Seduced

He handed her purse to her, and she slung the long leather strap over her shoulder. “What if I’m a traditional kind of girl?”

An appropriately contrite look transformed his gorgeous features, though his eyes danced with a teasing light. “Then I apologize profusely for offending your delicate sensibilities with that kiss, and would like to make up for my atrocious behavior with dinner. How about tomorrow night?” He opened the door to his office and waited for her to precede him.

She stepped out into the hall, and realized he intended to escort her out—and felt ridiculously pleased by the gesture. “I’ll be seeing you tomorrow morning, and we’ll be spending the afternoon together.”

“That’s business. I’m referring to pleasure.”

The word “pleasure” rolled off his tongue like a silken, seductive stroke along her spine. She drew a breath and resisted its allure. “No.”

“Sunday night, then?”

He lightly rested his hand on the base of her back. Her coat was heavy and lined, yet that subtle pressure was enough to incite her feminine nerves and send a feverish awareness swirling within her. She held on to her standards and her respectability with both hands. “No.”

“Okay,” he said, unperturbed by her steadfast refusal. “You name the night, then.”

His unwavering persistence amazed her. “How about never?”

They passed through the receptionist area, Ryan told Glenna that he’d be right back after escorting her to the lobby, and they continued to the alcove holding the bank of elevators.

He punched the down arrow and met her gaze. “You’re going to make me work for this, aren’t you?” He didn’t seem at all bothered by that notion. In fact, Jessica suspected the challenge appealed to him and his lawyer instincts.

With his good looks and easy-going charm, she was certain he’d never had to work for a date in his life, and was ninety-nine percent sure his interest in her would wane once she capitulated to his relentless pursuit. No matter how easy it would be to surrender to Ryan despite his profession, it could never happen. She didn’t intend to end up hurt and discarded by any man once he decided the fun was over—especially by one who affected her so strongly and threatened her emotions so severely.

The elevator pinged, signaling its arrival, and they both stepped into the lift. She pressed the button for the lobby, and waited until the metal doors closed. Her stomach dipped, from the descent of the elevator, or from being trapped in such a tiny cubicle with Ryan, she wasn’t sure.

“I’m doing both of us a big favor,” she finally said, infusing her voice with a suitable amount of regret that felt overwhelmingly real. “It would be ridiculous after that kiss to deny that I’m attracted to you, but I don’t think we’re looking for the same things in a relationship.”

He flashed her a quick, tempting grin. “Chemistry is a great start.”

They definitely had plenty of that, but she wanted something more permanent with a man, something more enduring and emotional. Stability and security—the very things she’d grown up without. “Which rarely lasts once the relationship turns physical.”

He studied her too intently with those deep brown eyes of his. “Is that your experience?”

She shrugged vaguely and broke eye contact, unwilling to admit that her experience was limited, and did not evoke pleasant memories. “What’s the longest relationship you’ve ever had?” she asked, turning the conversation back to him.

He worked his mouth in thought. “A little over a year.”

Retrieving her lined leather gloves from her coat pocket, she pulled them on. “How long ago?”

“My senior year in high school.”

She rolled her eyes at him, not at all surprised to discover that he’d spent most of his adult life avoiding a commitment with a woman, which was pretty much equivalent to him confirming himself as a bachelor. “You just proved my point about you and lasting relationships. They don’t exist for you.”

“You didn’t prove anything,” he refuted calmly. “After high school, I went to college while holding down a part-time job, then went straight into law school. Becoming a lawyer and establishing myself has taken precedence over a relationship.”

“And your career is your number one priority.” And that kind of focus didn’t leave much time to nurture an intimate relationship.

Not that she cared.

“I haven’t gotten as far as I have without working hard and making sacrifices.” His words weren’t at all defensive, just a statement of fact. “And quite honestly, I haven’t met a woman who’s made me want to give up being a bachelor.”

The velvet timbre of his voice, the flicker of something far more promising in his eyes, shot a distinct and unnerving tingle through her. The elevator came to a whirring stop, and she opened her purse and dug through the contents, using the search for her car keys as a much needed visual diversion. “I doubt I’m that woman, Matthews, and you’re definitely not someone I’d consider anything long-term with, either.”

“Something short-term then?”

Unable to tell if he was serious or joking, she slanted him a quick glance. The sinful invitation in his gaze indicated his suggestion was, indeed, an earnest one. Temptation crooked its finger, and it took more than a little effort to abstain from accepting his beguiling proposal.

None too soon, the door whooshed opened, and she stepped into the marbled lobby. “You’re a rogue, and I’m not interested.”

“You’re not a very good liar, Jessie,” he said in that silky tone of his. “You’re definitely interested.”

He stopped in the middle of the lobby, and she continued on to the main entrance. Then he called out after her. “And just for the record, I plan to wear down that resolve of yours.”

She turned and used her backside to push open the glass doors that enclosed the interior of the building. Her breath caught, at the afternoon chill that swirled around her, and at the vision of Ryan leaning against a tiled column, so utterly confident, so inherently sexual, so completely irresistible.

But resist him she would. She flaunted a grin full of fabricated sass. “You can certainly try, counselor, but don’t expect me to make it easy on you. And don’t expect to win.”

He tipped his head, and a lock of dark hair fell across his brow, adding to his appeal. “You making it easy on me wouldn’t be any fun, now would it?” he drawled. The devastatingly wicked grin claiming his lips told her he accepted her dare and anticipated the challenge. “See you tomorrow morning.”

RYAN PUSHED HIMSELF to swim an additional ten laps on top of the fifteen he’d already accomplished, hoping the extra morning exercise would burn off the restless energy that had kept him tossing and turning for most of the night. Also to blame were the vivid fantasies that had invaded what little sleep he’d been able to snatch. Of Jessica beautifully naked and submissive in his bed. Of him discovering those curves she’d hidden beneath her bulky sweater, skimming his hands along quivering flesh, tasting her with his tongue, making her want him to the point of begging him for release.

And she begged so prettily in his fantasy, so sweetly. But before he could experience the ecstasy of burying himself deep inside her softness and warmth, he awoke from the erotic dream with a start. He’d been hard and aching, the sheets tangled around his bare legs, and sweating despite the cool night air washing over his body. Three times she’d brought him to the edge last night, until he’d finally dragged himself from bed at dawn and put himself through a rigorous workout regimen in hopes of diminishing the lust that gripped him.

The sharpness of desire had ebbed, but he still wanted her.

Reaching the deep end of the pool, he executed a flip, accelerated off the wall, and continued his fluid, precise strokes across the surface. Curls of steam rose from the water he kept heated in the winter so he could use the pool on a daily basis, but his lungs burned from drawing in cold morning air. The muscles across his shoulders and down his back tingled from the exertion, while the warm water sluiced along his skin, his belly, his thighs, like a lover’s caress.

Jessica’s caress. And just like that, she’d joined him in the pool where he thought he was safe from those erotic fantasies with her.

The kiss they’d shared yesterday afternoon had ignited a dark, carnal craving he couldn’t seem to shake, along with a deeper hunger that transcended mere sexual need, and emotions no other woman had ever evoked. For a year he’d let their desire for one another simmer, and now that he knew there was a warm and willing woman beneath that composed exterior, he wanted to discover everything about her, every sensual secret she harbored.

No easy feat, considering her maddening attempts to deny him, and her frustrating aversion to his profession. But that kiss had provided him with irrefutable evidence. Her vocal cords might be saying “no”, but her lips had told him all he needed to know.

She wanted him, too.

Pulling himself out of the pool, he shivered as too-cold temperatures replaced the warmth of the water. Grabbing the large, fluffy towel he’d left on a lounge chair, he dragged it over his wet head to remove the excess water from his hair, then wrapped the terry around his shoulders. He headed up the brick inlaid steps leading to his two-story house, and wasn’t surprised to see his younger sister, Natalie, sitting at the small table in the kitchen nook that overlooked the landscaped backyard. As always, she’d made herself right at home and was reading his newspaper and drinking what he assumed was a mug of the coffee he’d made that morning. She saw him coming up the walkway, smiled gregariously, and waved.

He lifted a hand in greeting, but entered the house by way of a back door that led to one of the downstairs bathrooms, where he took a quick shower, washed his hair, and changed into the sweatshirt and jeans he’d left there earlier. Leaving his hair damp and finger-combed away from his face, he grabbed his socks and sneakers and headed into the kitchen to see his sister.

The unmistakable fragrance of the delicious buttermilk spice muffins his mother made assailed his senses. There was a cloth-lined basket on the table, and judging by the half-eaten muffin on the plate next to his sister, he’d identified the scent accurately.

“Morning, Nat.” Taking one of the chairs across from her, he began pulling on his socks. “I’m glad to see that the house key I gave you for emergencies is coming in handy.”

Unaffected by his wry tone, she set aside the paper he’d read earlier and shrugged. “I knocked, and no one answered. I didn’t expect you to be out in the pool, for God’s sake.” She eyed him dubiously as she petted the fluffy gray ball of fur reclining on her lap. “How you can go swimming in fifty-degree weather and enjoy it is beyond me.”

The pool was one of the things that had appealed to him when he’d bought the house, along with the large whirlpool in his master bath. “I keep the water heated, and it’s invigorating.”

“Whatever rocks your boat.” Green eyes twinkling, she lifted her mug in a toast to him, then took a drink of the coffee.