Cute. “Yes, legal things, counselor,” he said. “Trust me, if I never see the inside of a courtroom again, it’ll be too soon.” Then he remembered. “Except for the Quinn case, obviously.”

“Right.” Rylann looked down at her wineglass, as if thinking something over. Then she looked up at him sideways, with a gaze that seemed a bit more…interested. “Why did you send Dex out to get me and Rae?”

The moment of truth.

Kyle knew he could follow their standard code of conduct and answer her with some dry quip, or joke, or sarcastic comment. But something about the ambience and the way she looked—and, more important, the way she was looking at him right then—made him want to forego the usual games. So instead, he held her gaze directly. “Because nine years ago, I walked up to the most beautiful girl in the bar, and tonight she’s still the only person I want to talk to.”

Her eyes widened at his words, and he waited for her to say something, anything, that would let him know that he wasn’t the only one feeling this way tonight. But instead, she turned back to her wineglass and toyed with the stem.

“There is something we should probably talk about,” she said. “I was in court today.”

Court. Kyle pulled back and shook his head in disbelief. Here he was, putting himself out there, and still all she wanted to talk about was work. “Really,” he said dryly.

“It was actually a fairly routine matter,” she continued. “But since you’ve been involved in the case, I thought you might be interested in knowing that Quinn pled guilty this morning. To voluntary manslaughter and conspiracy to violate a prisoner’s civil rights.”

Kyle went still. “What does that mean?”

Her eyes sparkled coyly. “Voluntary manslaughter? It’s a type of homicide where there’s no prior intent to kil—”

He put his hand over her mouth, cutting off the sass right quick. “What does it mean?” he repeated in a low voice. When he took his hand away, he saw the edges of her lips curving up in a smile.

“It means you’re no longer my witness. There’ll be a sentencing hearing, but for all intents and purposes, the case is over.”

That was all Kyle needed to hear.

He threaded his fingers through her hair and gently cupped her neck. No more games. “You didn’t have to tell me that tonight.”

She held his gaze unwaveringly. “No, I didn’t.”

An admission that spoke volumes. Kyle ran his thumb possessively along her lower lip, his voice a soft growl.

“Let’s get out of here.”

Twenty

RYLANN KNEW, FROM the look in Kyle’s eyes, exactly what would happen if she left the bar with him. His hot, smoky-blue gaze made it perfectly clear.

Sitting in that booth, she could think of a hundred reasons to say no to him. And only one reason to say yes.

Because, simply, she wanted to.

She always did the right thing. And from a rational perspective, doing the right thing would mean getting up and walking away from Kyle and the wicked promise of his words. But he was sinfully attractive, intelligent, and witty, and it had been a long time since she had done anything that felt this…breathtakingly exciting. If ever.

“I need to say good-bye to Rae,” she told Kyle.

And here she’d thought the look in his eyes had been hot before.

He brought her hand to his mouth and brushed his lips over her fingers. “Meet me at the bottom of the staircase. I’ll tell Dex I’m leaving.”

After he slid out of the booth and walked away, Rylann took a deep breath, needing a moment to steady herself. This so was not something she normally did—left bars with playboy billionaire heir ex-cons. Still, although it felt a little wild, it also felt good. And for tonight, that was enough.

She grabbed her purse, climbed out of the booth, and walked over to the bar to talk to Rae.

“My God, it’s about time,” Rae said after Rylann explained who she was leaving with. “For a while there, I thought it was going to take another nine years.”

“You’re okay catching a cab?” Rylann asked.

“Of course. Go.” Rae threw her a knowing grin. “Have fun.”

Well, yes…that was the plan. Then Rylann corrected that thought, smiling secretly to herself as she left the VIP room. Nope, no plans tonight. Until sunrise, she was officially winging it. Being spontaneous. Crazy, even.

Assuming she didn’t have a panic attack in about two seconds at the thought.

She descended the staircase that led to the bar’s main level and saw Kyle standing at the bottom, waiting for her. His eyes never left hers as she approached, and when she got to the last step, he held out his hand.

“Ready?” he asked. Despite the heat in his gaze, the devilish grin at the corners of his mouth was comfortingly familiar. Once upon a time, this man had made her heart skip with just a kiss—now it was time to finally see what other tricks he had up his sleeve.

Rylann slid her hand into his. “Yes.”

The crowd in the main level of the club was thick, and the driving beat of a fast, techno-pop song pumped through the speakers as Kyle led her through the mass of bodies. About halfway to the door, he began tracing slow circles over her fingers with his thumb. A warm flush spread over her body—such a simple touch, but one that turned her on nevertheless. So much so that she barely felt the cool breeze of the nighttime air when they stepped through the nightclub’s doors.