Strategic Seduction

by Cheris Hodges

  “Make it tomorrow. My wife just walked in the room and we’re about to be busy.”

  Richmond laughed and clicked over. Silence greeted him after he said hello. Pulling the phone from his ear, he pressed the screen to call her back.

  * * *

  Alicia allowed the phone to ring once before ending the call. What would she say to Richmond if he’d answered the phone? This is insane, she thought as she tossed her phone on the bed. No more wine or talks with Jade at night. I’m losing my mind.

  Rising to her feet, Alicia whispered a prayer that things wouldn’t be awkward when she saw Richmond in the morning. Maybe he hadn’t even noticed her call.

  When her phone rang, she knew he’d seen it.

  “Shit.” She grabbed the phone. “Hi.”

  “I see I missed your call. What’s going on?” Richmond’s voice was like velvet. She closed her eyes and imagined his arms wrapped around her waist, his lips pressed against her ear as he talked.

  “I—uh—misdialed. Hope I didn’t disturb you.”

  “Not at all. I was hoping you were calling because you wanted to stop by for a nightcap.”

  He laughed and Alicia’s knees went weak. She was going to blame it on the alcohol. She wasn’t a college coed anymore, there was no need for her to act like a lovesick fool. Hell, she hadn’t even acted like this when she was in college.

  “We have work in the morning and I’ve taken up enough of your time today.”

  “But you were thinking about me, huh?”

  “Get over yourself, Crawford,” she teased.

  “You know, you could come over and . . . Well, according to your rules, it’s too close to Monday for pleasure.”

  “Don’t forget breakfast in the morning,” Alicia said, then ended the call with a smile on her face. This was going to be the most interesting Monday morning she’d had in a long time.

  Chapter 9

  Monday morning, Richmond was more excited about going to work than a kid on Christmas Day. Even if Alicia didn’t like his classic New York City breakfast, he would at least get the chance to spend the morning with her. But he was going to have to play it cool when he saw her. The last thing he wanted was to come off as if he was some lame stalker. Packing up the bagels and lox, he wondered if she would like it. It was important to him to make sure Alicia was satisfied. Sure, he was starting with food now, but when he got the chance, he was going to satisfy her in every way.

  But this morning was about work and breakfast. Maybe by lunchtime he’d be able to push forward on other ways to satisfy her. Since this was the first time he’d driven in Atlanta rush-hour traffic, Richmond finally understood why everyone complained about the traffic all the time.

  When he arrived at the office, Richmond was surprised to see that Alicia was there already. He got out of the car and crossed over to her. “What’s your secret?” Richmond asked.

  “What do you mean?” Alicia smiled and leaned against her car.

  “Somehow you avoided the traffic hell that was a part of my commute this morning.” Richmond gave her a slow once-over, drinking in her delicious image wrapped in an emerald green dress and golden sandals that were professional and sexy at the same time. Richmond’s mouth watered as he glanced at her frosted pink toes. Sweet strawberries came to mind.

  “Richmond?” she asked.

  “Yes. So, your secret?”

  “I know the back way to get here without heading down I-285. Stick with me and I can show you a whole new world of avoiding traffic backups and interstate traffic. But first, I want this amazing NYC breakfast you promised me.” She smiled and Richmond knew that no woman other than Alicia should wear cherry-red lipstick.

  “Breakfast is in the car, let me grab it and we can eat.”

  “I hope you have some coffee as well,” Alicia called out. “But if you don’t, I got us two lattes.”

  “You thought of everything, huh?” Richmond said as he turned back to his car. He decided that today would begin his strategic seduction of Alicia Michaels. This woman would be his, and their future would be amazing. But he would have to find a way to convince her that she belonged with him.

  * * *

  Alicia took a deep breath when Richmond walked away from her. That man had made her early morning trip to the office worth it by just getting out of the car and smiling at her. If someone had told her two weeks ago that she would be acting like a lovesick child for Richmond Crawford, Alicia would’ve laughed and called the men in white coats to come and get that person. But somehow, this man had gotten under her skin and made her believe that he was a different breed.

  Calm down, she thought as she watched him grab two bags from the car. Today begins the day of business. I need to make sure we’re on the same page and that I’m not making a fool of myself. Richmond’s a single man who can do whatever he wants to do, and I’m not going to stand around and pretend that a single rich man in Atlanta won’t have his choice of women. We’re working together and nothing more.

  All Alicia had to do was convince herself that she could actually believe all the lies she’d just told herself. She took the coffee cups out of the car and followed Richmond into the building.

  “You ready for this?” he asked as he unlocked the door to his office suite.

  “Ready for?”

  “The best breakfast you’ve ever had in your life.”

  His smile disarmed her and made her think about the erotic dreams she’d had about this man, all night. “You’d better hope it lives up to all of your hype.”

  Richmond set the bagels and lox on the desk and held his hand out to Alicia. “Let’s dig in.”

  She set the lattes on the desk and grabbed one of the sesame-seed bagels. Richmond opened packages of lox and cream cheese, then took Alicia’s bagel from her soft hand. “You’re about to skip out on the best part.” She watched as he smoothed the cream cheese across the bread and then dropped the thin pink salmon on top of it.

  “Enjoy,” Richmond said with a wink.

  Alicia’s mind wandered to all of the enjoyment she could get from his hands, lips, and fingertips. Shaking her head, she took a bite of the bagel and it was delicious. “Oh, this is good.”

  “Stick with me, kid, and I’ll show you a lot of good things.” He took a sip of the coffee she’d brought in for them. “Dancing Goats?”

  Alicia nodded as she took another bite of the bagel. “We’re going to do this every morning.”

  “Sounds like a great plan to me.”

  Alicia glanced at her watch. “But I have to cut this short, my first meeting is in about twenty minutes. Thanks for breakfast,” she said as she turned and headed for her office suite. Alicia knew she had plenty of time to meet with her client, but she had to get away from Richmond and those lips. All she could think about was kissing him, when she’d told herself that today was about business.

  Richmond seemed to be in line with keeping things business professional in the office. Not that she was expecting a kiss or a hug this morning, but it would’ve been nice. “You can’t have it both ways,” she muttered as she walked into her office. Looking around at the empty space, she pulled out her cell phone to check and see when her furniture delivery would be ready.

  Just as she was about to make the call, Richmond knocked on the door. She waved him inside. “What’s up?”

  “You have a delivery, and I was wondering if I could get a slot on your calendar later. I have some ideas I want to go over with you about the expansion of the Crawford hotels.”

  “Sure, around four thirty?”

  He nodded as his cell phone rang. “Excuse me,” he said, then walked away.

  * * *

  “Vivian, what the hell do you want?” Richmond growled into the phone.

  “You and Solomon are really cute with the way you talk to me,” she snapped.

  “I really don’t have time for this. When I wanted to talk to you, you couldn’t be bothered. So please tell me what is so important now?�
�

  She sighed into the phone. “You really think that I’m just going to fade into the background and live like some common bitch from Queens because you’ve run away from the city?”

  Richmond snorted and stopped himself from telling her that she was a common bitch from Maryland. He wasn’t trying to argue with this woman today. He had too much to get done today, and dealing with Vivvy’s rantings wasn’t high on his list of priorities. “I don’t have, nor will I make time for your bull today.”

  “Is that so? How do you think your business venture in the South would go when people find out that you like hookers?”

  Richmond laughed. “You’re resorting to blackmail now? You know, you could’ve had the life you wanted and still be spending my money as if it grew on trees, but you filed for divorce and wanted to walk away. When are you going to be gone? I don’t owe you a damned thing. And I’m not going to give you shit. Do me a favor and don’t call me again. Try this, get a job.” Richmond ended the call and shoved his phone in his pocket. The last thing he needed today was to be distracted by his ex-wife’s threats. He and Dionne were going on a tour of the city, and he was going to scout locations for the hotel. She’d already texted him and told him how much she was looking forward to showing him her Atlanta.

  But if Richmond had his way, he’d spend all day watching Alicia simply breathe. But that wasn’t the plan. He needed to get his life together because Adrian and Solomon would be expecting a report at the end of the week about locations for the hotel and a marketing report on Tuesday.

  Richmond had a few ideas about where he wanted to build the hotel, but he needed the place to stand out. The hotel in the mountains stood out because it captured the winter wonderland experience. He knew he needed to capture the glamour and excitement of Atlanta in this hotel. But how did you capture that and be original? Glancing toward Alicia’s suite, he realized that she was going to be key to his success. Somehow he would make her see that their business could be mixed with pleasure.

  But business was what he needed to focus on right now. Opening his laptop, Richmond started reading résumés for all of the positions that he needed to fill. First on his list was going to be an assistant.

  He couldn’t wait for the human resources help from New York to get there. Richmond had sifted through fifty résumés before he was ready to poke his eyeballs out.

  Three hours later, he had scheduled four inter views and hired a headhunter to fill his key positions. He made it clear that he’d hire his assistant on his own.

  * * *

  Alone in her office, Alicia dialed Serena’s number because she needed the dose of realism that only her good friend could deliver.

  When the voicemail picked up, she was disappointed, but figured that she needed to focus on her work and not spend the morning talking about Richmond Crawford. They were working together and had agreed to keep things strictly business. She had to focus on that and not the fact that she wanted to kiss him with all of the passion inside her.

  Alicia was about to leave the office and let the delivery guys have access to set up her new furniture and equipment, when her cell phone rang.

  “This is Alicia Michaels.”

  “We need to talk.”

  Shivers ran down her spine as she recognized Felix’s voice. “What the hell do you want?”

  “Alicia, what was all of that about at the reunion? You had your man punch me because of a misunderstanding in college?”

  “How did you get my number? You know what, don’t even answer that. Just lose it.”

  He laughed, and her mind floated back to that day he told her no one would believe that he would assault her. But Alicia had to remind herself that she wasn’t a college student anymore and he had no power over her. “Go to hell, Felix. Just watching you get that smug face of yours bashed in was the best part of the reunion.”

  “You’ve always been a stupid black bitch. This isn’t college anymore, and if you start bringing up the past, the only person who will be hurt is going to be you. I stayed in Atlanta and built a great reputation. What you won’t do is ruin that.”

  It was Alicia’s turn to laugh now. “If that’s the case, then why have you worked so hard to find me? You working with kids now or something? Did you trick the world into believing that you’re a good person?”

  “Don’t bring up the past unless you’re willing to get burned as well. I can tell stories too,” Felix said.

  “About what? Felix, I’m not now, nor have I ever been, afraid of you.” Alicia placed her hand on the wall. She might not be scared, but she was affected. The last thing she needed was for her past to impact her future. Sure, she’d come to Atlanta to start over, but she’d never thought that she’d run into this clown. Part of her hoped that he would be locked away. She knew she hadn’t been his only victim. But no one ever turned him in because he’d been such a big star. Alicia prayed that she hadn’t made a mistake and allowed him to get off the hook. But she wasn’t going to allow him to continue to play on that night. Maybe his guilt was showing since he’d seen her.

  “You stay out of my way and we’ll be fine. But I swear, you don’t want to start a war with me.” The line went dead and she shoved her phone in her purse. Heading out of the suite, she ran chest first into Richmond.

  “Where’s the fire?” he asked when they collided. “Everything all right?”

  She nodded. “Just running a little behind. Excuse me.” Pushing past Richmond, she headed outside and got into her car. Alicia hadn’t realized that she was shaking. Had Richmond noticed that? The last thing she wanted Richmond to think was that she was some damsel in distress. She never wanted anyone to think that about her. Alicia had been taking care of herself for a long time, and she didn’t want anyone to believe that she couldn’t handle herself.

  Starting the car, she headed to her hotel. She needed a moment to calm down and then continue with her day.

  Arriving at the hotel, Alicia dashed to her room and Googled Felix. When she saw that he was a high school principal at a charter school in the city, she felt ill. What if he was molesting young students at his school, or worse? Taking a deep breath, Alicia shut down her computer and wondered if she should expose the kind of monster that Felix was. One thing she knew for sure, people like him didn’t change.

  * * *

  Richmond was confused about Alicia’s behavior before she left. He could tell something was wrong by the way she rushed out of the building. Part of him wondered if it had anything to do with the scene at her reunion.

  “She said she was fine,” he muttered as he returned to his office. He knew she was lying and he couldn’t help but wonder what that guy had actually done to her. Alicia didn’t seem like the kind of woman who scared easily.

  He hadn’t asked her any details about the guy he’d punched at the gala, but he knew that she had been shaken that night. He wondered if that had anything to do with how she looked today when she left. He wanted to follow her and make sure she was all right, but Richmond knew there was something deeper going on and he wanted Alicia to be comfortable coming to him with any issues that she might have.

  Somehow he knew that wasn’t something she felt comfortable doing. He watched her as she tore out of the parking lot and wanted to follow her. What had happened to cause her to rush out like that?

  He was about to shoot her a text when his phone rang. “Richmond Crawford.”

  “I hope you haven’t forgotten about me and our outing today,” Dionne cooed in his ear.

  “How could I forget that?” he replied with a chuckle.

  “I have a tiny favor to ask,” she said. “This afternoon, I’m cutting the ribbon at a new restaurant and I’d love for you to come with me. The food will be on me. And then we can go on the tour. This will be a great way for you to meet some other tastemakers in the city.”

  “Sounds like a good plan. What time is this ribbon cutting?”

  “Oh, in about an hour. Does that give you enough tim
e to get ready?”

  Richmond glanced at his watch. “Barely, but I’ll make it work.”

  “I knew you were awesome. I’ll stop by and pick you up. Text me the address where you’re going to be,” she said. “Oh, and tell Alicia hi. But please don’t invite her. I just want us to take this time and get to know each other, and you can see everything my district has to offer.”

  Richmond shook his head after hanging up the phone. Maybe Dionne had something more than business on her mind, but he wasn’t even checking for the overtly sexy politician. He had eyes for one woman.

  Chapter 10

  Alicia headed to the Varsity for a hot dog with coleslaw. Despite what Richmond thought, there was no other way to eat a hot dog. And after the morning she’d had, she deserved the hot dog and the thick shake she was about to devour.

  After getting over that call from Felix, Alicia turned back to business. But it seemed as if she was the only person looking to do some work today. Her client never showed up for their meeting, and when she returned to the office, the deliverymen had dropped off her new furniture without putting a piece of it together, even though she’d paid extra for it. Since she was alone in the office, she had stripped out of her shirt and put her desk and chair together. By the time she’d finished, Alicia was a hot, sweaty mess. Part of her wondered where Richmond had gotten off to. “I can’t believe my slum landlord isn’t here,” she quipped as she wrote him a note and left it on his door.

  Going to have the best lunch ever. A hot dog with chili, coleslaw, and loads of mustard. You’re missing out.

  Sitting at a booth in the Varsity, Alicia released a sigh. Things could only get better from here. After all, it was just Monday. She pulled out her phone and called Jade.

  “What’s going on, Ms. Lady?” Jade asked. “You’ve been busy today.”

  “Do you have cameras in my office or something?” Alicia joked.

  “No,” Jade replied. “But I did see Richmond on CNN today at the opening of that Wounded Warriors restaurant.”

  “Huh?”