Strategic Seduction

by Cheris Hodges

  “But she did make a good point. Those wounded warrior restaurants would be great in the hotel.”

  “Does the menu fit with the theme of what you’re trying to do?”

  “We’ll make it work. One of the things that my parents—mother—always wanted our hotels to do was reach back and help others. It wasn’t until things started breaking down with her and Elliot that a lot of the philanthropic work that we’d done got put on the back burner.”

  “Let me ask you a question,” Alicia began as she watched Richmond pull out the ingredients for dinner.

  He looked up at her as he set a package of chicken breasts on the counter. “Yeah?”

  “Are you trying to rebuild your mother’s legacy?”

  “Subconsciously, I think I am. You know, my mother was a beautiful and strong-willed person. But after everything that went down with my father and her own demons, I feel like Cynthia Crawford is only a footnote in something that she created.”

  “Why don’t you name the first boutique hotel after her? Make it look like all of the things you love about your mother.”

  “I don’t know if Adrian and Solomon would be behind that. As much as I want to honor my mother, she did some cruel shit.”

  Alicia threw her hands up. “I don’t know the entire situation, but maybe your mom was trying to protect her family and she acted out of anger.”

  “It was more of a pot calling the kettle black. Neither of them were faithful, and there’s evidence on both sides, in the form of me and Adrian. And as much as I would love to honor my mother by building a hotel monument to her, what would that do to Adrian? How would he feel about coming to the Cynthia? My mother was horrible to his mother.”

  “Maybe it’s time for y’all to bury the past?”

  “How about we table this discussion and you help me chop some onions?”

  She nodded and crossed over to the counter where Richmond had dropped the knife. Alicia chopped onions and mushrooms and he prepared the chicken breasts for the cast-iron skillet. Alicia smiled as he poured a bit of oil in the pan.

  “I haven’t seen one of those since my grandmother passed.”

  “Everything old is new again,” he said. “And you don’t get a better sear on chicken breasts than in a cast-iron skillet.”

  “You sound like a real cook over there.”

  “Let’s just say that when you’re married to someone who doesn’t even walk through the kitchen to pour water, you have to learn how to do a lot of things for yourself. There’s only so many times you want to go out to eat.”

  “That’s because there isn’t a Hometown Delights near you.”

  “Maybe you’re right,” he said with a wink. “Since Charlotte isn’t that far away, you’re going to have to show me what’s so great about your place.”

  Alicia wanted to show him her place and everything she had to offer, but she had to remember that they were still business associates—no matter how good his tongue felt between her thighs. Had they crossed a line that would make it harder for them to work together?

  “I think we’re good with the onions,” he said.

  “What’s next?”

  “Can you boil water? I have some jasmine rice I’m going to put on.”

  “Boiling water, I can handle,” she said as she grabbed a pot and filled it with water.

  About an hour later, Richmond was opening a bottle of merlot to go with their dinner of pan-fried chicken breasts, rice, and grilled asparagus with garlic sauce.

  “I should’ve gotten something for dessert,” he said. “Well, for you at least. I’ve already had my dessert.” Richmond poured the wine, then sat down across from Alicia.

  “You’re a bad man, Mr. Crawford.” She raised her glass to him. “Here’s to a great dinner.”

  He clanked his glass against hers.

  * * *

  Richmond could barely eat his food because watching Alicia’s reaction to the food was damn near erotic.

  From the way she chewed the tender chicken breast to the way she bit into the spear of asparagus, her lips were like works of art and he couldn’t wait to feel them against his again. But from the way she took that chicken in her mouth, there were other parts of his body that yearned to be kissed.

  “You might have a future in this,” she said as she polished off her chicken. “This meal was delicious.”

  “Thanks. But it was nothing.”

  “Didn’t taste like nothing, but what do I know?” she quipped.

  Richmond rose to his feet and cleared the dishes. When Alicia got up to help him, he knew that he’d been right about her all along. “You don’t have to help,” he said.

  “I know,” she said as she playfully bumped her hip into his. “But you can’t feed me an amazing meal and think I’m just going to sit here and watch you wash the dishes.”

  “You mean load the dishwasher.” Watching her rinse the plates and silverware they’d used, Richmond couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to spend every night like this for the rest of his life.

  “Richmond?”

  “Huh?” He tore his eyes away from her and shook his mind free of his fantasy life with Alicia.

  “Do you want to go over the media plan for getting you out of this mess with Dionne?”

  He shook his head. “It’s way after business hours and there is still half a bottle of expensive merlot on the table. Let’s have a drink and maybe watch a movie and R-E-L-A-X.”

  “Relax? What is that?”

  “Let me show you.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and led her into the living room where he now had a plush sofa, a fifty-inch TV, and a Blu-ray DVD player. “Have a seat, kick off your shoes, and tell me, who’s your favorite James Bond?”

  “Roger Moore, of course.”

  Richmond crossed over to the TV and popped in A View to a Kill. “Grace Jones makes this movie for me. She is one sexy woman.”

  “And a badass to boot,” Alicia said. “There is a video of her doing the hula hoop while performing one of my favorite songs ever.”

  “‘Pull Up to the Bumper’?”

  Alicia snorted and shook her head. “You’re nasty! Of course that would be your favorite song. But it was ‘Slave to the Rhythm,’ and she did it in heels and a silver mask. If I’m still that dope in my sixties, then my life will be something special.”

  He gave her a slow glance and decided that no matter what, he was going to be around to see that happen. “So, when is this going to happen? I want to see you do everything the lovely Miss Jones can do.”

  “Play the movie,” she quipped.

  Richmond sat on the sofa and took Alicia’s feet into his hands, then began to massage them.

  “You have found my weakness.”

  “Really?” Richmond said. “And they are such a pretty weakness. I bet every inch of you is beautiful.”

  “Stop,” she moaned, and slipped her foot from underneath his hand. “I should probably go. I have a big day tomorrow and—”

  Richmond brought his lips down on top of hers and silenced her doubts. She melted in his arms for a moment, then she pushed back from him. “I-I have to go,” she said. Alicia reached down and grabbed her shoes.

  “Why are you . . .” Richmond stopped, his mind flashing back to the scene at the gala. As much as he wanted her to stay, there was no way he could pressure her. “All right, we can watch the movie or I can walk you out to your car so that you can get ready for tomorrow.”

  She exhaled. “Yeah, I’m going to go. See you in the morning.”

  He nodded and kissed her on the forehead. “Lox and bagels?”

  “You’re pretty awesome. I’ll bring the Dancing Goats.”

  “Alicia . . .”

  She stroked his cheek. “Thanks for dinner.” As Alicia dashed out of the room with her shoes in her hand, Richmond wished she would’ve stayed the night with him. Waking up with Alicia in his arms would’ve been the best part of the morning, but she wasn’t comfortable, an
d no matter how hard he wanted to talk her into staying, it wasn’t the time for it.

  Richmond walked her outside after she put her shoes on. “Thank you again for dinner,” she said.

  “We can do it again tomorrow, if you would like.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” Alicia placed her hand on the door handle of her car. “I had a really good time tonight.”

  “Anytime I spend with you is always good.”

  Alicia hopped into her car and sped down the road. She knew one thing for sure, she needed a long, cold shower. Her desire for Richmond was driving her crazy. As soon as she got to the hotel she stripped out of her clothes and headed straight for the bathroom. Standing underneath the cold spray, she thought about dinner, how sweet he was, how he made her feel. So what was she so afraid of? Clearly, she’d already mixed business and pleasure after that interlude in her office earlier.

  But being with him on the sofa and in his home just felt so right and so comfortable. It scared her because there had to be something on the back end that would make this go left. Kandace told her that he was freshly divorced. What if he wasn’t over his ex? People get divorced and get back together all the time. She hadn’t wanted to be his rebound chick and end up with her heart broken. Maybe he just wanted a fling? She could deal with that if he was honest about what he really wanted.

  When her cell phone rang, Alicia almost jumped out of her skin. Shutting the water off, she wrapped up in a towel and padded across the room. “Hello?”

  “I just wanted to make sure that you made it home safely,” Richmond said. “And something about watching Grace Jones parachute off the Eiffel Tower made me think of you.”

  “Interesting. Why did that make you think of me?”

  “A big badass move like that, I could totally see you doing that. I’d be willing to take you to Paris to see if you’d do it.”

  “I’ll take that trip to Paris, but I’m not jumping off anything.” She laughed.

  “So, when do you want to go?”

  “Go where?”

  “To Paris. And if it would make you feel better, we could call it a business trip. Go and visit some of the chic hotels in the city and add some Atlanta to it when I build here. I’ve actually been planning a trip to Paris to check out the hotels over there. Think about it, when people visit Paris, they don’t come back complaining about the accommodations.”

  “Must be nice to decide you can just up and go to Paris for research.”

  “What can I say? I’m the boss. Would next week be good for you?”

  Alicia cleared her throat. There was no way this . . . “Are you serious?”

  “Yeah, I’ll pull together a plan and we can get going. I’ll have it ready in the morning.”

  “Okay,” she said, still in disbelief.

  “Sweet dreams, beautiful.”

  “See you in the morning,” she said.

  Chapter 12

  Three weeks later, Alicia was sitting in Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport waiting to board a flight to Paris. She was beyond excited and impressed. First-class tickets and reservations at some of the best hotels in Paris. She’d reached out to Devon and Marie Harris so that they could get together for dinner. One that Devon would cook, of course. Richmond walked over to her and handed her a large cup of coffee.

  “This is what I hate about international flights—the delays,” he said.

  She laughed. “I’m surprised there isn’t a Crawford corporate jet.”

  “It’s in Queens.”

  “How are you going to get along without all of your devices down here in the South?”

  “As long I have you on my side, who needs a private jet?” He held up his coffee cup to hers. “Cheers to a lovely trip.”

  “Cheers.” Alicia smiled and took a big sip of coffee. “You’ve gotten a lot done in these past few weeks.”

  Richmond nodded. “I’ve been focused because you’ve been working your butt off on the marketing side. I love how you’ve built a buzz about the hotel before we’ve broken ground.”

  She nodded. “That’s why we have to make sure it lives up to the hype.” Alicia didn’t say anything about how he’d fought her in the beginning of the social media campaign. He glanced at her as she took another sip of her coffee.

  “You’re not going to say it?”

  “Say what?”

  “That you told me so?”

  Alicia laughed. “It’s too early to be smug, and you already know.”

  “Let me be the first to admit it, I was wrong.”

  “And if this is how you correct your wrongs, you’ll never hear me complain.”

  Richmond wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “This trip is going to change everything,” he whispered against her ear.

  Who knew what this trip was going to change between them? She already knew that it was going to be more than business going on in the City of Lights.

  The question was, could she handle it?

  * * *

  Richmond watched Alicia nap as they waited to board the plane. Did she realize how beautiful she was—awake or sleeping? He ran his index finger down her smooth cheek. This trip to Paris was totally unnecessary, and he didn’t care. He wanted to have uninterrupted time with the woman he was falling for.

  There was just something special about Alicia Michaels that made him happy to be a man. She shifted in her seat and he drew her into his arms, letting anyone who passed by know that she belonged to him.

  “Attention Air France travelers, flight 8945 with nonstop service to Paris, will begin boarding momentarily. We apologize for the delay and thank you for your patience. We hope you will enjoy your flight with Air France today.”

  “Yeah, if we ever get in the air,” Richmond muttered.

  “That wasn’t nice,” Alicia said as her eyes fluttered open. “We’re going to get there. It’s not as if you have a schedule to stick to. You’re the boss, remember?”

  “Cute. But you’re right. It could be worse and we could’ve had a layover in Boston or something.”

  “See,” she said as she reached up and stroked his cheek. “There is always a silver lining. But next time we take a flight, let’s get a later one.”

  “So, there will be a next time, huh?”

  Alicia’s cheeks heated with embarrassment from her slip. She didn’t want him to know during her brief nap that she had been dreaming about a future with him and a trip to Lagos and holding hands while walking down Ibeno Beach.

  “We’ll have to see how this trip goes first,” she replied with a grin. “You might be a horrible flight mate.”

  “There are other ways to get around. You know, I actually suggested Crawford Cruises once.”

  “And what happened to that idea?”

  “An oversaturated market, overhead that was beyond ridiculous, and the fact that Solomon and I were still at each other’s throats all the time. It would’ve never worked. I think I just suggested it because I wanted to get away from everything. Family, a failing marriage, and New York.”

  Alicia paused and wondered if his Atlanta relocation was an extension of him wanting to get away from everything.

  He caught the question in her eyes and smiled. “Things are a lot different now,” he replied. “Atlanta is going to be my new home, where I plan to make new memories and find the new and improved Richmond.”

  “And learn to love coleslaw?”

  “That’s the one thing that is not going to happen.” Unless you cover yourself in coleslaw and I have to eat it off to save your life.

  “I bet I could change your mind,” she said with a smile. “We just have to get you some coleslaw with the right pairing. Biscuits and chicken, maybe.”

  “Definitely not on a hot dog, ever again. But we can deal with that after Paris. I get to taste the famous food of Devon Harris.”

  “Who makes some amazing coleslaw, by the way.”

  Richmond took her face into his hands. “You know what tastes better than coleslaw?
Your lips.” Leaning in, he captured her lips with a slow and deep kiss. Alicia moaned as his tongue danced against hers. His body wanted to melt with hers, wanted to make love to her as if no one else was around. But he knew he had to pull back before he lost all of his self-control. “Delicious.”

  “You can’t keep kissing me like that,” she breathed.

  “Why not? It was amazing. And you kissed me back, so obviously, you like it.” He brushed his nose against hers. “Let me tell you this. I plan to kiss you several times when we get to Paris. Be prepared.”

  “And if I don’t want you to kiss me?”

  “Then I won’t, but you will want it.”

  Before she could respond, the gate agent began to announce that first-class passengers could begin boarding. “Time to go,” Richmond said. As they walked to the boarding gate, he kept his hand on the small of her back. He couldn’t remember the last time he took a trip where his partner didn’t complain about every little thing, from things that they could control to the size of the leather seats in first class. Alicia, while annoyed by the delay as anyone would be, was still polite and a pleasure to be around. The last time he’d taken a trip with Vivian, she’d been a monster—berating the ticket agent, complaining about the wine choices on the flight and the fact that she had to sit beside her husband. Richmond knew he could’ve taken the corporate jet, but he’d flown commercial just to piss off his wife. It worked, but he was tired of being petty and going tit for tat with Vivian.

  After his arrest in Los Angeles, he knew his marriage was over; it was just a matter of how much it would cost him. Solomon had told his brother to stick to the prenup. But Richmond thought if he gave her what she wanted that she’d disappear and live the life she wanted. One without him. But Vivian was greedier than he’d thought and Solomon wasn’t very helpful by blackballing her, even if it was what she deserved.

  Alicia stroked the back of his hand as they settled in their seats on the plane. “You’re all right over there?”

  Richmond nodded. “My coffee’s wearing off, which is a good thing because I need a nap.”

  “And I need to brush up on my French. So, I guess my coffee is just kicking in.” She pulled her iPod out of her carry-on bag. “I downloaded one of those language programs a while back.”