Fallen from Grace by Leigh Songstad Page A

situation.”
    “You’re seriously crazy.”
    He nodded. “Crazy for you,” he growled. “I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of you, Grace.”
    She lifted her hand and laid it against his cheek as he gazed into her eyes, “You’re so incredibly gorgeous and charming, Judas, but in all seriousness, I don’t know anything about you besides the fact you’re a lawyer like your dad.”
    He laughed uncomfortably. “Now is not the best time to bring up Jack.”
    She shook her head. “Of course. I’m sorry.”
    “But now that you’ve mentioned it…how did you meet him?”
    Her eyes narrowed as she moved her hands along his jaw. “Does this mean you’ve moved past the theory that I’m sleeping with him?”
    Judas stilled, and Grace wrapped her legs around him as he tried to roll off her. “Don’t. Seriously? Not in a million years, Judas. He’s been badgering my office for weeks, claiming he needs a new on-call psychologist to evaluate certain clients.”
    Judas’s eyes narrowed. “He already has two on his payroll.”
    She shrugged. “I’m just telling you what his administrative assistant has repeatedly said to mine.”
    “Did he mention anything else during your one-on-one dinner together?”
    Grace released her legs. “What are you talking about?”
    Judas propped himself up on his arm, then sat up. “When I first met you, you and Jack were having dinner alone.” He shook his head. “Don’t you remember?”
    “Um, yeah, of course I remember. And I also remember that Richard Watson was there as well. He left only a few minutes before you showed up at our table.”
    Judas shook his head. “What?”
    “I didn’t have dinner with Jack alone. Is that what you thought?”
    A lethal look flashed across his face. “Son-of-a-bitch,” he mumbled.
    “What?”
    “Nothing.”
    “No!” Grace sat up and crossed her legs. “Don’t shut me out. What’s going on?”
    He turned away from her, and the sight was breathtaking. “Judas, your back! It’s covered in tattoos!” The sight was incredibly beautiful.
    He spun around before she could see them all, but his face twisted with pain. He was ashamed. Why? She couldn’t believe she hadn’t seen it until now. Rubbing his neck, he shook his head back and forth.
    “I—” She stammered, “I don’t understand. Why do you have tattoos all over your back, Judas? I know you have this bad boy appeal but for some reason it really doesn’t seem like the real you.”
    He didn’t move. He didn’t speak. He stared at her. Finally, he stood up, then walked over and added a few logs to the fire. Once the fire was burning warm, he strode over to her and picked up his shirt off the floor.
    “No way. I don’t think so. Come here,” she demanded, patting the empty space next to her.
    Judas’s regretful gaze met hers, then he laid down beside her, but not before pulling on his shirt. Grace didn’t try to stop him, he seemed really nervous.
    “I didn’t say they were bad, Judas. I was just surprised. You don’t strike me as the tattoo type.”
    “I’m not,” he murmured at the ceiling.
    “Then why do you have them?”
    “It’s complicated.”
    She held his cheek, and when he looked at her, she said, “People pay me to listen for a living. We can work out a payment plan later. Come on, spill.”
    His smile was tight. “I’ve done some things, Grace. Things I’m not proud of. The tattoos are a story of my struggles.” He laid an arm over his eyes. “They help me remember who I am, and who I’m not.”
    “I don’t understand. What type of things?”
    “Bad things.”
    Grace panicked. She had encountered some dark lifestyles through her patients over the years—illegal behavior that included drugs and promiscuity. Was she wrong to get involved with Judas? Of course, she was. Her fiancé was waiting for her, yet she was indulging in a deviant affair.
    “I know what you’re thinking, and that is why I tried to hide them.”
    The angst she