He squeezed my hands and gazed into my eyes, the smile never leaving his face. A few seconds passed, and his expression grew solemn. Swallowing hard, he cleared his throat. “Because I want you to know that integrity means everything to me. I would never do anything to compromise that.”
He was telling me to back off. Next, he would probably tell me he couldn’t see me anymore. I’d ruined whatever chance we had of becoming friends. “I understand.”
“No, I don’t think you do.”
I frowned and stepped back, pulling my hands away from him. “I get it. I wanted you to kiss me, but you aren’t interested or you can’t go there because I was a client. Point taken. Now, can we please move on before…” I was about to say, ‘before I start crying,’ but the words got caught in my throat.
He stepped forward and enveloped me in his arms, his lips crashing down on mine. I gasped, and he took that moment to deepen the kiss, an electrical charge shooting through me at the contact. He increased the pressure as if he wanted me to understand exactly how he felt. I’d thought he wasn’t interested, but, apparently, he found me quite interesting.
Very interesting, indeed, judging by his fervency.
How sweet it was to be wrong.
When he pulled back, he was nearly breathless, and I couldn’t stop the smile that spread over my face like cream cheese frosting over chocolate cake. “You like me.”
He chuckled, his arms circling my waist, his lips moving close to mine once again. He stopped a few inches away, his breath warming my skin. “I told you I did.”
“As a friend.”
“I want a lot more than friendship.” As if to prove his point, he closed the remaining distance, his lips finding mine again.
We kissed for several long moments, and then I pushed against his chest to find my equilibrium. “Whoa… I’m still trying to get used to the idea that you’re interested.”
He laughed and glanced up at the ceiling, looking happier than I’d ever seen him. “Sorry. Guess I got a little carried away.”
“Tell me more about your conversation with Will.”
“Oh, that.” He returned his gaze to me and wiped a hand over his jaw. “I told him I plan to pursue you now that you aren’t a client anymore.”
“And how did he take that?”
“He gave me the green light.”
“And what would you have done if he hadn’t?”
He was quiet for a while as he stared at the ground. “I thought about that before I called him. I would’ve quit.”
My eyebrows flew up. “Really? You would quit so you could date me?”
“Yes.”
Warmth flooded through me, sweeping away any leftover insecurities. He liked me a lot more than I’d realized. “I’m glad you didn’t have to quit. I would have felt horrible.”
“Will said as long as you were willing, it wasn’t a problem.”
“Guess I should let you know I’m willing.”
“I figured as much.”
“Suppose I didn’t hide my interest very well.”
“You have no idea how hard it was holding back. There were so many times I wanted to tell you how I felt, but I couldn’t.”
I lifted my eyebrows. “How do you feel?”
A few seconds passed and then he smiled, broad and wide. “Like the luckiest man alive.”
***
Later that night, I drove to Robert’s house so we could have a little talk. I was not looking forward to this discussion at all, but I had to say something. He needed to understand that I was not okay with what he did. He tried to hurt someone I cared about, and I couldn’t let that go.
I’d called ahead of time, so he knew I was coming. When I pulled up to the curb in front of his home, he walked out to greet me.
“Hey, beautiful.” He did a double-take and glanced around. “Where’s Troy?”
“He’s no longer my bodyguard.”
Amusement danced in his eyes and a knowing smile lifted the corners of his mouth. “Good. I didn’t like him, but you’re aware of that.”
“Yes, I am.” I didn’t share any of his amusement, and I let my expression show that.
Robert frowned. “What’s wrong? They’ll assign someone more appropriate. I’ll make sure they get on it right away.”
“We need to talk.” My tone was matter-of-fact, but I had to rein in my frustration. Robert was still my friend, and I needed to remember that. He’d messed up big-time, but I knew he cared about me.
He gestured for me to follow him inside, and once we were sitting on his couch, he leaned his arm along the back and turned to me. “What’s going on? What did you want to talk about?”
I let out a long breath and readied myself to have this conversation. “You tried to get Troy in trouble.”
His eyebrows scrunched as he attempted to give me a confused look—and he wasn’t a very good actor—but it was obvious he knew what I was referring to. “That’s not true. Is that what he told you?”
“Come on, Robert. Don’t pretend you didn’t ask Will to remove him from my case.” When he didn’t reply, I pressed on. “What’s worse, you said we’d gotten too familiar with each other and that he’d been inappropriate.”
He stared back at me, unflinching, not looking the least bit sorry. “He was inappropriate.”
“How?”
“I didn’t like the way he looked at you. He looked at you like…like he wanted to take advantage of you.”
I gaped at him. “Troy was nothing but a perfect gentleman the whole time he was my
