Legal Seduction. Sharon C. Cooper

hey, there, stranger,” Janna greeted a tall gentleman, whose broad shoulders and long arms swallowed her up in an embrace. His back was to Iris, but his intoxicating, woodsy scent smelled mildly familiar.

      Janna stepped out of his hug, but kept her hand on one of his arms. “It’s been a long time.”

      “Yes, it has.” The stranger’s deep, melodious voice was familiar and captured Iris’s full attention. “I’m surprised to see you in Atlanta. Are you doing a shoot here?” he asked Janna.

      “No.” Janna grabbed his other arm, turning him toward the table. “Actually, I’m here visiting my sisters. Let me introduce you.”

      Iris’s heart slammed against her rib cage when the pair of hooded hazel eyes she’d been daydreaming about zoned in on her. Nash Dupree. Of all the restaurants in Atlanta, how is it that they ended up at the same one?

      “This is my sister, Dr. Macy Carter, and my other sister, attorney Iris Sinclair.”

      “Nice to meet you,” Nash said to Macy, shaking her hand before turning to Iris. “It’s good to see you again, Counselor.” He grasped her hand and Iris shivered when he brought it to his lips, kissing the back of it as he gazed into her eyes.

      Iris stared back at him, enraptured by his attention and forgetting that they had an audience. When Macy cleared her throat, Iris quickly pulled her hand from Nash’s and dropped it into her lap. “It’s nice seeing you again, Mr. Dupree,” she sputtered, feeling, more so than seeing, her sisters’ gazes on her.

      “Nash. Please call me Nash.”

      “You two know each other?” Janna asked.

      “Actually, we met this afternoon,” Nash volunteered, but before he could elaborate, the maître d’ of the restaurant informed him that his party had arrived. “I’m sorry. Though I would love to spend more time with you three lovely ladies, duty calls.” He kissed Janna on the cheek, bidding her a good evening, and then his gaze met Iris’s. “I look forward to seeing you again soon,” he said before he moved away from the table.

      Iris watched him strut away with a swagger that had not only her mesmerized. Every other woman he passed—whether they were with a date or not—turned and eyed him from head to toe.

      She turned back to her sisters, not surprised that they were staring at her. A hint of a smile lifted the edge of Janna’s mouth.

      “Well, well, well, Macy, I think someone has been holding out on us. What do you think?”

      “I think you’re right and if Ms. I-Don’t-Have-Time-for-a-Man doesn’t start talking soon, I’m going to have to give her one of my famous back-in-the-day beat-downs.”

      Heat rose to Iris’s face. She quickly lowered her head and cut into her T-bone steak, shoving a chunk into her mouth. “So, how’s your pasta?” she asked Macy.

      “Don’t you dare try changing the subject.” Janna leaned across the table and whispered, “How do you know Nash?”

      Iris sighed, knowing her sisters weren’t going to let the subject drop until they had some details. Though she hadn’t officially agreed to take on Tania’s case, she was seriously thinking about it. That, at least, gave her the excuse that she couldn’t give much detail. “He came to see me about a legal matter.”

      “Well, it looks like he’s interested in changing it to a personal matter.” Macy grinned and lifted her wineglass to her lips.

      “That’s not going to happen.”

      “Why not?” Janna asked. “He’s suave, he’s the sweetest man I know, he’s wealthy and apparently he’s interested in you. What’s the problem?”

      Iris narrowed her eyes at Janna. “Even if I were interested, which I’m not, I wouldn’t consider hooking up with him, knowing that you two have a history.”

      Janna frowned. “I’ve never dated Nash. We’ve done a few magazine ads, a voice-over gig together, and he was my escort for one of Victoria’s Secret Angels events, but outside of that—” she shrugged “—nothing. We’ve never kissed, unless you count a kiss on the cheek.”

      Iris scrutinized her sister. Though she believed her, she couldn’t imagine Nash Dupree not being attracted to Janna. She was a supermodel, for God’s sake. Men had always clamored for her attention, even when they were kids. Because of their nine-year age difference, Iris could remember how different her little sister’s high-school social life had been from hers. Then, Iris couldn’t pay a popular guy to give her the time of day, whereas Janna had actually complained about all the attention she received.

      “Iris, he’s not the playboy the media make him out to be. Sure, he’s been seen with various women—”

      “Not just any women,” Iris interrupted, “but famous, ridiculously gorgeous women.”

      “That doesn’t mean anything. The same as it doesn’t mean anything when the paparazzi snap pictures of me and my dates or escorts. Ninety-nine percent of the time, it’s business, and I’m sure that’s the case with Nash. He could have dated a few, but it likely wasn’t serious. He has to be in the public’s eye to promote his nightclubs and all of his other business ventures, including his new clothing line. Iris, he’s nothing like how the media paint him.”

      “How do you know?” Iris asked. If Janna hadn’t ever gone out with him, how could she be sure he wasn’t a playboy who tossed women aside like old newspapers?

      “I know. Though we never dated, when we worked together, conversation came easy for us. So I know him. We’re friends. Now, don’t get me wrong, he loves women, but he’s not the type to lead women on or to be seriously involved with more than one at a time.”

      “Face it. You have no excuse not to go out with him,” Macy chimed in.

      “He hasn’t asked me out,” Iris said, more to herself than her sisters. If Nash’s playboy reputation, despite Janna’s reassurances, wasn’t enough to make Iris steer clear of him, the fact that she might represent his niece was all the more reason to slow her roll and this line of thinking.

      Nash Dupree was as popular as a rock star, and he captured female attention wherever he went. Why was she even entertaining these thoughts? She shook her head. What is wrong with me? He would never be interested in someone like me.

      * * *

      Nash Dupree glanced across the semicrowded restaurant at Iris. He had a clear view of the table where she and her sisters were dining. He and Nigel Montgomery, chief operating officer of Dupree Enterprises and Nash’s best friend, were at a trendy restaurant in Midtown Atlanta to hear an internationally known jazz group perform. Nigel had insisted on his hearing them before the group left to go on a two-month European tour promoting its latest CD. The COO wanted the group to play at the grand opening of Platinum Pieces–Buckhead, Nash’s fourth jazz club, which was scheduled to open in four months. This location would also include a fine-dining restaurant. It was his second club in Atlanta, adding to a total of four; the other two were located in L.A.

      Nash stole another glimpse at Iris while Nigel took a phone call. She must have felt his gaze on her because she glanced over at him. He grinned and a shy smile graced her lovely lips before she quickly looked away. What were the chances he’d get to see her twice in one day? And if he thought she was fine back at her office, tonight she was absolutely stunning. He could tell by the number of men who had stopped at the sisters’ table that apparently he wasn’t the only one who had taken notice. Granted, some of them had stopped to talk with Janna, but Iris, wearing a low-cut dress showing off her long, graceful neck and tempting breasts, was receiving her share of attention. She didn’t come across as a woman who would be caught in a tight-fitting garment, but he’d be damned if she didn’t have the perfect assets to fill it.

      “She’s a beauty,” Nigel said, following Nash’s line of vision when Iris stood and walked across the restaurant toward the restrooms. “Do you know her?