The Seduction Request (7 page)

She rolled onto her side and looked up at him. His eyes were dark with desire. “I'm not going to sle—”

Before she could finish the sentence, Matt lowered his head and pressed his lips to hers. The sizzling reaction was instantaneous. She was lost.

It began slow and sweet, his lips brushing oh-so-gently. She felt herself go weak under the tender pressure of his mouth. Very lightly, he traced her lower lip with the tip of his tongue. When she touched her tongue to his, the grip on her side tight
ened and his fingers pressed deep into her flesh, sending shocks of sensation through her stomach. He tasted exactly as he had eleven years ago. He smelled the same and his hands felt just as good against her skin. And now that she'd had a taste of him, a sample of what he could give her, she was having a hard time putting on the brakes. Of course, with Matt kissing her senseless, she wasn't using a lot of brain power.

Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew they were in a public park, but she also knew it was growing darker by the minute. Families were packing up and clearing out. Teenagers gathered in packs around picnic tables, others hung out in the wooded areas most likely doing exactly what she and Matt were doing. No one was paying attention to the couple on the blanket.

Just for a few minutes, she promised herself. Then I'll stop him. But those few minutes passed too quickly, so she decided to give it just a few minutes more.

Matt flattened his hand over her stomach, dipping inside her open shorts to the very tops of her bikini underwear, and she froze.

He must have sensed her apprehension because he went very still above her.

“Matt, I—”

“I know,” he growled, rolling away and sprawling out flat on the blanket. “You're not going to sleep with me.”

M
att stabbed the off button on his cell phone and repressed the urge to chuck it at the nearest brick wall. Construction on Touchdown was officially shut down.

Apparently, Eric Dixon had a little more clout than Matt had anticipated. His lawyer was pressing for a lawsuit, but the last thing Matt needed was a long drawn-out legal battle. It wouldn't exactly endear the people of the city to the idea of eating at his restaurant.

And every day the building sat there deserted, he lost more money. Not to mention that until it was finished, he would be stuck in this godforsaken city, where more than a few people had made it clear he was no longer welcome.

Late last night someone had spray-painted derogatory comments and a few colorful expletives across
the exterior of the restaurant and the construction trailer. The police promised to increase future nightly patrols of the area, but were already making noise like there was little chance of catching the responsible party. And though he'd hired a painter to cover the evidence, he couldn't erase the foul image from his mind.

He watched as the construction crew cleared out their equipment. They had other jobs to occupy their time while he worked something out. Eric had approached Matt earlier in the morning offering a monetary solution. One that would cost Matt in the neighborhood of six figures. If only he'd had a tape recorder handy to nail the sleazy bastard.

Matt already knew what he needed to do. He had a solution. He just had to take that step. Emily's parents had done so much for him already, he didn't know how to ask what would be his final favor.

Then he would win.

He flipped his phone open and dialed Emily's father at his engineering firm. He was told by the secretary that Mr. Douglas would be out of the office all week. Matt tried him at home next, but got the answering machine, so he called Ty.

“They drove up to Saugatuck to stay with friends,” Ty told him. “They're due back next Thursday or Friday, I think.”

A full week. Damn.

Matt hung up, cursing himself for waiting. If he'd known Mr. and Mrs. Douglas were going out of town he would have approached them before they left. If they had agreed to his terms he could have at least gotten the ball rolling. He'd have lost maybe a week, now he was looking at two or three.

Which meant he had that much more time to sit around and twiddle his thumbs. He could always go back to L.A., but his plane was still awaiting a part and the thought of taking a flight on a commercial airline held about as much appeal as a bikini wax—which he'd never actually had, but they sure as hell didn't look like much fun to him. And oddly enough, he didn't want to go back to L.A. He didn't feel like working, which for him was like saying he didn't feel like breathing.

The thought of sitting in his office, submerged in a mountain of paperwork his staff could just as easily handle without him made Matt feel restless. Anything important that needed going over he could do through e-mail or fax and anything that needed signing would reach him overnight via Fed Ex. Meetings he could handle through conference calls. The office ran just fine without him, and that had him wondering why it was he spent so damned much time there.

On the positive side, time off from work meant more time to seduce Emily. The memory of her skin, her scent, the taste of her lips was driving him nuts. And he hadn't been able to stop thinking about that nipple ring. Though it was a slow process, last night he'd made some serious headway. If he'd been insistent, he probably could have taken it even further, but what was the fun in that? When the time was right, she would be begging for it. Then he would finally get to do everything he hadn't done that night on the beach. Which, come to think of it, wasn't much.

The question now was, what would his next move be? With all this time on his hands, what was he supposed to do with himself?

As the last truck pulled out of the lot, Matt took a final look at the building and smiled, knowing exactly what he needed to do.

 

“Hey.”

Emily looked up from her computer screen, her traitorous heart fluttering at the sight of Matt standing in her office doorway looking tanned and healthy and way too gorgeous for his own good—or hers. “Hey. What's up?”

“I came to talk about work.”

“Okay.” She tried to keep her tone light when in reality her heart was sinking. He was probably here to tell her that they'd lost the contract to another nursery. Maybe sleeping with him had been a condition of the job.

As the thought formed she knew it was completely unfair. She'd been the aggressor last night, the one to bring up the nipple ring, to take down her pants and show him her tattoo. She still didn't know what had gotten into her. Maybe it was the way Matt looked at her as though she was the only woman on the planet. He made her feel so desirable and, well…feminine. She hadn't realized how much she'd missed that.

She'd pretty much given up on men—at least for now. As far as she could figure, they felt threatened by her independence. Most men seemed to like a woman they could coddle and take care of. Someone gentle and delicate that they could put up on a pedestal. Not one who could run circles around them on the basketball court, or recite from memory the stats from the Detroit Red Wings entire last season. She didn't wear makeup, didn't own a dress—nor did she
plan to purchase one—and pantyhose gave her a rash. At five feet nine inches, high-heeled shoes put her at eye level with most men she knew, and several inches above others. Which is why she didn't own any of those either.

Alex loved her for the person inside. He was her best friend, her confidant. He had great taste in clothes and even better taste in men. Unfortunately, being friends with a gay man didn't do much for a girl's ego.

When Matt looked at her—very much the way he was looking at her now—she felt like a woman.

Matt stepped into her office and sank into the chair across from her desk. “I've run into a bit of a snag with the building inspector. Construction has been put on hold. I just wanted to let you know there's no rush getting that bid to me.”

Which meant her commission would come later, and her shop was that much further away. Swell. “Thanks for the heads up.”

“Instead of flying back to L.A. while my lawyers work this out, I thought I might take a couple of days off. Maybe go fishing.”

“What, like a vacation?”

“Yeah, I figure I'm due.”

Emily narrowed her eyes at him. “Who are you and what have you done with Matt?”

He grinned. “I want you to come with me. Can you get a couple of days off?”

Before she could say no, Alex appeared in the doorway. “Of course Emily could get a couple days off.”

He breezed in, a hand stretched to Matt in greeting. His hair, as always, was perfect, his clothes spot
less and his manners impeccable. And he could play the man's man role to a T. “You must be the infamous Matt Conway.”

Matt stood and shook Alex's hand, looking to Emily for an explanation.

“Matt, this is Alex Marlette.”

“A pleasure,” Alex said, pumping Matt's hand. “What's this about Emily needing a few days off?”

“I don't,” she told Alex. “I have too much to do here.”

Alex dropped Matt's hand and turned to her. “I had my vacation. It's only fair you get some time off, too. Where did you plan to take her, Matt?”

Matt looked hesitant to answer, as if maybe this was some sort of trick question. “Um, fishing?”

“Emily loves to fish. Of course she'll go.”

“But the accountant is coming,” Emily told Alex. “We need to go over the books.”

Alex turned to Matt. “I'm sorry, could you give us a minute alone?”

“I'll wait out front,” Matt said, looking back and forth between the two of them as if they were both more than a little weird.

He had no idea.

When he was gone, Alex turned to her, fanning his face, slipping easily back into his typical, flaming self. “Whoa. Talk about steamy.”

“I'm not leaving.”

“This is your big chance.”

“To do what? Screw up my life?”

“Em, honey, this self-imposed celibacy thing you've got going is getting really old. Take a couple of days and have fun.”

“There is no self-imposed celibacy. I just haven't
met anyone I've wanted to sleep with.” If he only knew how close she'd been to doing exactly that last night.

Emily rubbed her eyes with a thumb and forefinger. She was exhausted after one very long, sleepless night. In just a few days her prudently managed life had been propelled into chaos and Alex was asking her to make it even worse. “I can't just pick up and leave. I have responsibilities.”

“It'll all be here when you get back.” He grabbed her arm and physically hauled her from the chair. “If you don't go I'm going to fire you. Then you'll never get the money together for your shop. I swear I'll do it.”

“You would not. This place would fall apart without me.”

“Honey, you give yourself far too much credit. I'm not completely incapable.”

“Yes, you are.”

The insult slid right off his back. “I'll pay you time and a half for your vacation days.”

That one stopped her. She did a mental calculation of how much money that would be. “Seriously? You would actually
pay
me to go on vacation? For the whole weekend?”

“I would, now will you go?”

“Is there something you're not telling me?”

“Yes, you're a major pain in the butt. Just go and have fun.”

Honestly, the idea of a couple days away from the nursery sounded like heaven. She couldn't recall the last time she'd taken a vacation. She'd been too focused on raising the money for her shop, on keeping
the business running smoothly. How much damage could Alex possibly do?

On second thought, she didn't even want to go there. “What about the accountant? We have to get ready for the audit.”

“I can handle it. I'm really not as incompetent as you like to think.”

“Maybe I don't want to go with him. Did that ever occur to you?”

“You need closure, hon. As much as you refuse to admit it, after all these years, you still have a thing for the guy.”

“Says who?”

“Says you, every time I catch you looking at his picture in a magazine, or watching a clip about him on the news. You get that sappy, sad, faraway look and you swoon all over the place.”

She snorted. “I've never swooned in my life.”

“When was the last time you were on a date? Or had a relationship? Or
sex?
You do remember what that is?”

Emily gave up the battle and allowed him to shove her out the office door. “I'll get paid time and a half? Even though the nursery is barely hanging on?”

“I'll take it out of my salary.”

“For how long?”

He glanced at the calendar on her desk. “Today is Thursday? I don't want to see you back here until Monday morning.”

“You promise you're not just saying this to get rid of me?”

“I promise.”

She hesitated. “I don't know…”

Alex lowered his voice. “Okay, how about this.
Take some time off or I'll tell your parents we're not really dating.”

She knew exactly what that meant; her parents trying to set her up with every available single man in the city. Anything to get themselves a tribe of grandchildren. She narrowed her eyes at him. “You wouldn't.”

“Try me.” He slammed and locked the door before she could reply to his threat. It looked as if she would be taking a few vacation days. That didn't mean she would be spending them with Matt.

He was in the parking lot waiting for her, leaning against the back of his SUV, arms folded across his chest. The sun glinted off his dark hair and made his skin look golden. As usual, the sight of him accelerated her heartbeat and punched up her hormone level several notches.

This was not good. After what had almost happened last night in the park, a fishing trip with Matt would be a very bad idea.

“Did your boyfriend really just encourage you to go away on vacation with me?” he asked.

“That doesn't mean I'm going.” She pulled out her keys and headed for the company truck.

He fell in step beside her. “He's a nice guy.”

“You sound surprised. Did you think I wouldn't be able to attract someone nice?”

“You know that's not what I meant. If you were my girlfriend, no way in hell would you be going away anywhere with anyone but me.”

The passion with which he made the statement alarmed and thrilled Emily at the same time. What would it be like to be Matt's girlfriend? To be his wife? To have homes all over the world. To own
expensive cars and clothes and have a plane at their disposal.

Lonely.

It would be unbearably lonely. The hours he worked, it would be like living with a ghost. No amount of wealth would be worth that. If he were penniless and worked a nine-to-five job he would be a better catch as far as she was concerned.

Besides, she didn't have the time to invest in a relationship either. Like Matt, she enjoyed the challenge of earning what she wanted. She would feel the pride that shone like a prize in his eyes when he talked of his accomplishments. It's what she had waited her whole life for. True independence.

If she were to marry Matt, on the entirely remote chance that he ever asked, along with the wealth and prestige, she would feel like a sellout. Where would the challenge be?

If the business didn't take off as she hoped, she would be disappointed, but at least she could say she'd tried, she'd given it one hundred percent. On her own.

When they reached the truck Matt stepped ahead of her, blocking the door. “Come with me,” he said. “We'll have fun. We can go anywhere in the world you want.”