Seductive Reasoning (11 page)

“Why did you stop?”

He swung his head around and looked
at her, his gaze raking over her quickly. Then he turned his face back to the
window. He saw her reflection in the window with the moonlight spilling over it
but he couldn’t read her expression, her emotions.

“I remembered something.”

She reached over and turned the
switch on the lamp. Light flooded the room. “What?”

“The wager. The money. I intend to
win, Kate. Period. I won’t let you or anything else stand in my way.”

He watched hurt flash into her eyes
and wipe the flush of passion from her face. Something ripped inside his gut.
He wasn’t here to hurt her, he was here to win. She was here for the same
reason. Wasn’t she? Then how was it possible for him to hurt her? They were
both using each other as a means to an end. When the week was over, they would
part friends and go their separate ways.

The bewitching glint and promise of
seduction filled her eyes once again, but failed to conceal the hurt he’d seen.
“Neither will I. I’m going to win, no matter how much you try to resist.”

With those last words, Kate rolled
to her side and showed him her back. Seth’s body still hummed with arousal, but
at the same time a deep sadness, an emotion he couldn’t explain, welled inside
him. He stared into the dark night and knew that his deepest wish was to have a
woman hold him, cuddle him and make him feel safe. Not physically, but
emotionally.

By the time Seth came to bed, his
nerves were fried and the throb of his painful arousal had yet to lessen its
grip on him. He walked to the side of the bed and gazed down at Kate sleeping.
She looked like an angel. She was an angel and a seductress all wrapped up into
one gorgeous package. He raked a hand through his hair. How the hell was he
going to survive this week? This was only their first night, and he’d nearly
made love to her. God knows he’d wanted to.

Seth turned off the light, slipped
into the bed and pulled the covers up to mid chest. He put one arm behind his
head, exhaled a deep breath, and stared at the dark ceiling. Kate shifted under
the covers and the next thing he knew one of her arms wrapped around his waist.
She nestled her head on his shoulder, tangled one of her legs with his and then
exhaled a deep sigh of contentment. Just like a cat that had its fill of cream.

Deep down inside, Seth knew he
wanted to seduce Kate rather than allowing her to seduce him. He wanted to see
the surprise on her face and in her eyes when he made the first move. He wanted
to make her gasp and moan with pleasure.

Unable to stop himself, he folded
his right arm around her and hugged her closer to his side. He’d grown up concentrating
on school and learning as much as he could. Since becoming an adult, he’d kept
a firm hold on his baser instincts. That didn’t mean he never had sex, he did.  But
how could one woman make him want to throw away all his inhibitions and just go
for it? No holds barred, down and dirty sex.

If he allowed himself to let go,
she could hurt him. Badly. Science was matter of fact. Sex and relationships
were emotional.

When he woke the next morning, he
was alone in the bed with Kate’s scent lingering in the air.

Seth knew the instant she walked
into the room. He stood by the sink and looked through the window at the
bright, spring day. He held a cup of coffee in his hand and sipped.

“Good morning.”

Leisurely, he turned around, hoping
like hell she was dressed in something that covered her from neck to toes. He
nearly wept with relief. She stood in the doorway perfectly groomed and dressed
in a long flowing dress with a simple scoop neck and short sleeves. On her feet
were sneakers and socks. She strolled to the coffee pot and poured herself a
cup. “Thanks for making coffee.”

“Sure.”

She moved up behind him, rested a
hand on his shoulder, and sipped her coffee. He shifted away from her and her
touch. If he didn’t, he would take her in his arms and give her one hell of a
good morning kiss. Kate was getting to him, lustfully by degrees, and he
couldn’t let her. Last night, he’d almost made love to her.

“We need to talk.” But not here. He
needed to get out of this house and go back to his academic world for a while.
“I need to pick up some papers I forgot at my office.” There were no papers
waiting for him at his office, but she didn’t need to know that. “Want to ride
with me?”

“Okay.”

In a few minutes, they were in his
truck winding their way through tree-lined streets to Denver University. Kate
rolled down the window, and a lively, spring breeze blew inside the cab of the
vehicle. The wind ruffled her hair and wafted her distinct fragrance past his
nose. He inhaled in spite of himself. Seth glanced at her briefly, letting his
gaze run over her. How was it possible for a woman to look that sexy in a
simple cotton dress and sneakers? This whole thing had to be over soon, or they
would both be in big trouble.

Seth pulled the truck into a
parking space reserved for him, and they walked inside the school together. The
brightly lit hallway with its smell of wood, books, and paper made him smile.
God, it was good to be back. He needed this. He needed some perspective. It
would be even more perfect if he were alone, he thought, but then he changed
his mind. It was better that Kate was here with him. This was a great
opportunity for him to show her how different they were and how she was never
going to be able to make him give it all up for a simple seduction.

Only the seduction was anything but
simple. The whole thing was getting more complicated by the minute. It was time
they laid all their cards on the table and took a hard look at each of their
positions.

When they arrived at his office
door, Seth inserted the key and turned the knob. The office was just as he had
left it on Friday, except that his in box was full of student papers. Work.
Yes, he needed work to keep him busy. He smiled. He’d been saved. Being back
here in his own environment was just what he needed. Kate moved up behind him,
then over to the Orrery by his desk. She gave it a nudge with her finger and
sent the planets spinning.

“It’s beautiful.”

“Thanks.” Seth stepped behind his
desk. “My parents gave it to me for a graduation gift.”

“Nice gift.”

She moved away, but not before he
caught the flash of emotion in her eyes. There it was again. That undefined
feeling. Why would talking about a gift make her look sad?

She stood before the wall of
bookcases, tilted her head to the side, and read the titles of some of the
notebooks that were on the shelves. “Wow, you’ve done a lot of research,
haven’t you?”

“Yeah.” His tone sounded
preoccupied as he sorted through the student’s papers. “I’ve worked on this
project for years.”

She turned and looked at him.
Sunlight streamed around her and dust danced in the air. “What are you saying?”

He leaned back in his chair and
looked at her, comfortable once again in his world and his surroundings. Now he
could look at her as a teacher to a student. Here was his opportunity to make
her see things from his side. Though she still looked like a sexy, adorable
angel standing in front of him.

Focus. Concentrate on the
subject and the ideas you want to get across.
“My research means everything
to me. The only reason we’re together is because of the money. Please
understand that I don’t want my efforts to go to waste because I feel I have
something to prove. I want my colleagues and the scientific community in
general to recognize my accomplishments. In order to do that I need to keep up
my momentum and see this through to the end.” He gestured toward the bookcases.
“That’s what this is all about, Kate.”

She strolled to a chair in front of
his desk but didn’t sit down. “You said earlier that we needed to talk. What
did you want to talk about?”

Good. They were focusing and
concentrating. Now they could get past all the desires and the hard, driving
lust that stood between them and pay attention to their goals. “Kate, you have
too much of an advantage over me. Last night proved it.”

She stared at him, her eyes bright
green and full of innocence, as if she didn’t have a clue what he was talking
about. “What do you mean?”

“I mean we’re staying at your
place.”

“That was part of the wager. The
audience voted on it.”

He didn’t give a hang about the
audience. The only thing he cared about was winning the money, and he couldn’t
do it if he continued to sleep in Kate’s bed. “That’s true. But in order for
our experiments to be more balanced, we need a change of venue.”

Kate sat down in a chair in front
of his desk. “Change of venue. Did you have a place in mind?”

“Yes. My place.”

Kate laughed, a light tinkling
sound that made him want to cuddle her in his lap and kiss her sweet mouth.
“That figures.”

“What figures?”

She leaned forward until the front
of her dress gapped slightly. Her clean white neck curved enticingly, making
him want to slide his lips over her skin. “It figures that you are on the verge
of losing the bet. You are obviously having a great deal of trouble resisting
me, or you wouldn’t want to move to your place. Not to mention that it will be
closer to your office and farther away from my house. That would have us
spending too much time apart, don’t you think? How will we be able to conduct
more experiments?”

He hadn’t thought of that. He
needed to come up with a good argument and he needed it fast. “I’m resisting
you just fine. Maybe you’re the problem and not me.”

She straightened, her back as rigid
as a ruler. “What do you mean? I’m the one trying to seduce you.”

He smiled and leaned back in his
chair, certain that he had her right where he wanted her. “Exactly. You’re
afraid to go to my place because you might discover that I’m right.”

“Right about what?”

“Right about intelligence and a
person’s mind being the most important thing. At any rate, we’ve given your
apartment a fair shake. Now it’s time we moved to my place. It’s only fair.
Don’t you think?”

She pursed her lips and a frown
appeared on her forehead. He had a sudden almost irresistible urge to kiss her
frown away.

A knock sounded on Seth’s office
door. The door swung open, and Mark stuck his head in. His gaze immediately
fixed on Kate. He shoved open the door and strode to her side. “You must be
Kate.”

She turned in her chair, looked up
at him, and held her hand out for a shake. Mark, being Mark, took her hand and
pressed a kiss to the top. He lingered over it too damn long for Seth’s taste
before he let go. When he finally did let go, he didn’t move from Kate’s side.
He cocked a brow at Seth. “Well, I thought you two would be doing something
interesting with ladies lingerie.” Mark wiggled his brows.

Seth wanted to punch him. “I needed
to drop by the office.”

Mark rocked back on his heels,
obviously pleased with himself. He turned his attention back to Kate and
smiled. “It’s too bad Seth was on that show. I guarantee that if I were in
Seth’s place, we would be in a place a lot more interesting than this office.”

Seth clenched his hands into fists
under the desk and fought to hold his temper in check. How dare he say
something like that to her? But he couldn’t allow his feelings to show, not to
Mark or to Kate. If she knew he had feelings, any kind of feelings, she would
use them against him. “What are you doing here, Casanova? Don’t you have a hot
date or something?” Seth changed the subject in an effort to cover up his
irritation.

“Or something.” Mark gestured
absently. He grabbed the other chair, pulled it close to Kate, and sat down. He
reached out and grasped her fingers. “So what do you say we blow this Popsicle
stand, leave old stuffed shirt here, and go for lunch?”

Kate pulled her hand from his,
stood up, and smoothed down the front of her dress. “I kind of like it here.
Besides, I have a bet to win.”

A bet. All she cared about was the
money. This had nothing to do with him. That’s what he wanted wasn’t it? The
money and winning was all he cared about. Then why did her words annoy him? Why
did they make him want to hold her close and never let her go?

Mark feigned a broken heart and
rose from his chair. “Another time then.” He nodded at Seth, winked at Kate,
and then disappeared out the door.

Seth stayed quiet the whole way
home. He sat rigidly in the driver’s seat. He answered a question if she asked
him something, but his answers were short and blunt. Kate wondered what she could
have possibly done to make him angry. And he was angry all right. About what,
she hadn’t a clue. But if she was going to seduce him, she had to break through
his anger or at least find out the source so she could move forward with her
plan. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

Another short response. “It’s not
nothing. It’s something. Come on. Spill it. Did I do something wrong?”

“No.”

She sighed and rolled her eyes.
“Then what? Everything was fine until we went to your office. Was it your
friend Mark? He was just flirting. I can handle him.”

Silence.

“We need to clear the air. Mark
doesn’t bother me. Look, there’s nothing here between the two of us but a bet,
so why should it bother you if Mark flirts with me?”

He yanked the truck abruptly to the
side of the road in front of Kate’s house and cut the engine. He jerked in his
seat and unbuckled his seat belt. Anger vibrated off him. Wow, this was a side
of Seth she’d never seen before, and it excited her. He was usually so
controlled.

“It doesn’t bother me.” He ground
the words out between clenched teeth.

Kate fought to hold back her smile
and lost. Laughter bubbled out. “Well, I’d hate to see you when you
were
bothered.”