Unwrapping the Playboy by Marie Ferrarella Read Free Book Online

behind her.
    Don’t go there, she warned herself. What’s done is done.
    â€œNo,” he answered, “I’m not married.”
    â€œOh.”
    Despite the fact that it was years too late for her, that what could have been between them was in the past, Lilli was suddenly aware of a small, intense flame of warmth igniting within her. A warmth that swiftly spread, as if to thaw her out. To make her feel alive again.
    This wouldn’t accomplish anything, she upbraided her self. It was best to leave things just the way they were. There was no going back. Her future, her life, was all bound up around the boy. Jonathan was the important one here. Jonathan was the only reason she was here, temporarily interacting with Kullen.
    She wanted to be clear that he didn’t mind her doing this. Eager though she was, she didn’t want to risk crowding him. “Then I can bring the papers by your house?”
    He didn’t want her getting the wrong idea, that her coming over would lead to anything but discussing her case.
    â€œYou could have brought them by even if I was married,” he informed her. “When’s the court date?” She told him and he whistled, shaking his head. No wonder she was antsy. “Two weeks. That really doesn’t leave much time,” he agreed.
    â€œThat’s the whole idea behind such an early court date. Mrs. Dalton’s trying to steamroll right over me.”
    Kullen liked a challenge, liked fighting the good fight. Cut-and-dried cases didn’t allow him to stretchhis muscles, and a lot of the time they bored him. His gut told him he wouldn’t be bored with this case. Not by a long shot.
    â€œWell, Mrs. Dalton’s just going to have to rethink her strategy,” he replied. He reached over a pile of papers to get one of his business cards from his desk. Flipping it over, he wrote down his home address on the back, then held the card out to Lilli. “Here’s my address,” he told her. “I should be home after six.”
    What sort of a home did he live in? Was it strictly utilitarian, the way his room had been in college? Or had his obvious success changed him, changed his tastes? Was his home big and splashy, filled with furniture and objects of art chosen by some interior decorator?
    Lilli slipped the card into her purse. “I’ll be there,” she promised.
    She started to open the door, but the sound of his voice stopped her.
    â€œJust out of curiosity, who referred you to me?”
    He wondered if she’d just looked him up, forgetting that he’d once had plans to work in the poorer section of Los Angeles, counseling those who couldn’t afford to pay a lawyer. Or if she did remember, did finding him here make her think that he’d sold out and joined his father’s firm just to please him?
    Her answer caught him off guard. “Your mother.”
    â€œMy mother?” Damn it, Kate had been right. Now that she, Nikki and Jewel were all squared away with fiancés and weddings in the near future, Theresa Manetti had decided to turn her sights on him. “You looked up my mother?” he asked incredulously.
    â€œNo, actually, it’s all just a very fortunate coincidence.”
    Yeah, I just bet, Kullen thought. He didn’t believe in coincidences, fate or luck. Not anymore. Especially not where his mother was concerned. She’d known about this at lunch today and she hadn’t said a word to him.
    â€œMy mother needed to have a party catered,” Lilli explained, “and she looked up your mother. Your mother comes very highly recommended,” she told him by way of a compliment. His expression remained oddly stoic. “They started talking and my mother told yours that I was badly in need of a lawyer. Your mother volunteered you.”
    His mother probably heard the words “my single daughter” and her imagination galloped off, Kullen thought darkly. “Did