Good Behavior

“So, what does Diana Cambridge do when she leaves the office?”

She did this thing where she wrinkled her nose. It was something he’d never noticed before. Cute.

“Not much. Diana goes home and spends time with her son.”

“Your son’s name is Andre, right? How old is he now?”

Her eyebrows lifted in surprise, as if she couldn’t believe he knew her son’s name, but he made a habit of memorizing details about staff, even the ones he rarely interacted with.

She licked a drop of ketchup off her thumb, and Xavier froze, temporarily losing his train of thought. The quick movement incited a riot of sensation in his pants.

“Andre is seven and wrapping up second grade with all A’s and B’s. He drives me crazy sometimes, but I can’t imagine my life without him. He’s bright and funny and has a generous spirit. Aside from the fact that he never picks up after himself, I couldn’t ask for a better kid.”

The bright-eyed little boy had inherited her big doe eyes. In one of the pictures on her desk, the boy looked about six years old, showing off missing front teeth to the camera. In the other, his face was a bit more solemn, and he was dressed in a school uniform and toting a backpack. Still another showed the two of them cheesing for the camera, dressed as a witch and a goblin for Halloween.

“You mentioned something about a cousin once?” he inquired.

“Mhmm. My cousin, Camille, lives with me. We’re originally from the Bay area, but I moved here first when I got married. I’m, um…divorced now.”

“How long were you married?”

She shifted, and he wondered if he’d gotten too personal.

“Eight years. Andre didn’t understand why we weren’t living together as a family anymore and misses his father, but my ex-husband sees him every other weekend, and when Rodrick—my ex—isn’t too busy during the week, he picks him up from school and they go to dinner and have male bonding time.”

“Sounds like you have a great relationship with your ex-husband.”

She smiled tightly.

Huh. Maybe not.

Diana glanced at her watch, a Cartier timepiece Trenton had given her to celebrate her three-year anniversary with the firm. “I better get going soon.”

“Of course.” Xavier didn’t know if she really needed to leave or if she simply wanted to avoid the conversation about her personal life, but he wolfed down the rest of the burger and they both tossed their containers into the trash.

He stuffed his hands into his pockets as they walked slowly back to his SUV. He’d enjoyed the food and company and was reluctant for the evening to end. Strange how a simple evening out with someone he barely knew could bring such satisfaction.

After he’d started the car, he turned to look at her in the passenger seat. “Thank you for joining me for dinner.”

“Thank you for paying. The meal was just what I’d been hoping for. Something completely bad for me. Tomorrow I’ll go back to eating nuts and berries.” She laughed sarcastically, smoothing her hands over her ample thighs.

The movement caught Xavier’s eye, and his fingers tightened on the leather wheel. He wondered if her legs were as soft as they looked.

Shifting his attention to the rearview mirror, he said, “I don’t think you need to worry about that.”

“I need to be good and stop being so bad.” She crossed one smooth thigh over the other and his eyes dipped once again to the expanse of exposed brown skin.

“Nothing wrong with doing things that are bad for you every now and again. Keeps life interesting.” He cleared his throat and eased backward, but hit the brakes when a pedestrian crossed in his path.

“Are you saying you do bad things?” Her voice was softer, teasing.

In the darkness of the vehicle, her large doe eyes stared back at him. The question was suggestive at best, inappropriate at worse. What was she really asking him?

His eyes zeroed in on the pulse beating at the base of her throat, and his own pulse thudded a little faster. “I always try to be on my best behavior.”

Always. All his life. He only slept with one woman at a time, and he wasn’t a cynical shark like the eldest, Cyrus—who’d been groomed to be more like their father than any of them.

“I don’t always succeed,” he finished quietly.

Diana licked her lips, and tension mounted in the interior of the vehicle. “I can understand that,” she said, swallowing. “It’s a lot harder than people think. Being good, I mean.”

He kept his gaze on her. “Definitely. Especially when temptation is staring you right in the face. It can be hard as hell.”

There was a minute reaction—a spark in the depths of her eyes, before she retreated with a vigorous nod and focused on her hands. “Very,” she muttered, letting out a quiet breath that sounded shaky.

Xavier gripped the steering wheel at that soft, feminine sound and fought the sudden urge to drag her across the console and kiss her hard and thoroughly. This was why he’d kept his distance all these months, and he should have never spent this time alone with her. He didn’t only find Diana intriguing; he was undeniably attracted to her. That attraction threatened everything he knew about himself.

“The good one” was what friends, family, and the media had called Xavier for years. The one who’d forsaken his family’s wealth to fight injustice around the world. The one who—except for an angry confrontation in Senegal years ago, which landed him in jail with plenty of regret and time to reflect—had always exemplified good behavior.

Spending time with Diana made him want to forget his good behavior. And show her just how bad he could be.