Strategic Seduction

by Cheris Hodges

  “We haven’t started working yet. And you know what they say about all work and no play,” he said after breaking the kiss.

  “Can we be serious for a minute?” she said, though her knees quivered at the thought of playing more with Richmond. This wasn’t supposed to be happening, and she didn’t know if she could stop it. Easing back from him, Alicia took a deep breath. “Today was fun, but we have to seriously get down to business,” she said.

  Richmond nodded, though he wasn’t feeling anything she was saying. This was his business and he wanted more than just one fun day.

  “It’s not Monday yet,” he said with a wink.

  Alicia shook her head. “You’re too much. We have a lot of work to do and this is going to be a distraction that we don’t need.”

  “Is that what you think, or what you feel like you’re supposed to say?”

  Alicia sighed, not wanting to answer the question. No matter what she said, it would feel like a lie. She looked away from him and tried to come up with a logical reason for him to stop trying to seduce her.

  “Business and pleasure never mix,” she said, aware that her cliché statement was the furthest thing from the truth. She saw the results of this mixture every time she looked at Jade and James. Richmond’s cell phone rang again. He took the phone from his pocket and tossed it across the room.

  “Someone wants you pretty badly.”

  “And that sums up how I feel about you.” Richmond closed the space between them. Part of him wanted to grip her hips while he kissed her senseless. But she wanted things to be on the business level with them. He wasn’t sure if he could play by those rules.

  Hell, what had playing by the rules gotten him anyway? He drew her into his arms. “But you have to be honest and tell me you feel the same way for this to work.”

  She eased out of his embrace. “I tell you what, we’re going to table this discussion. It’s getting late and Monday is going to be here before we know it.”

  Her legs were weak as they headed for the exit. Alicia knew one thing for sure: She needed to get her head together. Maybe she needed another talk with Kandace to remind her what a bad idea it would be to get involved with Richmond.

  Then she stole a glance at him and realized that it was going to take more than a stern talk from her friend to quell her growing desire for Richmond Crawford.

  “Maybe . . .” Alicia’s voice trailed off as she glanced at his hands. “I should find another space to set up shop?”

  “Why would you do that when you have prime real estate here?” He winked at her. “I’ll keep it together while we’re here. But we won’t be here twenty-four seven,” he said with a smile.

  “And that means what?”

  “You’ll see.” Richmond led her out of the building.

  The ride back to the West Egg Café might have been silent, but the air between them sizzled. As much as she tried to focus on the road, Alicia couldn’t help but steal glances at her sexy driver. His heat wrapped around her and wouldn’t let go. Arriving at the café, the scene was a lot different than it was that morning. Parking was a breeze and the streets were practically empty.

  “Breakfast in the morning?” Richmond asked. “I can introduce you to the joy of bagels and lox.”

  “And I’ll bring eggs and biscuits just in case this experiment of yours doesn’t work out.”

  “Trust me, it will be better than coleslaw on a hot dog.” His deep laugh vibrated through her body, making her quiver with want.

  “Such a Yankee,” she joked as he pulled up next to her car. Richmond stroked her cheek, then leaned in and gave her a gentle peck on the lips.

  “See you in the morning. Unless you want to join me tonight for a nightcap.”

  “I’d better pass,” she said. “I have some things I need to take care of before I get started in the morning.”

  “And I thought I was a workaholic.” He shook his head. “Thanks for showing me around today, and I look forward to our partnership.”

  Alicia smiled at his uber-professional tone. “Good-bye, Richmond.”

  Chapter 8

  Richmond hadn’t wanted to leave Alicia, but there was only so much he could do in the face of her objections. As soon as he got into his car, the phone rang again. As much as he wanted to continue to ignore Vivian, he knew the calls would continue until he found out what she wanted.

  “Yeah?”

  “Really, Richmond?” Vivian snapped.

  “What are you babbling about?”

  “It’s bad enough that you have people at my favorite restaurant treating me like a pariah, but now you’ve cut off my credit cards?”

  “Did you read the divorce agreement or not? My support of you is done—including continuing to pay for your credit cards. And the alimony was only good for a year. Remember that prenup you signed? Maybe you should get a job.”

  “What the . . . You have some nerve. Now that you’ve moved across the country, you think that you can ignore your responsibilities?”

  “Sweetheart, you’re no longer my headache.” Richmond ended the call and tossed the phone in the passenger seat. He knew Solomon was behind Vivian’s social woes, but she had to be crazy to think that he was going to support her after the hell she’d put him through. Being rid of her had clearly taken years of pain out of his life.

  Richmond stayed in his marriage longer than he should have because he thought it had been his place to combat Solomon’s playboy image. And after watching his parents’ relationship, Richmond knew marriages weren’t all about love. Then Solomon and Kandace showed him how wrong he was. Seeing Solomon change his ways to win the woman he loved and become a faithful husband, made him realize he deserved more in his marriage. Of course, Vivian hadn’t been on board. She’d enjoyed separate bedrooms and a marriage that was valid on paper and nothing else. The once-in-awhile intimacy that had become their marriage had been fine with her.

  So, when he started talking about a real marriage, Vivian had been disgusted. She’d married Richmond for his name, for the status that being a Crawford in New York brought her. Vivian never waited for tickets to the hottest Broadway shows, never missed the openings at the best and newest restaurants. When she’d told him that, Richmond had no other recourse than to divorce her. He wanted real love and she wasn’t going to give it to him.

  Richmond walked into his empty house and wished Alicia had come home with him. Business be damned. Sure, he needed her skill and knowledge of the city, but he wanted that woman. Needed to feel her lips against his as much as he needed to breathe. Something about Alicia sparked him in a way that made him feel like he’d never felt before. Vivian’s years of rejection had taken a toll on his psyche for a while, but things had changed when he realized that life was too damned short to worry about a false image.

  Finding out that Elliot Crawford wasn’t his real father made him realize that everything he’d tried to do to please his father had been an effort in futility. When he was growing up, Richmond wanted his father’s approval more than anything. That was why he’d tried to distance himself from Solomon. Richmond lived and breathed Crawford Hotels, while his younger brother tried to separate himself from the family business.

  Maybe that was why it had been so easy for the two men to be pitted against each other when they were younger. Richmond had wanted to be the one running Crawford Hotels, and Elliot had dangled that carrot in front of him for the longest time. But when Solomon decided that he wanted to be in the family business after his first engagement blew up in his face, Elliot snatched that carrot away.

  Richmond spent so many years trying to prove to his father that he was the one who should’ve been running the family business. That meant that he’d turned himself into Elliot’s puppet. All his father had to do was say jump, and Richmond asked how high?

  But those days were over.

  Richmond had decided to take his life back and be his own man for once. No more meaningless battles with Solomon over bullshit and scra
bbles created by Elliot. Adrian, Elliot’s other son, had also shown him how freeing it was to live by his own rules—even though they had a rocky start to their relationship.

  Picking up his phone, he called Solomon. Maybe his brother would be able to help him understand what to do about his Alicia problem.

  * * *

  Alicia poured herself a huge glass of wine as soon as she walked into her hotel room. Ignoring the notes from her friends, she plopped on the bed and downed her chardonnay. Why had Richmond Crawford gotten under her skin? What if she would’ve listened to Kandace and stayed away from the newly divorced Richmond?

  Setting her glass on the nightstand, she sighed and thought about that kiss. The heat, the tenderness, and the passion. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been kissed so senseless. But was she setting herself up for another heartbreak? Perhaps he wanted to test the waters as a single man; Dionne certainly wanted to test the waters. And it bothered her to no end.

  “Like you have any reason to be jealous?” Alicia took another sip of wine and forced herself to think about something else. A place to live, not next to Richmond’s gorgeous house and not in the horny councilwoman’s district either.

  Alicia polished off her wine, then decided that she needed to talk to Jade.

  “Well, well, look who remembers she has friends,” Jade said when she answered the phone.

  “Don’t do that. My friends made me want to forget them because they wanted to get all up in my business,” Alicia said with a laugh.

  “So, there is something going on with you and Mr. Crawford?”

  Alicia sighed. “That’s why I called you. Jade, there’s something about Richmond that has me all out of sorts. I’m feeling things that I haven’t felt in a long time.”

  “Forbidden fruit is always the most tempting. I’m all for you being happy, but this guy has a lot of baggage and—”

  “Like James didn’t? Like we all don’t?”

  “In defense of my husband, his baggage didn’t play out in the media.”

  “True. But we’re a long way away from New York,” Alicia said.

  “Okay. That may be true, but what happens if things go left and you still have to see him when we get together with Kandace?”

  “Oh, so I can’t have my happily-ever-after?”

  “That’s not what I’m saying. But,” Jade said, “you have to take this into consideration.”

  “And I thought you would be the one telling me to go for it,” Alicia said with a chuckle. She rose to her feet and poured herself another glass of wine. “I mean, how many months have you spent trying to set me up with every single man your husband knows?”

  “I didn’t . . . Listen, if Richmond is really what you want, then you don’t need my encouragement. You will do your thing and be done with it. But if you’re calling me for advice, I guess it is pretty deep.”

  Alicia took a sip of wine and realized two things: Jade could be smug at times, and her friend was right. “Fine,” she said. “I just don’t want to be a rebound fling.”

  “I get it,” Jade said. “But that’s the risk you take when you deal with a newly single man. Kandace was right. Richmond spent years in a loveless marriage and now he’s in Atlanta.”

  “Tell me about it.” Alicia then recounted her interaction with Dionne and how she flirted with Richmond as if Alicia wasn’t even there. When Alicia heard her friend chuckling, she was livid.

  “Really, Jade?” Alicia snapped.

  “Yes. I haven’t seen you this riled up about a dude . . . ever. Damn. Maybe Richmond is the one.”

  “I’m hanging up this phone, and do me a favor, keep this between us,” she said.

  “Of course,” Jade said. “But if you want him, then you better make it clear, because if Dionne is still the tramp she was in college, she’s going to let him know.”

  “Maybe I should just let it go. After all, it’s not as if—”

  “Nope! Don’t you start with that. One thing I know about you is that if you want something, you can’t be stopped. If that happens to be Richmond Crawford, then go for it. And save that man from Dionne, please. How in the hell did she get elected to anything?”

  It was Alicia’s turn to laugh now. “I know good and well that you aren’t still holding a grudge.”

  “I don’t hold grudges, but if I don’t like you, that’s for life. Besides, she broke all sorts of girl code back in the day, showing that she wasn’t trustworthy at all.”

  “Well, obviously the city of Atlanta disagrees with you. But that’s neither here nor there.”

  “Kandace is going to kill him if he hurts you, though.”

  “Jade, I’m not playing with you. Don’t you say a word to Kandace until I figure all of this out.”

  “Might be a good idea. But don’t feel like you have to hide your feelings from him, even if you are hiding them from Kandace.”

  Alicia laughed and took a sip of wine. “I should’ve taken him up on his offer.”

  “Wait. What?”

  “I got to go,” Alicia said, then ended the call. Taking another sip of her drink, she decided to call Richmond. But what in the hell was she going to say?

  * * *

  Richmond moved his phone from his ear as his brother laughed loudly. “I should’ve known you would fall for the first woman you met.”

  “I haven’t fallen for anyone,” Richmond said. “Alicia and I are starting a business relationship and I just happened to notice how smart and beautiful she is. All right, the woman is amazing and I’m possibly falling hard for her.”

  “You’d better be sure,” Solomon said with a sigh. “Because if you’re just playing the field, which you should do, Kandace is going to kill you.”

  “This has nothing to do with Kandace, and I’m probably not going to get the chance to be anything more than her business associate. This is a woman who doesn’t have a problem focusing on business, or my seduction skills are weak.”

  “Probably the latter,” Solomon quipped. “What you need to do is weigh the pros and cons about being more than a business associate of this woman. Alicia is a beautiful woman, but are you sure she wants to settle down? Hell, are you trying to settle down again?”

  “Did I say I wanted to marry the woman? Shit. Vivian is still trying to play the wife role. She had the nerve to call me because a credit card was declined.”

  Solomon chuckled. “Vivian is feeling really average right about now. Since all of y’all were in Atlanta this week and I didn’t have anything to do between Kiana’s naps, I might have gotten your ex blackballed.”

  “Aww, hell,” Richmond groaned. On the one hand, he was happy that Solomon had put Vivian in her place, but that meant he was going to have to deal with the fallout. And he was sure that meant more calls from his ex as their financial ties were severed completely. Richmond tried to do right by Vivian, if for no other reason than to keep her mouth shut.

  Now that Solomon had blackballed her in social circles, that would probably be a lot harder than he’d thought. But Richmond wasn’t going to let her use his goodwill against him.

  “So that’s what that call was about,” Richmond said. “While I can appreciate what you’ve done, do me a favor and stay out of this. Vivian can be trouble.”

  “How so?” Solomon asked. “She was living off our name and she can’t keep that going, especially with you starting over in Atlanta.”

  “And now that I’m starting this new chapter here, the last thing I need is Vivian dredging up the past. Just let the sleeping dog lie.”

  “I’m going to go on record and say this: Even when I didn’t like you much, I liked that lying bitch even less. I’ll respect what you want me to do when it comes to her, but I’m not sad that she’s not in the family anymore.”

  “Neither am I. Maybe I should’ve done it sooner,” Richmond said.

  “Maybe?”

  “Anyway! Alicia wants me to do some cover story with this local magazine, and the last thing
I need or want is a reporter reaching out to my bitter ex.”

  “But the South is different. A handsome face and a compelling story will make people forget about scandals.”

  Richmond released a frustrated sigh. While Solomon had weathered his own publicity scandals in the past, these days he was a media darling. A happy family man who didn’t seem bothered by his father’s seedy past. But for Richmond, it wasn’t that simple. He couldn’t deal with the fact that his mother hadn’t been the perfect woman he’d crafted her to be. It was pretty obvious that she and Elliot had been cut from the same cloth. Richmond thought about finding his real father, but what would that change for him? Did he really want to open that can of worms? It wasn’t as if he had a clue as to who the man was. And after all these years, did it really matter? The past was the past. But the future was where he needed to focus. And he wondered if Alicia was going to be a part of that future.

  She was all class and beauty. The woman of his dreams, even when he was wide awake. She had to know that she was irresistible. Richmond couldn’t help but wonder how many broken hearts she’d left in Charlotte when she decided to move to Atlanta.

  “Why did you get all quiet on me?” Solomon asked, breaking into Richmond’s thoughts.

  “Just thinking that I’ve never had the chance to fall in love. If Alicia could be my chance at love, I’m taking it.”

  “So, you’re serious about this thing?”

  “Hell, yes. One thing I can say I’ve learned from you and Adrian is that when chances are given to you, you have to take them.”

  “Then you’d better do it, big brother,” Solomon said. “Alicia isn’t the typical chick that you can impress with your name and business acumen.”

  “I got a strategy.”

  “Dude, this isn’t a business arrangement. You—”

  “I got this.”

  “I hear you, my brother. Hopefully, you won’t mess this up.”

  “Like I said, I have a plan and I’m about to work it.” Richmond’s phone beeped in his ear and he was surprised to see Alicia’s name flash across his screen. “Let me call you back.”