A Silken Thread - Brenda Jackson [23]
She tilted her head to stare at him fully. “It’s nice to hear a man say that. Most are brought to the altar kicking and screaming.”
Brian chuckled. “Not me. I’ve been single long enough,” he said, remembering the time he’d thought women and their mutual attraction were all that mattered in his life. He would leave home Friday night and make his rounds and not return back to his bed until Monday morning. At the time he’d thought life was good.
But that was before Erica.
He glanced at his watch. “I have a meeting with Mr. Hughes at one, so I’d better grab something to eat first.”
“Sure. And thanks again for letting me join you in court.”
“Don’t mention it.” Then he walked off.
Donna continued to watch him until he turned the corner toward the elevator. She wondered how it would be for a man to love her as much as Brian Lawson evidently loved the woman he planned to marry. She had been in and out of too many affairs that went nowhere. It was rather sad, actually. Good-looking brothers who had a decent job and weren’t gay or on the down-low were hard to come by.
Here she was, thirty-three with no prospects in sight. All men wanted these days was a quick and easy lay on whatever day of the week that suited them. She drew in a deep breath and headed toward her office. She couldn’t help remembering Brian’s performance in the courtroom. He had been awesome. No wonder the other attorneys were whispering that they wouldn’t be surprised if he were to make partner in the firm soon. To get your foot in the door at Brown and Samuels was a coup for any attorney. But to make partner was simply fantastic.
When she got to her office she closed and locked the door and leaned against it. Brian Lawson had a deep, sexy voice and a body that was a total turn-on. She could feel the tips of her breasts hardening and the heat between her thighs stirring just thinking how he’d looked standing in the courtroom addressing the people on the jury.
Moving across the room to the windows she pulled the blinds and darkened the room before removing her jacket and sliding her skirt up her hips. She needed help from Freddy today.
Going to her desk she used the key to open the bottom drawer and smiled when she pulled out her new toy. Well, it wasn’t so new, since she’d been giving it one hell of a work-out since buying it a few weeks ago. She kept Sam at home. Roger went on the road with her. And Freddy would stay at the office.
Sam. Roger. Freddy. Each toy named after a man who’d helped her move her career forward, in the direction she wanted it to go. Professor Sam Dinkins was the old fart who had helped her get her law degree. He’d made sure she’d got ten passing grades when she should have failed half the courses.
Then there was Roger Lewis, a colleague of the professor’s who’d demanded daily blow jobs, among other things, when he’d learned the truth after snooping around Professor Dinkins’s office one day and discovering all the exams she’d flunked. Although he’d been good in bed, she’d never appreciated the way she’d been at his beck and call. She hadn’t felt an ounce of sympathy when she’d read in the paper a few years ago that he had gotten killed in a car accident. She had returned to Trenton, New Jersey, not to pay her last respects, but to verify for herself that the bastard was truly dead.
And lastly, there had been Fred Almay, the one man she’d enjoyed the most. He had hired her to work at his law firm right out of college, and she had slept with him of her own free will. They had spent two years together as lovers and he had taught her a lot. She would even admit to falling in love with him. He’d been a master at manipulation and had taught her all the key components of the game. But no matter how much she’d tried to please him, he had refused to leave his wife for her.
In the end Donna had decided it was in her best interest to move on when Mrs. Almay became suspicious of her role in Fred’s life and her work at the firm. The one thing Fred had given her was the glowing recommendation that had helped her to land her job at