by Susanna Carr
“I’m telling the truth,” Asia said as she caught Julie’s gaze in the mirror. “Stop thinking about the woman you wish you were and play up to your strengths.”
Julie bit her bottom lip as she considered the strengths
of a girl next door. She never thought of them as such. She could be straightforward without being sexually aggressive. She wasn’t particularly thrilled with her wholesome image, but if she tried to approach him as a seductress, he would be on guard.
“I’m going to seduce him. Right now. He won’t suspect me making a move so fast.” And she won’t have time to talk herself out of her plans.
“Go for it!” Asia exclaimed.
“I’ll need to disarm him somehow, so I can get close.”
“Now you’re talking!”
Julie headed for the door. “I need to find the medicine cabinet.”
“Whoa!” Asia stopped her by grabbing her arm. “Are we talking disarming or drugging?”
“Don’t worry, Asia,” Julie said as she gave a comforting pat on her friend’s hand. “I want Eric to be fully alert and functioning when I seduce his brains out.”
* * *
ERIC BARELY HEARD THE timid knock. He dragged his eyes from the computer screen and glared at his office door. He didn’t want to see anyone right now. He wasn’t in the best mood, and he still had a job to do. “Come in,” he said harshly.
When the door opened, Eric was surprised to see Julie peek in. She seemed almost too shy to enter.
“I thought you might need these.” In one hand was a cup of water. In the other was a packet of aspirin.
“How did you know?” He knew it was a peace offering. That was totally Julie. She was sweet and nurturing. She also wasn’t the type to stay angry for long.
Julie stepped into the office and closed the door with her elbow. “I shouldn’t have carried on like I did,” she said with a grimace. “I’m sorry. You have enough to deal with.”
“It’s okay.” Eric slowly began to relax. Julie wasn’t going to make another argument to become a decoy. She wasn’t going to attempt to seduce him. He admitted he was slightly disappointed in that, but it was for the best.
Everything was all right now. Julie had finally come to her senses. “I want you to know that I wasn’t trying to hurt your feelings,” he said.
“I understand.” Julie placed the water and aspirin packet next to his phone. She rested her hip against the edge of his desk, her leg almost grazing his. “You’re protecting me.”
Eric frowned. Did her mouth tighten with annoyance? Nah. It was a trick of the light.
“If you want to work on the case, I can have you help out with audio,” Eric said. He knew she wanted to feel as if she were part of the team. It was the best compromise he could offer.
“Thanks, I appreciate that.” Julie crossed her legs and he heard the rasp of fabric. The turquoise wrap dress tightened against her hips and thighs, emphasizing her curves. He couldn’t help but notice her legs were bare and smooth.
Julie tilted her head. “You haven’t been getting enough sleep, have you?”
Her question gave him a start. He didn’t need a lot of sleep, but lately he had been spending more nights in the office than usual. “What makes you say that?”
Julie leaned closer. The V of her neckline gaped slightly, offering a glimpse of cleavage. “You look
really pale.”
“I do?” He dragged his gaze from her neckline.
She reached out and flattened her hand against his forehead. Every muscle in his body locked in response. “I don’t think you have a fever,” she said softly.
Her hand felt good. It was warm and gentle. He imagined what it would be like if she stroked him with those hands. She could torment him with a light touch.
“I can’t tell,” she said.
“What?” He blinked as he tried to refocus. “Can’t tell what?”
“If you have a fever. Hold on.” To his surprise, she leaned forward and pressed her mouth against his forehead. His heart lurched at the touch of her lips against his skin.
She was so close. Too close. Eric swiped his tongue along his mouth as he stared at her throat. He wanted to lick every inch of it, and then he would brand her with a love bite so everyone would know she was his.
He shouldn’t think like that. Julie wasn’t his and never would be. Eric closed his eyes, but that didn’t help. He caught a hint of her scent. It was warm and sweet like cinnamon. He found it difficult to swallow.
“No, no fever,” she said and cupped his face with both hands. He opened his eyes just in time to see Julie peer at him intently.
He wondered what she saw. Was she scared by the darkness in his eyes? She should be. She should be running far away. Didn’t she know that he could pounce at any moment?
“Do you hurt anywhere?”
“Hurt?” he repeated. She had a tender expression that twisted him up inside.
“Any aching?”
Oh, hell, yeah. He was beginning to ache. Eric shifted in his seat. “Were you a nurse in a former life?”
There was a mysterious, almost bittersweet smile. “At one time I thought about it, but I decided I don’t like hanging around hospitals.”
“I know the feeling.” When he was on enforced bed rest from his knife injury he almost went stir-crazy.
“I saw how nicely the doctors sewed you up.” She reached out and brushed her fingertips along the side of his ribs.
He remembered how he’d woken up that morning. Half-naked with Julie, soft and warm underneath him. She had fit snugly against him. The memory made him rock hard.
“You probably haven’t fully recovered.” She continued to caress his scar, almost absently. “You should rest more.”
He scowled at her suggestion. “I’ve been resting for the past six weeks.”
“No, you haven’t,” she disagreed softly. “You’ve been working night and day to help Perry. I admire that about you. Not many guys would take the time to help their godfathers.”
“It’s the least I could do.” He was uncomfortable by the admiring gleam in her eyes. He wasn’t a hero because he was helping a friend. “Perry took care of me plenty of times when I was growing up.”
“I bet you were wild.” Her eyes sparkled.
“I was.” Had she moved closer or had he? It didn’t matter. He needed to break the spell between them.
She arched one eyebrow. “Are you still wild?”
His chest tightened. “Yeah,” he confessed.
“Good,” she whispered. “I like wild.”
* * *
JULIE’S HEART POUNDED against her chest as she grazed her mouth against his. She thought she would feel brazen at this moment. Instead, she was nervous, not knowing if Eric was going to reject her.
She placed her hands on his shoulders and deepened the kiss. He tasted good. Hot, male and dangerous.
Eric didn’t respond. She wanted one more taste before he pulled away. With the dart of her tongue, Julie traced the lines of his mouth, encouraging him to part his lips.
She heard Eric groan, felt the rumble in his chest. He reached out and Julie was sure he would push her away. Instead, he grabbed her waist, his hands bunching her dress in his fists.
Julie wasn’t sure why he wasn’t tumbling her into his arms or, worse, setting her aside. When she felt the tremor in his shoulders, she understood. He was trying to hang on to the last shred of restraint.
She understood it because she felt the same way. But she wasn’t going to hold back any longer.
Julie thrust her tongue into Eric’s warm mouth and boldly explored. When Eric sucked her in deep, Julie moaned with pleasure.
The sound of her voice shattered the last of his resistance. He vaulted from his ch
air and pressed her body against his. Eric speared his hands through her hair, holding her still before he plunged his tongue into her mouth.
His kiss made her knees buckle. She had never been kissed like this before. He dominated. Mastered. Claimed. She surrendered without a fight.
Julie grabbed the front of Eric’s shirt and pulled him down with her. She lay across his desk, disregarding the pile of papers and whatever it was poking against her. All of her attention was on Eric.
She felt the urgency rippling through him as he rubbed his hands over her hips and stomach. His fierce kisses left her breathless. It was all Julie could do to hang on, her senses going wild. She inhaled his heat, his scent, and found it intriguing.
Eric was hot for her. He wanted her as much as she wanted him. She thought her seduction would end with a few kisses. She never thought it would go this far…that he wanted more. The knowledge filled her with confidence. She reached down to the tie at her waist and yanked it boldly. Her dress sagged open.
Eric broke the kiss and lifted his head. She pulled at her dress even more and watched his eyes darken with pleasure when he saw the pale blue lace of her bra.
He brushed her hands away and grabbed her dress. With his chest rising and falling with each ragged breath, he peeled her dress from her body. Julie’s breath hitched in her throat. It felt as if he were unwrapping a special present.
A tingle of nerves washed over her. Did he like what he saw? Or was it going to end before it began? Julie was tempted to strike a centerfold pose to show her body off in the best light.
Eric covered one of her breasts with his strong hand. She felt small and soft against him. Ultrafeminine. He teased her tight nipple against the satin and she shivered with delight.
He leaned down, yanked the bra away and licked the tip of her breast. He curled his tongue, then flattened it, before sweeping it against her nipple. Heat washed through her as he teased her.
Julie cried out. She clutched his head, her fingers caressing his hair, as she pressed him closer. She wanted more.
As he sucked her nipple, Eric trailed his hand down her abdomen, stroking her heated skin, learning the curves of her body. She tensed when he cupped her sex.
Even though she still wore pale blue panties, there was no way she could hide her arousal. He touched her boldly, dragging the edge of his thumb along the folds of her sex. She wanted him to rip her panties off and sink into her.
The phone next to her head rang. The shrill sound made her jump. She looked around, startled, but Eric rested his hand against her shoulder to soothe her.
“Ignore it,” he said against her breast, his voice low and rough. He slipped his fingertips beneath the lace of her panties. She desperately wanted to pretend nothing else existed but Eric and her.
“It’s an in-office ring.” It rang again and then stopped. Panic fluttered inside her chest. “If you don’t answer, someone will come looking for you.”
“I won’t answer the door,” he promised and did something with his tongue that sent a spray of wild sensations down her spine.
“But I didn’t lock it,” she said between gasps.
“Why would you? You didn’t know…” Tension flooded his body. She knew the moment he’d figured out her plans. Eric pulled his hands away and raised his head. His eyes were an intense blue and he glared accusingly at her. “You set me up.”
Her first instinct was to apologize, but she bit back the words. She didn’t have anything to feel sorry about. “I didn’t think it would go this far, Eric.” She could tell by the look in his eyes that he didn’t believe her. “But a deal’s a deal,” she said, her voice quavering. “I get to be a decoy.”
4
ERIC TOOK A STEP BACK and Julie used the opportunity to scurry off his desk. “I can’t believe it,” he muttered dazedly.
She wondered what he meant as she quickly fastened her bra, not looking at him. What couldn’t he believe? She thought as she hastily tied her dress with fumbling fingers. That she had seduced him?
Yeah, she couldn’t believe it, either.
Eric sat down in his chair, his legs sprawled out as if they couldn’t support him. His shirt was creased, his short hair mussed and his mouth was reddened by kisses.
He was the sexiest man she’d ever seen. Julie wished she could straddle his legs, rip open the wrinkled shirt and go wild on him.
Eric splayed his arms out. “What the hell?” he asked.
The straddling was obviously going to have to wait. Her skin may still be tingling, but Eric wouldn’t touch her with a ten-foot pole.
Julie glanced away, unwilling for him to see the lust shining in her eyes. She belatedly noticed that the sash of her dress was a mess and hurriedly untied it.
She didn’t mean to flash him. She really didn’t.
Eric hissed air between his clenched teeth. “Julie.”
“Sorry,” she muttered and tied her sash in a tangled knot before smoothing her hair with her hands. She knew she was a wreck. Like she’d just rolled around the desk with a hot, gorgeous guy. A guy who was still staring at her as if she were a threat.
No one had ever looked her at like that before. She usually went unnoticed and hated it, but this was uncomfortable. Unsettling. She wasn’t sure if she liked it.
Eric leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, as he pinned her with an intense glare. “How far did you plan for it to go?”
Her face heated. If she told him she had been aiming for a kiss, he’d think she was far too innocent for him. “It wasn’t really a plan….”
“I should have known.” A muscle bunched in his cheek. “Reckless as always.”
“It was more of a—” she waved her hand in the air, her limbs felt uncoordinated and jittery “—vague idea.”
“Vague idea,” he repeated dully. Eric closed his eyes and shoved his hands in his hair. “I could have sworn you were with me every step of the way.”
“I was,” she answered hoarsely. “Several steps ahead of you, actually.”
But Eric didn’t seem to be listening as he shook his head slowly. “If the phone hadn’t rung, I would be deep inside of you right now.”
Julie’s legs wobbled as she squeezed her eyes shut. She easily imagined Eric’s long, powerful thrusts into her. Filling, stretching and driving deep. Julie shuddered and opened her eyes to find Eric right in front of her.
She jumped back in surprise and her legs hit the couch. She struggled to keep her balance as Eric towered over her. It was difficult to maintain a distance when she inhaled his scent.
“You shouldn’t tease a man like that.” His quiet tone was at odds with the fierce energy pulsing from him. “It’s dangerous.”
Julie didn’t feel as if she had been in any danger. She felt as if a present had been ripped from her hands just when she had unwrapped it. Hopeful but dissatisfied.
Eric didn’t look hopeful. He stood close but was careful not to touch her. As if a brush of skin, a simple touch, would crumble his restraint. One word, one look, and he was hers.
Julie’s breath hitched in her throat when she recognized she held this kind of sexual power over Eric. She nervously licked her lips and Eric’s hot gaze followed the movement.
“You’re lucky I stopped when I did,” he said, sounding raw.
“Funny—” she tried to drawl the word as her heart pumped ferociously “—I was just going to say the same to you.”
Eric’s eyes narrowed. He didn’t like that, she noted with a spurt of pleasure. He didn’t like how she could wield this power over him, and he absolutely didn’t like that she knew it, too.
If only she knew why she had him under her spell and how she could use this power. For good, of course. Okay, maybe for evil, too. She didn’t want to be the good girl of his dreams. She wanted to be the bad g
irl of his deepest, dirtiest fantasies.
She swayed toward him just as she heard a cursory knock on the door. Julie’s heart leaped and Eric stepped away. She watched like a deer caught in the headlights as the door swung open.
“Eric?” Perry Gunthrie stepped into the office. “Oh, I didn’t know you were here, Julie. Sorry to interrupt, but Eric, do you have a moment?”
The sight of her boss was like a splash of cold water. She was torn with the need to get him out of the room and the need to tell him about her new assignment. As much as she disliked the intrusion, she knew that timing was crucial. If she wanted to become a decoy, she had to work fast before Eric backed out on the deal.
“Perry, guess what?” she asked as she walked over to him. She caught a glimpse of Eric as he returned to his desk. He was on full alert, ready to pounce at any sign of trouble. “You can be the first to congratulate me.”
“What for, Julie?” Perry asked indulgently.
Julie linked her arm with Perry’s and looked directly at Eric. “Eric agreed that I can be the decoy.”
Eric didn’t say anything. He remained still and there was no change in his expression, but Julie felt the darkening of his mood. Julie tensed, wondering if he was going to renege on the deal.
“Really?” Perry’s gravelly voice rose in surprise. “That’s wonderful, honey.” He patted her hand that rested on his arm and focused on his godson. “What changed your mind, Eric?”
Julie’s gaze sharpened on Eric, but he kept his attention on the older man.
“Julie can be very persuasive.”
She didn’t like his tone, but she was thankful Eric wasn’t any more forthcoming. She wasn’t ashamed of their deal. It had been an impetuous bet, but it had worked in her favor.
She would not feel guilty about this. She gave him fair warning. She didn’t pretend or fake her responses.
“Julie’s enthusiasm is contagious,” Perry admitted.
“I don’t know about that,” Eric said with a shrug. “But she’ll do anything to get her man.”
“I am in the room, you guys,” Julie reminded them, casting a warning glare at Eric.
