Lust on the Rocks Read Online Free

with a decisive gleam in her eyes.
    Vic felt the sudden zing.  Damn ...  The woman wasn’t talking business, he’d be willing to bet.  Her thoughts were going underground.
    Then, with surprising skill, Sam extinguished the flirtatious hint in her eyes.  Like it never happened.  “I’m on the edge of partnership, as we speak.”
    Whoa.  Did he imagine it?
    Not likely.   No .
    No possible way. You didn’t mistake a look like that one.  But with no room to pry, he returned to his question, though his edge had been considerably softened.  “More than ten years to make partner for a hotshot like you?  I’m surprised.”
    “Don’t be.” Sam swiped the napkin across her lips and took a quick sip from her water. “I took some time off after high school.”
    “Why?”
    “Why not? Nothing wrong with taking advantage of one’s youth, much like you’re doing now,” she reminded him with unwarranted thrust.  “Miami’s a long way from Philly.”
    Vic tensed.  Did she know something ?
    But he refused to rise to the bait. There was too much riding on it. “Backpack across Europe, did you?”
    She smiled.  “Not my cup of chi .”
    “ Chi ?  What the hell does that mean?”
    “It’s complicated.”
    Shrugging it off, he asked, “So what were you doing?”
    “Having fun.”
    Did she always speak in half-baked terms?  “What the hell’s that supposed to mean?”
    “Fun?”  She grinned.  “What’s not to understand about fun?”
    “Sounds like someone was avoiding responsibility.”
    “No, Vic.” She wiped a drop of grease from the corner of her mouth. “I needed a little space and I took it.  A simple recipe for a simple life.”
    “There’s nothing simple about you, Sam Rawlings,” he said, his gaze making a quick dodge toward the door.  “You’re about as complicated as they get.”
    “I am not,” she shot back, but then laughed.  “Not really,” she said, softening her tone.  “I’m a simple woman doing a simple job.  I fight for the good guys.  I right wrongs.”
    Vic almost choked on his sandwich.
    “Funny.”
    Sam pushed her lunch aside and looked him square in the eye.  Customers pushed in across the black and white checkered floor, crowded the front counter as they called out orders, many met with shouted reply.  Most were professionals, a few construction workers, but Sam seemed oblivious.  At the moment, she only had eyes for him.
    “You did well today, Vic. You didn’t win your argument, your performance was a little overpowering, but you did well.” She slid a hand across the table.  He would have sworn she was about to touch his, but instead, her fingers curled around the stem of her water glass.  “Chavez was out of line.  It’s his MO. Whenever there’s a new attorney in his courtroom, he parades power like a peacock. Don’t take it personal.”
    No longer sparring, Vic noted her removal of armor.
    “You’re good.  Really good.  You have phenomenal energy in the courtroom—I mean you had the jury.”  A smile crept onto her lips, a gesture which reached deep inside him.  “I was watching.  Each and every one of them followed you around that courtroom, your every move, your every word, they were right there with you.  They didn’t believe her either.”
    “Then why won’t you include me on Perry?”

    Sam’s breath caught in her throat.  Trapped beneath his gaze, the question echoed Raul’s.  Around her, the noise level rose as lunch hour officially reached full sprint.  People shouted orders, metal cash registers clanged in action, but she focused solely on Vic.
    Her suspicion returned.  Because I don’t need any help.  Because I don’t want the distraction.
    Because I’ll be damned if some unknown hotshot comes in and tries to strip the prize from my hands regardless of how good, or how good-looking he is.
    Sam’s spine locked straight.  All her life she had to work twice as hard, run twice as fast—because she was a