Don’t get even. Get everything…
Even before her bad marriage ended, Lauren MacDonald lost everything—her job, her friends, her self-esteem, and her sexual appetite. Now that she’s finally free, she’s struggling to regain control of a life her ex did his best to destroy.
The plan: sex with Justin Scott, her ex’s business partner. The man her husband invited into their marital bed, forcing her to realize it was time to get out. Justin was the star of the fantasies that helped her endure her marriage, so she can’t deny she wanted him—but not like that. She wants him like this—alone. In her bed. For exactly three nights.
Justin screwed up with Lauren, and in the past she’s made no secret of the fact she loathes him. So when she walks into his office flashing miles of long, lean legs, his brain cells misfire. Three nights of meaningless sex? He’s all over it. Not only does he have the chance to unleash his desire for her, it’s the opening he’s been waiting for—to convince her to give him more.
Warning: This book contains a little revenge, some bargaining, a lot of sex in hotel rooms and an inventive use for a bathrobe.
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Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
577 Mulberry Street, Suite 1520
Macon GA 31201
A Proper Seduction
Copyright © 2010 by HelenKay Dimon
ISBN: 978-1-60928-038-3
Edited by Laurie M. Rauch
Cover by Scott Carpenter
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: May 2010
www.samhainpublishing.com
A Proper Seduction
HelenKay Dimon
Dedication
For Kelly R. and every woman who ever lost her identity in a relationship. May you find the healing love you deserve.
Chapter One
“There is nothing safe about sex. There never will be.”
~Norman Mailer
“I was surprised to see your name on my schedule this morning.” Justin Scott eased into his oversized desk chair, careful not to tip over backwards. Having his ass hit the floor in front of Lauren MacDonald…well, that was just not going to happen.
“Surprised good or surprised bad?” She shut his office door with a click and walked across the carpet to stand in front of his desk. Each step pushed her pencil-thin skirt higher above her knees, flashing inches of toned leg.
He fought the urge to loosen his tie and his belt. “Let’s say intrigued.”
Now there was an understatement. Between the swish of her hips and the way her snug sweater hugged her high breasts, his lower half started twitching. Some things never changed. One year after their last one-on-one encounter and her light floral scent and the way she tucked her hair behind her ear still made him smile. Her dark blue eyes could look so sexy and sad at the same time, and it still fascinated him. His determination to get her back between the sheets, this time without her idiot of a husband hovering on the mattress nearby, still thumped as hard as ever.
Lauren dragged her index finger across the edge of the desk. “I need to talk with you.”
“Obviously.”
She swallowed hard enough for him to see her throat move. Her discomfort struck Justin as odd. Hell, he’d seen her naked, trailed his tongue over her, pushed into her long and hard and…
Yeah, five more seconds of the x-rated movie playing in his head and they’d never make it through this conversation without getting horizontal. He had a lunch meeting in an hour and a stack of government contracts to review. He needed his mind in the game, his zipper up, and Lauren out of his office.
Only one way to do that.
“Just tell me why you’re here.” He fought hard to keep the edge of frustration out of his voice.
Two minutes ago, he was thinking about work. Now, every thought in his brain revolved around the color of her panties. He guessed they were some shade of blue, mostly because he liked her in blue, but she’d pack a punch in any color.
She folded her hands in front of her and glanced up, her gaze bouncing around the office before settling back on him. “I have a proposition for you.”
A job. She needed a damn job. It was no secret Gavin had made the end of their marriage as nasty as its duration. Justin had watched it all play out in the news headlines from the safety of his corner office. She asked for money to start over and Gavin responded by producing a draconian prenup that reeked of lawyer misconduct. She filed for divorce citing Gavin’s adultery as her grounds. Gavin turned around and accused her of sleeping with half of his business associates. He played the wounded victim and cast Lauren in the role of whore.
The very public pounding on her integrity only stopped after Justin stepped in and threatened behind-the-scenes to testify on her behalf. Lauren didn’t know the details. Didn’t need to, but Justin made sure his former friend backed off and walked away, after writing Lauren a check.
But, protecting her didn’t mean Justin could tolerate the thought of seeing her around his office every day. He’d have to keep his dick on ice to survive that. He’d tried to save her twice already. He was done. This time, he’d preserve his sanity and leave her alone.
“Look, Lauren, I’m not hiring. It wouldn’t work out anyway, but I can give you a few dollars to get you through.”
Her hand shot up and waved him off. “This isn’t about money.”
In Justin’s experience, almost everything was about money. Sex, marriage, work—it all boiled down to cash, knowing when to spend it and how much to put on the table.
He had taken a fledgling company and turned it into a thriving multimillion-dollar business by manufacturing the desalination plant used on aircraft carriers. He’d found the military’s need and filled it by turning saltwater into drinking water. And now he was pushing to take that product into the domestic market, a plan that put him at odds with Gavin, his former corporate attorney. Different business interests and different views on Lauren had ended the men’s friendship, and Justin didn’t grieve for the loss at all.
“Tell me what you want,” Justin said.
She stopped drawing doodles with her finger and stared him down. “You.”
Did she… “Excuse me?”
“For three nights.”
Without knowing the details, a voice screamed “yes” in his head. But he wasn’t dumb enough to rush in without more information, so he let silence fill the room for a few seconds. When she started fidgeting, he spoke up again. “For what exactly?”
Her eyes scrunched up at the corners as she shot him that men-are-idiots look she did so well. “What do you think I’m talking about?”
No way in hell was he going to put the sexy scene running through his head into actual words. Her naked, with her mouth on him. Yeah, he’d keep all of that quiet until he knew they were talking the same talk. “Let’s be clear. Just say it.”
“Sex.”
“Sex.”
“With me.” Her angry tone suggested she didn’t sound all that excited about her proposal. “It’s not a big deal. We’ve been together before.”
As if he needed that reminder. “That was different. Gavin invited me—�
��
Her mouth flattened. “Don’t say his name.”
Now Justin got it. This was revenge sex. Gavin had dragged another man into their marriage bed—Justin knew he was the only one to get that invite—and forced Lauren into playing games she couldn’t handle and didn’t want to learn. Now she wanted to get Gavin back for the humiliation. This amounted to one last battle in a bloodbath of a divorce.
Justin wanted her. Like, rip-his-shirt-off-and-get-her-on-his-desk wanted her, but he had a few rules of his own. One was not to get involved in another couple’s game of search-and-destroy. He’d learned that lesson from Gavin and Lauren. No way was he taking a second trip down that road to nowhere.
“Why?” Not the question he’d meant to ask, but Justin figured it worked as well as anything else he might have said.
“I’m officially divorced.”
Best damn news he’d ever heard. “Congratulations?”
“Definitely.” She smiled for the first time. “As of yesterday, I am no longer Mrs. Gavin Fennimore. Not that I've used the name since we separated anyway.”
Suddenly Lauren wasn’t the only one who hated the other man’s name. “What does that have to do with us?” Justin asked.
“You know.”
“Enlighten me.”
She didn’t back down. Her gaze met his and would not let go. “Gavin took away my choice about what I did with my body, when and with whom.”
Guilt splashed over Justin. All thoughts of sex and memories of her bare body died, replaced with the need to squirm. To apologize and come clean. “Lauren, if I had known you didn’t agree…”
He stopped then. He had to. To go any further would be to lie to her. He didn’t want to do that. Not when he had inflicted so many other scars. Not when she stood there, beaten yet so proud, eyes filled with pain, and propositioned him. He knew it took a lot for her to walk into his office. Gavin had stolen her sense of security and picked at her will and self-esteem until there was little left to rebuild.
“I get that you’re trying to prove something.” Justin understood that sentiment all too well.
“Don’t make this into something it isn’t. We’re talking about sex. I need a partner I can trust.”
That answered one question. She still didn’t know the truth about those three nights last year. “And you came up with my name?”
Her shoulders slumped. “I’m not looking for a commitment or a promise of any kind. This is about the act and bodies, heat and chemistry, not romance or feelings.”
“I get it.”
“I just want a few days of sex without worrying about my safety or—”
Ten more seconds of her sterile explanation and he’d never get a hard-on again. “When do we start?”
She stuttered a bit then took a deep breath and started over. “Do you have any other plans for the next few evenings? If not, we may as well go tonight.”
“You don’t exactly give a guy a lot of time to prepare, do you? Lucky for you, I don’t have any performance issues.”
“Yeah, lucky.”
He decided to ignore her lack of enthusiasm. “I can grab some wine and food and then come to your place.”
“No need. This isn’t a date.” She dropped a hotel key on his desk. “Room twelve-eighteen. Just bring yourself and be ready.”
Her detachment to the act was starting to piss him off. Sex without commitment he understood. Sex without excitement, now, that didn’t do much for him at all. “Should I watch porn before I get there to get me in the mood?”
She didn’t even smile at his joke. “If that’s what you need to get off.”
“I was kidding.”
“I’ll see you at eight.” Then she turned around and took her sweet ass right across his office and out the door.
He picked up the key and traced his thumb over the photo impression of the hotel on the front. These three nights would be better than the last three they’d spent together. Lauren would be his alone. And he vowed to give her only pleasure this time.
Chapter Two
“Women need a reason to have sex. Men just need a place.”
~Billy Crystal
Lauren paced around the queen-size bed for the fourth time. She ignored the inviting light blue comforter and fluffy white pillows stacked by the headboard and tried to remember the last time she’d done something as risky as invite a near-stranger over for rounds of mindless sex.
Walking down the aisle and saying “I do” to Gavin ranked as the dumbest decision of her life. She hoped this choice of a bed partner worked out better.
Truth was, she wouldn’t be standing on the twelfth floor of the luxury downtown D.C. hotel, and certainly would not have propositioned Justin, if it weren’t for Gavin. Her marriage was a blur of condescension and disgust. In four years, she’d turned from a respected emergency room nurse with friends and a full life to a sheltered wife who spent her days making the house pretty for her husband and her nights doing whatever he wanted.
His life swallowed hers. His strong personality overwhelmed everything in its path. She stopped fighting him and, eventually, gave up every piece of herself to make him happy.
Then he went too far.
The day Gavin walked Justin into their bedroom and insisted she service them both was the day her brain clicked back on. She wanted to dump Gavin right then, to tell him to go to hell, but she couldn’t. But she did make a mental promise to stop wallowing and hiding and to start planning. One year and numerous court hearings later, she turned thirty and blocked Gavin out of her mind, body, and life for good.
Now she wanted to replace her stark memories of having her body given away with a new reality, one where she would decide who came inside her. Where she would erase the taint of Justin’s touch under Gavin’s watch with a new meeting where she could unleash her long-stifled attraction without it being twisted by Gavin’s selfish fantasies. Maybe then she could forgive herself for letting Gavin think he owned every part of her.
She ran her fingers through her hair for what felt like the fortieth time. She refused to glance into the mirror again. Fussing with makeup was something a woman did on a date. This was not a date. This was a booty call with a purpose.
Before she could peek one more time, the door rattled and then swung open. Justin’s broad shoulders filled the area, blocking the light from the hallway. Forty, with his dark hair graying at the temples, he was no young stud. He was experienced and strong.
“I’m two minutes early,” he said as he dropped his briefcase by the door and shut it behind him.
Since she had been planning this meeting for weeks, she would have been thrilled to see him an hour ago. “You’re punctual.”
“One of my many skills.”
From the finger tracks through his hair and the way his tie hung loose and crooked from his neck, she knew he’d had a long day. He probably wanted dinner, a little conversation. She wasn’t prepared to give him either. “Are you ready to get started?”
His smoky blue eyes widened. “Excuse me?”
She reached around and unclipped the hook at the top of her skirt. “I don’t need foreplay. I don’t want conversation. And kissing is totally off limits.”
“Are you sure you need me for any part of this?”
“I tried it without you. It didn’t work.”
“Really?”
“Of course.”
“Any chance you have a video of that?”
She didn’t bother to look up. “You're not funny.”
“What makes you think I was kidding?”
She kicked off her high heels as she dragged her zipper down. No way was she going to double guess her decision and lose her nerve. “We have stuff to do. Use the bathroom or do whatever you need to do so we can begin.”
“Can I take off my jacket first?”
“What?” She tugged her slim skirt down to her hips, wishing she had changed into the robe before he’d walked through the door.
“You bare
ly let me get in the door before you started listing all the things I’m not allowed to do to you, and then you start stripping.” He held up both hands in mock surrender. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for getting you naked as fast as possible, but the verbal instruction manual is unexpected.”
Her fingers stalled with the skirt bunched low, just above the triangle of her lacey pink scrap of underwear. “I’m trying to be clear about how this is going to work.”
“I’m listening. Go ahead.” He unclipped his watch and shoved it in his pocket.
She yanked the skirt back up until it rested on her hips. “I just told you.”
“I see. Not much for pillow talk, are you?” He rested his fists on his hips. The move pulled his white oxford shirt tight across his chest.
Her concentration blew all to hell. She knew exactly what he hid under that proper charcoal suit. A smooth chest with a sprinkling of soft brown hair. Straining muscles more fitting to a man fifteen years younger. Skin tanned by long hours boating on the Chesapeake. A hard, trim stomach.
Her gaze traveled down the buttons to his flat-front dress pants, to his thighs, and lower. She remembered everything about this man. “We have to do this my way. I set the rules.”
“You want to be in control.”
Had to be. “Yes.”
“Fair enough.” He shrugged out of his jacket and threw it over the small bench at the end of the bed then just stood there as if waiting for the next instruction. “Anything else?”
She searched her mind for other smart precautions, but came up blank. “Like what?”
“Any place I can’t touch you?” He took one step. Then another, until only two feet of thin air separated them. “Anything else you don’t want me to do?”
“Just the kissing.”
“Care to tell me why? I’m only asking because I happen to be a fan of that particular activity.” He reached out and trailed the back of his fingers down her arm until he found her hand. With one smooth move, he lifted her palm and touched her fingertips to his lips.
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