barely reached her ears and she knew he had strained to hear. “This may be hard for you to believe, but I’m doing this for free.”
“Yes, so I heard.” He sounded frustrated , but he remained calm.
“They can’t afford to move from where they are living; they can’t afford a new attorney. I’m all they have, Jack.”
T he way he flinched you would think Abby had slapped him; the blow would have had the same result. He closed his eyes then opened them. Sad was the only emotion on his face. “I can’t believe this is happening.” His long lashes fluttered as he blinked. “I finally find someone who--”
“Don’t finish that Jack; it will just make this more difficult.” This was past unfair and bordered on cruel. Fate was a bitch. “I grew up in that neighborhood and I’m not backing down.”
“Abby...”
She stepped further away and slipped off his shirt. They had ravished each other like starved animals. It was a little late and pointless for modesty. His intent dark stare raked over her naked body and she pretended that it didn’t melt her and make her want him even now. Ignoring the fact that her body heated with just his look, she passed him the shirt and lowered her gaze. She couldn’t look him in the eye, but noticed that arousal stirred beneath the black silk of his boxers. She stepped around him and headed to the bathroom.
Grabbing her robe from the back of the door, she wrapped it around her body tight. She was cold, but not on the outside. Her heart ached and everything felt completely wrong. Odd, since it was the ethical thing to do. She walked back into the room and noticed Jack had already dressed. The top buttons of his dress shirt were undone and his jacket was thrown over the un-tucked shirt. He looked sexy as he shook his head. It was obvious that he couldn’t believe this and was as miserable as she was.
“I’ll walk you out.” She turned toward the door, but his hand gently caught her arm and spun her around to face him. Looking up, his lips came against hers in a rush of heat. Her body trembled and his lips lifted from hers as quickly as they had brushed against them.
“If you change your min d, you know where to find me.” Releasing his grip, he walked past her and out of the room. She collected herself and followed him down the hall. He walked to the entry, pulled the door open, and appeared as if he was going to speak, but instead crossed over the threshold. The heavy door closed behind him.
Helplessly, she started to cry again.
Jack was more than aware, as he sat in the lunch meeting with his father and Anthony, that there was a conversation going on around him. Currently, he didn’t care. The only thing he cared about was how he felt, which was sick to his stomach and miserable. Make that, beyond miserable.
Seeing Abby cry th at morning had confirmed that she was as shocked with this warped twist of fate as he was and equally as upset over the circumstances. He knew he was falling for her and had even known yesterday she would be hard to let go if things didn’t work. Now, their reckless behavior had not only led them to each other, but had put an interesting spin on the Gibson Street project.
“I had a call from the building commissioner .” Anthony sounded pissed. For the last two days that had been his state. “Seems that bitch Crosby is going for blood.”
The pretty attorney was ruining his life, but that wasn’t what grated on Jack. It was the manner in which Anthony spoke of Abby. “Don’t call her that.” He started to get mad.
“I’ll call that snotty slut whatever the hell I want. She’s trouble,” Anthony snapped.
His temper flipped to the surface. Abby was far from snotty, and she certainly wasn’t a slut. “You won’t call her another name if you value your teeth in their current location.”
“JW!” His father was shocked, probably no more than Jack had been earlier this morning in Abby’s
Rebecca Hamilton, Conner Kressley