Shamelessly, Paul put his hand on the sales clerk’s forearm for a brief moment. “That’s so kind of you.”

When Ian turned away to wrap the item and ring it up, his face red as a beet, Paul smirked at her.

She shook her head.

“You’re terrible,” she said under her breath.

Paul was a shameless flirt.

“I know. Ain’t it grand?” He laughed, a twinkle in his eyes. “So, how about lunch? Are you free?”

Sabrina quickly shook her head. Even if she wanted to have lunch with Paul, she didn’t have time. “I’m on my way to the library.”

“Library?” he asked, his eyebrows snapping together.

“Yes, I have to study for the New York bar exam. I just got a job offer, and I won’t be able to start until I pass the bar. So, I’m cramming every single minute I have time.”

“Poor Daniel! Guess he doesn’t get to see much of you right now.”

Sabrina suppressed a sigh.

Daniel wasn’t home enough to have noticed that she was barely home herself, spending most of her days at the law library to prepare for the exam. Was this what being a couple was like? That they lived together, yet at the same time had such separate lives that they only passed each other in the night like trains going in opposite directions? Somehow she had to change the direction their relationship was heading in and steer it back to what it was like when they’d met in San Francisco: passionate and all-consuming.

15

The sun had already set when Daniel bent his head over the papers he’d received from Meyer, the lawyer Tim had dated. He went through his suggestions of how to rebut Hannigan’s suit point by point. One of the suggestions was of course to get Sabrina involved, but Daniel had no intention of doing so. He didn’t want to upset her by reminding her of what she’d had to endure the entire time she’d worked at Brand, Freeman, and Merriweather.

The sound of his door opening caused his head to lift in surprise. He blinked and stared at the person who now took a step into his office and shut the door again.

“Sabrina?” Was he hallucinating?

“Daniel, we need to talk.” Her voice was serious.

A ball of dread the size of Texas landed in his gut. Whenever a woman said “we need to talk” it wasn’t good. And he’d heard those four words more than he cared to—usually when a woman was ready to break up with him. He swallowed hard and rose from his chair.

“Okay.” His voice shook. This couldn’t be happening.

“I’m feeling neglected, Daniel, and I think it’s time you did something about it.”

She slowly opened her trench coat, slipped it off her shoulders, and let it pool around her feet—her legs were naked, her feet clad in black high heel sandals.

Daniel’s jaw dropped, and his eyes widened.

Sabrina was dressed in a pink silk teddy that revealed more than it concealed. The neckline was cut so low that it practically reached her navel, and the fabric over her breasts was thinner than tissue paper and ultimately more transparent. He could clearly see her erect nipples press against the flimsy fabric, and wondered whether they were a result of the cool temperature in his office or a sign of arousal.

He swallowed away the panic that had gripped him for a short moment and allowed relief to spread through his body. Sabrina hadn’t come to break up with him; she’d come to seduce him.

“So you want me to do something about it, do you?” he asked playfully and walked around his desk.

When he reached her, he caressed the silk, sliding his hand down her torso. He noticed how her breath hitched and her eyelids fluttered.

“I love the feel of this,” he whispered.

“The silk?” she asked.

“Your skin underneath the silk.” His fingertips grazed one hard nipple, and it seemed she arched toward him at the contact. “I think I know what to do about you feeling neglected.”

She lifted her eyelids, passion blazing from her eyes now. “You do?”

“Yes, though I don’t like the idea of Frances interrupting us at any moment.”

Sabrina smiled mischievously. “I sent your assistant home.”

He raised an eyebrow in appreciation. “I like a woman who shows initiative.”

He slid his hand around her waist, then lowered it to her backside, caressing her round cheeks. “That’s not a lot of fabric they use these days for lingerie.” He dropped his head to her shoulder and pressed a kiss on it. “There’s barely enough for a napkin here.”