Читать книгу Courting Justice - Brenda Jackson - Страница 13

Chapter 3

Peyton opened her eyes then closed them when the insistent throbbing in her head became almost unbearable. It had been years since she’d had a serious hangover. Not since her college days, and this one was off the charts.

She kept her eyes closed as snippets of the previous night slowly began coming together in her mind. She recalled having a little more to drink than she’d intended. And then Angelo had appeared out of nowhere, and the next thing she knew he walked her back to her room where she’d rushed to the bathroom to throw up. She vaguely recalled what happened after she’d come out of the bathroom, and suddenly her eyes sprang open when she remembered that Angelo had kissed her. She reached out and touched her lips. Had he really kissed her or had she just dreamt it? She turned her body and stared up at the ceiling. Ignoring the deep pounding in her head, she tried to recall everything that had happened in the hotel room last night once she’d stepped out of the bathroom. They had been talking about nothing much, and he had gotten ready to leave. He had walked over to her, pulled her off her feet and into his arms and…

She shook her head. No, she had to be imagining things. There was no way Sam’s sexy-and-handsome-as-sin brother would have kissed her. It had to be the side-effects of last night’s drinking binge that had her brain mushy.

But if that was the case, then why was the memory of being locked in Angelo’s arms so vividly clear? They did kiss, she thought. And then there was his touch. She remembered his hands grazing her spine, which was exposed in her backless dress. There had been the feel of her body plastered close to his, and even now she could feel the solid wall of muscles pressed against her.

Peyton closed her eyes, unsure whether her memories were reality or fantasy. At that moment, the only thing she was absolutely sure of was the persistent pounding in her head. That, combined with the memory of being held and kissed by Angelo, made her brain feel as if it was in overdrive. She tried clearing her head and found it nearly impossible to do so. The pounding and memories continued. And moments later she was pulled into another deep sleep.

* * *

Angelo leaned back in his chair, sipped his coffee and smiled. His kiss had taken Peyton by surprise last night—probably shocked the living daylights out of her. That was good, and it was something she might as well get used to, he thought.

He knew there was a possibility that she wouldn’t remember anything about last night. That was okay since at some point today he intended to make his desire for her quite obvious. He had two weeks, and he intended to use them wisely. He’d never pursued a woman before. But then he’d never tried either. But he planned to do so with a purpose and a resolve like no other.

“Why am I not surprised to see you here DeAngelo?”

He glanced up and wished he hadn’t. Lela Stillwell, the woman who had been a thorn in Sam’s side throughout high school. For some reason the two of them always butted heads and had never gotten along. He later found out why. Lela always put herself on a pedestal, especially with the help of an over-indulgent father, who happened to be one of Angelo’s father’s clients.

Lela had come into the office several times with her old man some years ago, and Angelo had once even considered having an affair with her. But that was before she had accused a pro football player of attempted rape. The authorities weren’t buying it and had detected holes in her story. Angelo’s father had gotten her to drop the charges, and she later admitted that she had falsely accused the athlete when he had brushed off her advances. Luckily he didn’t press charges against Lela, but that was only after her father reached an out-of-court settlement with the accused athlete. Her father had sent her to Paris for a year or so until the scandal died down. Evidently she was back.

“How are you, Lela?”

She slid into the seat across from him uninvited. “I’m doing fine now that I see that you’re here, Angelo.”

He gave her a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I don’t see why my presence would make a difference.”

“Don’t you?”

“Quite frankly, no,” he said, checking his watch. It was close to noon. If Peyton wasn’t up yet, then it was time for him to wake her up.

“I’m sure you know I’ve always been interested in you.”

“Have you?”

“Yes, and I think you’ve been interested in me as well. That unfortunate incident last year with Kevin Swank wasn’t my fault.”

He wondered how she could say that. When she had shown up at Swank’s home, security cameras had captured the entire incident. It hadn’t been hard to figure out who had been pursuing whom. There hadn’t been any inappropriate behavior on Kevin Swank’s part as Lela had claimed. She had nearly ruined his career and reputation with her allegations, which ultimately forced her father to fork over a hefty settlement to avoid a countersuit.

“I’ve been hearing a lot about you lately, Angelo,” she said, interrupting his thoughts. “Your name has been all in the news.”

“Really?”

“Yes, and you need the right woman by your side to help you handle all that media attention—one who is refined, elegant and poised.”

He looked over at her and couldn’t help but smile. The one thing Lela hadn’t mentioned was honest. That was definitely something she was not.

“Thanks for the suggestion,” he said, standing. “Now if you’ll excuse me, there’s someplace I need to be.”

Ignoring her, he took one last sip of coffee before walking off.

* * *

“Peyton.”

Her name sounded like a whisper uttered from the deep, husky voice that infiltrated the recesses of her deep sleep. She slowly opened her eyes, looked up and immediately connected with the most gorgeous and intense dark orbs staring down at her.

Her heart kicked up a beat when she thought back to the time she’d first been ensnared by Angelo’s eyes. She hadn’t been in the Di Meglio’s humongous house in the Hamptons for more than a few hours when Sam’s tall, gorgeous and handsome-as-sin brother walked through the door.

Bringing her thoughts back to the present, Peyton’s gaze shifted from his eyes to his mouth, and for a spellbinding moment she was mesmerized by the shape of his full and sensuous lips. They had kissed her last night and practically devoured her lips. Why? If he had been in the kissing mood, she was sure there were plenty of women at the resort who would have eagerly obliged. But then, she hadn’t resisted either.

Now she was questioning her own actions last night, especially since she was no longer the starry-eyed twenty-two-year-old who’d had a crush on him. She was twenty-nine and looking at thirty too soon to suit her. But there was nothing she could do about it. “Angelo? What are you doing here?” she heard herself asking.

“I wanted to check in on you before leaving to play tennis.”

Rubbing a hand down her face to wipe the sleep from her eyes, she sat up in bed, careful to keep the sheet covering her in place. She had very little on, which was normally how she slept—usually in a top but rarely any bottoms. “What time is it?”

“A little past noon.”

“Noon!” she said in shock.

“Yes.”

Peyton rubbed another hand across her face. She usually was an early riser and had never slept this late before. But then she usually didn’t drink much either, and the pounding in her head reminded her that she’d started celebrating her birthday early.

“Here, I think you can use this.”

He handed her a cup of coffee. “I made it just the way you like.”

She took the cup and was about to ask how he knew the way she liked her coffee and then she remembered. He had stayed at her place a couple of years ago when Sam had been out of town and had probably become aware of her habits. But not all of them. He’d never known how much she’d lusted after him during those five days. She’d confided in Sam and Mac, and they’d all had a good laugh about it later, specifically about how many times she’d been tempted to jump his bones.

She took a sip of her coffee. He was right. It was just the way she liked with just the right amount of cream and sugar. “The housekeeper let you in?” she asked. The one thing the resort prided itself on was its security.

“No, I kept the key you gave me last night. I checked on you earlier this morning and you were sleeping soundly.”

She blinked. “You came into my room while I was sleeping?”

“Yes.”

The thought that he had come into her room when she’d been unaware annoyed her a little. She hoped it hadn’t been one of those times she had kicked the covers off her body or he would have seen more than he had needed to.

Evidently it hadn’t been one of those times. At least she could only assume it hadn’t been since he was acting normal. But then he had kissed her, and he was acting normal about that as well. She reminded herself that this was a man who had his pick of women, and she was certain a lot of them had a better looking body than hers and could probably kiss a whole lot better. Seeing her partially naked on top of the covers and kissing her the way he had probably hadn’t done anything for him.

“I figured when you did wake up you’d have a hangover and would need the coffee,” he said, interrupting her thoughts.

She did, and it certainly hit the spot. She took another sip and studied him when he moved away from the bed. He was dressed in a pair of jeans and a white shirt and was sexy as sin.

“So what are your plans today, Peyton?”

He’d almost caught her staring when he turned to look at her. She shrugged. “I’ve slept a good bit of it away. I plan to shower, dress and then go downstairs to get something to eat.”

She took another sip. She appreciated him thinking enough to make her coffee, but why was he hanging around? This was a singles resort. Certainly he had more important things to do. “Is something wrong, Angelo?” she asked. Was he uncomfortable with the thought that he’d actually kissed her last night? Should she let him know it hadn’t been a big deal?

He opened his mouth to say something then stopped, and as if he’d made his mind up about something, he said, “I need to ask a favor of you. If you can’t do it, I understand.”

She raised a brow, wondering what kind of favor he needed. “What is it?”

“I ran into someone I wish weren’t here,” he said.

She chuckled. “Um, let me guess. An old girlfriend?”

“Hardly. She and I never dated. She was a former client of my father’s and has a tendency to make a nuisance of herself at times.”

Peyton looked at him, clearly confused. “This is a singles resort,” she reminded him. “The single women here are looking for single men. Last I heard you’re still single.”

He leaned back against her dresser. “Yes, but I’m not looking for anyone. I came here to get away. Escape the media, so to speak, to relax.”

She shook her head and laughed. “Relax? You at a singles retreat? And you actually thought you would relax?”

He chuckled. “I could only hope. Things have been crazy for me since winning that case.”

“So I heard. I also heard that one of those reality stars has been trying to grab your attention. I’m surprised you’re not breaking your neck giving in to her. Most men would.”

“I’m not like most men.”

She took a sip as her gaze scanned his body. Yes, she’d definitely agree that he wasn’t like most men. At least he wasn’t like any she’d ever encountered. “So what’s the favor?”

“For the next couple of days I’d like us to pretend that we’re lovers. I know it might cramp your style since you’re single and undoubtedly came here looking for single men.”

She laughed. “No, I didn’t come here looking for single men. This is a birthday gift from Mac and Sam, and God knows I need a break. That last case I worked on was a doozy.”

“So you didn’t come here looking for a man like I didn’t come looking for a woman.”

“Yes, that sounds about right.”

“Then you won’t have any problem pretending to be my lover.”

She held up her hand. “Whoa, wait a minute, I didn’t say that. I’m not good at pretending and especially about something like that.”

“It will be easy. All you have to do is follow my lead.”

Follow his lead.

And that was what she was afraid of, if the kiss last night was anything to go by. She had followed his lead and experienced something she’d never felt before. Evidently he’d forgotten their kiss since he hadn’t brought it up. But then she really hadn’t thought it meant anything to him anyway. Why would it have?

“I need to think about it, Angelo. Although I didn’t come here looking for a man, I want to have fun. Besides, I met a couple of nice guys last night.”

“They were jerks trying to get you drunk.”

She’d figured as much, but still. Okay, what happened wasn’t very smart on her part. She should have known better and acted responsibly. That dress had been asking for trouble. Instead of drawing the attention of nice guys, she’d caught the interest of a few less-than-desirables.

“I guess I’m going to have to deal with Lela Stillwell on my own.”

Peyton’s attention was captured. “Lela Stillwell? Isn’t that the woman who Sam doesn’t get along with—the woman who falsely accused that NFL player of forcing himself on her when it was actually the other way around?”

“Yes, she’s the one.”

“And she’s here?” she asked.

“Yes, she’s here.”

Peyton had never met Lela Stillwell, but Sam had mentioned her often enough and none of it had been positive. According to Sam, Lela Stillwell had been after Angelo for years and had blamed Sam for Angelo not reciprocating Lela’s interest. Peyton also remembered Sam saying that Lela had added salt to the wound on what was to have been Sam’s wedding day to a guy named Guy Carrington. Lela had spread rumors about how things had gone down that were as far from the truth as they could get.

“Will you at least think about it?”

His question interrupted Peyton’s thoughts, and she glanced over at him. “Okay, I’ll do that, but I’m not making any promises.”

He smiled. “Thanks, and I appreciate it.”

Peyton felt a surge of warmth settle in the pit of her stomach. She tilted her head back to glance up at him. “Now I need you to leave so I can get up and get dressed.”

“Are you coming down to participate in the activities lined up for today?” he asked.

“Not sure how many activities I’ll get to. But then I don’t plan on hanging around in this room for the rest of the day either. Sam and Mac paid too much money for me to not have fun. Besides, I’m hungry and want to grab something at that restaurant downstairs.”

“Well, if you need anything, let me know. I’m on this floor.”

She arched her brows. “You are?”

“Yes.”

He smiled again before turning to leave. Her cheeks burned when she realized just how long she’d stared at his backside before hearing the door close behind him. It was only then that she thought about his proposition to avoid Lela Stillwell.

Truth be told, she couldn’t imagine pretending to be his lover, although it was a tempting idea. But then, she thought as she eased out of bed, how much pretending would she have to do to be enamored with Angelo? She didn’t have a thing for him now, but she could easily see herself getting into character and that was one of the things that bothered her. She had felt something for him at one time. And although it had quickly passed once reality had set in, the feelings were still there. Was it possible that her feelings for Angelo could be rekindled?

She pushed such thoughts from her mind. That had been years ago. A lot had happened in her life since then. Although she no longer resented those who were wealthy, she still couldn’t get past the fact that sometimes Sam reminded Peyton that she still walked around with a chip on her shoulder, as if she was holding a grudge against anyone lucky enough to be born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

Her thoughts shifted to the likes of the man-hungry, snooty-as-hell Lela Stillwell. At least the Di Meglios with all their money never came across as a family who thought they were better than anyone else. Whenever she spent time with them they had always made her feel welcome, like part of the family. And no one had looked down their ultra-rich nose at her. She had appreciated it, because heaven knows the situation was different than that first time she’d felt like a fish out of water.

Her thoughts returned to Angelo and his ridiculous proposal as she walked toward the bathroom, pulling down her top to hide the missing bottom. She was hungry, and she couldn’t think on an empty stomach. Peyton wasn’t sure why the thought of what he’d asked her to do intrigued her, but it did. Maybe it was the possibility that going along with his plan meant she might get another kiss out of it, or maybe it was something else.