The Wolf's Surrender

“Are you in pain?” he asked.

Physically, not really. Emotionally, he had no idea! But she shook her head a second time. What she was feeling was simply gratitude. And respect. Okay, maybe even genuine fondness.

Oh, dear. Genuine fondness wasn’t good. Feeling genuine fondness for the judge had all the markings of a major complication.

Smoothing the wrinkles from the baby’s blanket, Kelly reminded herself that she couldn’t afford any more complications. She had her daughter to think about. This beautiful, precious child was all that mattered. It had been this way since the moment Kelly had discovered she was pregnant. The very fact that Alisha had been conceived hours before Kelly’s divorce had been final was proof that when it came to matters of the heart, she didn’t always make the smartest choices. Sealing the divorce with a kiss hadn’t seemed like such a strange request when Frankie had made it. Despite all his faults, her ex-husband was a great kisser. Unfortunately, far too many women knew it. She’d loved him once, and he’d hurt her terribly. She had Alisha now, and she could no longer afford to allow her emotions free rein over her common sense.

Still, she didn’t know quite what to make of the feelings swelling her heart this very minute. Serious and brooding, Judge Colton was the wrong kind of man for her. Not wrong in the same way that Frankie had been maybe, but wrong just the same. Frankie DeMarco was charming, fun-loving and the life of every party. He was everyone’s friend. She’d learned the hard way that he was nobody’s hero, especially not hers.

She stared at Alisha’s tiny face, memorizing every feature. Alisha was hers, all hers. The nurses all said she looked just like Kelly. Maternal love washed over her with such force tears welled in her eyes.

“Do you want me to call the nurse?”

It had been an emotional day. Blinking back tears, Kelly studied the judge. He had a rugged physique, broad shoulders, a muscular chest. His facial features were dark and chiseled, striking and strong, his chin, his cheeks, his forehead. She didn’t know much about his personal life, but today, he’d been her hero, which probably meant that this was hero-worship, and nothing more.

Smoothing the fine wispy hairs on the baby’s soft head, she sighed in relief. “I don’t need the nurse, thanks.”

“Do you want me to leave?”

She shook her head. “You can stay awhile if you’d like.”

Grey couldn’t quite understand why he felt compelled to stay, but he did. He sat in the chair next to the bed and studied the baby. He’d never had much of an interest in babies. He couldn’t seem to take his eyes off this one. “You named her Alisha?”

“I’d been tossing other names around these past months. William, after my grandfather, if she’d been a boy, Grace for a girl. After we got here, and the doctor checked us both out, I held her, and watched her sleep. And I kept thinking about the stories you told me when I was having her. About your mother, Alice, and your grandmother. I considered naming her Gloria, but Alisha Grace feels right.”

“Alisha Grace,” he repeated. “It suits her.”

Kelly nodded. “Alisha, after your mother. Any woman who raises six children, one of whom didn’t panic and was able to deliver a baby in his chambers in less than ideal conditions, deserves a special honor.”

Somewhere down the corridor, a baby cried. Kelly’s baby opened her eyes, as if curious about the sound. She was going to be smart, Grey thought. She was already observant. He touched her tiny hand. Instantly, she grasped his finger, her grip unbelievably strong for someone so small.

“Did you see the news?” Kelly asked.

He nodded, mesmerized by the baby’s clear gray eyes looking up at him.

“I didn’t think about the press,” Kelly whispered, “or how they might want to do a story about what happened.”

He hadn’t, either.

“It was wise of you to be unavailable for comment.”

Grey lifted his gaze, and found Kelly looking at him. Her makeup was gone, her face clean scrubbed. Her hair had been brushed, the overhead light casting shadows below her cheekbones and beneath her chin. Her eyes were clear and observant and very green above the faded blue hospital gown. Her nose was narrow, her mouth was…

Kissable.

He forced his gaze away and stood, the action tugging his finger from the baby’s grasp so quickly he startled her. For a moment, he thought she was going to cry. He held his breath, releasing it only after the baby relaxed again, secure and safe in Kelly’s arms.

“I wasn’t really prepared to be interviewed,” Kelly confessed.

“You handled it like a pro.”

She smiled down at her daughter. Apparently in the mood to chat, she said, “I’m an attorney. You’re a judge. Some people might read more into what you did for me and Alisha.”

Grey scratched at the prickly skin on the back of his neck.

“They could even think I might try to use the incident to gain special treatment in court,” Kelly said. “I assure you that that won’t happen.”

“Of course not.”

“If you ever need a kidney, come see me.” She wavered him a smile. “Otherwise, rest assured, it’ll be business as usual.”

She lifted her gaze, and held out her hand. Grey had a feeling that somewhere in the deep recesses of her mind, she knew exactly what she was doing. What did she mean it would be business as usual from now on? He took her hand, shaking it as if in slow motion.

Kelly’s heart expanded, and something very close to sexual attraction uncurled in the pit of her stomach. She’d been experiencing mild afterbirth pains. This was different. It wasn’t hero-worship, either. Oh, dear, she thought. This was bad. It definitely had all the markings of a major complication.

Only if she let it. She withdrew her hand from his grasp. “Thank you.”

He bristled. “We both did what had to be done.”

My, my. “I was referring to the flowers, the balloons and the plush toy for Alisha.”

Silence. He wasn’t happy, but at least she’d put whatever was between them back on an even keel. Now she had to keep it that way. “I guess I’ll see you in court, Judge,” she said.

“Grey.” His eyes glittered, as if daring her to dispute it.

“But I thought we agreed…”

“You said it best yourself this afternoon. We’ve shared too much for such formalities, at least outside the courtroom.”

“That isn’t what I said.”

“What did you say, then?”

She gulped, because what she’d said was that only a woman’s doctor and her lover should see her the way Grey had seen her. Oh, no, he didn’t. She wasn’t going to repeat that.

He had the nerve to smile.

It was a nice smile, a masculine smile, a disarming smile that sneaked up on her, causing her to smile, too.

“Kelly?”

“Hmm?”

“You and I both know I’m not your doctor.”

He walked to the door on silent footsteps, and Kelly was left with her mouth hanging open, her heart beating a heady rhythm, her mind reeling.

From the doorway, he said, “Call me if you need anything.”

“That’s what I was trying to…I don’t think…That is, it would be best if…” She clamped her mouth shut, raised her chin. In a steadier voice, she said, “I won’t need anything. I’ll see you in court.”

She caught his expression before he turned on his heel and left. Her point had hit its mark.

“I probably shouldn’t have done that,” she whispered, nuzzling Alisha’s unbelievably soft cheek. “What else could I do?”

The baby started to cry. The waaa-waaa grew in volume until Kelly hugged her to her breast. Instantly, the crying stopped. That was easy, she thought, stroking the baby’s head. When it came to her child, she just had to do what came naturally. The same did not apply to Grey Colton. And that was final.

Chapter Three

The courtroom was quiet as Grey studied the document in front of him. He made a notation, then looked straight at the man standing before him. “Forty hours of community service!” His decree was punctuated by one sharp rap with his gavel.

“But, Your Honor, this was my first offense…”

“Make it your last and we’ll get along better in the future.”

“But I thought—”

Grey silenced the young man with a quelling glare and a quiet question. “Would you like me to make it sixty hours?”

A buzz went through the people waiting to stand before Judge Colton for whatever misdemeanor they’d committed. The youngest judge in Comanche County was reportedly also the toughest. Although he was neither condescending nor self-serving, no one knew exactly what to expect. In the courtroom, he was swift, cutting, but just. Nobody cared to meet him in a dark alley. Especially not today.

The attorney answered for the young man who’d been caught red-handed desecrating public property. “No, Your Honor. My client will do his forty hours.”

Grey caught the covert glance the attorney and his client shared. They’d been hoping he would be more lenient because the younger man’s record had been clean up to this point. Earlier that morning, Grey had seen two attorneys on opposing sides share a similar look, obviously in unprecedented and total agreement: Judge Colton was even tougher than usual today.

They were wrong. It was possible that Grey was more abrupt, his tone sharper today, but his sentencing was fair, as always. He hadn’t let his mood influence the punishment. If he had, the last woman, a shoplifter, would have gotten life.

The next case went quickly, as did the one after that. At ten minutes before twelve, Grey pounded his gavel a final time and broke for lunch.

“All rise!”

Grey gathered up his papers, strode past the bailiff, then retreated to his chambers. The second the door was closed, he removed his black robe. He ran a hand through his hair.

He was agitated. He didn’t get agitated. Judges needed to be cool, calm and collected. They needed to be focused. They had to be able to sit for long periods of time without moving, their minds sharp, their knowledge of the law indisputable.

Grey approached every case as an important one. And every person who left his courtroom, be it drunks, petty thieves or those accused of far more serious crimes, got a crash course about the price he extracted from anyone who chose to break the law.

Judge Grey Colton had no regard or patience for dishonesty, and he’d never met an honest criminal. Lawbreakers made the world a dismal place. Except in very rare instances, there was no excuse for what they did. If it were possible to send all criminals to an island and let them prey on each other, America would need fewer judges. It didn’t work that way. Criminals tended to be repeat offenders, and they preyed on innocent people. It was the innocent people Grey had vowed to protect. It was why he’d become a judge. Ultimately, it was the reason he had his sights set on a position on the Oklahoma State Supreme Court.

He’d charted his path in his early twenties. He was still on course a dozen years later.

He strode to the supple leather couch. For some reason, he wound up studying his hands. They didn’t look any different; the palms were broad, his fingers squared at the tips. He’d held a child in them as she’d taken her first breath.

Until that moment, he’d thought that pounding a gavel was the most important function his hands could perform. He’d said it best to Kelly himself. He was no doctor. And he didn’t want to become one. He didn’t.

He liked what he did. He believed in what he did. He was good at what he did. He was agitated. That was all. And it had something to do with that baby. And perhaps her mother.

Kelly Madison had made herself clear. If he ever needed a kidney, she’d said, come see her. In other words, she would never forget what he’d done, but in everyday life, she was a defense attorney and he was a judge. She was a sunny sky. He was a gray storm. He was oil. She was a refreshing sip of water on a warm day. Oil and water didn’t mix.

He went to his desk and sat down. He opened a folder and scanned a document. His gaze trailed to the wallet lying in the corner near his green desk lamp. The cleaning service had been here overnight. Evidently, they’d discovered the wallet under a cushion.

He picked up Kelly Madison’s wallet, only to return it to the desk. He already knew what was inside. Her address for one thing, and a credit card and driver’s license.

He was reaching for the phone to call a messenger service to deliver it to her, when the phone rang beneath his hand. “Judge Colton,” he said.

“They’re kicking me out.”

He recognized that smooth, lilting voice. “Who is?” he asked.

“The hospital,” Kelly said. “They’re sending me home.”

“You don’t want to go home?”

“I want to. I’m scared to death, but my parents are due to arrive later this evening. It isn’t that. It’s just that none of my friends are at their desks, and my keys are still locked in my car. I would call a cab, but I seem to have lost my wallet. And I know what I said about you and me and business, but I didn’t know who else to call.” She took an audible breath. “They’re kicking me out. Something about insurance.”

Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.