CHAPTER NINE
STONEWAITEDFORthe guy to get the picture and walk away. But he lingered yet in the hallway, as if he expected to stay and for Stone to leave. He was not going anywhere, though. And he was damn well not going to let this guy stay, either.
“So you’re just friends?” Stone asked him.
“Good friends,” Dwight Whatever replied. And there was innuendo in his voice. He was more than just a friend, and he wanted Stone to know that.
The blond guy turned toward Hillary now, and his voice lowered to an almost desperate plea. “I really need to talk to you, Larry.”
She sighed and shook her head. “I don’t think I’m the one you need to talk to.”
“But that’s complicated, and you and I don’t do complicated.” He glanced at Stone, though, and it was in his gaze and in his voice—the warning so many people had given Stone was being given to Hillary now.
Her good friend was warning her that it was too complicated for her to get involved with Stone.
Hillary didn’t need any reminder of that; she was well aware and that was why she’d banned Stone from her office. She obviously hadn’t counted on him finding her home, which was understandable since it hadn’t been easy for him to manage. It had taken him almost the whole damn week.
He’d lost enough time tracking her down. He didn’t intend to waste another minute on this guy. “I need to talk to Hillary,” Stone said.
Dwight didn’t budge from the doorway. “About the trial?” he asked, but he was clearly skeptical because he added, “Shouldn’t that be done at the courthouse or in your offices?”
“Haven’t you been a lawyer long enough to know that’s not how things always get done?”
“So you’re here to ask for a plea?” Hillary asked, and her lips curved into a triumphant smile.
“You know why I’m here,” he said. And it wasn’t to plead for his client. He wanted to plead for himself, for one more time.
At least...
Her blue eyes darkened, and her face flushed.
“You’re losing this one,” Dwight said, and whatever hero worship he’d been showing Stone was gone now.
Stone only spared him a glance. All his attention was on Hillary now.
Always...
That was the problem. That was probably why he was losing. His client was right to be worried. Stone needed to focus on the case, but he couldn’t do that until he relieved some of this tension inside him.
He could have called someone else. Hillary apparently might have. No. It sounded like Dwight had shown up on his own.
But if Stone hadn’t arrived when he had, would she have already let dopey Dwight inside? Not just her apartment but her body?
The thought sent some strong feeling coursing through him—so intense that he clenched his hands into fists. It wasn’t just anger. Anger he could control. This was stronger than that and had Stone stepping closer to the thinner man.
While his partners had used their charm and brains to survive on the streets when they were all teen runaways, Stone had used his size. Sometimes the brains and the charm had taken too long. Size was instant intimidation that usually had people backing down.
Dwight backed down. Actually, he backed up against the wall behind him. Then he looked to Hillary as if imploring her to help him.
Maybe he thought Stone would leave if she told him to. But even if she did, Stone wasn’t going anywhere. He’d worked too hard to find her. He was, at the least, going to talk to her. But he wanted more than that. He needed more than that.
He needed her. She was the woman he wanted. Maybe it was because of the trial—because the heat of their arguments fueled the heat of their passion.
Once the trial was over, maybe whatever was between them would cool off. Or go away completely. He hoped that was the case.
He didn’t want complicated any more than Hillary and Dwight. And it couldn’t get much more complicated than this thing with Hillary already was.
She hadn’t said anything yet, so Dwight implored her, “Tell him to leave.”
