Turn Me On

by Faye Avalon

  “Can’t possibly leave you in your hour of need. Why don’t I walk you to your car? That way I’ll be on hand if you need my body as a shield for your modesty.”

  “I’m sure I’ll survive the humiliation.”

  She sauntered off, her bag half clutched across her chest to cover the ripped fabric as best she could. Thankfully, she reached her car without any incident and pulled on the linen jacket and buttoned it to cover the torn blouse.

  When she headed back toward the wedding party, her not-so-gallant knight was nowhere to be seen. Good. She had about fifteen minutes or so of this torture left, before the bridal party headed off for the reception at some swanky hotel along the coast. Then she could relax again as she made for her next booking at a children’s party in the opposite direction.

  Goodbye to Ethan, goodbye to Marco…and goodbye to blue eyes with the arrogant grin.

  Chapter Two

  “So hit me. What’s the damage?”

  Staring out from the window of his harbourside office, Reed Fitzgerald gripped his cell phone and waited for his friend’s response. Seeing as Jack was also his lawyer and the reason for their current conversation was far from pleasurable, Reed’s jaw tightened.

  “Not good news,” Jack confirmed. “It holds up.”

  “Shit.” Reed closed his eyes and cursed himself for his stupidity. Okay, he might have been a horny twenty-year-old and piss-assed drunk at the time, but stupid regardless. “Any loopholes?”

  “None I can count on. We could try ignoring and see what happens, but as we both know the nature of the beast, I wouldn’t hold out much hope the problem will lay down and die.”

  “Shit,” Reed said again as he opened his eyes and looked out at the boats and yachts bobbing in Brighton’s busy marina. “Money?”

  “Don’t think that will work.” Jack huffed down the phone. “There’s potentially more available if she holds you to it than if you try paying her off. Cynthia’s the type of woman who’ll dig her five inch heels in if she sniffs you’re desperate to be rid of her. There’s not enough pay off in the world to stop her.”

  At the intrusive buzz of his intercom, Reed turned from the window. “Keep looking for an out, Jack. I’m not being steamrollered by a damn woman. There has to be a get-out somewhere in this.”

  As his friend signed off with the promise to keep searching, Reed walked to his desk and pressed the button on the intercom.

  The disembodied voice of his assistant echoed around his spacious office. “Your eleven o’clock is here, Reed.”

  “Thanks, Shaz.” In the time he’d been on the phone to his friend, he’d almost forgotten his appointment and wasn’t entirely sure he now wanted to follow things up with the hazel-eyed photographer he’d met briefly at Ethan’s wedding. At least not when he had one hell of a woman problem on his hands already. “Give me two minutes then show her in.”

  He’d planned to be seated on the leather sofa across his office to greet Lissa Delaney, but after the phone call with Jack he was now so damn antsy he stayed behind his large mahogany desk where he could pace if the mood required.

  He was certain she wouldn’t have made the connection between him and the owner of Triton Developments, who she’d come to see to discuss a potential contract for her company. He could hardly imagine she would have come out of hiding long enough to ask his identity from someone at the church.

  But he’d discovered hers. He hadn’t been able to stop himself. Damn. It had been a long time since he’d enjoyed such an intense physical attraction to a woman. Even longer since he’d engaged in such stimulating verbal sparring. Maybe it was perverse of him, but he liked that he’d had to work so hard. Loved that she’d knocked him back, even as she’d enticed him to return for more.

  Hell. The woman intrigued him.

  God alone knew what had sent her skulking around at the wedding, but his money was on the old lover theory. For sure, only the unwelcome prospect of running into an old flame would have driven her to such measures.

  Yes. Definitely an old lover. But who the hell was it?

  Using up some of his revved energy, he walked around the desk and positioned the guest chairs at the angle he preferred. Satisfied he moved back and sat in the old leather chair that had belonged to his grandfather.

  He indulged himself by enjoying her anticipated reaction when she walked in and found him there. Hopefully they’d enjoy more of that banter, indulge in some further sparring. At some stage, he’d have to admit that he’d called her boss at the studio, said how they’d met briefly at his cousin’s wedding, and that he’d wanted Lissa to meet him to discuss a potential contract with Triton.

  He’d done his best to keep her off balance at the wedding, and he’d liked it. He liked that she reacted to him. It was only fair, seeing as how he’d been feeling decidedly off balance himself. One glimpse of her plump breast spilling out of that white lace when she’d torn her top, and then the way her nipple had hardened beneath the flimsy fabric, had made his cock ache the rest of the whole damn day.

  He thought of her hot little body, the fact that if he held out one arm, she’d likely fit beneath it and could plaster those delicious curves against his responsive body. He loved the way her sultry hazel eyes smoldered up at him. The way her sexy blonde hair teased her shoulders. She tried to hide the fact she was attracted to him, seemingly every bit as much as he was to her, and he wondered if she’d spent the rest of the day thinking of him the way he had her.

  The brief tap on the door halted his musing, and his assistant smiled before stepping back to allow Lissa to walk through.

  Dressed in a smart navy jacket and knee length skirt, Lissa froze just inside the door as Shaz closed it behind her. She stared at him, clutching a square black folder he assumed contained the company’s portfolio. Those hazel eyes went wide and her face paled.

  Shit. He hadn’t meant to put her this much off balance. Seeing as she’d more than matched him in verbal repartee at the wedding, he’d assumed she had enjoyed their sparring as much as he had. Seeing her reaction now, maybe he’d been wrong.

  “Ms. Delaney.” Fearing she might crumple at any moment, he stood and moved around his desk to hold out a chair for her. “It’s good to see you again.”

  Across the room he saw her swallow, but she remained rooted to the spot. “What is this?”

  Pointedly, he glanced around the room. “It appears to be my office.”

  “I mean, what am I doing here?”

  He moved back to his side of the desk and sat. “You’re here to pitch me your wares,” he said, watching the way her eyes narrowed. He was pleased to see a spear of color moving into her cheeks again. “If I like what you have to offer, we may well do business.”

  In more ways than one.

  Hesitantly, she stepped forward. “Have you been stalking me?”

  He grinned, hiding the fact that her comment was too near the truth to completely reject. “Let’s just say I liked your proficiency at my cousin’s wedding and have need of a professional photographer.”

  “My boss said you specifically requested me.”

  “I ran a check on your company and found them to be highly regarded in the area, but as I told your boss, I prefer the personal touch.” He waited a beat. “Since we already know each other personally, it seemed a perfectly sound business decision.”

  With her gaze on his, like a woman afraid to lose eye contact in the company of a wild and marauding beast, she moved to the chair he’d indicated and sat. “We don’t know each other personally.”

  He grinned. “Not yet.”

  “Not ever. Is this some sort of misguided way to seduce me or something? Don’t you have better things to do with your time? Better priorities?”

  “Since it’s my company, I decide my priorities.” Seeing as she still seemed unsettled, he resisted the almost overwhelming need to let his eyes peruse her body, but couldn’t resist holding her steady gaze. “Maybe I’ve decided you’re one of those p
riorities.”

  Levering her chin into the air, she leaned forward to place the black portfolio on his desk and opened it. “You said you needed a professional photographer?”

  Reed sat back in his chair and nodded at the portfolio. “You need only do a light sell.” He met her eyes again. “Since I’m basically already hooked.”

  Her chin went up another inch and she narrowed those big eyes. He wondered if her breasts were encased in that same white lace, if her ripe, abundant flesh was bursting over the top. Since the jacket of her business suit didn’t afford him so much as a stingy glimpse, he could only swallow his frustration. It didn’t stop him from imagining peeling away the jacket though, or slipping the buttons on the pristine white blouse. Damn. He hadn’t been so powerfully turned on by a woman since…ever, he realized.

  The snap of her portfolio jogged him from his salacious musing.

  “I don’t intend to sell myself, Mr. Fitzgerald, if that’s what you’re implying. Nor do I intend to sit here and again be subjected to your sordid innuendos.” She stood briskly. “You’d be better talking to one of my associates, that is if you really do want to do business with my company and this is not all some sham to get me into your bed.”

  Since she was already halfway to the door, Reed shot from his seat and in the process banged his knee on the corner of his desk. He bit back an oath, deciding that maybe fracturing a knee joint might just serve him right for coming on to her like a complete jerk. “Why don’t you at least hear my proposition?”

  She stopped, turned slowly, and drew back her shoulders as she glared at him. “I already know what that proposition will be. And I can assure you, Mr. Fitzgerald, no job is worth that much sacrifice to me.”

  He smiled inwardly, pleased that she was back to giving as good as she got. “You’re putting words in my mouth, Ms. Delaney. That is, if you’re alluding to my requiring certain things in return for you gaining my business.”

  “Oh come on.” She gave him a derogatory once-over. “Pitch you my wares? If you like what I have to offer we may well do business? I need only do a light sell because you’re already hooked?” She sneered. “What? Do you think I’m an idiot?”

  “Far from it. Which is precisely why I want to do business with you.”

  “And which of my attributes have you based that on exactly? You know nothing of my work, my negotiating skills, or my business expertise.”

  “I know that your negotiating skills extend to convincing your boss that he should let you stay in the background at a wedding event, when in doing so obviously put him under immense pressure at said event. I know that your organizational skills are excellent as I watched you herding the celebrating hoards into viable groups so that photographs could be taken in an efficient and organized manner. As for your other attributes,” he said with a grin, “I’ve got eyes and can vouch for them firsthand.”

  She pursed her lips. “You’re pretty arrogant.”

  “You already told me that. Why don’t you sit back down and we can continue our negotiations?”

  She hesitated, before allowing him to lead her over to the deep leather sofa.

  He sat beside her, watching her tug down the hem of her skirt as it rode up her thighs.

  “You should keep your mind on business,” she warned as she looked up and caught his gaze. “That way I can’t mistake that you’re alluding to anything untoward.”

  He sat back, making sure his knee brushed hers. “My mind is always on business, but I’ve got room for other interests, too. As for my alluding to anything? Well, let’s just say if there’s something I want I’ll let you know. Clearly. There’ll be no reason for you to second guess.”

  Her cheeks went pink, which pleased him immensely. “I’m not exactly having to second guess at the way your eyes keep going to my legs right now.”

  He grinned. “They’re excellent legs.”

  Her cheeks went darker. “Why don’t we get down to business?”

  “I thought we already were.”

  She glanced away as her fingers tightened around the black portfolio on her lap. When she looked back, she held his gaze. “You’re not the only one who makes thing clear, and if there’s something I want, or don’t want, you’ll know it, too.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “Then we’re on the same page.”

  “I want to keep this on a strictly professional footing.” She clasped her hands together on top of the portfolio. “Why don’t you tell me what it is you want and I’ll…my company will do everything possible to accommodate your needs.”

  Hell. That statement was just too delicious to let go without a fitting response. Stretching one arm along the back of the sofa, Reed allowed his fingers to flirt dangerously close to her silky blonde hair. “What needs are we talking about?”

  “Professional,” she said clearly. “That goes without saying.”

  Okay. He’d let it go at that. For now. “I want an innovative photographic record of a high profile development I’m about to start.” She nodded and grabbed a notebook from her bag. “The actual photographs will form part of the interior’s décor, which means they’ll need to be creative and inventive.”

  He watched her scribble in her notepad, liking the way her teeth caught her bottom lip as she concentrated. So focused was he in watching her, he lost his train of thought and didn’t recover it until she looked up at him and cleared her throat. “Anything else?”

  Although Reed knew he was pushing his luck, instincts other than his business ones had taken over. He decided to go for broke. “There is something else, and seeing as we’ve agreed to play it straight, I’m just going to say it.” His blood heated beneath all that hazel temptation as he held her gaze. “I want to take you to bed.”

  Her eyes widened for an instant, just enough for him to recognise a quality in them that indicated she didn’t find his suggestion completely intolerable, then slowly she closed her notebook. “You can’t help yourself, can you?” For a moment, Reed thought she might make for the door again, but she simply lay her hands palms down on the closed pad in her lap. “Is it so difficult for you to keep your mind on business?”

  “I could act like I’m not attracted to you.” And not sitting here with a raging hard-on. “But that would make me a hypocrite. The truth is I want you.”

  When she didn’t bolt, Reed reached out and brushed the tips of his fingers against hers. She looked down at his hand, but said nothing. “Unless I’m completely losing my instincts, I think you’re attracted to me. You want to know how it would be between us.” He leaned in. “Shall I tell you, princess?” The scent of her, citrus and flowers, whispered through his senses. “Or shall I just show you?”

  Her throat contracted as she swallowed, but then she looked up and straight at him. “You’re behaving inappropriately.”

  Encouraged by the fact she hadn’t yet moved, Reed leaned closer and touched his mouth to hers. Her lips were warm, but stayed rigidly closed. He drew away, not wanting to push too far, too soon. “Sometimes inappropriately is the best way to behave.”

  She glanced away. Beneath his hand her fingers tightened.

  “Sometimes, it’s not.” She nudged his hand away, opened her notebook, and straightened her shoulders. “How about we get back to business?”

  Folding his arms across his chest, so he didn’t do something stupid and reach out to her and beg, Reed sat back. The more she shoved him away, the more he seemed to want to push things forward. For the life of him he couldn’t work out what it was about her that made him so resolute in his pursuit. “You still owe me a drink,” he pressed. “After your disappearing act at the reception.”

  “It wasn’t a disappearing act. I had another job booked.”

  “Meet me tonight.” Reed stood and walked back to his desk. “We’ll talk more about my requirements over that drink. Papa Niko’s.”

  In the act of popping her notebook back into her bag, she looked up at him with something akin to shock on her face. �
�Papa Niko’s?”

  Reed selected a folder on his desk and walked back to her. “You know it?” She swallowed, nodded, and he held out the folder. “Take a look at this before tonight. We’ll discuss it further when we meet.”

  Since she’d turned pale again, he took a moment to think back over what he’d said that had caused her reaction. The only thing he could think of was mentioning Marco’s place. “Something wrong?” he asked when she didn’t respond.

  She shook her head, but her eyes didn’t meet his. “I just wondered if we could meet somewhere closer to town.”

  Seeing as Papa Niko’s was less than a mile from town, Reed frowned. He didn’t have to search far into his memory banks to recall her reaction to Marco Zutini at the wedding reception. Add that to his old lover theory and her reluctance to meet at the trendy wine bar…it didn’t take an Einstein to connect the dots.

  Zutini was the ex-lover.

  Heat flared in his chest. Marco was a player, or had been until he’d met Beth. His reputation with women was almost legendary along the south coast. Reed wasn’t sure how he felt about Lissa being one of Marco’s hits.

  Which was a fucking lie. He knew damn well how he felt about it.

  He wanted to cut Zutini’s balls off.

  “Has to be Papa Niko’s,” Reed decided, tamping down the irritation that shot tension into his shoulders. “I’ve got business with the owner and can kill two birds with one stone. I need to get moving on this. Construction’s starting soon, and I don’t want any more delays.”

  Lissa stood and stepped forward, her eyes large as she tapped the brochure in her hand. “Then why not talk me through this now?”

  His irritation at the knowledge of Lissa having had a thing with Marco, coupled with the edgy feeling that had plagued him since his phone call with Jack, made his hands fist.

  Did she still have feelings for Marco? Had she been the lover Marco had jilted when Beth came into his life? Was she still harboring a hope that they would get back together?

  While the questions spun in his head, Reed’s chest began to burn. “Papa Niko’s. Seven.” He moved to the door. “If you have a problem with that, I’ll find someone who doesn’t.”