of her. “You trusted me once.”
Her eyes flared. “That doesn’t mean it’s unconditional.”
I crossed an ankle over the other. “Then we have a problem, don’t we?”
“Yes. My temporary lack of judgment.” She pushed out of the chair, putting us in far too close proximity.
She still had that clean, earthy scent. And those green-gold eyes were as vibrant as ever.
Her chest heaved as we stood millimeters apart. “Forget I came here.”
She shimmied past. I reached for her arm, and we both froze as electricity sparked from that simple touch.
“Can’t do that, Barn.”
Whatever had driven her here—to me—must be something monumental.
“I’ll find another way.”
“You wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t looked everywhere else. I’m your only option.” I had no idea what she needed, other than a lawyer, but it was a safe bet she had nowhere else to turn.
She swallowed hard. “Will you help me?”
Those eyes bored into me, wide open and vulnerable. Desperate.
I’d only felt needed like that one other time. And it had led to the mistake of a lifetime. I was older. Wiser. And still a sucker for a woman who was a mystery to me.
But unlucky for her, time had made me more callous. And I didn’t make the same mistake twice.
I opened my mouth to tell her no as she covered my hand still holding her arm.
“You saved me once. I don’t have the right to ask you to do it for my daughter.”
She did something to me with her touch. With her honesty. I didn’t like to feel powerless or reckless. She made me feel both.
