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

addiction to cocaine, the kind of a soft news report Kristine normally would applaud.
    “You certainly don’t favor legalizing that poison, do you?” she asked when she noticed Tony’s disgusted expression.
    He flipped off the TV and stood. “No. But I don’t like seeing my clients being convicted by the press after they’ve been acquitted in a court of law, either. It’s time for your pills. I’ll bring you some water.”
    Clearly he had no intention of giving her equal rebuttal time. Kristine had to admit, the man was a master at getting in the last word, because before she could comment, he’d picked up their dirty dishes and disappeared into the kitchen.
    When he came back and handed her a glass of water, that devastating smile had returned to his face. Lethal in its impact, it robbed her of the will to assert her own opinion. Docile now, Kristine took the pills and washed them down with a gulp of water.
    “Thanks. I hope these don’t knock me out the way that shot did.”
    Her gaze locked with his. His eyes changed color like a chameleon, first brown, then greenish gold when she viewed them in the muted light from the window. Mercurial eyes, just right for a man whose image shifted from moment to moment in her mind.
    “I really do appreciate everything you’ve done. You must think I’m a klutz, and I don’t mean just in the courtroom.”
    “I think you’re an angel.”
    The skin between her breasts burned when she noticed him looking there.
    “God, Kristine. I could have killed you.”
    She glanced at her chest and noticed the jagged tear in what had been her good gray dress. Dried bloodstains, a small scratch just above the top of the plain white cotton bra he couldn’t help but see through the gash in the material. Embarrassed, she laid a hand over the part of her bare breast framed by the torn fabric.
    “You saved me, Tony.” For a moment she wished the sight of her evoked his passion instead of his sympathy.
    “So soft. So pretty.”
    Very gently he lifted her hand and traced the length of the scratch Kristine guessed must have come from one of the sharp pieces of shell used as filler in the asphalt paving for Tampa streets.
    Maybe he did want her. The intense look on his handsome face as he stroked her bare skin didn’t project sympathy, for certain.
    “I’d better go,” he said, practically snatching away his hand. He stood and gave her an apologetic look.
    Disappointment washed over her. She wanted him to stay, wanted to feel him touch her. Kiss her. Hold her against his hard, strong body and keep the memories at bay. She couldn’t ask, though. He wasn’t the white knight of her dreams, merely a stranger whose personal life had touched hers by a crazy twist of fate.
    When he let himself out her front door, she smiled and waved goodbye.
    Afterward, for what seemed like hours, Kristine lay there on the couch, her mind slowed by the medication she’d taken. The sting of losing her first case should have hurt more, but she felt only mild regret, faint amusement.
    And she couldn’t hate the clever defense lawyer who’d thwarted her plans. He’d saved her from what could have been a very painful death.
    When she giggled, the sound reverberated through her silent house. She had the feeling Tony had wanted to stay, that he’d sensed the same inexplicable pull toward her she did toward him.
    Wishful thinking. That’s what it had to be.
    She’d think of some appropriate way to thank Tony Landry for giving up his afternoon to play cook and nursemaid to her. Then she would forget him. After the disastrous way she’d handled the Manny Garcia trial, she doubted Andi would ever assign her another case where the defendant needed a lawyer of Tony’s stature.
    Out of sight, out of mind. At least Kristine hoped that would be so. She needed it to be true, because now that she’d seen the caring side of Tony Landry, she couldn’t hate him any more than she could imagine a future with him.

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