a moment to respond. “Beautiful name. Pleasure to meet you, Cadence.” Blake brought the back of her hand to his lips and kissed it gently and then flashed what he hoped was a winning sexy smile potent enough to put a dent in that attitude of hers.
“Pleasure,” she said dryly, and pulled her hand back.
This one had a hard exterior, Blake concluded. He wasn’t worried about that. He’d never had a problem breaking through women’s exteriors before, no matter how tough they tried to be. Women often melted under the Barrington brothers’ influence. The brothers were hot commodities, and had even been featured in a special issue of one of the local magazines as some of the most eligible bachelors in the greater metropolitan area.
“So, how has it been going so far? Has our speaker arrived?” Alana asked, rising to her toes to look over the crowd.
“Not that I know of,” Blake responded, still looking at Cadence, who had been trying to avoid his stare.
“Okay. I’ll check it out. Be right back.” Before Blake or Hunter could reply, Alana was off through the crowd, mingling, smiling and waving at familiar faces in the distance.
Instead of following her, Cadence took a seat at the far end of the bar. Blake took her aloof demeanor as a sign to let her be for just a while, but there was no way he was going to let her leave there without getting her number.
“Are you done?” Drew said as he and Hunter grinned.
“Huh?” Blake said, realizing their eyes were on him awaiting a response. “What?”
“He asked, ‘are you done?’” Hunter yelled over the noise of the growing crowd.
“What do you mean?”
“Are you done lapping her up with your eyes, man?” Drew laughed. “She doesn’t seem interested.”
“What?” Blake grunted. “Not interested in me!” He feigned surprise as if Drew’s assessment was completely ridiculous. “Dude, do you know who I am?” he asked, touching his chest in disbelief. “I’m Blake Barrington! You better ask around,” he teased. Hunter and Drew dismissed him with waves of their hands.
“Well, she doesn’t seem to care,” Drew responded. “Seems like she’s got a bit of an attitude anyway. Do you know if she’s an attorney also?”
“I know she is,” Hunter answered.
Blake’s head spun in his brother’s direction based on his response. “You know her?” He wondered what he may have missed during the introductions when he had been arrested by her pouty lips, nice hips, caramel skin, perfect breasts and long legs.
“You know her, too,” Hunter said, holding his finger up at the bartender for another round. He nodded, confirming her acknowledgment before turning his attention back to Blake. “That’s Senator Payne’s daughter. I’ve never actually met her up close and personal, but I know that face.”
Blake’s shoulders slumped in disappointment upon finding out that she was also an attorney. He’d been serious when he’d vowed to stop dating women in the same profession. It never worked out for him. He even wondered how he’d never run into her before. New York City was a crowded metropolis, but many of its circles ran small.
“Hey!” The high-pitched shriek snatched his attention away from his thoughts about Cadence.
Before he could fully turn himself around, he felt the softness of a woman’s body pressed up against the back of him. The familiar, sweet essence of lilies wafted from Jasmine Lee’s almond skin. He found himself smothered in her arms as she closed them tightly around him.
“What’s up, baby?” Jasmine said, turning him around, grabbing him by his cheeks and then pulling him down to her—right into her full, indulgent baby-pink lips.
The unexpected interaction put him on Pause and he found himself wondering if Cadence had been watching. Jasmine was a brazen flirt, and he’d already made up his mind to give Cadence time to unwind before he zeroed in on her. Jasmine’s greeting could affect his chance of getting closer to Cadence.
Blake pulled away, but Jasmine grabbed his hand, which he retracted as politely as possible. Hunter was carrying on the conversation. After her overbearing greeting, Blake had yet to focus on a single word that she’d said, though his eyes were involuntarily drawn to all of the cleavage that had been stuffed inside her pink blouse.
“I need to take care of a few things. I’ll see you around, Jasmine,” he said, taking his chance to escape, leaving Jasmine to his brothers. He went in search of Alana to get some details on her friend before making his move.
Blake was stopped several times as he tried to snake his way through the thick crowd in an unsuccessful attempt to locate Alana. Several minutes later, the music lowered and lights flickered on, brightening the room. Blake turned in the direction where Don Shaver, the president of NYAA, had just cleared his throat to welcome the guests and began to introduce the board members in attendance. Blake made his way to that side of the room, temporarily aborting his mission. He’d have to obtain details on Cadence later. When his name was called as the newest addition to the board, he pasted on his most charming smile and stepped in line with his fellow board members.
Once the introductions had been made, the officers blended back into the crowd as Don introduced the speaker for the night, who happened to be Blake’s mentor, Congressman William Banks. By this time, the crowd was so thick Blake couldn’t find Alana. Making it back over to where his brothers were posted at the bar, he looked over Drew’s shoulder in search of Cadence and found her gone.
Congressman Banks’s voice boomed over the crowd and he recited an anecdote that Blake had heard many times. Sighing, Blake realized he wouldn’t accomplish his mission of making a move on Cadence this night. He wanted to hear whatever his mentor had to say but would be sure to find Alana and get the details on Ms. Cadence later.
Cadence arrived at the office a half hour early, just as she had for the past few months. At twenty-eight, she had her heart set on becoming the company’s youngest woman to make partner. Snagging the current open position of senior counsel would put her on track for making that happen in record time. She was putting in all the extra effort that was necessary to secure this promotion. Even though she wasn’t much of a people person, she made a concerted effort to be more engaged with her coworkers.
As early as it was, her eyes were already strained and tired from going over documentation from the case she was working on. Cadence placed her palms on her cherrywood desk and pushed herself up. As she stood, she brushed off the front of her pin-striped slacks, heaved a deep breath and headed through the desolate office toward the break room.
Popping a French vanilla K-Cup into the coffeemaker, she leaned back against the counter as she listened to the machine hiss against the quiet backdrop of the empty office. Cadence crossed her arms over her chest and recounted the items on her task list. Her latest case was a doozy. Not so much because of legal aspects. That she could handle. The client, on the other hand, was a handful.
Richard McLennan was a young spoiled rich brat that never knew a day of hard work in his life. He was unsuitably left to run an accounting firm he’d inherited as a result of his father’s sudden death. Recently, he’d been doling out sexual harassment settlements like federal income tax payouts after April 15. Cadence, along with the company’s board, had been advising him to focus on the business rather than his employees’ “assets.” Unfortunately, the young know-it-all was convinced he had everything under control, despite the new claims being filed on a weekly basis. Cadence knew that if the media caught wind of this fiasco, the company would suffer a serious blow to its image.
The hiss of the coffee machine settled as the last drops of brew gurgled into Cadence’s mug, capturing her attention. Adding French vanilla creamer to deepen the flavor, she closed her eyes and sniffed, taking in the