Reckless Seduction

“Alright, love, but be careful. He’s had a few serious wounds. Best of luck.”

I’ve had some bad scratches myself, she thought, as she dialed Jon’s number.

“Ecklund.” He couldn’t know that the sound of his voice disarmed her.

“Yes.” He spoke sharply.

“Jon, this is Haley.”

“Yes, Haley? I was leaving my office when the phone rang. What is it?”

“I’m extremely sorry about my rudeness.” She realized she sounded stiff and formal. “I…I just panicked. I’ve never done such a thing before.”

“Is the fact that you’ve given me this singular honor supposed to soothe my ego?” he asked, his tone as bitter as his words.

“Please don’t hold it against me.”

“What prompted it, Haley? Frankly, I was shocked.”

He wasn’t going to help, and she didn’t blame him. “I called because I would never deliberately attempt to hurt you. I confess that my reaction to you confuses me.”

“Why should you panic? Because you’re accustomed to being in control, and you’re not? Well, neither one of us is. Look, I’d settle for some honesty between us. You were honest when you danced with me that night at Nels’s party. But because I didn’t know where I was headed and showed it, I earned your displeasure and perhaps your distrust. I called you today to put it right. The ball is in your court now. I want to know you better, but crawling is not something that I do.”

“We could have dinner together tomorrow night.” Had she said that? She knew that she would regret it. She could never be indifferent to this man. And yet she could not—would not—open herself to the possibility of another demoralizing intimacy.

“What about that urgent proposal?”

“Dinner with you may be just what’s needed to expedite it,” she said, cryptically.

Jon pondered that for a bit.

“I’ll call for you at seven-thirty.” She hadn’t given him her address, but he’d get it just like she got his telephone number—from Nels.

He leaned forward, elbows on his desk, hands together and fingers spread pyramid fashion. Why had he agreed to that date? When he’d heard her voice, he’d felt a yearning for her that he hadn’t had for a woman in years. He’d been alone by choice for five years, forcing himself not to want, not to need. But she made him want, made him need, made him ache. He hungered for her. He’d suspected that her cool composure was a farce, a facade, a cover for the softness that she had unwittingly displayed in unguarded moments when they danced.

One thing was certain: Haley Feldon did not want to be soft or passionate. She was trying to project an image of being cool, tough and unattainable. He’d have dinner with her, yes, but he’d be damned if he was going to be sucked into a quicksand of emotion.

He closed his eyes, and the vision of her floated before him. He could see her doe-soft, beguiling brown eyes, and he shuddered. Hell, what he needed was fifty laps in his upstate pool.

“Ecklund, you’re losing it,” he said aloud. But his spirits buoyed for reasons that he didn’t bother to examine. He left his office whistling “If I Loved You.”

Chapter 2

Haley dressed in a strapless antique-gold silk dress that revealed just enough cleavage to make a man’s mouth water. She carried the matching jacket on her arm. Jon arrived precisely at seven-thirty, and when she opened the door, they stared at each other. He recovered first.

“Hello, Haley. You seem more beautiful tonight than ever.” He was not sure how she would react to his comment or what she wanted of him. But she had certainly dressed in a way that pleased him.

“Welcome to my home, Jon. You look wonderful,” she said, mostly because she was nervous. And so he did. He wore a tan summer suit, beige silk shirt, a burnt-orange-and-brown-striped tie and brown Gucci loafers. She’d never found blond men attractive, but this one was something special. He was the quintessential male—strong, sensual and controlled. Jon personified virility. And his mouth, with the full bottom lip, was his best feature.

“May I come in?”

She realized she’d been staring again.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” She stepped aside, and he walked in a few paces. Then without knowing that he would, he stopped in front of her, a breath away. She looked up at him, wide eyed and a little frightened.

Jon told himself to use some judgment and move away. But he hadn’t realized how badly he’d wanted to see her, to be with her, to hold her. He touched her cheek with his thumb. She didn’t move. He ran his thumb back and forth over her lower lip. She didn’t move. He pulled her into his arms, lowered his head and took her mouth. Was he dreaming or what? She had her arms around his neck, her fingers were in his hair and her lips were moving beneath his. He wanted more and asked for it, offering her his tongue. She parted her lips, pulled it into her mouth and gently sucked it.

Sensing that he was about to lose control altogether, abruptly he sought to break the kiss, not wanting to expose his need for her. He didn’t want her to feel the indisputable evidence of it. But she wouldn’t let him go, holding him to her until the shocking force of his physical desire against her belly restored her presence of mind. They broke apart. He braced both hands against the wall above her head, needing the support and simultaneously trapping her between him and the wall. From hooded eyes, he looked at a spot just over her shoulder. She drew a deep breath, preparing to speak, but he stopped her.

“Haley, don’t tell me that you don’t want to see me, that you don’t want to spend time with me. I don’t want to hear it.”

“Jon, I… I don’t know—”

He interrupted. “What don’t you know? Woman, you damned near devoured me just now. At least acknowledge that you want me just as much as I want you.”

“Yes,” she whispered.

“All right.” He touched her nose lightly with one finger and then smiled down at her. “Let’s go. We need to get out of here.” She stood there, observing him intently, as if seeing him for the first time.

“What is it?” he demanded softly.

“That’s the first time I’ve seen you smile. You grinned once, and I think you laughed once, too. But you’ve never just smiled.” He was devastating when he let that smile light his face. His mouth softened, became even more sensuous and inviting. The sparkles in his fern-green eyes warmed her all over.

She let him see her sweetness then, her softness, and the primal female in her. And she didn’t bother to hide the fact that when she looked at him she liked what she saw.

Jon had chosen an Italian restaurant with a quiet, attractive ambience. Their dinner was pleasant but uneventful. They hardly spoke to each other, and they barely ate. Both were overwhelmed by their unexpected feelings, and both were wary. They left the restaurant in silence. When they reached his car, he put an arm around her shoulder.

“When will I see you again?” he softly whispered against her ear.

She hesitated.

“Is there a man to whom you are in any way obligated or committed?”

“There is no one else.”

His heartbeat accelerated. Her answer suggested that he was a man in her life. “Haley, I have been divorced for five years. It was a painful marriage. I still don’t know whether I can face loving and the intimacy it implies ever again.” He paused for a long while. She waited patiently for him to continue, but in her eyes, he saw fear.

“Until tonight, I had thought that you and I were probably incompatible. Now, I’m not so sure. Do you want to know whether what we experienced back there at your front door means anything? Whether we really could have something magical? Would you try to learn who and what I am and teach me who and what you are? If you don’t want that, then just say so. We’ll have spent a pleasant evening, and we’ll say goodbye.”

She measured her words carefully. “If you’re willing to go slowly, if you will be patient…I want to try. It won’t be easy for me.”

“Nor for me.”

He brushed her cheek lightly with his knuckle. “Whatever happens between us, Haley, please be honest with me. That’s all I’m asking right now.” She hugged him quickly and released him.

He raised one eyebrow quizzically in response.

“You asked for honesty. That was some honesty,” she said.