If You So Desire Read online

  “Well, she’s here now.”

  Ian sucked his teeth. He was in no mood for romantic entanglements. When she’d stormed out of his apartment, he’d been relieved. He could continue his playboy ways—and now Sage Anderson was on his radar. He was hoping for a quick romp around in the sheets with the beautiful attorney, but Lisa’s presence could ruin his plans.

  “I’ll handle her,” Ian replied. “Once and for all.”

  Ian found Lisa in his suite unpacking her Louis Vuitton luggage.

  “Lisa!” He called out her name.

  Startled, she spun around to face him. Despite how angry he was with her, Ian couldn’t deny she was still a beautiful specimen. She had a long mass of wavy black hair, some of which was hers, milk-chocolate skin and legs that went on for miles.

  “Ian, darling.” Lisa swished across the thick plush carpet and slid her arms beneath his suit jacket. Lisa was nothing like Sage Anderson, who although petite had curves in all the right places while Lisa was slender and nearly matched him in height at five foot eleven.

  “I’ve missed you.” When she tried to kiss Ian on the lips, he turned his head.

  “Why are you here, Lisa?” Ian inquired. “Things have been over between us for quite some time.”

  “Are they?” she asked, grabbing Ian’s lapel. She focused her tigerlike eyes on his cobalt ones. “As I recall, we had a little tiff. That doesn’t mean we’re over.”

  “That’s exactly what it means.” Ian removed her hands from his lapel and moved away from her embrace. “You left for Paris and I haven’t seen or heard a word from you. Now you come back and are unpacking your things—” he nodded to the open suitcases “—as if nothing has happened. Well, I’m here to tell you that this ship has sailed, baby. We’re over.”

  “No, no, no.” Lisa furiously shook her head and her hair went flying in every direction. “I refuse to believe that after six months together that things will end this way between us.”

  “You knew the score,” Ian replied. “I never lied to you.” He’d thought things between them were great. She was a perfect companion when they were jet-setting off to parts unknown or going to a movie premiere or being photographed by the paparazzi, and she was great in bed. But it was in between, during those quiet moments, that had caused Lisa to want more than Ian was ready to give.

  “C’mon, we’re good together.” Lisa slinked next to Ian and rubbed her small breasts against his chest. “Can’t I convince you to give me a second chance? I know I can get you out of this bad mood.” She reached down for the buckle on his pants, but he flung her hand away.

  “I said no, Lisa.” Why was she forcing him to treat her with contempt? Why couldn’t she leave with a little grace and dignity?

  “Well, that’s a switch,” Lisa said scathingly and stormed to the bureau and starting throwing items back into her suitcase. When she was finished, she slammed her suitcase shut.

  Ian scratched his head. She was right. He never turned down sex until today. “I guess it is.”

  “You don’t know what you’re missing, Ian Lawrence.”

  “Oh, I think I do.” Drama. Drama. And more drama.

  Lisa flung her purse over her shoulder and gave him a withering look. “Just you wait. You’ll be begging to have me back in no time.” It was rare that a man like Ian was available and she wasn’t going to give up without a fight. She would just have to bide her time and strike when the iron was hot.

  “I highly doubt that, Lisa,” Ian returned.

  Seconds later, the door slammed shut. Ian breathed a huge sigh of relief and fell back on the king-size bed. He glanced up when he saw an American flag being waved from the doorway a short while later.

  “Is it safe to enter?” Jeffrey poked his head around the corner.

  “Yes, it is.” Ian waved him in.

  “Good.” Jeffrey came forward. “Because I have the report on Sage Anderson.”

  He tried to hand Ian the folder, but Ian shook his head. Lisa had given him a headache and he was no mood to read a long dosier. “Why don’t you give me the skinny?”

  “No problem.” Jeffrey opened the folder. “Sage Anderson was placed in foster care at age eight because her mother was a drug addict. She wasn’t adopted because of her constant sickliness and was sent to live in an orphanage.”

  “It sounds like she had a rough childhood. Does it say what the sickness was?”

  “It was as simple as asthma,” Jeffrey replied. “But at the time the families in foster care were so poor that she was never diagnosed until she went to the orphanage.”

  Ian was intrigued. “So how does a poor, asthmatic orphan end up as a successful labor attorney?”

  “It’s a classic story of a woman pulling herself up by her bootstraps,” Jeffrey replied. “She was valedictorian at her high school, graduated summa cum laude at NYU and went to NYU’s law school where she was second in her class only to her ex-fiancé, a James Wilson.”

  “I’m amazed at what she accomplished given all the obstacles she had to endure.” Ian rubbed his jaw. “Wait, did you say fiancé?”

  “I did, but he’s an ex.” Jeffrey nodded. “Apparently the pair broke off their engagement shortly after law school. The report goes on to say that she along with several of her friends, all men, by the way.” He threw that in for good measure, better Ian know that he could have some competition. “They grew up together in the same orphanage. They roomed together when they were struggling in their early twenties, but now they’re all successful. One’s a well-known photographer, Quentin Davis. I think you have some of his work. Another is Dante Moore, a local restaurateur. The third is Malik Williams, a director of several community centers for Children’s Aid Network.”

  Ian rose from the bed and went over to look out the window. He admired her fortitude and resilience. Life had thrown her lemons, but she had made lemonade. Sage Anderson was just the kind of woman and lawyer he was looking for.

  “Cancel the rest of the appointments.” Ian turned around and told Jeffrey. “We’ve found our attorney.”

  Sage nervously wrung her hands in her office. It was Wednesday afternoon and the senior partners had not yet approached her about the results of her meeting with Ian due to an unexpected snafu on a class-action lawsuit. Sage prepared herself for the inevitable, to be fired. She wasn’t sure what she would do after this, but somehow she would pull through. She hadn’t gotten where she was today by giving up. She nearly jumped out of her skin when her assistant buzzed her phone. “Hello?”

  “You have a visitor, Ms. Anderson.”

  Sage paused, took a deep breath and said, “Send him in.”

  Sage closed her eyes when the door opened and took a deep breath. When she opened them, she found Ian Lawrence standing in her office. His tall, overpowering presence filled her doorway.

  “Ms. Anderson.” Ian came toward her desk and offered his hand.

  Sage stared down at his large masculine hand and blinked several times to make sure she wasn’t seeing things.

  “Ms. Anderson?” Ian asked. She looked as if she were ready to faint.

  “Uh…uh, yes,” Sage stammered and shook his hand. “Mr. Lawrence, what are you doing here?” And why did he have to look so darn good? The Italian suit he wore only enhanced his broad shoulders and muscular figure. Sage remembered all too well how his skin had glistened from the shower. How the water pellets had clung to his chiseled chest and thighs. He’d invaded her dreams and she’d gotten little sleep the past two evenings.

  Ian watched Sage underneath hooded lashes. She looked just as beautiful as the day she’d barged into his hotel room. Not to mention the fact that she was flushed. Her warm brown complexion could not hide her surprise at his coming in person to her office. That was good. He liked that she was a little off balance. It would make the chase all the more fun.

  “I gave your firm’s proposal serious review.”

  “You did?” Sage held her breath.

  “Yes. And you in
trigue me, Ms. Anderson,” Ian replied, walking over to her window and looking down below.

  “How so?”

  “Not many attorneys would have had the nerve to talk their way into my hotel room without an appointment. I admire your chutzpah.” Ian turned and smiled at her.

  “As I recall, I didn’t do a very good job,” Sage replied, leaning back in her chair. A memory of her clutching his muscular arm came to mind.

  “Ah, yes.” Ian rubbed his goatee thoughtfully. “Your asthma attack was quite an introduction.” Ian moved from the window and was dangerously close to her. He was perched on the edge of her desk as if he owned the place.

  “I don’t scare easily, Ms. Anderson.” Ian stared down at her.

  When he did, Sage’s heart went pitter-pat. She didn’t know if it was his musky cologne or the seductive way he was staring at her, but Ian’s nearness was sending her hormones into overdrive. Sage couldn’t recall a time when she’d been this unglued around a man. What was it about Ian that caused her to stutter and act like a complete idiot? She’d been up against more intimidating men in the courtroom.

  “In fact,” Ian continued, straightening his stance, “I came to tell you in person that I have decided to let Greenberg, Hanson, Waggoner and Associates represent me in this matter.”

  “You have?” a masculine voice said from behind them.

  Sage and Ian both turned and found Peter Waggoner standing at the doorway.

  “And you are?” Ian asked.

  Sage skirted from behind her desk and past Ian’s looming presence to Peter. “Mr. Lawrence, this is Peter Waggoner, one of our senior partners.”

  “Mr. Waggoner.” The two gentlemen shook hands.

  “This comes as quite a surprise.” Peter’s brow rose and he gave Sage a bewildered look. “But we are pleased that you would consider our firm. We’ll assemble the best team to handle your case.”

  “So long as that team is headed by Ms. Anderson,” Ian returned. He glanced in Sage’s direction. “She is the reason I’ve agreed to allow your firm to represent me.”

  Sage stood back in awe of Ian. After her pitching debacle, Peter had most certainly come in to give her her walking papers. She loved the way Ian had just put Peter in his place. She liked a man who took charge.

  “Of course, of course.” Peter smiled.

  Ian reached into his suit pocket and pulled out a card. “Here’s my assistant’s card. Set up an appointment with him and he’ll iron out the particulars.”

  “Right away.” Peter shook Ian’s hand one final time and left the room.

  Sage turned around to face Ian. “Mr. Lawrence, I really appreciate the opportunity.” She offered her hand. “I assure you your faith in me and our firm is not misplaced.”

  “I’m sure it isn’t,” Ian returned smoothly. But instead of letting her hand go, he lingered for several excruciatingly long moments before releasing it. “I look forward to working with you.” And with that comment, Ian Lawrence disappeared just as quickly as he’d come.

  After he’d gone, Sage was speechless and plopped down in her chair. What had happened just now? Was she the only one feeling the sexual tension? Or had there been a spark of interest in Ian’s eyes, too? No, no, surely she’d imagined it. Or at least she hoped so, otherwise this would be a very complicated situation, indeed.

  “I got the case,” Sage told Dante when she stopped by his tapas bar that evening.

  “Congratulations, Sage.” Dante gave her a bear hug. “And here you thought you’d blown it. How about I fix you up something special?”

  “That sounds great, Dante.” Sage followed him into his stainless-steel kitchen. “This is really going to be a great opportunity for me.” She nodded to the sous chef and several other workers getting ready for the dinner rush. “This is exactly the kind of case I need to make partner.”

  “Do you really think so?” Dante asked, taking a cut-up chicken fryer and potatoes out of the refrigerator, and some oregano, olive oil, capers and white wine out of the cupboard. Sage smiled as she saw the ingredients. Dante was making one of her favorite dishes: chicken vesuvio.

  Sage nodded and hopped onto the opposite counter. “You should have seen the look on the senior partner’s face when Ian told him in no uncertain terms that I will spearhead his defense or he’d be taking his business elsewhere. It was priceless.”

  “Sounds like more than just the case got you excited,” Dante replied, seasoning the chicken with coarse salt, black pepper and oregano.

  “If you’re going to start in on me again about Ian Lawrence, then I’ll tell you again that you’re dead wrong,” Sage replied, folding her arms across her chest. “Sure, he’s attractive. I don’t deny that, but I can’t get involved with my client.” It would be the worst possible career move she could make getting involved in a sex scandal with Ian Lawrence, no matter how pleasurable it might be.

  “All right.” Dante threw his hands up in the air and went back to cooking. “I just want to be sure before you get yourself into something you can’t get yourself out of.”

  “Trust me, Dante. I have the situation with Ian Lawrence handled.”

  “So, you’ve decided to hire Sage Anderson’s law firm,” Jeffrey said over a nightcap in Ian’s suite later that evening as they sat on the sofa. He’d known that Ian wouldn’t be able to resist a pretty face. “It’s fortunate that the best labor attorney in the city is also a beautiful woman.”

  “It won’t be a problem.” Ian sipped on his scotch.

  “How can you be so sure?”

  “Because…” He’d seen the same attraction in her that he felt. Sage Anderson wanted him as much as he wanted her.

  “Because no woman can resist you?” Jeffrey asked.

  “Not every woman, just this woman.” Ian grinned. And when the time was right he and Sage would be sharing a bed.

  Chapter 3

  “It’s quite a coup you’ve achieved, Sage,” Peter commented from her office doorway the following morning. The other partners were in disbelief when he’d told them that a female associate had secured one of the biggest profile cases of the year. It had been a long shot, but Sage had pulled it off.

  “Thank you, Mr. Waggoner.” It was not every day she got kudos from a senior partner.

  “No, it is I who should be thanking you.” Peter pointed to himself and then to Sage. “Lawrence could have easily overlooked our firm if you hadn’t convinced him to allow us to represent him. By the way, how did you charm him?”

  “I can’t give away my trade secrets now, can I?”

  “You have to know that this case is going to secure your making partner this year.”

  The magic word, thought Sage. Partner. After all the long hours and the sacrifices she’d made, after growing up with nothing and being shuttled from foster home to foster home before coming to the orphanage, she deserved this. She’d given up a lot for her career. Her one and only love, James, had cheated on her because he claimed she wasn’t there for him anymore.

  After law school, she’d been so driven to succeed, to have a career to rely on. Although she wanted to get married one day and have a family, she didn’t want to end up destitute and alone like her drug-addicted mother. So she’d clocked in long hours at the firm, causing James to develop a wandering eye. She’d been devastated to find him in their bed with another woman. After their seven-year courtship had come to a bitter end, she’d turned all her focus to the law. If everything went according to plan, she would be the first African-American and the first woman to become partner at Greenberg, Hanson, Waggoner and Associates.

  “Yes, I do.”

  “Then I know you will ensure that we win this lawsuit.”

  “I will,” Sage responded.

  After he’d left, a slight bit of self-doubt crept into Sage’s mind. What if she didn’t win? Was she ready to start at the bottom with a new firm?

  “Legal reviewed the representation documents from Greenberg, Hanson, Waggoner and Associates,”
Jeffrey said while he and Ian ate breakfast on the terrace overlooking Central Park.

  “And?” Ian inquired, taking a forkful of his Greek omelet.

  “They are in order. Exorbitant fees like most law firms, but nothing out of the ordinary,” Jeffrey replied. “All I need is for you to sign them.” He slid the documents across the table.

  “I don’t have anything to write with,” Ian replied.

  Jeffrey reached inside his suit pocket, produced a pen and handed it to Ian.

  “Thank you.” Ian scribbled his signature on the documents.

  “By the way, Sage Anderson has requested a meeting with you to go over the details of the case.”

  “Excellent.” Ian brought his coffee cup to his lips. “Schedule it over dinner tomorrow night.”

  “Ian.” Jeffrey sighed. “I have to caution you that you are moving into dangerous territory here.”

  “And when has that ever deterred me?” Ian asked with a smile. He would not have increased the value of Lawrence Enterprises’ holdings without taking risks. The company now owned several television and radio stations in addition to the publishing company his father started. Sure, some of the older men on the board had questioned his judgment when he’d taken over as CEO of the company, but they’d soon realized that he was the future when their pocketbooks began getting fatter.

  “Lucas Johnson has hired Sullivan and Watkins and they are out for your blood, Ian,” Jeffrey responded. “You can’t dismiss this as just a frivolous lawsuit. The entire business community will be looking at how this suit plays out. To have an African-American employee suing an African-American owner for discrimination is big news. The company can’t afford for your judgment to become clouded because another body part has taken over,” Jeffrey said plainly.

  “I heard you the first time,” Ian replied testily. Despite their long friendship, he didn’t appreciate Jeffrey questioning his actions. “Just do as I say and schedule a dinner with Sage at Jean Georges.”