Eternally Yours. Brenda Jackson

and that she wasn't a part of it. How's that for a new angle?”

      Clayton shuddered at the thought of a fifteen-year-old giving birth. “You're right. That is a new angle.”

      Syneda leaned back in her seat. “As far as I'm concerned, the real issue is not why she gave up the child. No one seems concerned with what's best for Kasey. She's being snatched from the only parents she's ever known and is being given to a stranger. That's cruel punishment for any child, especially a five-year-old.”

      Clayton nodded. “Hopefully things will work out. But you can't allow what's happened to get you depressed.”

      “I know I shouldn't but at times I can't help wondering if what I do really makes a difference.”

      “Of course it does.”

      Syneda smiled. “Do you know this is the first time we've been able to talk about a case and not take opposing sides?”

      Clayton chuckled as he rested back comfortably in his seat. “Just because I didn't oppose anything you said doesn't mean I fully agree. Tonight you needed someone to just listen to your thoughts and feelings, and not force theirs on you. I gave you what I thought you needed. But what I really think you need is a vacation.”

      “I took a vacation earlier this year.”

      “I mean a real vacation. You usually use your vacation time to mess around here and not go anywhere. You need a real vacation to get away, relax and do nothing. I'm sure you can take time off from your job if you need it, so what's the problem?”

      Syneda shrugged. “There isn't a problem. I just never thought about it.”

      “Well, I'm giving you something to think about. What about going someplace with that guy you're seeing?”

      “Marcus and I are no longer seeing each other,” she said slowly. “We decided it was for the best.”

      “Mmm. Could it be you're also suffering from a broken heart?”

      Syneda frowned. “Not hardly.”

      Suddenly Clayton sat up straight. His eyes gleamed bright with an idea. Before checking out of the hotel, he had phoned his parents and asked their permission to spend a week at their time-share condo in Florida. They had given him the okay. “I have a wonderful idea,” he said.

      “What?”

      “My parents have a condo in Saint Augustine, Florida. It's right on the ocean. I'm leaving next Sunday and will be there for a week. Come with me.”

      Syneda's brows arched in surprise. “Excuse me? Did I hear you correctly? You want me to go on vacation with you?”

      A wide grin broke across Clayton's face “Sure. Why not? You need a rest and I think it's a wonderful idea.”

      She shook her head. “Clayton, get real. You know I can't go on vacation with you.”

      “Why not?”

      “For a number of reasons.”

      “Name one.”

      “My work. I've appealed the Jamison case.”

      “So. It'll be a while before the courts review it. If you ask me, you need a vacation to deal with what you'll be up against when they do.”

      “True, but I still can't go anywhere with you.”

      “Why?”

      Syneda refused to believe the man was so overlooking the obvious. It was rumored that no woman spent too many hours alone with Clayton Madaris and managed to keep her reputation clean. She considered herself a modern woman—and in some people's opinion she carried her fight for sexual equality too far—but she was cautious by nature in some things, although impetuous and aggressive in others. In this case, she needed to carefully weigh Clayton's invitation.

      “What will people think, Madaris? Specifically, what will your family think?”

      Clayton inwardly smiled. She always resorted to calling him by his last name whenever she was getting all fired up to stand her ground against him about something.

      “If I remember correctly, my family has extended itself to become your family. They won't think anything of it. For Pete's sake, Syneda, they know we don't think of each other as sexual beings, and they know we aren't romantically involved.” He chuckled. “If anything, they'll wonder how we'll spend a week together without doing each other in. We're usually completely at odds over just about everything.”

      Syneda laughed. “That's an understatement.”

      He grinned. “We aren't compatible. You know that as well as I do. There's nothing sexual between us. We're good friends, nothing more.”

      Syneda nodded in agreement. “But I wouldn't be any fun. What if you meet someone while we're there and want to get it on with them? I'll just be in the way.”

      “Women will be off-limits to me that week. I'll be on vacation for rest and relaxation, nothing more.”

      “Maybe you should get away by yourself.”

      Last night he would have agreed with her, but now he didn't think so. He liked Syneda. She was intelligent, witty, highly spirited and fun to be around, even when she was giving him hell about something. Besides, he could tell by the tone of her voice when she had talked about the case she'd lost that she needed a vacation as much as he did.

      “The beach isn't any fun when you're by yourself,” he said. “I plan to unwind and relax and have a good time. I want to just chill and do whatever I want to do, whenever I want to do it.”

      “And you think you can do that with me?”

      “Yep, just as long as we agree not to talk shop. For one week I don't want to be an attorney, a player or anyone's lover. I don't want any worries or problems. We both need that. I think the two of us going away together is a wonderful idea.”

      Syneda still wasn't easily convinced. She gazed at the man sitting across from her, who was impeccably dressed in an expensive printed tie, Brooks Brothers' shirt, and a costly dark blue suit.

      Like his two older brothers, Clayton Madaris was a good-looking man who possessed sharply defined features. She had noticed those things the first time they had met. She'd immediately taken in his dimpled smile and dark brown eyes. A short beard—something he'd grown since she had last seen him—covered his nut-brown complexion, and his neatly trimmed mustache enhanced his full lips. His broad shoulders and towering height—almost six feet two inches—made him totally masculine. And his charismatic nature was like a magnet that attracted women to him in droves. But what he had said earlier was true. He wasn't her type, and neither was she his.

      In Texas, Clayton had a reputation for being a ladies' man. And according to his sisters, Traci and Kattie, he kept a huge case of condoms in his closet and used them with as much zeal and vigor as a shoemaker used leather. However, in spite of his more than active love life, she had to admit he did have a few redeeming qualities. He generously spent his free time helping others. He was an active member of Big Brothers of America, and he spent a lot of time doing such noble community services as aiding senior citizens, the homeless and underprivileged kids. He was also a wonderful and adoring uncle to his nieces and nephews.

      Clayton's sigh echoed loudly in the room. “I really don't understand the problem. You and I both know that all the two of us can and ever will be is friends. I think by getting away, we'll be doing us both a favor.”

      Syneda launched one objection after another, and Clayton had a reason to shoot down every one of them. “Are you sure about this, Clayton? I'd hate to be a bother.”

      “You won't be. The condo has two bedrooms and two bathrooms. It'll be plenty big enough for the two of us. You can fly to Houston and from there we can take a direct flight to Florida. Just think about the fun we'll have spending an entire week on the beach of the nation's oldest city, not to mention all the historical sites we can check out while we're there. Come