Nicole Edwards - Temptation

The lawyer Logan referred to, Susan Toulmin, had successfully made Sierra want to pull her hair out. Strand by individual strand. She had spent Tuesday with the woman, listening as she proceeded to tell Sierra that every idea she had was basically garbage.

It was hard to believe she had been so eager to take the job in the beginning, thrilled with the possibilities. She should have known better when Susan had so easily agreed to all of Sierra’s ideas. At least until she was presented with them officially. Now she knew why. There was no pleasing that woman, no matter how hard she tried.

The problem was, Sierra needed the job. She needed the reference, so she had worked her ass off for two days trying to find exactly the things, no matter how ridiculous, that Susan wanted to use in the design.

“What did you say her last name was?” Logan asked, glancing from Sam back to Sierra.

“Toulmin.” Sierra answered, her attention riveted on what he might say next. Did Logan know her? Sierra met the woman at the conference in Vegas, so odds were Logan either knew her from there or had at least heard of her. Based on the way his jaw tightened, Sierra believed it was the former.

“Fuck. Seriously?”

Sierra’s attention was definitely captured. “Yes. She’s the Dallas lawyer that I met while I was in Vegas. Do you know her?”

“Not personally, but Luke does. Toulmin is her maiden name which she uses for her law practice. Although she’s not married anymore, she never dropped her married name… Mackendrick.” Logan informed her.

Sam’s head jerked toward Logan and Sierra caught the look of distaste written on her beautiful face.

“What? What aren’t you telling me?” Sierra wondered out loud, looking back and forth between Sam and Logan.

“Susan used to…” Sam started to reply, but Luke walked up just in time for her to close her mouth abruptly.

“Hey.” Luke stated as he took the vacant chair beside Sierra. Shockingly, he leaned over and kissed her softly on the mouth before turning his focus on Logan.

“Where’s Cole?” Logan asked and for the second time that night, someone else had voiced the burning question.

“He had something to do. Said he might be back in a couple of hours.” Luke replied, raising his hand to get Kane’s attention.

“You didn’t tell me Sierra had been hired by Susie Mackendrick.” Logan stated bluntly, looking none too happy.

Susie?

Luke’s head jerked like someone had slapped him. “What?”

Apparently Luke hadn’t put two and two together or maybe Sierra hadn’t mentioned the woman’s last name. Either way, Sierra knew there was a story there, and she was pretty sure it was one she wasn’t going to like.

“She’s the client I’ve been telling you about.” Sierra managed to say when Luke glared at her.

“Where’d you meet her?”

What did it matter, she wondered to herself. Apparently there was something personal between Luke and the woman Sierra was now working for, and just like Logan, Luke seemed a bit stunned by the news. “I met her at the conference in Vegas. I told you about her.”

“I’m pretty sure I would remember if you had.” Luke argued, his eyes darting around the room as though he expected the woman to pop up at any second.

“Why? How do you know her?” Sierra asked, leaning forward in her chair and placing her elbows on the table. She wanted the story, and she wanted it now. Unease settled like a rock in her belly and though she hadn’t thought it possible, she knew her week was just about to go from bad to worse.

“It’s nothing.” Luke brushed her off, masking any emotion he had previously shown as he avoided looking at her directly.

“What do you mean it’s nothing?” Her ability to brush things off had just reached critically low levels. Between Logan’s reaction, Sam’s apparent distaste of the subject, and now Luke’s wandering eyes, she knew there was something personal between Luke and Susan. Luke blowing her off was just the icing on the cake.

“Just what I said.” Luke stated, and Sierra could see from his expression that the subject was closed as far as he was concerned.

Well, that was all fine and good. She could play this game too. “Well, that’ll be my cue to call it a night.” Sierra stated, standing abruptly. All heads turned to her, but she didn’t bother making eye contact. Offering a quick glance at Sam, she spoke. “Call me tomorrow? We’ll do lunch if you’re not busy.”

Sam didn’t say a word, but she nodded her head, her eyes darting back and forth between Sierra and Luke. Without further hesitation, Sierra grabbed her purse and walked away. Maybe she was being petulant, or maybe she just wasn’t willing to play these juvenile games. Either way, she’d reached her limit tonight.

Sierra would have thought that the pounding bass and the consistent chatter would have drowned out the sound that had her stopping her tracks. The husky, sexy voice that called out to Luke was familiar. The same voice that had spent two days telling Sierra she was none too happy with her designs.

Susan Toulmin, better known as Susie Mackendrick apparently, seemed to know her way around the club, which told Sierra everything she needed to know. Despite the warning bells sounding off in her brain, she turned toward the voice, just in time to see the beautiful Dallas lawyer wrap her arms around Luke’s expansive chest. That wasn’t a platonic hug… nor was the kiss that followed.

Oh, God. Sierra forced her feet to move as her stomach lurched, the nausea making her dizzy. She was going to throw up, and it had nothing to do with the alcohol she had consumed. Thankfully her brain functioned enough to convince her feet to move toward the door, but the second she stepped out into the cool night air, the dam broke, and the tears burst free. Choking on a sob, Sierra lowered her head, hoping no one would see the woman who was having an emotional breakdown. She’d only gone two steps out the door before she came face to chest with a hard, unmoving form.

“I am so sorry.” She sobbed, glancing up into familiar ocean blue eyes.

Why her? Why today?

“Sierra?”

Oh, great. The pity she saw in those exquisite eyes was nearly her undoing. When Cole gripped her arm, pulling her out of the path of the crowd, she wanted to just slink into a corner and die.

“Honey, what’s wrong?” The tender tone of his voice didn’t help the steady flow of tears, but somehow Sierra managed to pull away from him.

Everything. “Nothing. I – I need to – to  go.” With that Sierra skirted past Cole and down the narrow corridor that would lead her to the underground parking garage. Her feet didn’t seem to move fast enough, but the further she made it away from Luke, the stronger she began to feel.

Luke was caught off guard when Susie walked up to the table, her sultry, southern twang a complete distraction to the fact that Sierra had just up and walked away. He stood, fully intending to go after Sierra, only to find Susie walking right into his arms. He abruptly wrapped his arms around her to keep from losing his balance, but before he could pull away, Susie planted a scorching hot kiss firmly on his lips.

Based on the death glare his brother shot him, and the look of horror on Sam’s face, Luke knew Sierra had been witness to everything that just happened. And being the dumbass that he was, Luke didn’t chase after her. Instead, time slowed to a crawl as the four of them stared at one another in fascinated shock. Well, everyone except Susie who appeared to be oblivious if her constant rambling was anything to go by.

Minutes later, Luke found himself sitting at the table with the three of them while Susie continued her incessant talking. “And you wouldn’t believe this interior designer I hired.” Susie stated, capturing the full attention of everyone at the table.

“Since I met her at the conference in Vegas, I figured for sure I would be getting top notch when I hired her. She’s new to the interior design world and green as hell. Unfortunately, she’s much more inexperienced than I originally gave her credit for. The woman just doesn’t seem to get it. I’m not sure how she intends to make it in that business if she is too stupid to take any sort of direction. I mean seriously, how hard is it to understand when I’m telling her exactly what I want?”

Sam abruptly stood from the table, pushing her chair back so hard it nearly tumbled over. “It’s time to go.” She told Logan pointedly, not making eye contact with Luke.

If she expected Luke to say something she had another thing coming. Oh, he knew he should defend Sierra, he knew he should say anything that would make Susie put a lid on it, but he couldn’t seem to come up with the words.

For the last few days, Luke’s emotions had been all fucked up, and he didn’t know how to even talk to Sierra. As it would appear, the night the three of them spent together had had a shocking effect on Luke. Unable to get his shit together, he’d successfully managed to keep her at arm’s length all week. It appeared the arm had just turned into a football field.

Luke could only watch as Logan and Sam walked away, his brother’s death stare boring a hole into him and promising retribution later. That was par for the course these days or so it seemed. If his conversation with Cole earlier was anything to go by, Luke had successfully morphed back into the world class asshole.

“So, it looks like it’s just you and me now, cowboy.” Susie’s seductive whisper slid over him while her slender fingers snaked up his arm.

He’d always wondered what it meant to have an out of body experience. Now he knew. He glanced down at Susie, feeling like a bystander watching a train crash into another one head on at two hundred miles per hour.