The Seduction Of Claudia (2 page)

Growing up with her mother, she had learned that relationships between men and women were messy, dangerous things. Claudia had seen her mother in the throes of despair over love affairs gone wrong too many times to count. She didn't want to be that vulnerable. She was fine by herself, she thought, without the complicated tangle of a romantic relationship. As a child, she had been the kid in class who had never colored outside the lines, had never broken any rules. She lived her adult life the same way; it made for fewer problems.

She began to feel the cold and it had the effect of bringing her from her reverie. She pivoted with her arms wrapped around herself. With her head down, she quickly headed up the path toward the ballroom. She looked up just in time to stop herself from crashing headlong Andrew. She lost her balance in the abruptness of halting and he reached out to steady her, cupping her upper arms with his warm hands. "Whoa, you almost mowed me down," he said, chuckling. His hands stayed in position on her shoulders, then slid down her arms so that he could take her hands in his.

"Sorry... I was, um, thinking," Claudia said, feeling heat bloom under her skin, from both embarrassment and his close proximity.

"Were you thinking about me?" he asked in a low voice that made Claudia feel another wave of heat wash over her. "I've watched you all evening and could never find a way to get to you. And here you are..."

"I saw you in there, you know, sweet-talking all of those old ladies," she said accusingly, "Don't try that stuff on me!"

He laughed, actually had the gall to laugh at her! She yanked her hands from his, thinking that he had presumed too much already and there was no way she'd stand here and listen to any more. She moved around him and was several feet away when he spoke.

"Hey, Legs, those were my mother's friends I was talking to."

She stopped in her tracks, feeling irritated that he'd gotten her riled up when she never got riled up. His mother's friends? And did he really just call her 'Legs'? She turned around slowly to face him. She would maintain her cool, apologize and leave.

"My name is Claudia," she said pointedly, "and I apologize for the misunderstanding. Good night."

"You don't owe me any apologies. And you know that I always loved your spectacular legs, Claudia," he stressed her name, calling her on her formality with him. "Have a drink with me?" he asked, moving closer to her.

"I've got to be going, but thank you, just the same," she said coolly.

"Hmmm, you've gone so cold; I like it better when you're angry," he said, moving closer and reclaiming one of her hands. "Stay for one little drink with me?"

"Jesus, are you kidding me?" she said irritably and opened her mouth to continue her set down of him when Fifi burst out of the door to the ballroom.

"Claudia! There you are -- and you've got Andrew! Oh, my two most favorite people in the world, together at last! Is life good or what?" she gushed, linking arms with them both and leading them inside and to the bar. "He'll have a Chivas, neat," she told the bartender, "and we'll both have Cosmos."

"Fifi," Claudia said, hating the pleading note in her voice, " I really need to go."

"Nope, you said you would dance and you barely danced at all!" Fifi retorted, "So, drink your drink and dance and have a good time!"

"Yeah," Andrew agreed, "Drink your drink and dance."

As luck would have it, a slow song began to play and Andrew took Claudia's martini from her hand and set it on the bar. Taking her hand, he led her to the dance floor. Claudia glared back at Fifi as he led her through the crowd onto the dance floor. Fifi just sipped her drink and wiggled her fingers in a little salute.

Andrew drew her into his arms and began to sway to the music. Claudia tried to keep a formal dance hold, one hand resting on his shoulder and one hand in his, space between their bodies, but he drew her closer, placing her arms around his neck. Claudia sighed and looked around the ballroom, feigning disinterest in their dance.

"You're beautiful when you sulk," Andrew said, his mouth close to her ear.

"I'm not sulking. Where do you get off with these crazy lines, anyway?" Claudia asked, shaking her head with disbelief.

"I'm just a man who knows what he wants," he replied, "and I want you."

"Andrew, don't!"

"I do want you," he said implacably, "I've thought of nothing but you for the past two months."

"You're just saying that because you're used to getting what you want. Since you can't have me, you're determined to prove to yourself that you can! Well, I'm not going to play the game, Andrew! I'm immune to you," she lied, "so say whatever you want, because it won't work!"

"We'll see," he said confidently, ending their conversation by drawing her closer to his tall, lean body. His ploy worked well, because Claudia was struck dumb by how delicate she felt in his arms with his large hands on her, one at the small of her back and one caressing up and down her back. He was taller than she by several inches, even though she was five feet ten inches in her skinny high heels. She felt his well-toned body against hers, smelled him, that special Andrew-ness that always went straight to her head. She relaxed into the dance, deciding to stop fighting him and just enjoy the moment. He slid a hand up her back to her neck and gently pressed her head to his shoulder. She stiffened slightly, but relaxed as his hand stoked down her back again. When the dance was over, he took her back to where Fifi was at the bar, again surrounded by a group of people.

"You guys looked hot!" Fifi said, in typical fashion. Claudia rolled her eyes and grabbed her martini, took a sip to compose herself. Andrew moved, his body forming a barrier between Claudia and Fifi's group. He sat on a barstool, drawing hers closer to him practically in the same motion, so that her knees were sandwiched between his legs before she knew what had happened. Claudia scowled at him, "Don't you know when to quit?"

"Not when it comes to you. I don't know what you've done to me, but I'm smitten," he said half-jokingly, placing a hand over his heart.

"Geez," she said rolling her eyes and taking a big gulp of her drink. "So, Andrew, what have you been up to?" she asked breezily. She figured she might as well talk to him since he was sitting there staring at her. His certainty, his arrogance, was disconcerting to her, but she'd be damned if she'd let him see it. She finished her drink in a gulp that gave lie to her apparent coolness and signaled for another.

"Am I making you nervous?" Andrew asked, leaning closer to her.

"No. Why do you ask?" Claudia replied nonchalantly, looking everywhere in the room but at him. Peter caught her eye from the dance floor and beckoned her to him. She shook her head and turned back to Andrew, eyebrows arched.

"No reason. I spent the last two months in Eritrea, Africa," he responded to her earlier question. "As you know, there is spill over of the tribal unrest in Somalia and Ethiopia into Eritrea. I went there to document exactly how bad things are there. I sold my photographs and story to Time magazine."

Claudia was taken off guard again because she'd assumed that, being a travel writer, he'd been in some glorious corner of the world enjoying a taste of the exotic with a view to bringing a piece of that back to the US with his stories and photos.

"Oh. I'll be sure to pick up a copy when it comes out," Claudia said politely, but couldn't stop herself from blurting, "What are you doing here?"

"My father is the founding partner of the firm. He and my mother like for me to be at these things when I'm in town. A small thing for me to do since I refused to go into the family business, I figure."

"Ah, ever the obliging son," Claudia sniped.

"Why can't you stop being so judgmental?" Andrew asked, annoyance plain in his voice.

"Because I've done this with you before. That's why," Claudia said flatly. "You wouldn't let there be a this between us!"

"Ugh," she said, disgustedly, "I don't want to argue with you, Andrew. There's no point, is there? We're not together anymore, what we had is in the past. You need to realize that." With that, she grabbed her drink, took a healthy sip. "Hmm, these are good!" she said, apropos of nothing.

"Maybe you should take it a little easier on the Cosmos," Andrew warned. "Isn't this how you want me, a little tipsy, with lowered inhibitions?" Claudia cooed tauntingly, batting her lashes and leaning forward into him, resting one hand on his thigh. She had a split second to notice how muscular his leg was under her hand before he kissed her. She was too stunned to react at first, then opened her mouth in shock. Andrew seized the opportunity gratefully and slid his tongue into her mouth to taste her. Claudia sank into the kiss for a long heart-stopping moment, then regained her senses and abruptly pulled away from him. She felt flushed and hot, turned on and embarrassed at the same time, because she never engaged in public displays of affection. She reflexively reached for her drink again, but he pulled it out of her reach.

"I'll take you home," he said. Turning to Fifi he said, "I'm taking her home."

Fifi, never happier than to see her friends together, surrounded them with a flurry of kisses, hugs and promises to talk to them both tomorrow. She had them in their coats and out the door before Claudia knew what had hit her. She felt, knew, she must resist him, even though his kiss had stopped her heart, because his kiss has stopped her heart. This wouldn't be good for her, she thought sulkily. She wasn't normally sulky or petulant, but she'd been nothing but since she'd been in contact with him tonight and that made her mad.

"Do you need to see to your car before we go?" Andrew asked politely.

"Nope, I took the T," she replied.

"I don't have a car here, either. So we'll have to take a taxi."

"I can get myself home," Claudia said hotly.

"I know you can," he replied mildly.

They got into the cab and she gave the driver her address. Andrew slid her across the taxi's vinyl seat so she was pressed to his side and wrapped an arm around her. The streets of Boston were congested with typical Friday night partiers and holiday revelers, so it took them longer than it normally would have to make it to her place. They made inconsequential small talk along the way. He began drawing absentminded circles on her neck where it was exposed above the collar of her coat, occasionally playing with curls that had escaped from her up-do. Claudia, unwillingly enjoying the caresses, kept a dialogue running in her head, listing all the reasons why this guy was just too slick, too arrogant, too wrong for her to fall for again. When they arrived at her place, he paid the driver and helped her from the car.

"I'll walk you up, then I'll walk the rest of the way home," Andrew said.

Claudia knew that it was pointless to argue with him so she led him up the steps to the brownstone in which she'd bought an apartment. Once she'd opened the door to the vestibule, she turned, ready to dismiss him. She stuck her hand out, hoping he'd be content with a handshake and be on his way.

"Thank you for seeing me home, Andrew," she said politely.

"It's so cold out," Andrew said, taking her proffered hand, toying with her chilled fingers. "I've got to walk all the way home. You could at least invite me up for coffee."

"Oh, for God's sake. Come up," Claudia said huffily, walking into the house without waiting for him. He followed her up the stairs to the third floor and Claudia was aware of his eyes on her the whole way up and was thankful that her long alpaca coat shielded her from his gaze. She opened the door to her apartment and stepped into the warmly lit space. She shrugged out of her coat and hung it on the coat-rack, reached for his and did the same. "Coffee or something else?" she asked, turning to him.

"Something else," he replied in a low voice. He reached for her somewhat roughly and kissed her, eating at her mouth with his until she opened for him. Having gotten what he wanted, he gentled the kiss, exploring the heat of her mouth with his tongue. Claudia felt her wits spinning away with each sweep of his tongue in her mouth. Andrew's kisses were incendiary; before Andrew, she had never been kissed with such passion. She felt a wave of yearning for him, a craving to be connected with him, yet she knew she could not allow herself to give in. His desire for her was evident in the way his hands swept up and down her body in ardent, arousing caresses, as though he could absorb the very essence of her with his hands.

She began kissing him back, wrapped her arms around his neck. He groaned and pulled her even closer to him, his hands cupping her ass, pressing her against him in a way that left no doubt as to how much he wanted her. She ran her hands through his longish dark brown hair, passion sweeping her away. Why shouldn't she take what he was offering, she thought, one last time with him wouldn't do her any harm and would probably do her some good, maybe it would get him out of her system...

Having made up her mind to have him, she pulled away from him and walked down the hall to her bedroom, confident he'd follow. He watched her go, his eyes glued to her sexy ass, loving the way her hips swayed as she walked, her sexy high heels clicking on the hardwood floor. She'd worked the back zip of her dress down when she noticed she was alone. She went back to the door, poked her head out and said,

"Are you coming or not?" He looked entirely bemused at the change in her, having expected her to resist him every step of the way. He had made up his mind to have her and had begun planning the chase that would lead her back into his life once and for all. He was mildly disappointed that he wouldn't get the chance to woo her, but he was no fool: he would always open the door to opportunity when it knocked. He walked down the hall toward her, unknotting his bowtie as he went. When he reached her, he draped the tie around her neck and pulled her to him for another kiss, sliding his hands inside the open back of her dress. He pushed it off her shoulders and knelt down to help her step out of it. Standing up, he took a step back to get a good look at her. She now wore his untied bowtie, a black bra of silk and lace, tiny black bikini panties, matching thigh high stockings and those sexy black heels. He exhaled in a whoosh.