Even now he remembered the first time he’d met her, the first time his sister Sam had brought her two best friends from law school—Mackenzie Standfield and Peyton Mahoney—home to spend the holidays with the Di Meglio family at their Long Island estate. Both women had been lookers, but there had been something special about Peyton that held his interest, if only for a moment. It was easy enough to see that she had issues. For starters, he sensed that she was uncomfortable surrounded by the Di Meglios’ wealth. She’d had a chip on her shoulder the size of the Rock of Gibraltar. Later, he’d found out why when he heard about the hard life she’d had growing up on Chicago’s South Side. He couldn’t help but admire her.
Although he rarely saw her, over the years he’d come to realize that he was attracted to her. It was subtle—and sexual, or so he thought—but his interest increased whenever he saw her. At first, he chalked it up to her being different. But then things changed when he made a surprise visit to his sister in Oklahoma, only to find she was away on a business trip in Florida for several days. At the time, Peyton wouldn’t hear of him staying at a hotel and had invited him to crash at her place until Sam returned to town.
It was during those five days that he’d gotten a chance to really know Peyton Mahoney and see a side of her she probably reserved for only those closest to her. With him, she let her guard down. And in doing so, he found her even more intriguing. She hadn’t been as unapproachable as he’d thought she was. During that time he’d discovered just how compassionate and loyal she was and that she didn’t have a pretentious bone in her body. Those five days had been special. And it was during those days, as unlikely as it might seem, that he had become totally enamored with her, although he’d done a good job of hiding it and ignoring his feelings. The man who could have any woman he wanted was hot and heavy for a woman who probably didn’t want anything to do with him, even if she knew how he felt.
He was about to slide his cell phone back into his pocket when it rang. He glanced at the caller ID and when he saw it was an Oklahoma number, he heaved a sigh of relief. He felt a twinge that sent a fluttery feeling through his body. He’d been waiting for this call. He pressed the key to connect the call. “This is Angelo.”
“Hey, this is Peyton. I don’t want to take up much of your time, but I just had to call to congratulate you. I’ve been keeping up with the trial and you were simply fantastic.”
The first thought that ran through his mind was that she could never take up too much of his time. And the second, a compliment coming from her meant everything. “Thanks, Peyton. I appreciate you calling. It was difficult at times.”
“I can imagine. I’m involved in a messy case now myself. I go to trial in a couple of weeks, so wish me luck. I want some of that Di Meglio courtroom magic to rub off on me.”
He smiled, thinking that the Di Meglio good fortune wasn’t the only thing he wanted to rub off on her. The thought of his hands touching her skin sent shivers of desire down his spine.
“Well, I’ll let you go, Angelo. I don’t want to hold up The Man.”
She’d always referred to him as that: The Man. Now he was beginning to wonder what it took to go from The Man to her man. “You’re not holding me up. Besides, I’m on my way home from the office. I’ve got nothing better to do tonight.”
“Yeah. Right.”
He could tell from her voice that she didn’t believe him. She still thought he was that skirt-chasing Di Meglio who enjoyed adding notches to his bedpost. He rolled down the car window to let in the summer breeze as he drove toward his place in Long Island. His parents had invited him to drop by their house, but he’d wanted to go home.
“I mean it. I don’t have anything better to do tonight.” Anything I’d rather do than talk to you, he thought silently. He wondered where she was. At the office? Home? “I enjoy talking to you,” he added.
“Thanks for being sweet and saying that, but I can’t indulge you, at least not tonight. I have to be back in court first thing in the morning. The attorney for the plaintiff is trying to play games, and I’m not in a playing mood. Gotta go, Angelo. It was good talking to you. Congratulations.”
He couldn’t imagine her taking a break. In all the years he’d known Peyton, he’d never seen her let her hair down and just enjoy life. She usually worked from sunup to sundown on her cases, and when she did take a break from the office he knew that she usually headed back home to Chicago to do pro bono work in the community. She probably didn’t know the meaning of relaxing, or pampering herself, or just plain chilling.
“Well, don’t celebrate too much tonight.”
He chuckled. If only she knew that was the last thing he intended to do. He would go home, shower, retire early and lie in bed savoring her phone call. “I won’t and I hope you have a good day in court tomorrow.”
“Hey, thanks. I’m going to need it. Next time I see you I hope you’re willing to share your secrets. You’ve won so many cases this year and I’d like to know how you do it.”
The answer to that question was easy. By staying focused and understanding what I really want out of life, he thought to himself. “Yes, next time we see each other I’ll be more than happy to share my secrets with you.”
He could hear her laughter and the sound was more sensuous than anything he’d heard in a while. Goose bumps pricked his skin and stoked his libido in a way that only she could do. She didn’t have a clue just how sexy he thought she was.
“Good night, Angelo.”
“Same to you, Peyton.”
After disconnecting the call, he was exhilarated yet felt a sense of longing. As the breeze blowing through the window floated across his face, he decided it was time to finally put his plan into action. There had to be some reason why he was so attracted to her, why he sought her out whenever they attended parties or family functions together and why he got jealous of any man who dared try and talk to her.
It was time for him to discover what it was about Peyton that had him fighting feelings he wasn’t accustomed to. When he got home, he would call his sister Samari, who had voiced her suspicions that he had a thing for her best friend. She’d known it and no telling how many others did as well—except for the lady herself.
Tonight he was going to enlist his sister Sam’s help in orchestrating his plan. His sister had been the first one to notice the attraction. And of course he had denied it, mostly because at the time he hadn’t been sure just what his feelings were. All he knew was that he was intensely attracted to Peyton.
As he drove along the expressway toward home, he couldn’t help but smile. There was a feeling of peace and tranquility that flowed through him. His friends and family had nicknamed him “Smooth Operator.” And because of his courtroom success, the media had dubbed him the “Italian Hellion.”
Right now, the only thing he wanted to be successful at, the only thing he wanted to be known as, was the man who conquered Peyton Mahoney.
Two weeks later…
Peyton stared across the table at the two women who had been her best friends since law school—Samari and Mackenzie Madaris. She looked down again at the early birthday gift they’d given her—a gift certificate for two weeks at Dunwoody Cove, the exclusive five-star, singles-only resort on a private island in the Bahamas.
Knowing the cost of a stay at the posh resort, her eyes widened. She glanced up and a smile touched her lips. “Have I been so much of a bitch lately that the two of you felt you needed to get rid of me?”
Of course it was Sam who smiled sweetly and said, “Your being a bitch we can handle. But a horny bitch is a little too much for anyone to have to deal with, Pey.”
Mackenzie gave Samari a