New and…Improved? & Andrew in Excess by Jill Shalvis; Jennifer LaBrecque

Author:Jill Shalvis; Jennifer LaBrecque
Format: mobi
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2000-09-09T22:00:00+00:00

KAT SLID INTO THE SEAT facing the doorway. “Thanks, Umberto. I’ll have a glass of Chianti and a basket of garlic rolls while I wait.”

“Anything for you, cara mia.” He treated her to a soulful look before moving off toward the kitchen. Kat shook her head slightly and smiled. Umberto always swore undying devotion to her, as he did to every other female patron. It was fun, harmless flirting that made for a lively dinner and usually a generous tip.

Tonight she and Andrew were meeting, with their attorneys in tow, for the first time in the week and a half since she’d propositioned him, although they’d had several short, perfunctory phone conversations in the interim.

“Hi, sis.” Her older brother ambled across the restaurant.

Kat stood and hugged him. “Thanks for coming, Jackson.” He might be her sibling, but he was also one of the best lawyers she knew, and the only one she trusted to keep this agreement confidential.

“You realize this whole thing is against my better judgment. And Father’s going to be furious when he finds out,” he said without preamble.

“Jackson, practically everything I do is against your better judgment.” Kat winced when she thought about her father’s reaction, but she’d made up her mind. “Unfortunately, it won’t be the first time Dad’s disapproved of me.”

Umberto interrupted with a basket of fragrant garlic rolls and Kat’s wine. He bowed slightly in Jackson’s direction. “A glass of Chianti for you?”

“Thanks.” Umberto glided away and Jackson picked up the conversational thread. “I don’t understand why you can’t just fall in love, get married and have a baby.”

He didn’t add “like everyone else.” He didn’t have to. It hung between them unspoken. Kat had lived a lifetime of being different.

“In case it slipped your mind, I tried that with Nick and it landed me a charming case of desertion.”

“If I ever get my hands on that…”

“…low-life, slime-sucking son of a bitch, you’re gonna kill him.” Kat finished the diatribe she’d heard so many times before. “You’d have to take a number.”

She patted Jackson’s hand. She wasn’t bitter, but she’d learned her lesson and learned it well. “It’s okay, Jackie. Honest it is.”

“Well, I hate to bring it up, but you know sometimes you’re a little excessive.”

“I have several excellent behavior modification tapes that have really helped.”

“Several? Humph. What about that time you bought all that pink paint because you liked the color and it was on sale?”

“That was a long time ago!”

“How many pairs of shoes do you own? And how many had you just bought at that sale the last time I met you for lunch?”

“I’m not shopping any more shoe sales and I promise these tapes are great. Try to understand I need to do this my way.”

Umberto placed a glass of wine in front of Jackson and slipped away.

“I respect that. I don’t agree with it, but I respect it. By the way, I’ve got an ethics question for you.”

Jackson had plied her with ethical dilemmas from the time he’d entered law school.

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