How to Seduce a Billionaire (4 page)

He blamed it on Kelly.

The fact was, he couldn’t get her out of his mind. Not in a sexual way, he hastened to tell himself, despite the vivid memory of her warm mouth and sweet tongue and an explicit picture of exactly what he’d like to do with…but he wasn’t going to go there. No way. Not with Kelly. Not in this lifetime.

In the first place, she worked for him. How big a fool would he be if he jeopardized his working relationship with the best assistant he’d ever had? And even if he was willing to overlook that little fact, Kelly just wasn’t his type. She wasn’t sophisticated and worldly like the women he usually dated. She wasn’t the kind of woman Brandon would ever think of calling on the spur of the moment for a night on the town, followed by a rousing round of sex, followed by no commitment to call again.

No, Kelly was more like the girl next door, the one who was meant to find a nice guy and get married. As far as Brandon was concerned, she might as well have worn a banner that said Hands Off. And he would be wise to heed that invisible warning.

He’d had some pretty awful role models early in his childhood, before Sally Duke adopted him. He’d seen all the ways people could hurt each other in the name of love and marriage, so he wasn’t about to go that route. With that in mind, he had decided not to touch Kelly again.

But she’d looked so pensive and uncertain when he’d left the office earlier this evening. He’d never seen Kelly less than one hundred percent confident in herself and her abilities, so this change in attitude worried him.

And then there was that kiss. Which he wasn’t going to think about again, damn it.

So why was he standing here at her door, holding a bottle of wine? Oh, yeah.

“We need to talk,” he repeated. He’d used the same stupid line in the office much earlier today. It sounded somehow lamer now, even if it was the truth. When she stepped aside, he strolled into her mini-suite. “I hope I’m not interrupting your dinner.”

“No, I’m finished,” she said, and rushed to dispose of the remnants.

He held out the bottle of wine, a Duke Vineyards pinot noir. “Will you have a glass of this if I open it?”

She stared at the bottle, then up at him. “Sure. I’ll find an opener.”

He could tell she was nervous as she rattled around in one of the kitchen drawers. And why shouldn’t she be? It wasn’t every day a woman kissed her employer. And it wasn’t every night that said employer showed up at her hotel room carrying a bottle of wine. He just hoped she wouldn’t get the wrong idea. All he wanted to do was clear the air so their working relationship could go back to being as exceptional as it had been before the kiss. It was a simple problem and it wouldn’t take him long to explain his feelings, but he had to admit that a quick glass of wine would probably help them both relax.

“Here you go,” she said, and handed him a corkscrew.

“Glasses?”

“Oh.” She swallowed anxiously. “Right.”

As he worked to remove the cork, he took a moment to study his longtime assistant—and wondered how he’d ever thought he’d be able to relax in her hotel room.

She wore cutoff shorts and a T-shirt, an outfit that a jury of his peers would consider thoroughly appropriate for spending a balmy night alone in her room. But as she reached for the wineglasses on the second shelf of the cupboard, he watched her T-shirt inch up to reveal the leanness of her stomach. On her tiptoes now, her shorts stretched just enough to show the soft, pale skin above her tan line where the curve of her bottom met her perfectly toned thighs.

“Here you go,” she said, placing two glasses on the counter.

Brandon let go of the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. “Thanks.” He took his time pouring wine into the glasses and handed her one. “Kelly, I—”

“Look, Brandon—”

“Sorry. What were you going to say?”

She blinked, then said in a rush, “No, you go first.”

“Fine. I just think—”

“Okay, I’ll go first.” She glanced briefly toward the ceiling as if she were looking for guidance from above. Brandon watched her chest move up and down as she inhaled, then exhaled. She was clearly edgy. She picked up her wineglass and took a gulp, paced a few steps back and forth across the small kitchen, then stopped and met his gaze, her face a mask of regret.

“I want to apologize for the way I behaved today,” she said. “I don’t know what got into me. I’ve been going crazy ever since I learned that Roger would be coming here and I guess I…I lost my head. I’m mortified about what happened. I just hope you’ll accept my apology and trust that it’ll never happen again.”

She looked exhausted when she finished and he felt a twinge of sympathy for her.

“Why don’t we sit down?” he said, and he led the way to the cozy sitting area of the mini-suite. They each sat at one end of the small couch, leaving barely two feet of space between them.

He should’ve been relieved that she’d apologized, but for some unfathomable reason, it didn’t sit well with him. “So what, exactly, will never happen again?”

She opened her mouth, then closed it. Frowning, she placed her wineglass down on the end table and shifted against the plush sofa cushions until she was facing him more directly. “You know what I’m talking about.”

“Tell me.”

“Fine.” She exhaled heavily and Brandon was once again mesmerized by the movement of her breasts. “I backed you into a corner. I practically propositioned you.” With a groan of disgust, she lifted her arms and waved them for emphasis. “I threw myself at you.” She shot him a quick glance. “Figuratively speaking, of course.”

“Of course,” he said cautiously.

“I left you no choice but to kiss me, Brandon. It was horrible of me.” She grabbed her wineglass. “Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate what you did. It was wonderful, really. It was so…well, anyway, you helped me confirm a few important things I’d been confused about. But it was still wrong of me to ask it of you, and I’m sorry. I took complete advantage of you.”

“Did you?” He stifled a grin. She didn’t honestly think any woman had ever taken advantage of him, did she?

“Yes.” She pressed two fingers against her eyelids as though she were getting a headache. “I practically begged you to kiss me.”

“Well, you didn’t exactly beg.” Now Brandon had to smile. He was starting to enjoy this. “But go on.”

“I’ll understand if you can’t forgive me, but I hope you will. All I can do is promise it will absolutely never happen again.”

“Never?”

“Never, I swear. In fact, if you could just wipe the entire experience from your memory that would be very helpful.”

“You’re saying I should just forget it ever happened.”

“Exactly! I would be so grateful. You know I’ve never been a problem employee, so if you could just take this day off the books, I promise it’ll never happen again.”

He rubbed his jaw, considering. “You’ve always been above reproach.”

“I like to think so,” she said, clearly relieved. “Honestly, it was just some kind of momentary aberration. We can chalk it up to vacation-induced insanity or something.”

“Or something,” he murmured.

Beaming, she said, “You’ve been really understanding. Thank you so much.” She picked up her wineglass and took another sip. “I’m so glad we had this little talk. I feel so much better.”

“That’s what I’m here for.”

She gazed at him, her smile tentative. “I was afraid you came here tonight to fire me.”

The words stopped him. “I would never fire you for what happened today. I only came by to talk to you and assure you everything was fine. I knew you’d be too hard on yourself.”

“Well, the fact is, I behaved inappropriately and I’m sorry for that.”

“Yeah, I got it.” It was exactly what he’d hoped to hear her say, but something was still bugging him. “There’s one thing I’m concerned about, Kelly.”

“What’s that?”

“Why the hell do you want to get this Roger clown back?”

“It’s something I have to do. And I will,” she added with quiet intent. “But honestly, Brandon, please don’t give it another thought. I shouldn’t have dragged you into my personal issues in the first place.”

“Kelly, stop apologizing. I’m the one who insisted that you tell me what was bothering you. If you want to know the truth, I’m glad I’m the one you confided in.”

“You are? Why?”

“Because it tells me you trust me, and I appreciate that. You’re very important to me.”

Her eyes grew soft. “Thank you, Brandon. It means a lot to hear you say that.”

“I guess I don’t say it often enough.” He frowned again. “But that’s why it bugs me that you’d want to get this guy back. He hurt you.”

“He won’t ever hurt me again.”

“Good to hear,” Brandon said. But he didn’t believe it. Kelly was too naïve to know how guys like this Roger creep operated. And Brandon was very much afraid the man knew exactly how to hurt her again. He sipped his wine and considered his next move. “So when does Roger arrive?”

“Not until Monday.”

“But he’ll still be here for many of the opening week events.”

“Yes.”

Brandon scowled. Somehow, the thought of watching Kelly coming on to the guy for a whole damn week, pissed him off all over again. To distract himself, he swirled his glass and studied the rich color of the pinot. “Would you like me to talk to him?”

“No!” She bolted straight up. “Thank you for offering, but no. You wouldn’t, would you?”

“Yeah,” he said matter-of-factly. “If I thought it would help, I would. But it’s pretty obvious you’d rather I didn’t, so I’ll honor your wishes. But I’m warning you, if he makes one wrong move…”

She held up her hand to stop him. “He won’t. I won’t let him.”

“I’m glad.” He went back to staring at his wine. “But you’re still planning on kissing him?”

Kelly froze. “Um…”

Brandon leaned forward and casually rested his elbows on his knees. “I don’t mean to pry, Kelly, but we’ve got a full agenda for opening week and I’m going to need your undivided attention. So if you’re planning on kissing the guy or, you know, getting involved, that could present a problem.”

“Brandon, whatever I do with Roger will have no effect whatsoever on my attention to my job.”

“I’m not sure I want to take that chance.”

She shifted uneasily. “We’re just talking about a kiss or two. No big deal.”

“It’s a big deal if it’s done right.”

“Oh.” She bit her lower lip, considering. “Of course. But Roger won’t…well.”

He studied her. “Roger won’t do it right. Is that what you were going to say?”

“Yes, but what I meant was…” Jittery now, she jumped up from the couch and folded her arms across her chest. “Everything will turn out fine.”

“You think?”

She smiled through clenched teeth. “Yes. Absolutely. I know what I’m doing now.”

“Oh, I see,” he drawled. “Now that I’ve kissed you, you think you’ll be able to show Roger how it’s done.”

Her jaw tensed up even more as she met his gaze defiantly. “Maybe.”

“He won’t be here for almost a week,” Brandon said. “You sure you’ll remember how to do it?”

“Of course,” she said, then licked her lips nervously, almost bringing Brandon to his knees. Good thing he was sitting down. And now that he thought about it, why the hell was he sitting here when she was halfway across the room, looking more beautiful than anything he’d seen in a long time, if ever?

Damn, he wanted her. He didn’t care if it was stupid. He knew what he wanted. And he always went after what he wanted.

Giving in to the inevitable, he pushed himself up from the couch and moved toward her. “You weren’t thinking of practicing with someone else, were you?”

Her shoulders sagged as if she’d been caught plotting to do just that. “No, of course not.”

“Good.” Brandon approached slowly, his gaze never leaving hers. “Because I wouldn’t want to hear any rumors of unbridled kissing going on.”

“You won’t, I promise,” she murmured as she inched backward.

“I hope not.”

“Nothing unbridled, anyway,” she said, biting back a smile.

“You think that’s funny?” he asked, inches away now. “There’s nothing funny about unbridled kissing.”

“I’m sure you’re right,” she said, nodding slowly.

“Oh, believe me, I am.” From this close, he could see a dusting of freckles across her cheeks and nose that he’d never noticed before.

“Brandon?” She chewed on her lower lip, nearly driving him crazy. “What are you…”

“Shh,” he said, watching her delectable mouth. When it curved into a smile aimed directly at him, he couldn’t see any possible way to resist temptation. So he did what any other man would do in his position. He kissed her.

And wondered if he’d ever feasted on anything half as sweet.

Her taste was even more incredible than he remembered and he wanted all of her. He angled his head and deepened the kiss, feeling an urgent need to touch her, to bury himself in her. Enveloping her in his arms, he breathed in her delicious scent as he planted light kisses along her neck, forcing himself to go slowly.

“Brandon, I know you didn’t want—”

“Shh.” He pushed aside the neckline of her T-shirt and kissed the skin of her shoulder. “I want.”

“Are you sure?” she whispered.

“That’s my line, sweetheart,” he said with a sideways glance.

“Oh.” She stared at him, her bright eyes sparkling in the soft light. “Well, I’m sure. I’m really, really sure.”

“That’s all I wanted to hear.”

“Please,” she murmured.

“That, too.” He slid his hand up her side until he reached the swell of her breast. With his thumb, he did what he’d wanted to do all day, teasing her nipple through the material until he felt it stiffen.

“Please don’t stop,” she moaned.

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” He lowered his head and covered her mouth with his. The pleasure was instant, intense. How had he waited all day to do this?

She was eager and opened her mouth to welcome him into her warmth, wrapping her arms around his neck to bring them closer.

“I want my hands on you, Kelly,” he muttered.

“Mmm, I want that, too.”

It was all the encouragement he needed. He swept her into his arms in an effortless move and walked toward the bed.