Free Deborah Camp by To Seduce andDefend

to the building and motioned for her to go ahead of him. “After you, ma’am.”
    She went inside and up the short flight of stairs to the offices he shared with Adam Polk. Neither Bertha nor Adam appeared to be in. Zach motioned for her to go into the larger office and she did, taking her customary seat there. He sat beside her in the other chair instead of behind the desk.
    Jennie fidgeted, feeling strangely nervous in his close company with his gaze intently on her. “Was that your paramour?”
    “My what?”
    “Your lady friend,” Jennie said. “Mrs. Streeter, I believe you called her?”
    “She is a client, as you noted.”
    “Yes, but anyone with eyes could see that you two are taken with each other.”
    His brows shot up. “Her divorce has been granted and she was telling me that she is going back to Virginia tomorrow on the morning train. Is that what you want to talk about with me?”
    She glanced at him. He was smiling knowingly at her and she felt warmth wash up her neck and into her face. “No. It’s none of my business. I was just … you make a striking couple.”
    “We aren’t a couple. I wouldn’t want you spreading that rumor around town.”
    “I don’t gossip!”
    He nodded, clearly placating her. “Okay, okay. That’s good.” He settled back in the chair. “What did you think of Luna?”
    “Besides being insufferably rude, I didn’t think much of her. She didn’t give me a chance.”
    “I told you not to bother her.”
    “Yes, I know.” Jennie released a quick sigh. “I probably shouldn’t have gone there, but can’t you understand that I have some curiosity about the woman who stole my husband?”
    “I understand, but showing up on her doorstep unannounced isn’t going to get you anywhere. I talked to Luna and I will speak to her again on your behalf. Eventually, I think I can convince her to climb down off her high-horse and be sensible.”
    He had removed his hat and hung it on a hall tree before he had sat beside her. Jennie noticed that his hair was thick and curled slightly on the tips. It was a myriad of blond colors from deep gold to pale lemon. He wore a dark suit, white shirt, and a gray tie. He’d probably been in court most of the day, she thought, catching the scent of pine wafting from his skin when he shifted in the chair again to stretch his long legs.
    “This isn’t going to be a simple matter,” he said after another few seconds of silence. “I want you to be aware of that. Luna isn’t going to hand over the land deed to you, pretty as you please, so that you and your boy can live happily ever after. She has lived a hard-scrabble life and she is bound and determined to keep what she feels she has earned.”
    “Earned? That’s a peculiar way to put it.”
    “True, but I believe that’s how she thinks of it. She married Charles Hastings in good faith and legally, I might add. Therefore, as his legal wife she feels she has earned the land by rights.”
    “But you are going to prove that all of that is a lie, correct?”
    He folded his hands across his midsection and stared straight ahead at the window behind the big desk. “I am going to give it my very best effort, Jen —.” He cut his blue eyes toward her. “May I call you Jennie?”
    “Is that proper?” Even as she said it, she regretted it.
    “Perhaps not in high society circles, but we’re here in little, old Guthrie and folks here a mite friendlier. But, if you would be offended?” He shrugged one shoulder.
    “No, it’s fine. I don’t mind. You didn’t call Sarah Gladdens by the familiar.”
    “I do call her Sarah most of the time. In court and in public places, I am more formal. My mama raised a gentleman.”
    She smiled and looked away from his teasing, blue eyes. “You were saying that my situation is difficult, but it’s not impossible. Even the judges here should be able to understand that I am the wronged party.”
    He sat straighter in the chair and turned slightly to face