seeming ungrateful.
Without somehow offending him.
The circumstances surrounding the accusations leveled at Sebastian only added to his frustration and rage. Aside from a burning desire to clear his good name and secure his independence, he was determined to find out who had murdered his colleague, in the process framing Sebastian for the heinous deed. He vowed the killer would pay dearly for his treachery.
“This is utterly idiotic!” he shouted, landing a large fist upon the desk and causing the woman behind it to jump in alarm. “I don’t need a lawyer. I’m innocent!”
As a wolf in sheep’s clothing, Susan thought wryly.
“That is exactly the reason you need my services, Mr. Wescott,” she assured him with cool poise intended to mask her own misgivings.
The truth was, if the opportunity to represent the virile man sitting on the other side of her desk hadn’t been so crucial to her financial survival, Susan Wysocki would likely have handed back the substantial retainer Dorian Brady had given her and run as fast as possible in the opposite direction.
For starters, Sebastian Wescott reminded her a little too much of her ex-husband. He was that sure of himself. Not that Joe had been anywhere near as physically imposing as this man. Truly Sebastian was nothing short of feral in the way he dominated the room. Not even the most expensive, hand-tailored suit in the world could hide a masculine physique that suggested the power and ferocity of a sleek panther.
A sleek, caged panther, she mentally amended.
Every so often her would-be client jumped out of his chair, paced back and forth in front of her scarred oak desk and punctuated the air with another gesture of pure outrage. It was all Susan could do to keep from leaning back in her chair to distance herself from his anger.
At the same time, it was all she could do to keep from leaning toward him as if pulled by a magnet.
She made a mental note to load the jury with women if this case ever actually went to trial. No matter how strong the prosecution’s case, they wouldn’t stand a chance if the jury happened to fall in love with the sexy millionaire accused of murdering his associate Eric Chambers, vice president of accounting for Wescott Oil.
She also didn’t like the way those silver-gray eyes of his made her go all shivery inside whenever he stopped in the midst of his pacing to train them on her. It was difficult to keep from squirming beneath his scrutiny. Susan’s body was still tingling from the perfunctory handshake they’d exchanged when Sebastian had first introduced himself. She assumed that the electrical current that held her as immobile as if she’d embraced a live wire was simply her body’s way of warning her of impending danger.
Painful past experience had taught her to trust her gut feelings.
She had been relieved when Sebastian had finally released that all-too-masculine grip. At thirty, she wasn’t so naive that she didn’t recognize her reaction for what it was—lust, in its most primitive and dangerous form. Fearing the same kind of machismo that had initially attracted her to her ex-husband, Susan reminded herself that finding the right man was a matter of choice better left to a level head than to fickle hormones.
It was unfortunate that Sebastian’s half brother, Dorian Brady, wasn’t more her type. He impressed her as being far less edgy than his sibling. Though strikingly similar in appearance to his brother, Dorian’s appeal was subtler, Susan decided. He was smaller in stature, but his eyes were nearly the same astonishing shade of silver as Sebastian’s. However, for some unfathomable reason, his gaze did not immediately hold her an unwilling captive the way Sebastian’s did. There was a swaggering seductiveness in Sebastian’s demeanor that contrasted sharply with his brother’s more understated nature.
That her body didn’t react in such openly traitorous ways to Dorian was definitely part of his charm to the wary Susan. Once burned… She cut off the thought and concentrated on the legal matter at hand.
Having received an abbreviated version from Dorian of how he had only a short time ago come to locate his long-lost family, Susan wasn’t quite sure exactly how his relationship with Sebastian stood. Other than the fact that Dorian seemed to hold no malice toward his half brother, who had been born with a silver spoon in his mouth. By his own account, Dorian—who had been abandoned by Sebastian’s philandering father and put up for adoption by his brokenhearted mother—could barely afford plastic cutlery while growing up. That he had paid Susan’s retainer out of his own pocket, insisting on providing legal representation for his mulish kin, spoke volumes about him. Such loyalty was rare even among siblings raised together from birth. Susan could only assume that being new in town, Dorian knew nothing of her recent string of bad luck.
Losing two close court cases in a row had done more than simply damage her self-esteem. The lack of clients beating down her door was mute testimony of her own dwindling faith in her skills as an attorney. Her once-upon-a-time dream of giving the little guy a voice in the legal system—the same dream that had kept her going throughout law school—was now strained by the necessity of simply supporting herself.
Hadn’t Joe warned her that she didn’t stand a chance of making it on her own? He’d predicted that without his money and influence, she would fold like a house of cards….
Gritting her teeth at the memory of her ex-husband’s parting shot, Susan bolstered her flagging confidence with the desire to prove him wrong. Believing that success would ultimately prove the sweetest revenge, she smiled confidently at the intimidating Mr. Wescott and offered him a cup of coffee. He declined with nothing more than a terse shake of his head.
Trying to calm this man down was like convincing a wild animal to step willingly into a cage.
With her.
Armed with nothing but bravado and determination, Susan assessed her options. Though female intuition warned her to stay far, far away from Sebastian Wescott, she desperately needed just such an incredible opportunity. A high-profile case like this could well be her ticket to a recovery that would be as much emotional as financial for her. No matter how much working with this man might stir a prickly feminine responsiveness that was best left sleeping, it certainly beat chasing ambulances—which was where she feared she was headed if business didn’t pick up soon.
In fact, if things didn’t pick up, Susan feared she might have to lay off her secretary, Ann Worthe. A single mother who had just left an abusive marriage herself, Ann would be as devastated as Susan by such an unfortunate turn of events. Not only wouldn’t she be able to continue the night classes she was taking in hopes of becoming a paralegal, Ann would have trouble feeding her three young children without the help of food stamps—something the proud young mother had vowed never to do. Aside from the heart-wrenching personal aspects of laying off a woman she considered a friend, Susan knew such a move would mark the end of her own hard-fought dreams and aspirations. There was simply no way she could do her job as a lawyer and manage the office at the same time.
Landing the case of such a prominent citizen as Sebastian Wescott would certainly bolster her standing in the legal community. Lately she had been feeling like the local pariah among the elite of Royal, many of whom were aligned with her influential ex-husband and appeared to relish her past few defeats in the courtroom. The thought of seeing those good old Texas boys, some of whom openly believed the law was best left to men alone, turn pea green with envy was enough to straighten her spine.
Now was not the time to let silly girlish palpitations interfere with good sense. Just because her mind kept wandering to thoughts of how Sebastian might look naked in her bed didn’t mean anything would ever come of such outlandish fantasies. Aside from the fact that Sebastian Wescott could have any woman he wanted, the realization that he was accused of murder should have been more than enough to cool her blood. But it continued to course through her veins in hot, pounding spurts of female awareness.
Nonetheless, by the time Sebastian stopped pacing and took his seat again, Susan had made up her mind. If by some miracle, she could actually convince this millionaire oil baron that she was the best lawyer for the job, she would represent him as if more than just his