Reckless Seduction

She accepted the pastrami on whole wheat sandwich. “I bet if you tried hard you could come up with another one. I mean, the head of EIS is a clever man, isn’t he?”

“Listen, you temptress, try to remember not to goad me. I may surprise you.”

“Yes, but we’ve already established that you’re a gentleman. You don’t beat women, and you want to find out what kind of person I am. Agreed?” He nodded. “In that case, I can be myself. And in case you haven’t noticed, I love to flirt.”

His eyes widened. Suddenly, he began to laugh. Then the laugh phased into a cough. She slapped him on the back several times.

“Are you all right?” she asked him. “I mean, are you choking?”

He swallowed some wine, cleared his throat and stared at her. “You’ve got more sides than an octagon, and I want to explore every side and every facet of you.”

She thought about that for a long minute. “Then why were you laughing?”

“Frankly, the joke was on me. I realize that in you I might have met my match, and that would be a first.”

He poured wine into their glasses and raised his. “I’m going to do everything I can to make you care for me.”

She tilted her glass of wine and drank every drop. “At least you have the grace to warn me.”

“Seems to me that when you drank that you just gave me license to pull out the stops.”

She put her empty glass on the green grass beside her, leaned over and stroked his hair. “I’m counting on your good judgment.”

“Be careful, Haley. I’ve made mistakes, and because I’m still human, I may make some more.”

“Not to worry,” she said, still stroking. “I’ll keep you out of trouble.”

“Yeah. Just like you did the other night when we went to dinner.” She stretched out beside him, and he needed no further invitation. For the first time, she looked up into his face while lying supine, and frissons of heat plowed through her.

“Kiss me. Open your mouth and kiss me.”

She sucked his tongue into her mouth and gripped his shoulders, asking for more, wanting him and relief from the tension stirring in her. Almost immediately, he broke the kiss.

“No more of that.” He took her hand and locked her fingers through his. “I haven’t felt this content in years. I love being with you, Haley, and I want us to spend as much time as possible together. Can we?”

“I enjoy being with you, Jon, but let’s take it one day at a time.”

“If that’s all you can give me now, I have to accept it. But I want more. Much more.”

That night, after wrestling interminably with the sheets on her bed, trying to fit the images of Jon into a safe place outside of her heart, Haley got up and made coffee. Maybe if she worked she’d stop thinking about him. She took her briefcase and files to bed and completed the Brayton-Rogers proposal. She was satisfied that she’d done the best possible job on it. Spencer had produced an excellent report on all three school systems, and her own and her mother’s on-site visits had provided material for a first-rate proposal. She went to shower, but as she reached the bathroom, she paused. What was she going to do about Jon?

She’d promised them a chance, but could she risk rejection again? She wanted him. No, she was crazy for him. In her life, she had never before felt as she had in his arms. He was big, strong and… Oh Lord, he was so tender. The way he’d kissed her, hungry, hot, telling her without words that she was desirable. And sweet. He was so sweet and gentle. And he had tried not to let her know what was going on with him, how hard he was. If he’d taken her right there in her foyer, she would probably have let him.

Thank God he hadn’t pushed it further. She had thought only about his arms tight around her, his velvet tongue in her mouth and his hard penis pressed against her belly. And when he’d gazed down at her face as she lay on her back in Central Park, letting her see how deeply he felt for her, she had wanted to wrap her arms and legs around him and make love with him.

Later that morning, as she entered her outer office, where Amy sat, she stopped. What on earth was Jon doing here at nine o’clock in the morning?

“Hi.” She was disconcerted at seeing him when her mind had been full of him since long before daylight.

“Morning, Haley.” He never said good morning or good evening. She loved his low, sonorous baritone, the slow lilting cadence of his speech.

“Come on in,” she said, haltingly, not knowing the purpose of his visit and instinctively sensing some kind of a confrontation. Amy brought two mugs of coffee with sugar and cream on the side.

“Mrs. Birch, this is Jon Ecklund. Mr. Ecklund is president and cochairman of Ecklund International Syndicate.”

“I’m pleased to meet you in person, Mr. Ecklund. I watch your news channel all the time.”

“How do you do, Mrs. Birch?”

Amazed, Haley watched as Jon winked at her secretary.

“I’m delighted that you use our news service. We strive for accurate and comprehensive reporting,” he said with a grin.

“That’s the impression we all get, too,” Amy replied as she left the room smiling. Haley knew that Amy wanted more than anything for her to find a man who would fill the void in her life.

She and Jon gazed at each other quietly, as if words were unnecessary, as if it were enough that they were together. He smiled again, and she felt as if her heart were in her throat. She wondered if he had ever seen himself smile.

“You’re ruining my life,” he teased. “I can get along without sleep and without food, but it seems I can’t go one day without seeing you.”

She stared at him.

“And if you don’t close your mouth,” he went on, “I may have to kiss you.”

Was he teasing her?

Rising to the bait, she opened her mouth wider but, filled with mirth, couldn’t keep the pose, and a grin broke out over her face. He didn’t hesitate—just pulled her out of the chair and hugged her. She looked up at him in wonder, her gaze settling upon his sensuous lips. Then she looked into his eyes and gasped. In that split second, he’d unclothed his soul, and all that he felt, all that he longed for, all that he feared was mirrored in the light of his eyes. She stared, mesmerized, until he bent his head and brushed her lips with his own, ever so lightly, before crushing her mouth with all the longing that she had seen in his eyes. She wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed his cheek.

“I’m going home for six months. Will you be here for me when I get back?”

She pulled away a bit. “When did you decide that?”

“Last night. I have to sort out a lot of things before I can carry this relationship further. No, there is no other woman and there won’t be, but I need to figure some things out.”

He needed answers, and he had decided that after all the years of pain and hurt he wanted to be whole. He wasn’t giving up this woman without an honest effort to deal with his problem. He would begin with his parents. It had occurred to him that they might have answers. He had always been able to discuss anything with his parents, but he wasn’t sure about this.

“Tell me, Haley, do you feel that you can wait for me?”

“I told you that there is no one else. I care for you. Is that enough?”

“It will have to be. Knowing that you care for me means everything.” He folded her close to his body. “I’m going to leave tomorrow night. Will you have dinner with me this evening?”

“Yes, I will. How shall I dress? Are you going ‘black tie?’”

“Yep.” She lifted an eyebrow and nodded assent. She’d been joking, but he clearly had not.

Back at his office, Jon spoke to Maxine through the intercom. “Tell DuPree I want to see him right now.”

“Right.”