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to.”
    Etta waved farewell and turned to look at the closed door before her. Squaring her shoulders, she realized it was time to pay the piper. Did she want to deal with this right now? Of course not . Keigo Kyou was an obstinate stick in the mud for having her bullied out of the courtroom. In spite of what Phil says about the man, she felt he really wanted her locked up at the time he ordered it. Yet, he didn’t want her handcuffed. What was that about?
    She would be lying if she said she wasn’t curious to know more about this man. She hasn’t had a man to peak her interest since Neil and although three years have passed, she felt guilty for feeling anything for any man that wasn’t Neil. Her mother and brother assured her that he would want her to find love again, and have the home and children she’d always dreamed of. But how could she when she only wanted those things because of him?
    Etta closed her eyes and recalled Neil’s face. With each passing year, it was getting harder to visualize his smile as clearly as she had for the first year after his death when her memories of him nearly drove her insane with grief. The familiar pain weighed heavily in her chest and she rubbed the place above her heart.
    Her eyes reopened and a soft closed lipped smile played around her lips. Keigo had a nice smile when he wasn’t being an ogre. The few times he unconsciously smiled at her, she felt warmness spread in the pit of her stomach.
    She thought he had the kind of smile that reached and crinkled at the corner of his midnight colored eyes. Several times she desired to reach out and hug him. Especially when his hands would snake down behind the bench to knead at his nagging stomach or the times when his unconscious grins would melt into heart wrenching sadness. A moment so briefly exposed, one would believe they were mistaken at seeing it.
    Was the sadness the reason Phil said they had something in common? Had Keigo lost someone he loved?
    With a resigned sigh, Etta knew what she had to do. Her Momma didn't raise her to disrespect the judicial system even though working with the carnival during her childhood had pushed the envelope a few times. Oh boy, if she were years younger, her mother would have busted her bottom for her behavior today. In a few weeks, not only would her mother hear about it, the entire viewing audience will bear witness on her foolishness. She wouldn’t be surprised if the network didn’t drop footage of the upcoming episode on You Tube, to build the hype.
    Tonight she would post an apology letter to her Internet following on her website before everything got blown out of proportion. She didn’t want her fans to think she felt she was above the law and did not follow rules because of her somewhat celebrity status.
    With that in mind, Etta knew time for all silliness was over. She was no longer dealing with Tanesha who didn't have a legitimate complaint against her. She was now dealing with a judge that could put a dent in her checking account, increase her time and order her to serve some jail time to boot. If she play her cards right and kept her mouth shut, she might get out of here tonight with some light duty of community services. She doubted Judge Handsome would feel the need to uphold their initial agreement after kicking her out of his courtroom. She could start by thinking of him as Judge Kyou.
    Taking one more deep breath and blowing it out slowly, Etta placed her hand on the cracked open door and eased it open further so that she could peek inside before entering the dragon’s lair. The one thing she hadn’t expected to find was a sleeping dragon. She imagined he would be sitting behind his desk with steam shooting from his ears and his gavel posed to strike her over the head with it.
    Etta quietly stepped inside and eased the door closed behind her. Her feet brought her closer and her eyes feasted on the sleeping man. With eyes closed and features softened like this, he really was