"Gerber daisies," he said without even looking up at her.

She would never let him know how sweet those two words sounded to her. Instead, she asked, "How?"

"No, it's not a presumption as you would like to think. You have a vase full of colorful Gerber daisies sitting right there. I just made a logical conclusion."

She looked at said vase, wanted to frown, but didn't want to lower herself that much. Instead she drummed her fingers on the table, an act that normally annoyed the h.e.l.l out of her when Roxanne did it at work. Now it soothed nerves that had quickly become frazzled.

"How did you know what they were called? You don't strike me as the flower kind of guy."

"I should be calling you presumptuous since you seem to think you know all about me. My mother likes flowers so I make it a point to send her favorites at least once a month. Calling the florist on a monthly basis puts you smack dab in the middle of the flower business."

"And your mother likes Gerber daisies?"

"No. Tulips. But they're not in season all year, so sometimes I have to switch it up. That's how I know what Gerber daisies are. She likes them too, and they're very cheerful."

"They are and I'm not having s.e.x with you."

He'd been just finishing his tea and choked just a little.

"No," he said when he put his gla.s.s down. "You're not. At least not tonight. You're tired, I'm tired after all this good food and you need time to recuperate."

"I mean ever, Ben. I'm not sleeping with you ever."

He waited a beat, seemingly contemplating what she'd said, then nodded. "Okay."

"Is that it?" she heard herself ask and wanted to bite her tongue.

"Yes. That's it. Thank you for dinner," he said, standing and taking his plate to the sink. "I can wash these up before I go."

"No, thanks. I'll put them in the dishwasher."

"Good. I want you to get to bed as soon as possible." He breezed right by her and was on his way out of the kitchen when she finally stood from the table to follow him.

"Are you angry?"

He turned and she b.u.mped right into him since she'd walked fast to catch up with him. "I'm not a child, Victoria. Something else to scratch off your list of misconceptions about me."

"I didn't mean to blurt it out. I just meant that this wasn't going to lead to s.e.x. We're colleagues, as you told my mother. We're not...anything else," she said for lack of a better term.

He reached out a hand, traced a finger along the line of her jaw and Victoria held her breath. He was close to her, very close. Her heart hammered in her chest. He was so close and she was so...what? What did his closeness do to her?

"We're not anything else...yet," he whispered, then dropped his hand from her face and turned away.

He was unlocking the door before Victoria could get her feet to move again.

"Lock the doors when I leave. The windows have locks already installed. Keep a dim light on down here when you go up and sleep well," he told her as he walked out.

She grabbed the door handle and watched as he walked down the three steps that led to her door. She wanted to say something, to correct him, admonish him, something.

"Goodnight," was what she heard falling from her lips and felt like biting off her tongue the minute she did.

He stopped, turned back to face her and grinned. "Goodnight, Victoria."

Closing and locking the door, Victoria slowly leaned against it, letting her head drift back as she whispered a word she'd never thought would apply to herself. "Idiot."

CHAPTER 9.

Fear was not an option for Victoria. It was one of those things she'd boxed up and stuck in her mother's attic along with her father's belongings. He hadn't been afraid, even when those robbers had approached him and stuck the gun in his face. Porter Lashley had never been afraid of anything, and he'd instilled that in his only daughter.

"If people know your fears, they'll have a tool to manipulate you with. Fear makes you weak. Show no fear and you maintain the upper hand."

Sitting at her desk at almost noon, two days after her home had been violated, Victoria remembered those words. She heard her father's voice as if he were standing right in the room with her, and she wanted to cry. At night sleep evaded her and by day headaches taunted her. Thoughts of Ben Donovan steadily crept forward to fill the in-between times.

He wasn't what she thought he was. At least she'd begun to give some credence to him being a normal guy. Except he was still rich and privileged and didn't need the job he did, the job that allowed a man like Ramone Vega to walk free. She understood the justice system and knew that everyone was ent.i.tled to a good defense. Ben gave above and beyond a good defense for all his clients, and was actually one of the best defense attorneys in Clark County. And a few weeks ago he would have been the attorney she planned to beat in court. But he'd stepped out of the case. She wondered why?

She also wondered why he'd continuously turned up in her life. No, there was no need to wonder about that because it was a question she'd always known the answer to. There was something between them, a sort of thunder and lightning type of reaction: He strutted like a boastful peac.o.c.k and she struck like an angry eel. And yet they couldn't seem to stay away from each other. To counter that, she'd tried to head him off by stating she wouldn't sleep with him. He hadn't seemed phased. That had intrigued her.

Enough so that yesterday she'd been expecting him to show up at her door or at her office. She'd even stayed downstairs longer than usual under the pretense of working after she'd had dinner with her mother, waiting for him to come knocking on her front door. But he hadn't. That had her wondering too. Until now, she felt like a bundle of contradictions, like her normally cut and dry go to work, win a case, start over again life seemed a little out of control.

And then there was the fear.

She was trying to keep it at a minimum, trying like h.e.l.l to not let the thought of Vega seeking some kind of intimidation towards her take hold. He was a killer, she knew this. So he could have her killed without a second thought. But she was still here working on a way to convict him. "Why" was a question that she didn't want to explore, yet she couldn't help thinking about. And feeling what she felt.

"If you're thinking about this case that hard we're in for a conviction," Grace said as she made her way into the office.

"When does your maternity leave start again?" Victoria asked instead of replying about the case. Talking about Grace and the baby was a much better idea.

Grace shook her head, her ponytail waving behind her. "Not until my water breaks. Clinton says I should stop now but I'm trying not to use any of my vacation time. Besides, things are heating up around here," she said, rubbing her hands together. "You know Karl Maddow, down in economic crimes division, he and Roxanne are dating. Now ain't that some mess? Roxanne's clearly ten or fifteen years younger than that man."

Victoria nodded because Grace could always be counted on to take her mind off things. She hadn't told her about the incident at her house, hadn't wanted to worry her so close to the end of her pregnancy. Luckily, the sc.r.a.pes to her face from the gla.s.s were small and were easily hidden by make-up. And as she watched Grace continue to talk in the animated way she did with everything, she realized it was a good decision. Grace would have wanted to come right over after hearing what happened. And then she would have wanted to come over the next day and now, instead of telling her the office gossip, she would have been questioning Victoria about her locks and security systems and whatever else came into her mind.

"So anyway, Jules wants you to wrap this case up quick. He's putting in for a transfer out of the felony division and doesn't want this hanging over his head."

"What? It's just another case. He's had at least a dozen mistrials he hasn't even bothered to retry. What's so special about this one?" As Victoria asked the question, other questions she'd been mulling over as she'd reviewed the file took hold.

"Probably all the media attention," Grace replied with a shrug of her shoulders. "I think the transfer thing is a front. Clifton says he's already filled out the ballot. He's going to run for DA."

"Really?" That was certainly interesting. The district attorney's position was a public office where one had to be elected to fill it. Jules wanted to enter the world of politics and he needed the murder of a congressman and his wife to be cleared up before he did. Very interesting indeed.

"Who do you think will take his place?" Grace asked at the same time there was a knock on the door.

Grace was sitting close to the door and they'd both a.s.sumed it was someone who worked at the office. She reached out and turned the k.n.o.b to let them in.

Victoria wasn't sure which one of them was more shocked to see Ben Donovan standing there.

"I apologize if I'm interrupting," he said, stepping slowly into the office.

Grace shifted in her seat, a smile spreading quickly. Across the room Victoria felt that warming sensation sifting throughout her body that was only incited by this man.

"You are most definitely not interrupting, Mr. Donovan," Grace replied. "You don't remember me do you?" she asked when he turned from staring at Victoria to look at her.

"I do," he, said reaching out a hand to shake Grace's. "I've had a case or two with you over the years and we graduated from law school together. You're Grace Ramsey."

Grace took his hand, her smile brightening as she cut Victoria a quick look before returning all her attention to Ben. "I sure am. It's nice to see you out of the courtroom, Ben."

"Likewise," he told her, then nodded towards her protruding belly as he released her hand. "You don't look like you'll be in the courtroom much longer."

Grace chuckled and rubbed her stomach. "No. More like the delivery room."

Ben smiled.

Victoria almost cursed. Instead she closed her legs as tightly as she could beneath her desk, praying this rapidly spreading heat didn't make her look flushed.

"I'm sure Ben didn't drop by to hear about having babies. So what does bring you by?" she asked, clearing her throat immediately.

He turned slowly, pushing the jacket of his black suit back and slipping his left hand into his pant pocket, gave her that sinfully s.e.xy smile. The one she dreamed about, grew wet at imagining, and despised all in the same breath.

"Actually, I love children. So I'm always pleased to see a pregnant woman. However," he continued before she could interject, "I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Well," Grace added quickly, planting her hands on the arms of the chair and pushing herself upward. "That's my cue to leave. Call me later," she told Victoria and made the fastest exit out of her office she had in months.

"So now I know how loyal you are," Ben said, taking the seat Grace had just vacated.

Grace had also closed the door behind her, which seemed to have sucked all the breathable air from the room now that it was just her and Ben. He wasn't smiling now, instead looking seriously fine as he adjusted his paisley print tie, smoothing it down so that his strong hands moved lightly over his chest and abs.

Okay, you really need to get a grip, she admonished. He's just a man.

But Victoria knew that simply wasn't true.

"Grace and I have been friends a really long time. She's like a sister to me."

Ben nodded. "I see. So when's the baby due?"

"In about three weeks,' she answered before she could catch herself. It really wasn't any of his business. "Why are you here?"

"You like asking me that, don't you?"

"Not really. It's kind of getting tiresome. Then again, you keep popping up, so what else am I supposed to do?"

"I was in the courthouse. Motion to suppress hearing in Judge Leontine's courtroom," he informed her.

So he had an excuse to be in the courthouse today. That didn't lead to her office.

"Her courtroom's all the way down the hall," she replied.

"It's not that far," he countered, then held up his hand as if to call a truce. "I came to see if you had plans for lunch. Is that better?"

h.e.l.l no!

Though her inner voice was screaming, warning alarms blaring in her head, Victoria nodded. "Honesty is always better," was her reply.

"I'm glad you feel that way because there are a few things I want to ask you about your investigation into the Vega case."

Victoria shook her head. "The answer to that request would be no. I'm not giving defense counsel information on my case."

"I'm not his lawyer anymore."

"Still not going to discuss my case with you."

"Even if it might involve the incident at your house?"

Victoria paused. She hadn't wanted to think that, had in fact, been pushing that very theory out of her mind for the last two days. "It was random vandalism. Teenagers." Even as she spoke those words she knew they weren't true.

"What teenagers do you know own tear gas?" he asked pointedly.

"Gang initiation," she offered hopefully.

"Then why didn't they come inside? Gang initiations usually involve some type of robbery or a murder. Thank goodness neither of them happened that night. But something did and I'm not willing to let it slip through the cracks because somebody's afraid to put two and two together. How about you?"

Now he looked like a defense attorney. He'd leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, staring at her as if he wanted to say more. And she, instinctively, felt like saying he was badgering the witness. Instead she sighed.

"I thought about that, but I dismissed it. If Vega wanted to hurt me, he would have. He doesn't do warnings. You should know that."

He was quiet a moment and Victoria wondered what was going through his mind. He sat back, rubbed a finger over his neatly trimmed goatee.

"He's changing the game," Ben stated matter-of-factly. "And that's all I'm going to say about this here in your office. We can go right across the street and grab some lunch and talk more, without probing ears."

"This is my office, the place where I work. So if we're going to discuss my case-"

"We're not discussing your case, per se. We're discussing a possible connection. And I'd think you of all people would know about the reported leaks in this office."

Victoria remained silent. There had been talk in the last couple of months about confidential information from the DA's office getting out to the press. h.e.l.l, the Vega mistrial and new trial date had been on the local news before she'd even signed the entry of appearance. So while she wasn't thrilled about having lunch with Ben, she recognized the importance of finding out all she could about the attack on her house. Especially if it involved Vega. And who better to know the man then the lawyer who'd gotten him off a capital murder case.

"Fine. One hour," she told him, then stood to pull open her lower left desk drawer and retrieve her purse.

"You won't regret it," he said once he'd stood and held the door open for her.

She'd given him a half smile in return as she pa.s.sed through the door, while her mind screamed that it was already regretting this decision.