Seduce
Seduce
[
McKenzie Brothers 01]
LEXI BUCHANAN
HFCA Publishing
Seduce
[McKenzie Brothers 01]
Copyright © 2013 Lexi
Buchanan
All rights reserved.
This book is a written act of fiction. Any places, characters, or similarities are purely coincidence. If certain places or characters are referenced it is for entertainment purposes only. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A big thank you to everyone listed here,
for their help and encouragement.
Editor
Jan Carol
Copy Editor
Tamsyn Bester at HuntleyGray Publishing
Beta Readers
HM Bendana,
Louise Chaffin, Saska Kovacic, Hildred Livesey, Marsha Thalleen, Gabriela Tortolano and Nadine Winningham
A very special thank you to:
Amazon Best Selling Author’s
Kristy Garbutt from
Book Addict Mumma Blog
and
I would also like to mention:
Robin Harper (
Wicked by Design
)
,
Book Addict Mumma
,
Confessions of a Book Heaux
,
Erotica Bookclub
,
For the Love of Books
,
Hooked on Books
,
If These Boobs Could Talk
,
Island Lovelies Book Club
,
Jennifer’s Book Addiction
,
Love Between the Sheets
,
My Secret Romance Book Reviews Blog
,
Rude Girl Book Blog,
Sinfully Sexy Book reviews,
and Facebook pages:
Flirty and Dirty Book Blog
,
Kindlehooked
,
Stick Girl Book Reviews
,
Shh Mom’s Reading,
Spreading the Word
,
TotallyBookedBlog
,
What to Read After 50 Shades of Grey
and
Word Blog
CONTENTS
Chapter
1
~~
LILY ~~
I was lying on the
bed naked. David was in the bathroom getting cleaned up after he’d had sex with me. At least that’s what I’d call it. Sex with David over the past five months had involved a couple of open mouth kisses, a few lick and nibbles to my breasts, a finger inside me, then he would push home and within seconds he’d come in the condom, leaving me unsatisfied - every time. All I really wanted to do was curl up on my side and cry.
David and
I had been together since high school, some seven years. We were both seventeen when he moved to the high school I was attending and within a week of him starting school, we were inseparable.
He was my first kiss, my first lover. We lived together while we attended the same college and then
moved to the same city after graduation. We even worked for the same company, up until two weeks ago, when I lost my job, along with two hundred other employees. David still worked there and for the past week, he’d been making comments about my unemployed status, as though it was my fault I no longer had a job.
Secretly, I’
d been looking for another job, because I’d started to want something else. I actually felt relief when the company let me go. For the first time in a long time I was free and there was nothing David could say about it or so I thought.
Apparen
tly, it was my fault. David told me on more than one occasion over the past couple of weeks, that if I hadn’t been ‘gathering wool’ during the department meetings, the boss wouldn’t have noticed and I wouldn’t have made the ‘let go’ list.
I noticed a change in him around five months
ago when sex turned into a one-man-show. Up until then, we had what I’d call a ‘normal’ sex life. Not always full of passion, but mutual enjoyment. Well, I can honestly say I hadn’t had an orgasm since then, and I really didn’t think David gave a damn. Not only had that started to piss me off – I also found it upsetting. We were still together years after all our friends told us we wouldn’t last, but I was beginning to think that perhaps they were right.
David wa
s my only family since both my parents had died five years ago and I had no siblings. I’d clung to David even more. He was my security blanket. I came to this conclusion after I’d talked with a shrink for three years after their death – without his knowledge.
I was
due to start a new job in the offices of McKenzie Holdings. I hadn’t told anyone about this job, simply because I wanted something that was mine and mine alone, at least for a while. With how David had been lately, he would probably have had a great deal to say about it, not to mention the fact that the company belonged to Michael, Sebastian, Ruben, Lucien and Ramon McKenzie. Sebastian McKenzie was always in the paper with one starlet or another. Michael, the second oldest, was only ever in the paper when the company was mentioned and there was never a photograph. Ruben and Lucien made the paper, but not as often as their brother Sebastian.
I
’d never met the brothers, a Mr Roberts had interviewed me for the position. If I had to guess, he was in his late sixties and he seemed to act like everyone’s grandfather. I’d signed the contract then and there and I was to be Mr Roberts’ assistant, which I had to say, I really looked forward to.
I
quickly glanced towards the clock and groaned. I really needed to get out of bed, shower and dress, but David was hogging the bathroom. I would just have to rush after he’d left for work. I certainly didn’t want to share.
The
bathroom door started to open, so I quickly covered myself with the duvet and pretended to still be asleep. Having a conversation with him was the last thing I wanted to do.
I p
eeped through my eyelashes and watched David fasten his watch onto his wrist, and put his wallet into the inside pocket of his suit jacket. He then collected his keys and walked out of the bedroom. A few minutes later, I heard the front door to the apartment open then close and the lock slip into place. He did all this without one glance in my direction.
I was
slowly coming to the conclusion that perhaps our relationship was over. Part of me just wanted to lie in bed all day and cry, another part of me felt relief. The only problem I had was, if – or should I say when – I left, I didn’t have anywhere to go or enough money to pay a deposit on another apartment. I was going to have to save every dollar I could from now on and bide my time.
With a sigh
, I climbed out of bed and walked into the bathroom. I brushed my teeth before I slipped into the scorching shower and scrubbed David from my skin.
With a towel wrapped around me
and my hair still wet, dripping down my back, I stood and looked into my closet, not sure what I should wear. Did I go for the professional look? Or the professional hot chick look? I decided to go for in between and took my navy blue suit from the hanger, then placed it on the bed while I hunted around for the white blouse I liked to wear with it. I spotted it hiding in the back of the closet, so I pulled it out and placed it on the bed with my other clothes. I quickly dressed in my white lace underwear – wearing sexy underwear under my suits always made me feel more confident.
I f
astened the blouse and pulled up the skirt, which was fitted to my shape and came to rest a couple of inches above my knees. Not too short for indecent in the office and not too long to make me look older than my years.
Another root
around in my closet and I found the blue matching heels, which made my legs look longer than they were. I stood back to look at myself in the mirror – I looked hot, especially with my hair pinned up in disarray on my head. David used to think it made me look sexy. Not so much these days.
With my head cleared
of unpleasant thoughts, I walked out of the apartment and headed for my new job.
Chapter 2
~~ MICHAEL ~~
My temper wa
s gradually on the rise. If Sebastian didn’t answer his damn phone soon, he’d find himself without any financial resources. He would then have to contact me, which he would, because he’d have no money.
I’
d been trying to get hold of my brother for the past two days, since I returned home. Oh, I knew he was safe. I also knew he was having a ball, with a woman he’d picked up in the hotel bar during the conference in San Diego.
The
woman had been giving me the eye, until she’d spotted Sebastian. Was I bothered? No. My brothers loved nothing better than to have a dig at me for keeping my private life, just what it was…. private.
No, I wasn’t
a monk, although for the past couple of years I had been. I didn’t advertise what I got up to and the minute I was seen with anyone the press would have a field day. The last time the press took a photograph of me with a woman was six years ago, and the woman in the photograph had been my wife, Viv, just before she died.
I toss
ed my phone onto the breakfast bar while I walked through the kitchen to hunt for a bagel. My brothers had tried in the past to fix me up with a chef –
like that would ever happen
. I really loved my private space and no one was allowed inside, unless invited.
With a
bagel found in the bread box, I sliced and popped it into the toaster. I poured a coffee and stood with my back against the cabinets. I crossed my ankles while I thought about the meeting I had at eleven. Dale Roberts had assured me that my new assistant, who I’d yet to meet, would be perfect and not let me down. Lily Redmond. She had no idea her new position was as my assistant. Dale had interviewed her for me, intentionally giving her the impression the position was with him. At least that way, I’d get someone who knew how to use a computer instead of how to apply polish to her nails.
Every time I i
nterviewed anyone, the interview had a habit of going downhill fast, as the young woman in question seemed more interested in me and my brothers than the actual job, which was damn frustrating.
Dale had
done a background check on Lily and checked the reference she’d received from her previous employer, where she’d been let go due to the company downsizing. What I found difficult to understand was why she’d been one of the ones to be let go. She had an outstanding record with the company, a lot better than some of the people who’d kept their jobs, especially her boyfriend. I’d asked a friend of a friend who worked at the company and did favors for money, to dig deep, and see what he could find out as to why she was really let go. Something smelled off, and I would bet my last dollar it had something to do with the boyfriend.
My bagel
popped up from the toaster, and I decided to have some cream cheese on it for a change. I usually just had butter. With the cheese spread on the top, I took a seat in the breakfast nook just off the kitchen, which I favored due to the amazing view of the garden and the mountains beyond.
On the odd occasion I’
d sit here and wish I had a woman to share this with – not often – but occasionally. Ever since Viv died, I’d been alone. She died on her way to the meeting with our divorce lawyers. We’d been married three years, and in those three years I’d lost count of how many men she’d been with. I probably only knew about half of them. She’d completely soured my perception on relationships, making me a skeptic. Being alone you couldn’t get hurt, but sometimes it sucked.
It had taken a long time to believe that she was the one with the problem
, not me. I owed that revelation to my brothers after they knocked some sense into me. Literally.
With b
reakfast finished, I quickly washed and dried the few pots, collected my keys and headed out front to be greeted by my driver, George. I actually loved to drive, or rather I loved to sit astride my Harley and just let her rip. It made me crazy, driving in to the city with all the traffic, and trying to find parking. So George drove me to the office, left me there and parked up at a hotel close by where he spent the day inside drinking coffee, flirting with Janet, one of the receptionists, and awaited my call for a ride. He also took advantage of the free wifi and hooked his laptop up.
“Morning
, George,” I said in greeting.
“Morning,
Mr McKenzie.”
Once I’
d climbed into the car, I sat back and tried to relax. Normally I would read the newspaper on my way into the city, but Sebastian was across the front page, so I thought I would pass. I had no objection to my brothers sewing their wild oats, but having Sebastian in the news every time he did, pissed me off.
I’d been
so lost in my own thoughts for the past twenty minutes, that when I looked out of the window, George had already pulled up outside the McKenzie building. “I’ll see you later, George. Have a good day.”
H
e blushed slightly. Janet was going to have him hot under the collar for the most part. After the first week, I’d refused to allow him to climb in and out of the car every time I needed the door opened.
It took a wh
ile to get used to being driven around, but I wasn’t lazy enough to have the door opened for me. I closed the door after I’d climbed out and watched him pull away, doing a U-turn to head to the hotel. How the hell he’d never caused an accident with that move, I’d never know.
As I walked
into the lobby, I waved over to John, the security guard, and carried on through to the elevators. John was fussing over a woman at the front desk and I couldn’t help but do a double take. She was what Sebastian would call a ‘babe’.
She had l
ong legs with stilts for shoes, a tight fitting skirt with equally fitted jacket and dark hair pinned loosely on the top of her head. I carried on and as I waited for the elevator, I turned and watched the woman from the front desk walk towards me with her head down. She had no idea I was stood watching her.
When the doors opened
, I stepped inside and held them open for the mystery lady. As she walked closer, I caught her scent and my cock immediately hardened.
Shit
, that was not good. I had never had such a quick reaction to a woman’s scent before.
She looked up and when her eyes met mine they visibly
widened. She stopped mid-step and just gazed up at me. I was reluctant, but I managed to drag my eyes away from her penetrating stare. “Your carriage awaits,” I told her rather roughly.
Hell, I felt as though
I’d been hit over the head. I watched her closely and noticed how her throat moved when she gulped then took a deep breath, before she stepped into the elevator with me. Was she as affected by me as I was by her?
I felt damn uncomfortable. My cock t
hrobbed and I wanted to believe it was from lack of use and not because of the sexy woman who stood beside me.
Yeah,
keep telling yourself that.