Chapter Four
"What on earth are you doing here?" she asks, opening the door of her house, clearly not happy about seeing her visitor standing there.
"You said we have to be more careful," he states simply and she can actually see his eyes smiling.
"I also said I'll see you in court, how about that?" she knows she sounds angry, but the case has put too much pressure on her during the last days and in addition to that his behaviour's been inacceptable ever since she made the mistake giving in to him. It's like he's been another person, acting like he has power over her, just because she finally let him kiss her once.
He's been showing interest in her for a while. It all started on an event a few weeks back where she showed up without a date and he did too. They bumped into each other at the bar, started with small talk and ended up spending the rest of the evening in each other's company, they even danced together. They had known each other for several years, even their parents had known each other, but they'd never been more than distant friends, who sometimes went up against each other in court and attended the same social events.
But something changed that night, it was the first time she felt that he found her attractive and he's been after her ever since. She bumped into him several times in the courthouse, first she thought those were only accidents, but soon she realised he was actually there for her. After a few times he even asked her out on a date, but she declined his offer, not because she didn't want to go out with him, but because she thought it wouldn't be wise to go out with an ASA. But she was tempted to say yes and she even discovered that she was attracted to him. He was a handsome man after all, who shared the same values with her, who came from a respectable family and was still a bachelor in his late forties, even though he was indeed famous for his women trophies.
Of course she doesn't want to be one of his trophies, but she's old enough not to have false hopes of finding a man who she'll share the rest of her life with. She has never been the one for marriage or long term commitments, so the only reason she's against any kind of relationship with him is their work. And the fact that they've ended up on the opposite sides of a case again just proves her right. He still uses every chance to get close to her, he still wants to go out with her and she may have promised him to do so if she loses the case, which she doesn't intend to do, even though he apparently does everything in his power to make her lose.
And that is her problem, that he obviously started playing dirty, right after she got weak enough to kiss him. She did go to his office the other day to talk about the case, but it was actually the first time they were alone together in a room, behind closed doors and after weeks of dancing around each other it was no wonder she couldn't resist him anymore. But his assistant almost walked in on them, which made her realise she was doing something stupid, they should at least wait until the trial is over, to finally sort out what is going on between them. Because that kiss more than proved that it is something that they cannot ignore.
"How long are you going to stay angry with me for that, huh? It's a trial, we've gone up against each other several times, but the case has nothing to do with our private matter," he seems sincere, but she doesn't really believe his words.
"Really?" she asks, chuckling a little, "Then the alleged date you keep mentioning is not the reason why you're playing dirty?"
"I always play dirty and so do you, we have that in common."
She has to laugh hearing his words, then she stops and looks him in the eye.
"If you think that this is a good enough reason for me to let you in my house at this hour, you are wrong," she says, a little playfully this time, her laughter has managed to blow her anger away.
"I just came here to make sure you're not going to hate me for the rest of the trial."
"I don't think you can make sure of that, but I promise I won't hold the grudge too long afterwards."
"That's all I wanted to hear."
Without noticing it, she's already started smiling at him. The fact that he's come to her like this, without a hidden agenda, without the intention of asking her to let him inside her home kind of proved to her that she was wrong. He is in fact the same person as before, who could make her agree to a date with him and managed to sweep her off her feet. Seeing him standing casually in her doorway, she is sure he will be able to do that again, very soon, but definitely not tonight.
"Good night, Peter," she says softly and he doesn't protest her words at all.
"Good night," he replies before turning around.
She closes the door behind him and for a short moment she feels regret for letting him go like that. But the next moment she spots all the files on her couch that remind her of the case. It has to be this way for now, they have to go on separate ways at least until this case gets solved, because that's the wise thing to do. But she can't help wishing for it to go away quickly.