Rhyme (Hard Rocked Series, #1) Read online

  He was so sure of victory, she thought as he stepped in closer. So certain that he could never be toppled from his place at the pinnacle of the firm. But all it took to lose a case was a single slip.

  Ryan put a hand on her arm, sliding it slowly up the smooth silk of her sleeve. The scent of his cologne threw her back to other times she’d been in his office. Times he’d touched her and she’d wanted to push him away. Even knowing that his one would be different, she felt herself tense. Forced her muscles to relax.

  “I’ve been thinking,” she said. “Quite a lot. About making partner. About this case.”

  He smiled. Stepped in closer. The hand on her arm stroked her shoulder, explored the curve where it met her neck and silk gave way to skin. She managed not to shudder.

  “Something has changed, I think,” Ryan said. He sounded pleased, but his eyes were narrowed, calculating. It was the look he got in the courtroom, when he was nearly sure of victory.

  Her heart was racing. “Maybe it has.”

  Fingers traced the collar of her blouse, dipping down into the v at the front. “The results of the trip not quite what you’d hoped after all?”

  His mouth curved into a smirk. “I had the impression that everything had worked out for the best with you and your...client.”

  Olivia dropped her gaze. It was a calculated move, but it also let her hide from his scrutiny. It was harder than she’d expected, to walk into his office and hand him enough rope to hang himself. The memories of too many other touches, too many other small indignities, threatened to ruin the careful façade of composure she was barely holding onto.

  But this had to stop. Ryan had to be stopped. And if this was the only way to do it, she could make it through.

  “It’s not what I thought it was going to be,” she said, words hardly more than a whisper. “And I have a career to think about. I can’t- I can’t just throw that away.”

  Slowly, Ryan slid his hands down the curve of her spine, with them coming to rest on her hips. His fingers clenched against her, rucking up the shirt, pulling it loose from where the hem was tucked into her skirt.

  “No,” he agreed. “You can’t. I think you’re a smart girl, and I’m glad you’ve seen the error in your ways.” His smile was warm. Almost genuine. “It’s not too late to make some changes, salvage that promising career here at Marshall, Avery and Shaw.”

  His lips were on hers, then, hard and possessive, his hands pulling her hard against his body. Despite herself, Olivia jerked in surprise. The intensity of it made her gasp, a sound he would no doubt take for desire, but there was no pleasure in this kiss. It tasted of total control—all take and no give.

  Moving with the confidence of knowing he owned her, Ryan’s hands moved up her back, sliding around to cup her breasts. Olivia writhed. Not from pleasure, but from repulsion. What had made her think this was the right idea? Logan had argued against it, but she’d insisted, more and more certain that it was the only way to bring him down.

  As though the thoughts had sprung the trap she’d laid, there was a soft knock on the door.

  Olivia broke their kiss and pulled back, breathing hard. Ryan was slower to react. His hands were still on her breasts, hers on his shoulders shoving him away, when the doorknob turned and the door swung open wide.

  Lori was frozen in place on the other side, the doorknob slipping from her grip to let the door bang against the wall. Behind Lori was Logan, eyes dark and body tense, fists clenched at his sides.

  “Take your hands off her, Marshall.” The words were low and cold. Deadly.

  Logan strode into the office, even as Olivia stumbled back from Ryan, out of his reach. She caught up her suit jacket and threw it over her shoulders,

  “She—What?” Ryan spun toward Logan. “You—!”

  Logan’s fist connected with Ryan’s jaw. The sound of it was painful, and yet somehow deeply satisfying. It sent Ryan sprawling against his desk. Logan advanced again, but Olivia caught his arm.

  “No. No more.”

  Slowly, Logan took a step back from Ryan, his arm around Olivia. Lori was still in the doorway, eyes wide and a hand pressed to her mouth. The color had drained from her face, and for a moment Olivia thought the woman was going to faint.

  Ryan straightened up, and his expression was incandescently furious. Olivia resisted the urge to slip a little further behind Logan. “You’ve just made a very serious mistake, Mr. Graham.”

  “I don’t think so,” Logan answered. “I know what I saw.”

  The barely restrained anger in Logan’s voice frightened Olivia. She held onto his arm, the muscles tensed beneath her fingers. His hand was still curled into a fist.

  “What you saw,” Ryan said, gathering his composure more quickly than Olivia had expected. “Was her all over me. She’s being doing that quite a lot of late. And apparently not only with her coworkers.”

  He adjusted his tie, smoothing down his lapels. The change was instant and remarkable. Except for the angry red mark on his jaw, it appeared as if nothing had happened.

  Casually, Ryan leaned back against his desk. He looked for all the world as if he were holding a client meeting, and not like he had just been caught sexually assaulting someone who worked with him. Olivia had to give him points for his ability to stay cool under pressure.

  “At the bar you kissed me. Do you remember?” He directed his words at Olivia next. “Or maybe you were too drunk. I understand you have a bit of a problem with alcohol.”

  Ryan’s lips were curved into a smile, but it held no warmth. And nothing reached his eyes. They were cold, moving between Olivia and Logan.

  “You really think you can get anywhere with this? You’re sleeping with your client, Olivia.” He glanced at Logan. “I don’t know if she told you, Mr. Graham, but that’s a breach of the ethics code in New York State, and it’s grounds for censure. And you’ve been the one making advances, trying to trade me sexual favors to secure a position as a partner at the firm.”

  Olivia’s breath caught in her throat. She’d thought that publicly exposing him, having a witness who could attest to the truth, would neutralize the threat of his lies. Ryan looked at her, pity in his gaze. He shook his head slowly.

  “How can you possibly think that anyone would believe you, of all people, in a claim against me. I told you. My name is on the letterhead. I’m pretty much bullet-proof.

  “And yes, you have Mr. Graham to back up your story, but they’ll hardly believe he’s an unbiased witness when it comes out that you’ve been sharing his bed. And I have witnesses of my own. Witnesses who will attest that they have seen you, more than once, initiate inappropriate flirtation with me.”

  The smug expression on Ryan’s face made Olivia sick. Even with Logan, everything she’d done today—everything she had let him do all those times he shut them in his office—ha been in vain. She took a shuddering breath. These were the closing arguments, and she had just lost the case.

  “Here, at work, you’ve been practically throwing yourself at me every chance you get.” Ryan swept a hand in the direction of the open door. “The minute that door closes—”

  “No she hasn’t.”

  Three heads turned simultaneously toward the door. Lori was still standing there, and Ryan was pointing directly at her. Olivia stepped out from behind Logan.

  “Lori? What are you saying?”

  “She’s not saying anything,” Ryan snapped. “Are you?”

  He glared at Lori.

  “I’m saying enough is enough, Ryan. You’ve done this before, and I’ve stood by, silently, while you’ve ruined careers and lives. And now, I’m not silent anymore.”

  Ryan took a step toward Lori, a look of panic in his eyes. Logan stepped between them.

  “Back, Ryan. Step back.”

  “She’s lying. She’s jealous because I rebuffed her advances. That’s all. Just jealousy.” It might have even been believable, had the composure that came so easily to Ryan not deserted him at Lori’s
betrayal. He didn’t look smooth anymore; he just looked desperate.

  Olivia turned to Lori. “Who else?”

  “The woman you replaced. And the one who left for Hirschbeck last year. An intern two years ago, who ended up getting divorced. And Melissa.”

  Melissa. Olivia rounded on Ryan. “You did this to Melissa too?”

  “I never touched Melissa.” Ryan was indignant. “She’s a paralegal.”

  “No. But you had her fired. Because of what she knew,” Lori said. “Because of what she saw at the bar, between you and Olivia.”

  For a shocked second, Olivia was silent. Melissa had known? Why hadn’t she said something?

  Maybe she had wanted to. And she’d never had the chance. Because Olivia had never called her.

  “You bastard!” She took a step toward Ryan. She couldn’t get out more than that. There were too many words roiling in her throat. How could you? And She was my friend! And You ruined her life.

  There was a noise in the hall and Olivia turned. A small crowd had gathered and pushing his way to the front was Nathan Hunter. He stepped into the office, closing the door behind him.

  “I’ve heard complaints regarding a fight.” Nathan gave the forming bruise on Ryan’s jaw a pointed look. “Do you need medical attention?”

  “No.” Ryan forced a smile that didn’t quite look real. “I’m fine. Really. There’s nothing here you need to worry about.”

  “I need to know what happened here. Marshall, you stay here. You two.” He motioned to Logan and Olivia. “Come with me. I’ll speak to you in my office.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Olivia and Logan emerged together from together from Nathan’s office some time later, Nathan assuring them both that he’d be following up with them. That he would start a formal investigation, if that’s what Olivia wanted. As they left, Lori emerged from a nearby conference room carrying her purse and coat. She followed them to the elevator and rode down to the lobby with them.

  “I have no desire to be anywhere near that man. I’ve been sitting up here, writing out a statement. Nathan told me to take tomorrow off, and then I’ll be temporarily reassigned until some kind of decision is reached about Ryan.”

  “Did Nathan say anything else?” Olivia tried to keep a distance between herself and Logan, to maintain the façade of attorney and client, but she longed to be next to him. Longed to feel his arm around her. Even though Lori had heard everything Ryan had said, Olivia hoped the other woman would just chalk it up to Ryan’s anger at being caught, believe it was just him spewing vitriolic words at Olivia, and nothing more. She and Logan had known they’d be taking the risk of exposing the affair to Lori, trusting that she’d be so caught up in whatever happened it wouldn’t really register to her what she was seeing.

  “Just that it would be best if Ryan were on leave. He certainly can’t come to work now.” Lori snorted in disgust. “Of course, the leave will be paid, so it won’t make any difference to him. Other than the damage to his ego. And believe me, that man has an ego bigger than the Empire State Building, but as fragile as spun sugar. When his ego or his pride is damaged, look out.”

  Olivia frowned at Lori. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, I think he’s wounded. You’ve wounded him where it hurts. And you’ve damaged his reputation.”

  “He did that himself,” Logan said.

  The elevator deposited them in the lobby. Lori turned, putting a hand on Olivia’s arm. “I’d be careful if I were you. There are reasons that I didn’t speak out all these years.”

  It would have been wiser to take separate cabs back to Logan’s hotel, but Olivia was done pretending for the day. She got into the back seat of the car with him, leaning into his side in silence during the brief ride. They were back in his room before Olivia was finally able to let go of the tight rein on her emotions. And when she did, the tears started. Logan held her, drawing her down on the couch beside him.

  “Shh. It’s over. It’s done. You’re fine. You’re fine, leannon.” His words grew less distinct, English slowly replaced with soft Gaelic, the words gradually forming the rhythm of music. It wasn’t long before Olivia recognized the Olivia of the song from the gig in Scotland. The song about home.

  She raised her head, her tears trailing away to sniffles. “Thank you, Logan. For thinking of this. For being there when I needed you. Thank you for everything.”

  An involuntary shiver ran through her body. “I can still feel his hands on me. Touching me. I knew that I had to let him, but still. It was... And for you to see that...”

  “Olivia. I know why you did it. I was in on the idea. Let it rest. You’ll make yourself ill.”

  He sat back, pulling her into his lap, and stroked her hair until the shivers stopped. Olivia leaned against his chest and felt the tension gradually fade.

  “Tell me what you need, mo chridhe?”

  She took a breath. “I want to stop feeling his hands on me. I want you.”

  “I think I can oblige.” The teasing light in Logan’s eyes, and his gentle smile made her relax.

  Logan slid his hands beneath her suit jacket, fingers brushing against the silk. It was so different from Ryan’s touch, and already the memory of Ryan’s hands was fading under her desire for Logan. She pressed eagerly against him. He was watching his hands as they moved over the material, over her breasts beneath, his eyes half-closed and dreamy. Her nipples tightened, pushing against the silk.

  “You’re not hungry, are you? For dinner, I mean.” His eyes met hers. She shook her head, and the seductive smile she received in return set off a small explosion low in her belly.

  With his help, she shrugged out of her jacket, letting it fall to the floor. Logan’s eyes traveled slowly down over her body, and she enjoyed every moment of his gaze, the fire and passion in his eyes mirroring the heat that was blooming inside her.

  He looked at her like she was beautiful. Precious. Not like she was some object he wanted to acquire. Under his eyes, she felt loved, and powerful. Olivia breathed his name, and leaned forward, claiming a gentle but insistent kiss.

  The pressure of his hands increased, and soon she was moaning against his mouth. She was going frustrated at the confines of her clothing and shifted on Logan’s lap, tugging her skirt up her legs, straddling his hips.

  The touch of his fingers on her inner thigh sent a shiver through her body. They crept higher, and she spread her legs a little further, her skirt rucked up entirely around her hips. Every caress sent new ribbons of heat through her.

  Logan went still. His eyes widened, and then he looked up at her, a smile flickering around the corners of his mouth even as he tried to keep a straight face. “Why, Miss Michaels, I’m shocked. You’re not wearing anything under your dress.” His laugh was low and warm, and it sent curled behind her ribs. His eyebrows drew together in mock reproach. “What exactly were you planning for today?”

  “Actually,” Olivia pointed out primly. “I am wearing stockings. And garters.”

  The heat in his eyes sent a pleasant shudder through her. “That you are,” he agreed. “Are these for me?”

  “Just for you,” Olivia promised, and meant it completely. The first time they’d met, she’d been wearing lingerie for the man who had dumped her over the phone. This time, it was all for the one in front of her.

  His fingers slipped up to the apex of her thighs, stroking her softly, and her hips rocked against the pressure in response, her body undulating into his touch. When she spoke, her voice was a breathless whisper. “I wanted to give us both a treat, after this afternoon.” She met his gaze, lips parted.

  “Oh, believe me, you’ve done that.” Logan’s voice had dropped low, roughened at its edges and husky with want. “You’re utterly gorgeous, leannon.”

  A flush heated Olivia’s cheeks. He leaned forward, one arm behind her back, his skin warm through the thin shirt. She was cradled between the hand on her inner thigh and the one between her shoulder blades. As he held h
er, he bent his head, lips brushing the silk of her blouse. His breath was warm, the fabric fine enough that she could feel every nuance of his mouth on her body, ever breath filtered through the fabric.

  The touch of his tongue on her nipple made her cry out, the friction of the wet silk against her body an entirely unfamiliar sensation. She wound her fingers through his dark hair, holding him gently against her breast, and he drew her into his mouth. It was gentle at first, but with increasing fervor. He moved to the other side.

  Olivia was moaning, back arched, pressing herself against Logan. His fingers were still exploring: stroking over her folds, slipping inside her. And the combination of his lips and tongue and fingers all conspired to drive her into a state of complete abandon.

  If Logan’s hands hadn’t been holding her, she would have tumbled off his lap. As she came, he held her hard against him, his cheek turned against her breast, moaning with her as she shook in his embrace.

  She finally sat up, and he raised his head, eyes meeting hers. Her breath had slowed, her heart rate gradually decreasing back to normal. She could feel Logan, though, still hard against her thigh under his suit pants.

  “I’m afraid I’ve ruined your blouse.”

  The words were completely unexpected. Olivia dissolved into a fit of giggles. She laughed until her muscles were sore with it, sliding off Logan’s lap to lie on her back on the couch. Letting them run their course while he watched, an amused smile on his lips.

  “It’s good to hear you laugh again,” Logan said, when she had mostly managed to come back to herself. “It seems like so long since I’ve heard you so happy.” He leaned over, kissing her briefly as the last of her giggles faded.

  As he straightened, she stretched her arms over her head, feeling the wet silk clinging to her body. Logan’s eyes strayed from her face, trailing down her body. She knew her skirt was still up around her hips, leaving her bare below the waist except for the stockings and garter belt.

  “Like what you see?” Arms still extended, she arched her back slightly, the silk molding closer to her curves.