Intent to Seduce

“We think it helps. But to get back to you, this resistance you have to pursuing relationships with the opposite sex is the reason I think you might be much more successful with your plan if you choose someone you already know. I don’t think you’re going to be able to…let’s say, implement these fantasies with a complete stranger. Plus, your ultimate goal is to use them on your husband. And he won’t be a stranger. Isn’t it best in a scientific experiment to try and reproduce all the circumstances to the best of your ability?”

“You really do listen when I rattle on about my work.”

Sophie grinned at her. “Of course I do. And I’m right, aren’t I—on both counts?”

Mac was very much afraid that she was. One of her own biggest fears was the idea of using her newfound knowledge on a stranger. Still… “Lucas wouldn’t…I mean, he doesn’t think of me that way.”

Sophie’s eyebrows shot up. “Well, there you go. Lucas represents the kind of challenge I think you should be looking for. Someone who would put your research to a true test. These men that your…contacts in the sex industry will put you in touch with are bound to be easy marks, don’t you think? After all, they’re eager enough to be paying for sex. Some of them might even be married and have started to wander, so to speak. And if your plan is all geared toward keeping a husband from straying in spite of his genetic mapping, then surely you ought to be able to seduce my brother.”

Sophie had a point. Lucas Wainright would certainly offer her a challenge. And if she wasn’t up to it, then she might as well forget her whole plan.

“Mac—” Sophie took her hands “—do this for me. I don’t know if I can stand to think of you putting this research project into action with someone else. I know that Lucas, in spite of his many flaws, will be kind to you.”

One glance at the concern in her friend’s eyes, and Mac knew she was going to agree. She was about to, when Sophie continued, “And the truth is, you could do me a big favor at the same time.”

“What?” Mac asked.

“On Wednesday, Lucas has made arrangements for me to join him at his hideaway cabin on one of the Keys. You know what they say about timing being everything! I want you to go in my place. I’ve never been there, but it seems to me that an isolated island in the Keys would be the perfect setting for you to put your plan into action. It will be just you and Lucas—hot, sunny days, palm trees, the ocean pounding on a sandy beach, warm, tropical nights. Just imagine it, Mac.”

It sounded just a little bit too good to be true. She studied Sophie. “Why don’t you want to go with him?”

“Because—” Sophie began to pace again “—every time I look at Lucas right now, I think of Bradley. My feelings are very raw, and having Lucas lecture me for a week on my abominable taste in men is the last thing I need. But he’s adamant that I join him. I think he feels guilty and he wants to bond with me.”

“What will you be doing while I’m down in the Keys seducing Lucas?” There. She’d actually said it aloud. Putting your fear into words was supposed to be half the battle.

Pacing back from the window, Sophie leaned against the counter. “I need to be by myself for a while. And I’ve found this great spa in North Carolina where I can hike in the mountains and ride and meditate. It’s run entirely by women for women. When I read the brochure, it sounded like heaven to me. It’s exactly what I need. Lucas is right about one thing. I do seem to attract men who are only interested in using me. An all-women retreat ought to at least protect me for a while.”

“Lucas won’t be happy about the switch,” Mac pointed out.

Sophie patted Mac’s hand. “If your research is as good as you say it is, he’ll adjust. And I’ll call him from the spa so that he’ll know that I’m perfectly safe. Believe me, Lucas and I could both use a break from each other.”

Mac drew in a deep breath. She’d never been able to refuse Sophie anything.

“Do this for me. Please.”

“Okay.”

“Great!” Sophie beamed a smile at her. “C’mon, the first thing I want to see is the wardrobe that Madame Gervais helped you select. Then we’re going to shop for some additional pieces that will be appropriate for a holiday in the Keys. Have you ever worn a wig?”

“No. Why would I?”

“The better to create fantasies with, my dear. I’ll explain everything while we shop.”

3

“IS THERE ANYTHING I can get you before we take off, Ms. Wainright?”

Mac smiled at the young brunette, Captain Jill Roberts, who would fly her to Key West. “No thanks, I’m fine.”

She hated that she had to lie to the woman, but Sophie’s instructions were very explicit. Lucas’s pilot had never met Sophie Wainright, and Mac was to keep up her impersonation until they had landed in the Keys. The blond wig was helping, and so were the clothes that Sophie had lent her.

No one could know that she was taking Sophie’s place until she stepped off the plane in Key West. Sophie had been adamant about that because she was sure that Lucas was having her followed.

“The flight will take about two hours, and the galley is fully stocked.”

“And Lucas is going to meet the plane?” Mac asked.

Captain Roberts smiled. “That’s what he said. I spoke with him just as you were crossing the tarmac to come aboard, and I gave him the time I thought we would be touching down. That means I’d better get us airborne. If you want anything, the intercom button is right there on the armrest.”

It was only as the captain disappeared into the cockpit that Mac allowed herself to relax a little. She felt as if she’d been caught up in a whirlwind ever since Sophie had breezed into her lab on Monday, but she had to admit that the plan was really working. It had been at Sophie’s insistence that they’d switched identities.

The initial step had gone like clockwork thanks to a sudden summer storm that still held D.C. in its grip. Sophie had worn her red rain poncho, hood up, when she’d opened the antique shop at nine, and Mac had worn a bright yellow one, hood down, when she’d arrived fifteen minutes later. Once inside, they’d gone into the back room and changed clothes. As a final touch to their disguises, Sophie had donned a reddish-blond wig tied back into a bun, and Mac had put on a blond one.

They’d gotten the wigs and had them cut and styled on Monday when they’d gone shopping. The fact that they were almost identical in size and shape had helped. Friends in college had always remarked that they could have passed for sisters. Still, Mac had been amazed at just how much she resembled Sophie once she was wearing the blond wig. When they’d emerged from the shop, their hoods up and umbrellas open to hail separate cabs, she was sure that anyone watching “Sophie” would have been bound to follow “Mac,” and vice versa.

Mac prayed that the rest of their plan would go as smoothly. Just the thought of facing Lucas Wainright and admitting that she’d purposely switched places with his sister had the butterflies dive-bombing around in her stomach. But it was much easier to concentrate on that first hurdle than the one that would come after, when she told him why she’d really taken Sophie’s place.

“We’ve been cleared for takeoff, Ms. Wainright.”

Mac jumped at the sound of Jill Roberts’s voice pouring out of a nearby speaker.

“I’ll let you know when you can move around the cabin, but if you have any concerns or questions, don’t hesitate to use the intercom button.”

Mac found her gaze riveted to the button for several moments after the plane’s engine roared to life. All she had to do was press it and she could call the whole thing off.

The plane vibrated, then moved forward.

Mac gripped her hands together. Whatever second thoughts she was having, she couldn’t let Sophie down. Things had gone too far.

Leaning back in her seat, she took a deep breath and held it for the length of time that it took the plane to make its mad rush down the runway.

There was no need to panic. Years of experience in the lab had taught her that any project became simpler and much less inhibiting if she could just break it down into steps and take them one at a time. All she had to do was view her coming fieldwork in that light. Flying down to Key West to meet Lucas was just the first step. Telling Lucas about her plan would be the next—and a big one it would be.

The moment she felt the plane leave the ground, she let out the breath she was holding and took in another one. In her mind, she tried to picture herself taking the third step—making love to Lucas Wainright.

Every time she let herself think about that, a very vivid image of Lucas, totally naked, filled her mind. She could almost feel what it would be like to run her hands over the smooth tanned skin on his shoulders, down his chest to his waist and below. Of course, she’d fantasized about touching a man before. And that all-day seminar had certainly given her fantasies a lot of fuel. But never before had her hands tingled with anticipation. As she glanced down at them, grasped tightly in her lap, the realization streamed through her. She wanted to touch Lucas. Not just any man. She wanted to press her fingers against his hardness, to test his strength.

She could still recall how lean, how hard those muscles had felt through the thin cotton of his polo shirt. His whole body had been so hard. Even his hands. When she concentrated, she could still feel the pressure of each finger—on her back and, lower, on her hip. And there was that incredible stab of heat, the melting of muscle and bone.

She was still searching for a word to describe what she’d felt. Hunger was too mild a word for that needy, restless ache that had threatened to consume her. More than anything, she’d wanted him to—

“Ms. Wainright?”

Mac started as the voice flowed out of the speaker. Then, unclenching her hands, she pressed the button on the armrest. “Yes?”

“We’ve reached our cruising altitude. You can wander around the cabin or use your cell phone. Make yourself at home.”

“Thanks.”