Irresistible Forces

quite ordinary. They looked like… mothers.

'I want to call my attorney,' she said quietly, the rum's numbing effect abandoning her.

'I already did that,' Steph said from across the room.

'There you are.' Margo breathed a sigh of relief. 'You and your bright ideas about how to do my job. Thanks a lot.'

Steph flashed her a sheepish grin as Margo slumped into a chair beside her. With difficulty, she ignored Jared's eyes on her from across the room. None of this made sense. The Jared she'd once known and loved would never have put on the show she'd witnessed this evening. And what a show. Her face heated at the memory of his bare skin rippling beneath the flashing lights.

With a sigh, she planted her chin in her hands and peeked at Steph from the corner of her eye, grateful her family had never met Jared in person. 'You called Warren, then?'

Steph nodded. 'Yeah, but he's out of town.'

'Of course he's out of town.' Margo straightened and allowed her head to hit the wall with a soft thud. 'The perfect finale to a perfect day.'

'I wish Nick…'

Margo smiled sadly when her sister left her comment unfinished. If Nick were alive, he'd have had them out of here by now. 'I know. Me, too.'

'They're sending a new junior partner to spring us.'

'Oh, that figures.' Margo sighed again, physically, mentally, and emotionally drained.

'Who's in charge here?' a feminine voice demanded from the doorway.

Glancing up at the redheaded woman, Margo noted she was well-dressed and built like Marilyn Monroe.

'I am.' The officer at the desk looked up at the newcomer. 'May I help you, ma'am?'

The woman grimaced slightly, then smiled. 'I'm Raquel Eastwood from Riley and Gray — I mean, Warren Grayson's office.'

'Oh, thank goodness you're here.' Steph stood and grabbed the woman's hands in both her own. 'Can you get us out of here?'

'Done.'

The woman's smile took Margo aback, and there was something about her eyes… 'So we're free to go?' Margo asked, rising to stand beside Steph.

Ms. Eastwood nodded and snapped her fingers. 'You bet. I have a couple of forms to sign, then we're out of here.'

'There were others,' Margo began, her gaze inexorably drawn to Jared's slouched figure against the other wall. His expression was so intense it stole her breath. She needed to talk to him, to learn why he was here and why he'd been at the Studfinder. Somehow, she sensed he wouldn't welcome her questions now, and she needed a hot bath and a couple of aspirin. Maybe more than a couple.

But there was a story here — more of one than she'd originally thought. Jared knew something.

Frowning, she dragged her gaze from Jared to ask the attorney something, but Ms. Eastwood was staring at Jared, too. Of course she was. Jared was the kind of man any woman would ogle, and he wasn't Margo's anymore. She had no right to feel jealous. But she did.

'I guess you've all had enough excitement for one night,' Jared said with a chuckle, gaining Margo's immediate attention. The expression in his eyes was no longer intense, nor was it for her alone. Again, the mask was in place.

What was his game? Narrowing her eyes, she reminded herself that no one else here knew who he was. He'd shushed her back at the Studfinder. For now she would play along. However, she reserved the right to collect payment later for keeping his secret.

'Excitement?' Her voice dripped sarcasm, and she mentally patted herself on the back when his eyebrow arched ever so slightly. 'The only exciting thing that happened this evening was watching you parade around in front of a bunch of screaming women. Half-naked. More than half.'

'I'll say,' Steph said.

Ms. Eastwood shook her head slowly, her gaze riveted to Jared. 'Another surprise.' She cast a sidelong glance at Margo.

After Margo and Steph finished answering a few questions about the Studfinder and signing some papers, the attorney offered to drive them home. They walked by Jared, who stood and flashed them his stage smile again. 'Nice meeting you, ladies.'

'Very nice.' Steph giggled.

'Shake it, don't break it, man,' Ms. Eastwood said in a sultry tone.

Margo couldn't prevent herself from giggling along with Steph, though her reasons were far different from her sister's. She'd only known one person who would've had the guts to say something like that to Jared Carson, and he was dead.

Jared's eyes sparked and one corner of his mouth quirked upward. 'Lawyers. Who needs 'em?' He turned his gaze on Margo. 'Reporters, lawyers… and women.'

'Hey, watch it, buster.' Raquel placed one hand on her curvy hip.' Margo's a reporter.'

'Anything for a story?' The expression on Jared's face now could only be called a smirk.

Margo elevated her chin and took a deep breath, sensing this was part of his secretive role. 'You bet.' She noted a wink of approval from Ms. Eastwood. Just how had Warren's new partner known she was a reporter? Well, it didn't really matter. This nightmare was almost over, except for dealing with Jared.

Later.

3

Nick stripped off his dress and infernal high heels the minute his apartment door closed behind him. Thank goodness he and Grayson had seen the wisdom of opening their offices in an old Victorian. The upstairs was a furnished apartment — the perfect place for the new junior partner to hang out for a while.

The perfect halfway house for a halfway angel.

He had no idea how Seamus had managed to create a position for Raquel Eastwood in the firm, but it was like magic. From the moment Raquel had walked through the door, everyone treated her as if she'd gone through a normal hiring process and they'd been expecting her. Amazing. Even Mrs. Brown, the old bat receptionist, hadn't suspected a thing. This divine intervention stuff had its merits.

Raquel had a driver's license, a Social Security card, a diploma hanging on her office wall, and she was a member of the Bar. She was as real as anyone else walking down the street.

'Yeah, and she looks a lot like a streetwalker, for that matter,' Nick muttered.

Trying unsuccessfully to unhook his bra — aka torture band — he gave up and yanked it over his head. He used to be able to do it with one hand. Of course, it hadn't been behind his back then.

He grimaced as his breasts were freed from the confining garment. It was bad enough being in a woman's body, but why had Seamus felt compelled to make Nick so well-endowed? Raquel was at least a ten and a half. He glanced down at the lush breasts attached to his once flat, once hairy chest. Okay, maybe a twelve.

After pulling on an oversized T-shirt, he flopped into a chair in front of the television's blank screen. 'Seamus, I don't know what got into you.'

'Oh, stop your bellyachin', Nick.'

It was hard to get used to hearing voices in his head. Especially when that voice belonged to a former New York City cop who sounded far less than angelic. 'I saw Margo,' Nick whispered on a sigh.

'Margo's a good person, and she deserves better than you.'

Scowling upward, Nick scratched in a manner a lady wouldn't be caught dead doing. But then… he was already dead, and he sure as hell wasn't a lady.

'Where'd this body come from?' Nick asked. 'Is this an Invasion of the Body Snatchers