Illegally Yours (Harlequin Forrester Square Series #9)

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Illegally Yours

Harlequin Enterprises, Ltd.

Chapter One

Over the phone, he heard his client sigh. "Don't make up your mind until you meet her."

"I'm not planning to meet her." He glanced impatiently through his oversize glass windows. On clear days, he had a spectacular view of Mount Rainier. Today all he could see were a few feeble rays of early-afternoon sunlight struggling to break through the April fog.

"I'm afraid it's too late," said Katherine Kinard, his best friend's sister. She was also a co-owner of Forrester Square, one of Seattle's newest and most highly regarded daycare centers. "She's on her way over."

"I don't suppose she has a cell phone. You could call and stop her." Daniel knew even as he spoke that it was almost impossible to dissuade Katherine once she put her mind to something.

As she'd just explained, she'd been seeking a new teacher for the toddler group and was delighted when the outgoing young Japanese woman who delivered vegetables to the center turned out to have studied child development and taught preschool in Japan. Everything about the applicant clicked with Katherine, and she was on the verge of hiring her, pending a background check.

At the mention of providing fingerprints, the young woman had broken down and confessed that she was using a friend's ID. She lacked a work permit and apparently had some kind of visa problem, as well. Anyone else, including Daniel, would have shown her the door.

Not Katherine. If anything, obstacles only made her dig her heels in harder.

Although Daniel admired his client's tenacity, her refusal to accept his expertise annoyed him. Maybe they were too much alike, he conceded silently: both stubborn and take-charge.

That might be why he'd never felt romantically drawn to Katherine, although she was the sort of woman he ought to go for - accomplished, socially polished, well connected and a good conversationalist. Yet whenever he saw her in social situations, he felt no spark of romantic interest. Something was missing.

Something seemed to be missing in all the women he met, even the lady he'd invited as his guest to the wedding today. But then, Daniel had concluded long ago that he probably wasn't cut out to be a husband.

"You've got to help Tansho," Katherine insisted. "I mean, Chikara. As I told you, she borrowed her ID from someone named Tansho, although she has an international driver's license of her own," Katherine added. "The girl's nine months pregnant, for heaven's sake! She doesn't want to get sent back to Japan. You should hear her story. It'll break your heart."

"I'm a lawyer," Daniel said. "I don't have a heart."

"Was that a joke?" His client chuckled. "I don't believe it! My brother says you're so straitlaced you probably sleep in a button-down shirt. Kara's bringing out the best in you already."

"She needs an immigration lawyer," Daniel said. "Stephenson & Avenida deals with business, not visa issues. Furthermore, if I'm not mistaken, you're only a couple of hours away from becoming a bridesmaid. Aren't you supposed to be sticking flowers in your hair or something?"

"Kara's so upset, I just had to help her," Katherine continued doggedly. "She'll be there any minute. Talk to her." Before he could object further, she concluded, "See you at the wedding," and hung up.

Daniel grimaced. He'd come into the office to review contracts, not to talk to a woman with a visa problem. If what's her-name - he glanced at his notes - Chikara Tamaki needed an attorney, he'd give her a referral.

He hoped she wasn't going to burst into tears. Displays of emotion made Daniel uncomfortable. His love of order was part of what had drawn him to law in the first place.

He was clicking through a list of immigration attorneys on his computer when the outer doorbell buzzed. Since there was no receptionist on Saturdays and he didn't want to disturb the senior partner working down the hall, Daniel strode through the outer office and opened the door.

The first thing he saw was a butterfly. The gossamer silk creation perched in shiny black hair, picking up the soft-peach color of the woman's jacket and the pale-blue of her flowing dress. She gave a hint of a bow and held up a red carnation, its stem wrapped in pink tissue paper.

"Daniel Adler? This is for you." There was a glimmer of worry in Chikara Tamaki's liquid eyes as she gazed up at him, and then she brightened. "Look! You can wear it in your buttonhole!" Her slender fingers reached out with the flower until he could almost feel them brush his lapel. She stopped short, her lips forming a little O of embarrassment. Quickly, she covered her mouth with her hand. "I'm sorry! Such an important man, and I am wasting your time. Please forgive me."

"Come in. Katherine just called." Taking the flower, he held the door. The woman was so tiny, she walked right under his arm. A light, teasing scent drifted in her wake, and in contrast to the muted hues of the office, her clothing glowed like springtime.

For a moment, Daniel couldn't think what to do next. It was the flower that confused him. He could hardly stick such a dainty thing in a vase, but he wasn't going to leave it on a desktop to wilt. Finally he removed the wrapping, tucked it in his buttonhole as she'd suggested and led the way to his office.

Once there, the woman turned toward him. Daniel had the stimulating sensation that she was looking beyond his trim haircut and tailored suit, taking in the man beneath. There was a directness about her, despite her demure manner, that made him keenly aware of her as a woman.

He blinked, hoping to clear away his odd response as he would a trace of film from his vision. It didn't work.

"You're so kind to see me," his visitor said. "I was surprised that an American lawyer works on a Saturday. I hope I'm not intruding."

"Please sit down." As she obeyed, he noticed that the artful folds of her dress obscured an enlarged abdomen. For nine months pregnant, she was in remarkably good shape. "Miss Tamaki -"

"Kara," she corrected. "I like the way Americans use first names. It's so friendly."

"You speak excellent English," he said.

"My grandfather was American. He was stationed in Japan after World War II and fell in love with my grandmother. He came to live with us after she died."

"So you grew up speaking English?"

"When I was with him, yes." She nodded for emphasis.

Her affable manner wasn't making his job any easier, but Daniel steeled himself. Sitting at his desk, he reached for the computer mouse. "I'm afraid I don't know anything about visas. I can give you a referral, however. I'll have a name for you in just a second."

"I can't talk to anyone else." Kara's chin came up. "Katherine trusts you. So do I."

"I'm the wrong kind of lawyer." He was quite certain her lack of comprehension had nothing to do with cultural differences. Nevertheless, if he repeated the truth often enough, they'd both have to accept it.

"Katherine said to talk to you," the young woman insisted.

"You won't turn me in to the police, will you?"

The police? "I'm not in the habit of sending young women off in paddy wagons," Daniel said, adding, "That's slang for police cars."

"I know." Her face brightened. "I love old American movies! Cat Ballou. Bonnie and Clyde. Did you see that one? I loved Bonnie Parker!"

"Don't tell me you have aspirations of becoming a bank robber." He couldn't imagine anyone less like the infamous bandit than Kara Tamaki.

With an impish grin, she held out her hands, wrists together. "Lock me up and throw away the key!"

"Nobody's going to get locked up." This playfulness had gone on long enough, Daniel decided. It was distracting him from his responsibilities. "You haven't committed any crime, as far as I know. Well, using someone else's ID isn't exactly legal, but as I understand it, you weren't trying to defraud anybody."

"I was delivering vegetables," Kara said. "Also fruits."

"Don't tell me your employer let you haul crates around in your condition!" He couldn't believe Katherine would have allowed it.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Illegally Yours by Jacqueline Diamond Copyright © 2004 by Harlequin Enterprises, Ltd.. Excerpted by permission.
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