Perfect Partners (5 page)

You. He shook his head in pure frustration. Focus, he reminded himself. “Look, I realize I frightened you and I’m sorry.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “Apology accepted.”

The silence in the small apartment overwhelmed him. Obviously, she intended to make him pay for his rude behavior last week. Anything for Alix, he thought, as he prepared to grovel.

THREE

C
helsie glanced at her surprise visitor, who obviously planned on taking his time before revealing why he had come. Resigned to a drawn-out conversation, she lifted her arms, then let them fall to her side. “Have a seat.”

So far, he’d done nothing more than berate her bad judgment. Now that she thought about it, though, her open-door policy with her neighbor wasn’t smart. Safety was a state she’d worked hard to achieve, one she couldn’t afford to risk by being careless. A security guard sat at the only entrance to the building and, given the small number of apartments on each floor, each guard knew every tenant by name. Chelsie felt secure here, which was why she’d chosen the building. Obviously, she hadn’t shut the door completely. In the future, she’d try to be more careful.

When she’d awakened to the sight of a man standing over her, she’d almost passed out. Such an overwhelming reaction hadn’t happened to her in years. Griffin Stuart had an uncanny knack of bringing up the worst memories of her life, but she couldn’t fault him for coincidence, only for his abominable behavior. Which made her wonder, again, what he wanted.

“Drink?” she asked, recognizing he wouldn’t be rushed.

He shook his head. She curled into the corner of an oversized chair and motioned toward the couch.

“Thanks.” He sat across from her, leaning forward on his elbows. “You’re more gracious than I’ve been.”

“That’s an understatement. What can I do for you?”

He rubbed a hand wearily over his face. For the first time, she really looked at him. Dark circles shadowed his eyes and razor stubble covered his face. He looked depleted, exhausted, and yet incredibly sexy. Heat curled in the pit of her stomach, followed by a rush of surprise.

She hadn’t reacted to a man in years. She’d thought sexual desire had died along with her marriage and unborn child. Apparently, Griff brought out more than just memories of her past. He made her feel desire and need. Those were sensations she’d buried long ago and didn’t dare resurrect. She wished he would get to the point of his visit.

“I need a favor,” he finally said. “And after your role in the custody hearing, I figure you owe me one.”

Both curiosity and need vanished, replaced by anger at his high-handed tone.
“I owe you?”
She shook her head, unable to believe his nerve. “Try asking me without laying on the guilt. I’ve already apologized not once, but twice. I’ve been insulted. I’ve been told in no uncertain terms to stay away from you and my niece. And, if you’ll recall, I’ve been practically thrown out of your home. So if you think I haven’t paid for taking the damned case, think again.”

She paused for a steadying breath. Since losing custody, her own parents hadn’t been forgiving either, having retreated to sunny Florida to “heal.” She’d never been particularly close with either parent, which was why she’d tried so hard after her sister’s death to bring her family together. Thanks to her conscience, she’d been paying for that misguided attempt ever since.

Griff’s continuing hostility bothered her more than her own flesh and blood’s, and more than she cared to admit. She met his gaze. “Under the circumstances, I’ve treated you a hell of a lot better than you’ve treated me. Now. I’ll ask you again. What can I do for you?”

He gulped hard, causing his Adam’s apple to bob up and down. Chelsie wondered if he’d swallowed his pride.

His light eyes reflected some inner torment and drew her in deeper than was prudent.

“I need you,” he grudgingly admitted. “I mean, I need your help… with Alix.”

*     *     *

Griff steeled himself, waiting for Chelsie’s I-told-you-so reaction to his blunt statement. He hadn’t exactly handled this evening with finesse, so he figured she’d take advantage of having the upper hand. After all the grief he’d given her, he fully expected her to grab the opportunity.

“What’s wrong? Is Alix okay?”

He narrowed his gaze. “That’s it? No, ‘I told you so’?”

“Is that what you want? There are more important things at stake here than who’s right and who’s wrong. Is Alix okay?” she asked again, with what sounded like genuine concern.

“Yes. And no.” Chelsie had managed to put him in his place and make him feel petty without resorting to feminine tactics. No tears, no theatrics, just honesty. Though impressed, he warned himself to proceed with caution. He’d been duped before.

“Which is it?” she asked.

“A little of both.” He launched into a detailed description of his nights during the time Alix had been in his care, a summary that included a lot of floor walking and little sleep. “Except for the day you stopped by. That afternoon and evening, she was the child I remembered. The one my brother and your sister raised. I’m desperate enough to chance that it wasn’t a coincidence. So I’d like you to spend time with her. Visit on a regular basis.”

Her dark eyes widened at his request. He reminded himself that he’d had more than a few days to adjust to this idea. She’d had one second. If her offer to help had been sincere, he’d have no problem. If, on the other hand, her offer had been phony, a passing thought to soothe a guilty conscience, he’d best find out before any harm was done to Alix.

“Evenings at the house, suppers,” he explained. “Just help create a stable environment. Once she’s sleeping better, you’d be off the hook.”

She shook her head, causing her ponytail to swish with the force of the movement. “I can’t.”

“You mean you won’t.” He refused to admit she’d disappointed him again. He’d known all along that Chelsie had nothing to gain by helping him. Despite her claims to care about Alix’s welfare, her initial interest in his niece had been for the sole purpose of helping her parents and reaping any professional rewards that entailed. After all, her parents had influential friends who could be persuaded to hire a new attorney.

Maybe she’d even suffered a momentary pang of guilt for the distance she’d placed between herself and her sister. Maybe not. For all he knew, her visit to his home could have been at her parents’ request, as well.

“I mean I can’t.”

“Doesn’t matter. Semantics aside, it all amounts to the same thing. No is no.” He braced his hand on the arm of the leather sofa and pushed himself to a standing position. “Thanks for your time.” Without a good-bye, he headed for the door.

“Hold it.” Her voice caught him before he’d reached the hallway.

He turned to find her right behind him and reached out to grasp her upper arms before she barreled into him. Awareness flickered in her eyes at the unexpected contact. Her startled expression and flushed cheeks betrayed her inner feelings. He’d thought himself alone in this vortex of tangled emotions. That she felt the same desire shocked him.

The heat of her flesh coursed through his fingertips, despite the layers of clothing. Firm yet soft—another Chelsie Russell contradiction. This one caused his body to come alive. The desire to dip his head and taste the lips that had opened in surprise surged through him. He needed to taste what she seemed to offer. He could imagine his mouth meeting hers and her lips softening in acceptance.

He exhaled, and his next breath was filled with her enticing scent, making his fists clench and his groin harden in unmistakable need. He acknowledged that he wanted more than a simple kiss. He wanted Chelsie.

With that notion, stark reality and the reasons for his visit came flooding back hard and fast. His fingers, which he’d wrapped around her sweatshirt, uncurled as he released his hold and stepped back.

Chelsie simply stared, her moist lips mocking his current attempt at restraint. He’d been a damned fool, responding to a woman who angered him beyond belief, who made flippant offers to help and reneged when faced with the reality of her words, who toyed with a child’s life. With that reminder, he backed as far away as the small hallway would allow.

“Well?” he asked, letting impatience spark in his voice. Better than the sparks that had flown just seconds earlier. Their physical attraction was an inconsequential but annoying fact, one he could ignore with enough willpower. After her easy rejection of his niece and her problems, that shouldn’t be too hard. Or so he told himself, knowing he’d spend a ridiculous amount of time trying to convince himself of that fact.

“Well what?” she asked in a none-too-steady voice.

“I was on my way out. You followed. I assume you wanted something?”

She flushed a deep crimson at his choice of words. To her credit, though, she ignored his sarcasm.

“Come back and sit down,” she said. “We aren’t finished yet.” She folded her arms across her chest and met his steady gaze.

“I have my answer.”

“But not my reasons. I intend to give them to you, so sit down and listen for once.” She brushed past him, shaking her head as she walked. Her decidedly feminine scent lingered in the air, hitting him like a blow to his midsection. Lilacs? He suppressed a groan. Chelsie Russell gave new meaning to this concept of self-control.

She cleared her throat, and he met her gaze. From the center of the living room, she motioned for him to join her. “How do you practice law if you haven’t learned to listen?” she asked.

He listened—to everyone except Chelsie. With her, he reacted without thinking. That included leaping to unflattering conclusions without regard to the facts. Even when he heard what she had to say, he dismissed her words as meaningless.

Yet he had gone so far as to ask for her help. He had passed the contemplation stage and had actually wanted to have her around his niece, so he must have sensed some thread of decency in her nature. Despite what had just passed between them, she was right. He did owe her the chance to explain.

He groaned and followed her back inside to reclaim his position on the couch. “I’m listening.”

“Okay.” She leaned forward in her seat. “There’s a lot more involved with your request than you realize. Asking me to give you a regimented schedule wouldn’t work for any of us. My life is… let’s just say it’s complicated,” she said.

“How so?”

“My career. I work twelve-, sometimes fifteen-hour days, weekends included. Even then, my desk backs up.”

That she’d put her practice before her own niece shouldn’t surprise him. She’d hardly spent much time with the little girl before now. But he could overcome this objection with ease. “You could come by for supper. You’d have to eat anyway.”

“At my desk, or on the run. As it is, I have to refer more clients than I like. Long dinners would put me even further behind.” Sound reasoning, but for some reason, she couldn’t meet his gaze. Perhaps she wasn’t as confident in rejecting him as she’d like him to believe.

Sure as Alix would suffer from another restless night, Griff knew he would regret this. But the words escaped before he could think them through. “I could take on some of your work, lighten your caseload.”

She stared. “I couldn’t ask you…”

“You didn’t. I’m offering.”

“Why?”

Beats the hell out of me
. From the day he’d faced off against Chelsie Russell in the courtroom until the moment he’d dreamed of kissing her tonight, nothing in his life had made sense. Why should it start now?

“For Alix,” he said. “Your niece.” If Chelsie’s excuses were sincere and he solved every one, she’d have no reason to turn him down. Suddenly, her acquiescence became important to him for reasons other than Alix. Reasons he wouldn’t put into words.

“I don’t know.”

“Think about it.”

“Work aside, I have other obligations to consider. Not more important, but they do exist.”

Obligations, he thought with a strange mixture of dismay and frustration. And a tinge of jealousy? “Couldn’t you explain to your boyfriend or significant other that you were doing a favor for a friend?”

She grinned, a teasing glint replacing the serious shadow in her eyes. “So you’ve elevated me to the status of friend? I’m flattered.”

“I meant Alix.”

“She’s family.” Her lips lifted again and a light chuckle escaped.

“Well?” he asked.

“Unlike you, some of us have obligations other than the social kind.”

“What kind of remark is that?” Since the day of his brother’s accident, his life had revolved around a two-year-old sprite, her whims and tantrums. Social obligations didn’t factor into the equation.

“Your reputation precedes you.”

“Do you always believe what you hear?”

“No, but coupled with my parents’ information…”

“And because they’re your parents, of course you believe them.” Since their lies had been exposed in court, he grunted at the notion. “Haven’t you learned your lesson?”

“You’re right” She sighed.

Something in her voice told him she understood her parents better than he’d realized. Coupled with the fact that she didn’t lead their wealthy, self-centered lifestyle, but had made her way on her own, he believed her.