Justice Falling (15 page)

“Precious, don’t say that. Hey, hey, look at me.” I pulled her chin around so that I could look into her eyes. “It will be okay.”

Another tear slipped down each cheek. I wiped each one away quickly, hating them and the fact that I put them there. With a strength I wasn’t sure I owned, I held her gaze and made sure not to flinch. “Whatever happens…we’ll handle it together? Okay?” In that moment, I knew I needed to take the responsibility for our actions.

Finally, she nodded, and I snuggled her against my chest and laid back. We laid clutching one another until I felt her body relax, her breath soften. She slipped into sleep. Visions of baby boys and girls entered my thoughts. I tossed them aside like yesterday’s rubbish. I could not go down that road now. Then, just as I started to fall asleep, the unearthly vision of Camille’s lean body rounded, glowing and fertile with my child growing inside her was quite possibly the most splendid incantation of life’s beauty I had ever seen.

Hours later, I awoke rested, ready to take on the day and handle our potential problem together. I rolled over and felt the space next to me. It was ice cold. There was no warmth from the body I had held, made love to, fallen asleep next to. She was gone. At some point in the wee hours of the morning Camille had left me alone, naked in a bed that should have been for two.

Chapter 10

It was wrong. I shouldn’t have done it. Been beating myself up over it for the past several hours. The problem is that I’m not sorry I did it. Slipping out of that devastatingly handsome man’s bed, his arms curled around my naked form was the hardest thing I’d done in a long while. Yet, it still had to be done.

Getting attached to Nathaniel Walker was not smart, even after having spent the most glorious time with him. Our date was the stuff they made romantic movies about. A day filled with a lot of laughs, light playful touches, great food, good wine, and smiles a plenty. Then…there was the evening. God, the evening will provide me with a year of fulfilled fantasies…save for one; the one where prince charming sweeps the princess off her feet and they live happily ever after in his kingdom forever. But I needed to get real. I wasn’t a princess, and New York City certainly was not a faraway kingdom.

Nate, though, he was a prince. A dirty talking, smart dressing, sexy as hell, renegade modern day prince. He was too good for the likes of me, especially after our slip up. If the world was against me, and so far it had seemed that way, I would likely be having Nate’s child nine months from now. The mere thought soured and churned heavily in my gut. Not that I didn’t love children, Tanner was my world. It’s the thought of repeating history, starting all over alone…again, just when things were finally making sense. It was a living nightmare. I slammed my head onto the solid oak desk wishing I had made better choices. I was almost twenty-four and potentially a single mother of two from two different fathers.

The theme song to the Jerry Springer show tinkled across my thoughts. I was a crummy statistic. Once Nate realized who I was, what my
real
life was like, he’d tuck tail and run. Oh, he definitely seemed like a responsible guy. He’d want to help. Pay child support. Maybe even want to see the child. Then again, he could turn out just like his best friend Tyler. The man who screwed me over all those years ago when almost the exact same thing had happened. I’d gotten pregnant immediately, and here I was living a sick, twisted version of déjà vu.

“Dammit all to hell in a hand basket!” Hank roared, entering the office, one hand on his disheveled, clearly irate wife, and the other tugging on a leash. Butch, Hank and Aspen’s huge golden retriever bounced happily inside, yanking free of his master’s hold and bounding over to me.

“Hey Butchey, Butch, Butch. How’s the big guy?” I shook the scruff around the dog’s neck. A cloud of loose hair flew into the air and floated onto my black skirt. It didn’t bother me. That’s what lint brushes and sticky tape were for. “What are you doing here, huh fella?” I looked at Butch but expected Hank to answer.

“Get Nate Walker on the phone…now! There’s been an incident.” Hank’s words cut like a metal blade into granite.

I glanced at Aspen who was picking grass and whisking dirt off her behind, a scowl dampening her pretty features. She looked like she’d been in a scuffle. Her hands came around her large pregnant belly and rubbed big circles around the entire circumference. Hank charged to his wife and placed a hand on her bump. “She movin’? What’s going on in there?” His voice was harsh, very unlike his normal jovial timber when he talked to her. She put a pale hand to his cheek and the other over her belly.

“She’s moving just fine. Feel her right here?” His body went still and he focused all attention on his wife. After a few moments, he took a deep breath, got down on his knees and laid his head against her bump.

“Thank God. You’re okay, right, Angel?” Why wouldn’t Aspen be okay? What the heck happened? Aspen nodded and smiled, her grimace leaving her face as she watched her husband worship her. He kissed her belly and leaned his forehead against her stomach. “I don’t hear you dialing, Cami. I need our lawyer right fuckin’ now!”

“Hank, calm down. I’m fine. The baby’s fine. Butch is fine.”

I dialed Stone, Walker, & Associates, dreading calling Nate, but with no other choice. My pride or my job. No contest there. I dialed his direct line, hoping maybe he wouldn’t be there and I’d have to talk to Collier Stone instead. I still had no idea what this was about but I wasn’t going to risk getting into trouble to find out. Hank’s demeanor, the way he held his entire body stiff and on edge brooked no argument.

If I was lucky, Nate would have answered, “Good morning, love,” as I’d hoped to hear. Maybe even a flat “Nate Walker,” but instead I was prepared for him to be angry at how I left. Unfortunately, luck had never been a lady named Cami. Anything he could have said would have been a step above what actually spewed like a verbal train wreck from the speaker phone.

“You have any idea how bloody maddening it is waking up in your bed,
alone
when you expect to have the woman you spent all night shagging to be there, smiling, drowsy, and ready for another go? Why ever did you leave me naked and wanting, Precious?”

Kill me now.

I risked a quick look at Hank, then Aspen. Both their eyes were huge and round, mouths agape.
Fuck my life!

“Um, Nate. I have you on speaker. Mr. Jensen asked me to call you.” I closed my eyes and put my face in my hands. There was no way on God’s green earth that my face wasn’t hot pink or even dark fuchsia. I was probably close to being a bruised purple from holding my breath. I wondered if anyone ever died from holding their own breath? At this point anything would be better than the mortification of my boss and his wife knowing I spent the evening having sex with their lawyer.

“On another note,” Aspen jumped right in, saving the day. I wanted to bend over and worship at her feet, kiss her designer shoes, and thank her for the reprieve. She winked and started in, all business. “On our walk this morning through Central Park we had a little trouble. You see this man…”

“This fuckin’ dickwad tried to put his hands on my wife’s belly,” Hank hollered loud enough to shake the glass from the building next door.

“Oh no…” Nate chimed in.

Hank continued his rant. “Like her fuckin’ pregnant belly is open season for any Tom, Dick, and Harry to grope. You should have seen the rat bastard reach out with both hands to touch my fuckin’ wife.” Hank didn’t usually cuss this much. Watching his face turn red, his jaw clenched so tight he could break rocks with his teeth, I knew he was too far gone to rein it in.

“Hank, mate, please tell me you didn’t hit him?” Nate begged through the line.

What Nate couldn’t see was Hank’s giant grin. Went from ear-to-ear. “I didn’t touch em’…”

“Thank Christ for that!” Nate finished.

“My dog bit the slimy fucker!” Hank announced proudly. “Best fuckin’ dog in the free world.” He petted Butch’s head and scratched behind his ears. The dog thumped his hind leg appreciatively.

“No, he didn’t? Have you gone off your trolley?”

Aspen joined in. “Unfortunately, he has gone mad, Nate, but he’s not kidding. We were taking Butch for a stroll through the park when we were stopped by a man. He seemed innocent enough--” Hank bristled, and Aspen laid a hand on his bicep. His shoulders softened. “Well, he made a move to touch my stomach with both hands. That’s when things went downhill, I’m afraid.”

“That’s when things got down right interesting! My dog lunged at the baby belly groper and clamped onto his wrist pushing the fucker down. Took a good chunk out of em’ too. The worst part is that piece of shit grabbed my wife’s hand and pulled her down with him. This fucker used a pregnant woman as a God damned balancing stick! Throw the book at him I say!” Hank yelled, bringing his face close to the speaker phone to get his point across.

“Calm down, Hank. Remember, I’m fine. Baby’s fine.” Aspen grabbed his hand and placed it on her stomach.

After a moment he smiled, the tension once again leaving his body. It was as if his wife had some kind of magic salve or balm running through her system. All she had to do was be near and let him feel their child and he turned to jelly.

“The dog bit your attacker? And I’m using the term
attacker
loosely, because I’m not certain you can claim that angle.”

“Yes. Butch bit the man. The paramedics were called and he was taken to the hospital.”

“Dandy. Have Oliver shoot me the information and I’ll contact him. Maybe we can settle out of court. Though if he finds out who you are, Aspen…” His tone warned.

“I know, I know. Just make this go away like you always do.”

“Fuck that! He tried to accost my wife, pushed a pregnant woman down, and
we
have to pay? Nuh uh, no way. That bite is the least of his troubles. A small price to pay. He’s lucky my wife needed tending to or his face would be smashed to smithereens!”

“Got it, Hank. I understand where you’re coming from. Let me ask you this. Do you love your dog? Do you want to keep him?” Nate’s voice was strained, and I wished I could place a gentle hand on him to soothe the tension.

“Of course, what kind of cockamamie question is that?”

“In cases where an animal attacks a person and draws blood, regardless of the circumstances, the attacker can request the dog be put down or, at the very least, quarantined. The courts more often than not side with the victim. In this case, the attacker didn’t have a weapon, was taking a stroll in the park, and saw a beautiful pregnant woman who he was enchanted by. He made a bad decision but that didn’t warrant what he’s going to claim was a violent response. He was bit by, what he’s going to say is a wild, rabid beast of an animal. It burns me to say but he’s going to win.”

Hank lifted his arms in the air and spun around slowly.

“You following me, guys?” Nate asked.

“Yeah, we’re processing the information.” Aspen pulled her long blond hair over to one side, plucking more grass from the golden strands.

“This is fuckin’ ridiculous.” Hank burrowed his fingers in his already messy hair. He looked like he may have been doing that a lot this morning.

“That it may be, mate. The only trouble is, this sort of thing happens all the time. Our best bet is to pay the bugger off and call it a day. How would you like me to proceed?”

“Just do it.” Aspen answered quickly.

“Darlin’ no…”

“Hank, I don’t want to hear it. I’m tired. I need to go change, deal with Ollie--who’s going to freak out beyond words--and get to my meeting by ten. Nate, I trust you can handle this accordingly. Nothing happens to our dog.”

“Damn straight. Best fuckin’ dog ever,” Hank mumbled as he walked his wife to the door. “Angel, really. You sure you don’t want to call the doc? Get a quick check up. It would make me feel better.”

“I promise. If I feel so much as a strange twinge, I’ll call. Okay?”

“You call me, and I go with you. No matter what I’m doin’, where I’m at, I’m there.”

She nodded, her eyes misting over before he kissed her, pulling her into his arms. His hands tunneled into her hair at the nape as he took control of the kiss. I looked away when it heated up. It reminded me too much of what I myself had, not twelve hours ago, but would never have again.

“Camille, pick up the phone.” Oh no.

I ended speaker phone and held the receiver to my ear. “Hey,” I whispered.

“This isn’t over between us. We
will
talk later. Be prepared to have an answer as to why I woke alone, hard, and wishing my woman was by my side. You think about that,” he said before abruptly hanging up.

His woman?

***

The longer the day wore on, the more brassed off I got. I know the condom slip up was scary. Hell, I was frightened, too, but it was something we needed to deal with together, as a couple. Yes, a couple. That’s the way I thought of Camille. She was mine and I was hers regardless of what she thought. Christ the woman was maddening; sneaking out of my bed in the wee hours of the morning after the best night of shagging in my life.

There was so much more I looked forward to showing her. Given the chance, I planned to take her every way possible, show her pleasure the likes she’s never seen before and make it so good she’d never look at another man again.

Aside from how good the sex was, and it was off the charts, I’d never felt so connected to a woman before. For the first time in my life it felt like I’d made love to a woman. Not any woman. My sweet, Camille. She was everything good, kind and right in the world. I wanted her for my very own. There was no way she was going to run away from this. I knew once I had my prick buried deep inside her, those eyes would see straight through to my bloody soul, and it would only ever be her.

No more chasing birds in pubs and meaningless one night stands. I finally had someone that I wanted to be with and was excited to learn more about. I enjoyed peeling the multiple layers of her personality. Not to mention her body. Christ! Her body deserved to be put up on a pedestal, painted to perfection, and hung in a museum so that all might experience a speck of her beauty. After that, she should be sculpted into the finest marble to last for eternity. But I wouldn’t allow it. No man from here on out would set his gaze on what was mine. I’d go blooming mad.