Seeds of Desire

by Karenna Colcroft

  Seeds of Desire

  Karenna Colcroft

  For Cassidy Shelton, working with Jared Jackson is a form of torture, partly because of his arrogant attitude and partly because of the lust for him that Cassidy can’t quite deny.

  When the two are sent on an overnight business trip to promote a reforestation project, their desire peaks. From making out in Jared’s car to seduction through thin hotel walls, sparks fly fast and furious between them. Cassidy may feel ambivalent about Jared, but her body doesn’t.

  But when Jared strips away the arrogance to bare his heart, can Cassidy accept it? And can she admit, even to herself, that she feels the same about him?

  Ellora’s Cave Publishing

  www.ellorascave.com

  Seeds of Desire

  ISBN 9781419931666

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  Seeds of Desire Copyright © 2011 Karenna Colcroft

  Edited by Jillian Bell

  Cover art by Syneca

  Electronic book publication January 2011

  The terms Romantica® and Quickies® are registered trademarks of Ellora’s Cave Publishing.

  With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.® 1056 Home Avenue, Akron OH 44310-3502.

  Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the publisher’s permission. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/). Please purchase only authorized electronic or print editions and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted material. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

  Seeds of Desire

  Karenna Colcroft

  Chapter One

  Jared leaned over the podium, looking for all the world like a king addressing his subjects. “The ice storm a few years back decimated the entire area. All the trees were lost. The ones the storm didn’t fell died and had to be cut down. We’ve restored the soil and plants are growing there now, so it should be in optimum shape for new trees.”

  The good old corporate spin. Jared made it sound like JaBro Construction was solely responsible for the area’s vegetation recovering from the storm. Cassidy glared up at her colleague. His tousled dark brown hair appeared messy, but the look had taken him nearly half an hour to accomplish that morning in the motel. At least, that was how long she’d heard his blow dryer through the thin wall separating their rooms. In his royal-blue button-down shirt, burgundy tie and charcoal slacks, he was the epitome of businesslike. As long as one wasn’t distracted by how perfectly the slacks accentuated his ass, or how he’d rolled up the shirtsleeves to show off his muscular forearms.

  She shivered. Focus, Cass! Of all the bad times for her hormones to take over, this was the worst. Not only because they had to present JaBro’s tree-planting program to a bunch of rural townspeople, but also because she refused to let herself even consider lusting after Jared Jackson. The biggest jackass she’d ever met, standing there as he always did at these meetings, sounding like a bureaucrat.

  Which, of course, he was. The whole event had been created by a bureaucracy. The speeches, the meeting hall, even the refreshments were one big public relations stunt.

  Three months earlier, Cassidy had signed on to work with the JaBro Company as a consultant, knowing full well she’d sold out. The company was nothing more than a corporate glob that had devoured several smaller companies. Because polls had shown a negative public opinion of them, JaBro’s higher-ups had decided to “give back to the people” by planting trees in parts of the state that had been devastated by an ice storm a few years earlier. They’d hired Cassidy to help them do it.

  What she hadn’t expected was being paired with Jared, the son of JaBro’s owner. From the moment they’d met, her body had craved his touch. Each time he looked at her, she felt his gaze as if it were dancing over her skin. Just watching his easy movements when he walked or stood or gestured as he spoke to groups of townspeople brought moisture to her cunt.

  Of course, each time he opened his mouth to speak to her, he spoiled everything. His snide comments about tree-hugging and “going green” made her determined never to let on how much she wanted him. He would just think he was entitled to her, the way his father’s money entitled him to everything else. He obviously thought of her only as the hippie chick his father had hired to keep the environmentalists happy, and if he had any interest in her at all, it was probably just to see how easy she’d be to get into bed.

  She looked down at her notes. She would be next to stand in front of the small crowd that had gathered in the combination town hall and recreation center to hear JaBro’s pitch for volunteers to help with the planting project. From the glazed looks on the faces of the people near her, she’d have her work cut out for her. Despite the double talk, Jared at least gave a somewhat entertaining presentation. Hers, as planned, would be dry and boring. She had no chance of holding what little interest the audience had mustered. She didn’t even look as appealing as Jared. Her navy-blue skirt and jacket fit nicely but not comfortably, and the bun she’d forced her shoulder-length blonde hair into tugged painfully at her scalp. If she looked as uncomfortable as she felt, she’d present an unpleasant picture for the crowd.

  Unfortunately, Tom Jackson, head of JaBro, had decreed that his environmental consultant and PR rep had to look professional at these meetings with town residents. Jared wore “professional” well. Cassidy felt like a kid playing dress-up in her mom’s work clothes.

  Finally, Jared finished his speech. To the sound of scattered applause, he stepped down from the podium. He winked at Cassidy as he passed and she quickly looked away, face heating. Those startling blue eyes of his, a stark contrast to his dark hair and tan skin, drilled straight to her cunt every time he looked at her. Whenever he was close, her clit beat like a tiny heart.

  He sat down in the front row, which meant she had to get up to the podium before the crowd fell asleep or walked out. She didn’t have time to lust after Jared. With a deep breath, she went to the front of the room, heart pounding. She hated speaking to groups and now, with mental images of a naked Jared standing—or, better yet, kneeling—in front of her, she didn’t know if she’d be able to pull off the businesslike speech she’d written.

  For fuck’s sake, Cass, focus!

  If she’d realized the job required public speaking, she’d have turned JaBro’s offer down flat, despite the outrageous amount they’d offered to pay her. Especially if she’d known how much more rebellious her mind and hormones would become after spending so much time on the road with Jared.

  She shuffled her note cards for a second, rounding up her errant thoughts and trying to force the blush away from her cheeks, then began, “I’d like to thank you for coming today.” She looked out over the gathering, careful not to actually meet anyone’s gaze, especially Jared’s. That would only fluster her so much she’d be unable to speak at all.

  She swallowed and continued her introduction, reminding the townspeople why she and Jared had come to speak to them and of the benefits of JaBro’s replanting plan. Then came the pitch, the part she hated most. Asking the townspeople to assist in the dirty work of pl
anting the “gift” from JaBro.

  “That’s why we’ve asked you here today,” she said. Her voice cracked slightly on the last word and she took a deep breath before continuing. “Although JaBro employees will be assisting with the planting, we’re asking residents of the areas which will benefit from this program to volunteer their time to do some of the work as well. With Earth Day right around the corner, what better way to honor our planet and improve your town?”

  A man in the front row raised his hand. “What do we get out of it?” he demanded without waiting to be recognized.

  Cassidy frowned at him. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

  “JaBro’s going to receive a whole bunch of free publicity,” he muttered. “What about us? Volunteering means no pay. You and your big company might not realize it, but there’s a recession on and some of us are scrambling to make ends meet. So what do we gain from helping you?”

  He sounded angry. Cassidy didn’t blame him. This part of the state had lost a lot of jobs when the recession hit, and there hadn’t been that many to start. She made a mental note to talk to Jared’s father, the owner of JaBro, about providing some financial compensation for their “volunteer” planters.

  “Trees,” Jared said, standing. Cassidy stared at him. She hadn’t expected him to rescue her. If he disliked her half as much as she did him, the only reason he’d help her would be to get something out of it. Some kind of payback. Like making her kneel in front of him… Quickly, she steered her mind back on course, ignoring the little thrill that ran through her at the possibilities of what Jared could make her do. “Beautification of your town, which might attract new businesses. A grant from JaBro Corporation for one year’s upkeep on the new plantings and an opportunity to apply for construction and other positions with JaBro. It’s true, we are in a recession, but JaBro is a homegrown company and we intend to help our neighbors.”

  Cassidy managed not to roll her eyes as she confirmed, “Yes, JaBro is committed to the citizens of its home state, and we hope you will acknowledge that by committing just a little of your time to JaBro. We have a sign-up sheet at the table where you entered. Feel free to help yourself to refreshments as well. Are there any questions?”

  Several people had questions, which Cassidy happily let Jared field. He was the PR man, after all. She was just the environmental consultant. She dealt far better with plants than with other human beings, whereas just about anything sounded plausible when he said it, to the point where some of the townspeople practically ran to add their names to the volunteer list.

  Eventually, the room cleared out. Cassidy slumped into one of the empty chairs.

  “Thank goodness that’s over,” she muttered. “Tell me again why you had to drag me along on this?”

  “I wanted the locals to see how passionate you are.” Jared winked lewdly. “About the environment, that is.”

  Cassidy pantomimed gagging and Jared chuckled. She turned away, disgusted. He acted like such a skeeze. She hadn’t used that word since high school, but it seemed appropriate for Jared Jackson.

  If he was a skeeze, though, she shouldn’t be so attracted to him. The way his tongue and lips had curled around the word “passionate” brought her images of how they’d feel curled around her nipples or clit. It made no sense. She would never fuck a man she couldn’t stand.

  “The environment is important, and so is this project,” she said firmly. She stood and went over to the table to collect the sign-up list. Looking at the trash the townspeople had left behind, she cringed. “We aren’t supposed to clean this mess up, are we?”

  “Nope,” Jared assured her. “We have people for that.”

  No surprise. JaBro had “people” for everything.

  Cassidy yawned. “Good. Then I’m going back to the motel.”

  He walked over and leaned over her shoulder. His body heat warmed her from head to toe and a tingle of arousal shot through her as he brushed against her ass. He smelled like warm mint chocolate, a living aphrodisiac, and she had a strong impulse to lick him and find out whether he tasted as good as he smelled. She took an involuntary step away and glanced at him to see a satisfied grin on his face. He apparently thrived on making her uncomfortable, the jerk.

  “How many people signed up to plant?” he asked.

  Cassidy scanned the list. “Looks like about fifty. Pretty good, considering we had fewer than a hundred here.” She couldn’t resist a little dig at him. “Either you need to do a better job publicizing these little meetings, or people don’t really give a damn. We haven’t been doing too well with the turnouts lately.”

  He glared at her. “That guy was right. We’re in a recession here. People aren’t as interested in trees and that kind of thing if they’re trying to feed and house their families.” He sounded as if other people’s struggles actually affected him, though Cassidy had her doubts they did.

  Jared walked away from the table. She watched him go, at first not even realizing that she was staring at his ass. When she caught herself, she closed her eyes for a moment. Get the hell over it!

  “I’ll give you a ride back to the hotel, unless you have some deep-seated philosophical objection to cars,” he shot over his shoulder.

  She had no objection to cars at all. Only to the idea of being trapped in a small, enclosed space with Jared for the time it would take to reach the hotel. They’d driven to the meeting together, of course. JaBro provided only one company car for these trips. However, on the way to the hall, Cassidy had been too worried about her speech to think about him. Now that her libido had taken over, she didn’t know if she trusted herself to be that near to him with no one else around. She might wind up touching him, rubbing his thigh or something harder.

  Or she might get control of herself and take the damn ride. Inhaling deeply, she reminded herself that she didn’t fuck jackasses. She didn’t have much choice about riding with him, anyway. Since five miles separated the hall from the motel, and Cassidy had worn non-sensible shoes, she chose not to snipe at him. Walking that far in these heels would suck. “Thanks for the enthusiastic offer,” she muttered, following him outside.

  Neither spoke on the short drive. Jared seemed preoccupied, probably replaying the memory of his marvelous speech. His silence relieved Cassidy. The short time alone with him in the hall had amped up her arousal and as they drove, she daydreamed. Kissing those lips of his, almost too full to belong to a man. His hand kneading her breast while she stroked his hard cock through his dress pants.

  Yeah, I have issues. No matter how many times she tried to convince herself she felt nothing for the man, her body disagreed. And sitting so close to him in the front seat of the car did nothing to quench her desires.

  The moment Jared parked, Cassidy unfastened her seat belt. She had to get away from him before her hormones overruled her logic.

  “Wait,” Jared said.

  Surprised, she turned to him. He put the car in park, leaned across the gap between the seats and cupped her face in his hands. Before she could stop him, he pressed his lips to hers.

  She was unable to prevent her response to his touch. His hands on her bare skin sent sparks through her. Her clit throbbed. To break free, she would have to struggle, and that excited her more than she was willing to admit.

  Her mouth moved against his and she flicked his lips with her tongue. He smiled and licked her tongue with his own. One of his hands left her face and traced down her neck. She shivered in delight at the light touch.

  Finally remembering that she had hands too, she placed one on his thigh. His body heat seeped through his slacks, increasing the heat between her legs. His soft moan informed her that he wanted her at least as badly as she did him, and she confirmed it by brushing her hand over his hard cock.

  “Fuck yes, Cass,” he murmured against her mouth. His hand found her breast and squeezed it gently.

  Her nipples stiffened and moisture flooded her. She wanted his hands on her everywhere, bare skin against bare skin
. She ached for his cock. If he wanted her here and now, she wouldn’t stop him from taking her.

  She rubbed his cock harder and was rewarded by it twitching against her hand. Their tongues swirled together, the kiss deepening as they moved their hands over each other’s bodies. Jared slipped his fingers through her hair then gripped tightly, tilting her head back. She cried out into the kiss and grasped his arm, unsure whether she meant to stop or encourage him.

  He broke the kiss and stared into her eyes, breathing heavily. “Let me see you,” he said hoarsely. “Please, Cass.” He played with the button at the top of her blouse. “Let me. I want to touch you. Taste you. Please.”

  Slowly, he undid the button. She held her breath, waiting for his next move. Would he take her shirt off entirely? Suck her nipples, knead her breasts as she’d fantasized?

  How far would she let him go while they sat here?

  Here. In the motel parking lot where anyone might see, with the man she’d made up her mind she couldn’t stand. The realization hit her like a bucket of cold water.

  What the hell am I doing? Abruptly, she shoved him away and scooted back against her door. “No.”

  Stunned, he shook his head. “I thought… God, Cassidy, I want you. Look how hard I am.” He gestured at the appealing bulge in the front of his slacks. Despite herself, Cassidy reached for it, then yanked her hand back. “Touch me,” he urged. “Please. Cass, we can go inside, but please don’t make me stop now. You want me too. You can’t tell me different.”

  “No!” She opened her door. “I-I’m sorry. I shouldn’t…” Uncertain how to finish her thought, she bolted, slamming the door behind her and practically running for the safety of her room.

  I shouldn’t lead him on. She entered her room and closed the door. I shouldn’t let him touch me. I shouldn’t want to fuck him so badly my pussy’s on fire.