Lawyers In Love: In His Own Defense by Ann Jacobs Read Free Book Online

for years how sensitive she was to pain medications. That hadn’t mattered at the time, though, because her ankle had hurt so much. She hadn’t complained when the emergency room nurse had brought the syringe and sent her off to a hazy sort of semi-oblivion.
    “I hope I didn’t do anything embarrassing,” she said, imagining she might have acted out a fantasy and crawled all over Tony while under the influence of the drug.
    “No. You just conked out. How about eating something now, before the shot wears completely off and you need one of those pills?”
    She couldn’t say no. He’d gone to a lot of trouble, given up his entire afternoon to take care of her. “I could be persuaded to try a bowl of whatever that is you fixed. It smells good.”
    “I’ll get it.”
    When he brought two bowls of pasta and a couple of glasses of the iced tea she always kept in the refrigerator, Kristine noticed he’d gotten rid of his tie and jacket, and unbuttoned the first two buttons of what looked like a custom-tailored, pale blue cotton shirt. He’d also rolled up his sleeves halfway to his elbows, revealing muscular forearms dusted with more of the soft-looking dark hair she vaguely remembered having noticed on the back of his hand.
    Tony looked totally confident, completely self-assured in a way she’d never have managed in unfamiliar surroundings. His vibrant masculine presence created a stark contrast with her late great-aunt’s fussy furnishings in the old-fashioned living room.
    Suddenly she realized how pathetic she must look, dirt-smudged and ragged. How could she even dream a man like Tony would give her a second glance? She stared down at her torn dress and bare legs, imagining how awful her hair must look, tousled as it must have been by the wind. Kristine sighed as she picked up a fork and twirled spaghetti strands around it.
    “You have many talents,” she said after taking her first bite. “This tastes delicious.”
    “It was either learn to cook or starve when I was in law school,” Tony replied, his gaze on her hot and speculative. Seemed he hadn’t realized she wasn’t the kind of woman men looked at that way. “Do you really like it?”
    “Yes.”
    She liked him too, even though she shouldn’t. Not only was he way out of her league, he was the enemy. He used his talents to set criminals free.
    Funny. When she looked at him, she saw only a gorgeous man who made her feel like a woman. Not a villain but a decent, well-intentioned man who had abandoned whatever plans he had this afternoon to take care of a wounded adversary.
    Kristine forced herself to concentrate on eating. The sooner she could say goodbye to Tony Landry, the better. He made her forget why she’d become a criminal lawyer…why she had vowed to exact revenge for her lost family. When he looked at her as though she were a prize morsel he’d like to taste, she almost forgot she wasn’t the kind of woman likely to attract a hunk like him.
    “You don’t have to stay,” she told him when he got up and turned on her TV.
    “Don’t you want to see yourself on the news?”
    She shuddered. “Not particularly.”
    “Well, I do.”
    Picking up the remote control, he settled against the cushions at the opposite end of the sofa and propped her splinted leg on his lap. “I’m anxious to see just how black they’ve painted me for getting Garcia acquitted,” he muttered, his lips twisting in a scowl.
    The news story featured her as tragic heroine to Tony’s mustache-twirling villain, using his wily tricks to get Garcia—one of the press’s favorite targets—off the hook. Kristine sat up and stared, disbelieving, when the reporter on the scene for Channel Eighty-Four showed footage of Tony’s car careening toward her and reported the near miss, but not the rescue.
    “That’s not fair!” she exclaimed.
    “The press seldom is. Look.”
    She followed his gaze to the screen, where the anchorwoman had moved on to a piece on the horrors of