Working at a law firm comes with its own set of rules, and Blaire has broken rule number one. Consorting with the opposition could get her fired. In the blink of an eye, all of her hopes, dreams, goals, and aspirations could be dismissed.

She knows this.

Joel, EJ—whoever he is—is the enemy. Persona non grata. Her mind is aware of his standing. But her body? Not so much. It remembers every moment shared. Every flirty smile and witty comeback. Every whispered word with carefully placed hands.

Falling into bed with him was easy. Getting him to stay away will be the hardest thing she’s ever faced.

Shut In is intended for mature audiences due to explicit language and mature themes.

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© 2015 Cee Smith

Editing by Erica’s Editing Services

Cover Design © Najla Qamber Designs

Shut Out (Just This Once series, Book 2)

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Chapter One

“Did you know?”

I spent hours staring at my phone, willing the bars to appear so I could finally tear into my friend and co-worker, Kerri.

“I’m assuming this is about Trevaunt?”

“You think?” I sounded hysterical, but the pain of learning the truth, of seeing Joel’s reaction when I confronted him—nothing could compare to the feeling of betrayal. Because when I looked in his eyes, I knew he had been keeping the truth from me. I just didn’t know when he started feeling guilty about it. Was it when he picked me up at the bar? Did he recognize me? My co-workers? Was everything planned from the very beginning? Was this an attempt to get the case potentially thrown out? Or were his intentions a little less nefarious. Did he only realize the truth after I opened up to him, revealing details of who I was and what I did for a living? Did I bring this on myself?

“I’m sorry, honey. I swear I didn’t know until I looked through my pants from that night. He looked familiar, but I was drunk. Everyone looks familiar. He’s been in hiding for weeks. I would never think he’d have the audacity to show up at a club. Did he tell you?”

“No! I found out on my own. He told me his name was Joel,” I said, recalling the exact moment that made everything click. “I feel like such a fucking idiot. I slept with him, Kerri—a defendant in a case with our client. I could get fired for this! All of my hard work—”

“Calm down, Blaire. What did he say when you called him out on it? Was he mad?”

I sifted through everything that happened yesterday. How I woke up surrounded by a thick arm pressing me up against the length of Joel’s body, wrapping me around the block of muscle like the cotton sheets that cocooned us. How I felt when he leaned in the doorway of my office watching me do yoga like he’d found enlightenment in the stretch of my limbs. The way I laughed while I clung to his back like a child riding a pony at a carnival, while he lifted the weight of my body up and down with every push-up.

It all came crashing down with the one slip of his name.

A name I wasn’t supposed to know.

A name that made me question if the man I spent the last week using my body like his own personal playground was the same man who pulverized our client’s face. I didn’t know what to think of that possibility, but what I did know was if my employers found out about my involvement with Mr. Trevaunt, I would be kissing my career goodbye.

“Mad? I don’t know. I wasn’t really concerned about his feelings, Kerri. What am I going to do? Should I tell Henderson? Maybe if I tell him first—”

“Absolutely not! You need to act like you didn’t know it was him! It’s believable. Hell, it’s the truth. You didn’t know it was him. I won’t say anything, and if Joel says anything, you can just say he concealed his real identity. Everything’s going to be fine, Blaire.”

I got off the phone with the acrid taste of lies and deceit still coating my tongue like morning breath. Asking Kerri how she weathered through the storm didn’t even cross my mind. In my defense, I was dealing with far more serious issues at the moment, such as whether or not I’d have a job by the end of the week. She didn’t seem too offended by my call. If anything she didn’t sound as surprised as I expected her to be. Truth be told, it wasn’t like I could blame her for my fuck up. If anything, all of the blame fell on me. The most she did was goad me by saying he was too much of a man for me. It wasn’t enough to have me drunkenly falling into his lap, but it was enough that when I left the bathroom only to find his smiling face staring into mine, I batted my eyelashes and may have even twined my hair around my fingers. That was after double-checking behind me to ensure there wasn’t someone taller, prettier, more modelesque standing behind me. I wasn’t so far drunk that embarrassment would have eluded me.

For the first time in days, I walked to the window, opening the blinds to allow the burn of light to drift into the room and brighten up the darkened part of my soul. Ever since the PSA aired across our phones saying it was safe to leave our homes, I hadn’t taken the time to look outside. I no longer cared about the stucco that surely littered my yard like crushed popcorn in a vacant theater.

The neighborhood mirrored what I felt inside. Apocalyptic. My yard faired better than some of the surrounding houses. The strength of the storm was apparent in the melon-sized rocks that sat in the center of the street amongst a river of various rocks and debris. If only my situation were as easy as picking up some misplaced rocks.

---The Day Before---

Prior to his visit to the club, Joel had been missing for weeks, evading my firm’s attempts to schedule a meeting with him and his lawyer. I’d even heard he’d been skipping out on his responsibilities at his newly inherited company.

Avoiding.

That’s what Joel was good at. I’d had a good dose of his medicine when we were cooped up in the house with nothing to do but have sex and learn details about each other. Except, whereas I was open and honest about who I was, the same couldn’t be said for Joel. He was sly like a fox and charming in a way that made me forget I hardly knew the man who had occupied my home for nearly seven days.