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Romancing the Bachelor
by Diane Alberts

Copyright © 2017 by Diane Alberts. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce, distribute, or transmit in any form or by any means. For information regarding subsidiary rights, please contact the Publisher.

Chapter One

Eric Hamilton leaned back in his chair, scanning the courtroom for any sign of his opposing counsel. Brian Williams was ten minutes late. Sighing, he glanced around the room, taking in details he’d never really had time to notice before. Wood floors. Wood walls. Wood pews. Wood banisters. Wood stairs. Wood judge bench.

Clearly, they had a theme.

The only splash of color was the coffee mug sitting next to the stenotype, the machine the court reporter would use to record all the proceedings from today.

He stared at the doors to the courtroom, frowning. Had they always had lions carved into them? And had the ceilings always been so delicately designed?

Oh, who the hell gave a damn, anyway?

He lifted his arm and checked his Rolex.

Eleven minutes late now.

Fucking Brian Williams.

After they finished here, Eric would be lucky if he had five minutes for a hurried lunch before his meeting with the partners at George, Wallace & Markson. After that, he had a consultation with a potential client, followed by dinner with his family.

His sister’s boyfriend, Brett, would be there, too.

Brett used to just be his brother’s best friend, but then Anna had gone and fallen in love with him, and Brett had fallen for her, too. Eric and his brothers had kicked his ass when he first started dating Anna—on principle; everyone knew little sisters were off-limits—but now he was as integral a part of the Hamilton family as Eric was.

Brett had set up tonight’s dinner a few nights ago, and Eric had a feeling he knew what it was going to be about. Brett was going to ask Eric’s father for permission to ask Anna to marry him. He was old-fashioned like that. Eric wasn’t sure how he felt about another Hamilton child biting the dust, so to speak, and getting married, but he knew one thing.

He wouldn’t be joining them in matrimonial “bliss” anytime soon.

There was way too much shit left undone in his life already, so he wasn’t about to complicate it even further by being a dumb ass and falling in love. Throwing a woman into his life right now would be nothing short of stupidity. Plus, to be honest, he didn’t really believe in love.

Not the romantic kind, anyway.

He loved his sister. Loved his brothers Cole, Chris, and Wyatt. Hell, he even loved Brett. His parents held a special part in his heart, too, no matter how cold it might be.

But to open it up to a woman when most marriages ended in failure and a loss of half your funds? Yeah, no thank you. He’d stick to dogs. Speaking of which…

He made a mental note to stop at the shelter again tomorrow. He’d been going for almost a month now, once a week, but he hadn’t found his perfect match. Hell, it took him twenty minutes to decide what to have for dinner, so picking something he planned on having for years?

Yeah, it had to be perfect.

He wanted a dog who had been through a lot of shit and just needed a safe place to live. A dog who needed to be saved. All his life, things had come easily for him, and it wasn’t something he took for granted. He swore he would pay back the universe in some way for all the blessings he’d been given, and this seemed like a good way to start. He would find a dog that was a fighter, one who needed to be rescued in every sense of the word, and he’d be the guy who did it. The guy who didn’t take the easy way out.

With his income, he could certainly afford to buy any medications an older, sicker dog would need. And he wanted to save a life, damn it. He wanted to give that dog a fighting chance.

He wanted to give back to the universe in any way possible.

“What are we waiting for?” his client, the CEO of a local chain of restaurants, whispered from his left. “Is something wrong?”

“No, sir. This should be an easy case. You want to buy land that the government wants to get rid of. It’s a closed deal already. It’s just that the other representative isn’t here yet.”

Mr. Walter frowned at the empty table and chairs on the other side of the court aisle. He wore a navy suit with a white shirt, a blue tie, and his gray hair was impeccably combed to the side in an attempt to cover his growing bald spot. The man was as rich as Croesus.

Hell, maybe even richer.

“That’s not very professional,” he said.

“No, it’s…” The door opened, and he glanced up in relief. If that was Brian, then he could get this damn court session over with. But instead of the brown-haired Brian, it was a woman with light mahogany hair that flowed down her back in soft, touchable curls. A woman he’d never seen before, but would never forget now that he had. “…not.”

Mr. Walter gave a hmph.

Eric took that to mean the conversation was over, which was good because, to be honest, he was too busy staring at the woman walking down the court aisle to come up with anything even remotely witty. There was something about her that drew his eye. She was short, maybe five-foot-one or so, and she wore a perfectly respectable black pencil skirt with a white shirt tucked in, but damn if she didn’t make it look like she wore a tight cocktail dress instead. Her red heels were short but sexy, and she had a dimple in her chin. He couldn’t look away from that damn dimple.

Slowly, he lifted his gaze and saw the brownest eyes he’d ever seen. When she noticed him staring, her cheeks flushed a pretty pink, and she tripped over her feet a little bit.

For some reason, that only made him want her more.

He was intrigued by her.

Nothing about her was his type—he preferred leggy, sophisticated blondes—and yet he knew without a doubt that he had to have this woman.

And when he wanted something?

He damn well got it.

She looked away, her cheeks even pinker, and brushed by him with her head lowered and her focus on the floor, leaving behind a tantalizing whiff of perfume and flowers. As she settled in behind the gate where the stenotype was, he still couldn’t look away.

Wait.

She was the court reporter? Since when?

Brian—who had apparently come in behind the mystery woman—settled into his chair, shot Eric an apologetic look, and cleared his throat. “Sorry I’m late. I got stuck in traffic.”

He was always stuck in traffic.

Atlanta wasn’t that busy.

The pretty brunette glanced his way again and quickly looked away when she saw him still studying her. What was her deal? Was she single? Had she just moved here? If so, he would be more than willing to show her around the city. And in doing so, maybe he’d figure out why she looked so damn familiar, and why it felt like he knew her already.

He’d never felt such an instant connection to someone before.

It was fucking unnerving.

“Eric?” Brian hissed.

Eric jerked himself out of his thoughts and reluctantly turned his attention away from the woman. Brian sat across the aisle, staring at him with a furrowed brow. “What?”

“The judge asked you a question.”

Well, shit.

Get yourself together, man.

“Yes, your honor. I’m ready,” he said, straightening his spine.

Judge Michaelson nodded once. “Excellent. Counsel?” he said, nodding at Brian. “You have the floor first.”

Eric leaned forward, listening to Brian and carefully keeping his attention off the court reporter. He’d been so busy staring at her that he’d lost track of what he was really here to do—win this case.

He still couldn’t figure out what it was that pulled him to her, but there was no denying the attraction was there, and he was going to let it tug him in for a time, until he could get her out of his system. Then he’d walk away.

It’s what he did.

He would, of course, make that perfectly clear ahead of time. He wasn’t in the habit of breaking hearts or crushing dreams. He always made sure women knew well in advance what they were getting with him. No surprises. No empty promises. No pain. Just pleasure.

Lots of pleasure.

“—and that’s why we also think the purchase of the land in question would be a good move for the stability and the prosperity of Fifth Street.”

Judge Michaelson nodded and looked at Eric. “Counsel? Your argument?”

Eric stood and straightened his jacket, shooting his client a reassuring grin. Things were going exactly as planned. At this rate, he’d have this in the bag within five minutes. “Your Honor, I’d like to take this time to point out that Mr. Walter has a proven track record of bringing economic boosts to downtrodden areas with his chain of restaurants. He is a man of many talents, and when he decides to build somewhere, he never lets down the community. The last restaurant he built downtown, one of his famous Southern Comfort restaurants, brought in over a million people in its first year alone. Those numbers show every promise of continuing to climb this year.”

As he spoke, he paced back and forth, gesturing toward his client, who sat still with a smile on his face, looking every inch the prosperous businessman he was. The judge nodded in approval here and there, and Brian studied his nails. By the time he was finished, he was out of breath and ready to take on the whole goddamned world.

He got his approval within seconds.

Case closed.

It was easy. Too easy.

Grinning, he spoke with his client, shook his hand, told him the invoice for his services would be on his desk by the end of the day, and collected his things. Then, and only then, he let himself think of her again. Hopefully she would prove to be more of a challenge than this case—he loved the chase more than the actual catching itself.

Shrugging his briefcase on his shoulder, he turned to where she’d been sitting…

And she was gone.

Son of a bitch.

He gripped his bag then shrugged the loss off. He knew where she worked and what she looked like. It was only a matter of time until they were in the same courtroom again.

And when they were?

He wouldn’t miss his chance a second time.