Seductive Reasoning (5 page)

Relief made him weak--she wouldn’t
be modeling something. Why did he feel a little disappointed?

“Go ahead.” Kate seemed aware of
his apparent surprise. “I promise it won’t bite. Although the woman wearing it
might.”

Laughter roared from the audience.

He’d been set up. He didn’t know
who to blame, didn’t even care who was to blame. Could be his buddy, Mark.
Hell, it could be this bombshell handing him a flimsy piece of fabric that
wouldn’t cover her--he shook his head. Seth took the garment in his hand and
despite not wanting an image to form in his mind, he couldn’t resist picturing
Kate wearing the translucent tiger-stripe thong underwear. She straddled his
legs, leaned forward, and cupped his--. Down boy. “What am I supposed to do
with this?”

“It’s worse than I expected.” Kate
pursed her lips. “Good question. Just think of the lingerie as absorbing the
moment. Let’s try an experiment. Close your eyes.”

Seth didn’t want to close his eyes.
An awkward, inept feeling settled over him. He had never been good at games as
an adult or a child. But he didn’t want to appear a stuffed shirt. Besides, the
more he resisted, the longer the show lasted, or at least it appeared that way.
After all his friends, family and probably every one of his students were
watching. He wouldn’t be surprised if they had a hand in it and were laughing
their asses off right now. Resigned that he couldn’t get out of Kate’s little
experiment, he closed his eyes. “Okay, now what?”

“Imagine the woman of your dreams
wearing this see-through bra and barely there bikini panties. Do you have the
image firmly in your mind?”

Oh, yeah. Kate wearing this excuse
for underwear tempting him with her athletic body, touching him, kissing him
all over, even on his--. “Yes, I have it.”

He felt Kate sit down beside
him--or rather he smelled her. Her scent and her voice swept over him.

Ms. Landers smiled at the audience.
“What do you say we give them some mood music?” The sounds of a hot, sultry
saxophone filled the studio.

“Imagine touching this woman,
playing with this woman, caressing, kissing and finally stripping her until she
lies before you naked. Her lips, her breasts, the very thing that makes her a
woman are there all for you. Only you. Do you have the image firm? Along with
perhaps other body parts?”

The audience laughed and Seth’s
eyes flew open.

“We’re not done. Close your eyes.”

Seth gritted his teeth and closed
his eyes. “What now?”

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but we
have to pause for a commercial break.”

Commercial break! Saved by the
bell. Holy hell.

Seth had already imagined, much to
his chagrin, Kate lying naked while he fulfilled a few of his more secret
fantasies like licking whipped cream and chocolate from her body. A part of him
longed to toss away his inhibitions, to just let go and wallow in a woman until
every inch of him felt sated and satisfied.

Letting go would put him in a
vulnerable position. He would have to open the door to his heart and emotions,
feelings he wasn’t ready for any woman to see. And he’d be unable to focus on
his project. A project he’d spent most of his adult life working on.

“Can I open my eyes now?”

“Sure.”

Seth opened his eyes and handed the
garments to Kate. “That wasn’t fair.” He spoke the words under his breath. His
career was circling the toilet. How the hell could he stop it and turn this
fiasco around?

“All’s fair in love and war, or
should I say, lingerie and astrology?” Kate’s witchy-green eyes sparkled.

“Back live in five,” the cameraman
called as he motioned with another five-finger count.

“Welcome back, folks,” Ms. Landers
announced. “I’m sure you’re all as anxious as I am to find out the results of
this experiment.” She focused on Seth and Kate. “Now might be a good time, Ms.
Summers, for you to show your creations to our viewers here in the studio and
at home.”

Seth and the audience watched as
Kate lifted some of the most erotic, tiniest lingerie he’d ever seen from the
rack. They were different in colors, materials and purpose--from a romp in bed
to a romp in the kitchen. Christ, she even had a maid’s outfit with a little
apron in front that just covered a woman’s most intimate parts, but of course
gave the man free and uninhibited access to her body. Seth struggled to picture
the position of the stars for the month of May in his head. Anything to keep
his mind off certain intimate positions involving Kate, like draping her legs
over his shoulders or taking her hard and fast in a steamy shower.

“Ladies, haven’t you ever wanted to
just do something for the sake of doing it?” Kate held her hands palm up to the
side. “Today is your golden opportunity. Come to my store anytime in the next
ten days, and I will guarantee you consummate, astrologically designed lingerie,
along with other accoutrements like feathers or even a kit that I invented
called oils for the senses. All you need to do is give me your sign, and I will
find something absolutely perfect for you and your man.”

“You talk as though your lingerie
has some sort of magical powers,” Ms. Landers said.

Seth tugged on his tie. Those
little nothings sure cast a spell on him.

“Magic. No, not magic. But I do
believe no normal red-blooded man can resist a woman in sexy lingerie. No
matter what he says--and that’s when the magic lies in the stars.”

Seth laughed. “Give me a break. Of
course, men can resist women in sexy lingerie. What if they are married and a
woman comes on to them? Are you saying no matter how much he might love his
wife he won’t be able to say no to another woman just because of what she’s
wearing?”

Kate’s gaze softened. “Love between
a man and a woman is a precious thing and something not to be trifled with. A
man deeply in love will be able to say no to another woman, but he would never
be able to say no to his very own wife or the woman he loved.”

“Ha!” Ms. Lander’s voice lifted in
response. “Boy, would that be nice.” The audience clapped and whistled. Ms.
Lander’s eyes lit with challenge. She looked at Seth and Kate with a sneaky
smile on her face. “Would you two care to make a wager?”

Seth glared at Kate. She and Ms.
Landers probably planned this whole thing. “What kind of wager?”

“I’d like to read a special
announcement from our show’s sponsor, The Bed, Bath and Love Connection. What’s
the announcement you ask? Dr. Fallon, spend one week with Ms. Summers in her
shop. If at the end of the week she seduces you wearing some of this very sexy
lingerie,”--she gestured toward the rack of clothing--“you’ll agree to pose for
her company’s new upcoming catalogue. It will feature the underwear every woman
wants to see her man wearing. The Bed, Bath and Love Connection’s merchandise
will be used in the photo shoot.” She held up her finger when he started to
speak. “You, Dr. Fallon, on the other hand will have a golden opportunity to
convince Ms. Summers that a person’s mind is most important. Whoever is
declared the winner will receive The Bed, Bath and Love Connection’s $25,000
grand prize.”

“What do you think audience?” Ms.
Lander’s voice was filled with challenge. The audience shouted yes, yes, yes.

Seth pressed his lips together.
Outrageous. No way could he agree
. Okay, Fallon, you’ve dug your way in; now
dig your way out.
“That’s a very interesting idea, but I can’t possibly
afford to be away from my office for an entire week right now. It’s spring
break and I have too much work to do. I’ve got papers to grade and a backlog to
catch up on.”

Kate leaned back in her seat and
folded her arms over her chest. This forced her breasts upward a bit and made
him feel hot and bothered all over. “You’re chicken.”

Chicken? He wasn’t chicken. He’d
defied the dean and appeared on the show hadn’t he? A fact that he deeply
regretted at the moment.

“You have the chance to prove a man
can resist a woman in lingerie. You also have the chance to prove that
astrology and people’s emotions and sex have no connection. Don’t tell me
you’re going to pass this up.”

Damn it. No way could he pass this
up. Until he could find another job, he would need to use that money to live
on, and if he planned well, he could use a little to fund his research project.
Either way, without money his research project would end.

“I accept.” He
would
win.
Seth always won when he set his mind to something.

The audience roared with applause.

“Well, ladies and gentlemen. You
heard it here. The professor has accepted Global Network’s astrology and
lingerie challenge. Now, what about the nights?”

“The nights?” Seth had forgotten
about those.

“Yes,” Ms. Landers said. “The
nights. Where will you spend your nights? What do you think, Ms. Summers?”

“Well, for this to really work, we
need to be together twenty-four hours a day. Wouldn’t you agree, Dr. Fallon?”

Twenty-four hours a day. Including
the nights! Was she crazy? Women drove him nuts after one hour. He would never
survive an entire week alone with Kate, but he’d already agreed to this crazy
scheme. There was only one logical choice. “We’ll stay at my place.” That would
scare Kate off. It sent all other women running.

Ms. Landers smiled. “I have a
better idea. Why don’t we let the audience decide? Audience, you have a mini
computer on the arm of your chairs. First, let’s vote for all who agree Ms.
Summers and Dr. Fallon should spend the week at his place. Ready? Cast your
vote.”

They waited a few moments until all
votes were recorded. “Now cast your vote for staying at Ms. Summer’s place.”

After a few moments, the votes were
tallied.

“Are you ready audience?”

The audience chanted yes.

Ms. Landers pointed to a studio
monitor. “Ten percent say they should go to Dr. Fallon’s place. The other
ninety percent say that Dr. Fallon and Ms. Summers should stay in her
apartment.”

A loud cheer arose from the
audience. They clapped, they whistled. Seth felt himself being backed into a
corner.

Ms. Landers looked at Seth and
Kate. “So, it’s been decided. The two of you will stay at Ms. Summer’s place.
We are almost out of time. Will you come back on the show when the week is over
and tell us all about it?”

Seth didn’t want to come back on
this show. He certainly didn’t want to share with thousands of people what
happened during the week, because there was no telling what kind of things Kate
would tempt him with.

“I will.” Kate turned to Seth her
brows raised in question.

“Do I have a choice?”

She gazed at him with a thoughtful
expression in her beautiful green eyes. “Everyone has a choice. Bad, good and
very good.”

“Which one is this?”

Her lips curved in an easy smile.
“Be at my place bright and early tomorrow morning and find out.”

Chapter
Three

Seth maneuvered his gray 4x4 truck
next to the curb in front of Kate’s shop and cut the engine. He sat in the
truck as he studied the house. Great, a frou-frou house painted blue and white
with fancy little wooden curlicues all over the place. He glanced at the sign
advertising her shop. Only Kate would put up a sign shaped like a bra and live
in a house like this.

He huffed out an exasperated
breath. How could he have agreed to this crazy stunt and on television of all
places? How could a man of above average intelligence, like him, say yes to
this ridiculous wager?

Was his research project the only
reason he was here? Or did spending time with Kate have something to do with
it? He shook his head.
Don’t even go there.
This morning, he’d attended
an emergency board meeting and pled his case. Despite the Dean’s vehement
objections, they had agreed to give him one more chance. He had thirty days. If
his show appearance increased funding and student attendance applications
within that time frame, he could keep his job.

The moment Seth stepped from his
truck, the scent of lilacs growing next to the house drifted past his nose. He
reached in the bed of the truck and grabbed his suitcase.
Money.
Seth
gathered a pile of work he’d brought along into his arms.
Focus on the goal.

Seth shut the door and hit the
automatic door lock on his key ring. Why was he doing this? Would the money be
worth it? Of course, his reasons had nothing to do with Kate or the very
unscientific and carnal feelings she brought out in him.

He could not believe he’d left his
comfortable and quiet home to spend a week with a woman who chattered on and on
about sex toys and lingerie. His cell phone jingled. He plucked the phone from
his pocket and hit the answer button. “Hello.”

“Hey, buddy. Caught the show last
night. I can’t believe you were suckered into spending a week with that babe.
Tough luck. Dirty job, huh?” Mark laughed. “But somebody has to do it, right?
I’d give my left nut to be the one spending an entire week screwing her brains
out.”

Seth gripped his cell phone until
his knuckles turned white. In all the years he’d known Mark Sanders, this was
the first time he’d ever wanted to punch him in the face. Damn it, he didn’t
want Mark talking about her that way. So what if she was outspoken about sex? A
lot of women were.

Besides, he knew Kate better than
that. Sure, she was openly sexual--she also had a heart of gold. That’s what
had attracted him before, and that’s what made him cautious. He didn’t have
time to spend on a relationship. His project was more important, but that
didn’t mean some other guy could talk about her like that.

“Yeah. You and half the male
population of Denver, no doubt.” Seth covered up his anger when he really
wanted to tell Mark to go to hell. There was no way he would give him any
indication that he was even remotely attracted to Kate and that he knew her
before, or he’d never hear the end of it.