Seth stepped backward as she moved toward him. Thank God the lingerie wasn’t too sheer. It teased with a kind of now-you-see-her-now-you-don’t without looking slatternly or wanton.
“What’s the matter? Afraid you won’t be able to resist?”
Another challenge. Running away was not going to get him the money. He had to stand firmly and not touch her, no matter what she did to him.
Kate threw him a secretive smile and moved in closer. Her scent, musky with a hint of vanilla, curled around him, slowly, erotically, like a misty fog. He wanted to start at her toes and lick his way up.
Concentrate. Distance yourself. How the hell was he supposed to do that when she just kept moving closer?
She moved closer and closer until Seth felt her body heat, until the seductive light in her eyes, the soft pink of her mouth filled his vision. He was afraid to look down at the rest of her body because he might lose his concentration. He might reach out and touch her.
He needed to win this bet. Not to mention control his libido. A libido that only now, with Kate, raged out of control.
Kate stroked the tip of her finger over his lips leaving a trail of searing heat behind. “What are you feeling?”
What was he not feeling?
“Do you want to touch me?”
Hell, yes, he wanted to touch her. He wanted to do more than touch. He wanted to put his hands and his mouth on every sweet inch of her. If he couldn’t control himself when they weren’t in the bedroom, what the hell would happen when they went upstairs? She could make him lose control. She could cause him to lose the money. All he had worked for--gone.
In one hot supernova of sexual release.
“You didn’t answer my question.”
He kept his eyes on hers, afraid to look away, afraid his gaze might rest on the sweet curves of her breasts, hips and lower. Oh God. “Yes, I want to touch you.”
She caressed his jaw and smiled. Then she draped her other arm over his shoulders, teased the back of his neck with her fingertips and slid her fingers through his hair. “You haven’t really looked at my new design. I need to know what you think. Is it sexy enough?”
Seth skimmed his gaze from her head to her toes and back again. Another minute of this and he would combust like a shooting star. “It’s sexy. But I can definitely resist.”
He held his arms rigidly at his side.
He clenched and unclenched his hands to keep from touching her.
“Really. Well resist this.”
In a heartbeat, she clasped his hand, brushed aside the front of the thing she had called a babydoll and placed his hand on her silky, bare skin just below her breast. Feminine heat and softness suffused his palm, his fingers, and glided up his arm. He wanted to kiss her and suckle her lips, until a moan of pure pleasure ripped from her sweet throat. Afterward, he would strip her slowly and take her inch by delectable inch. What an experiment.
Kate leaned closer and placed an open-mouthed kiss on his neck. Heat plunged to his gut and lower. He wanted desperately to move his head to give her better access, but if he did he would touch her and then-- She was killing him. Slowly.
Her body caressed his from chest to thigh. Kate slipped her knee between his legs and pressed her soft breasts against his chest. The soft, sweet part of her that nestled between her legs nudged his crotch. The top of his head nearly flew off and his bones melted.
Seth concentrated harder than he ever had in his life. Under his breath, he recited declinations and ascensions of every star he could think of, trying frantically to calm the race of hot blood through his veins. He had to make her stop. He had to make himself stop.
Seth removed his hand from the bare skin of her chest, grasped her upper arms, and set her gently away from him. “All experiments should be carefully controlled. You have to modify data and move slowly. If you move too fast, you may draw the wrong conclusion.”
Some odd emotion Seth couldn’t fathom flashed in her eyes and blanketed her face. She backed away from him as if his presence were abhorrent to her. What the hell was going on? One minute she was all over him, and now she couldn’t get away from him fast enough. Her nipples peaked through the lace of the top and a shadow of dark curls showed through her panties.
“I’ll change and we’ll get something to eat. You can wait for me in the kitchen.”
Kate fought back tears as she took off her latest creation. She held it in her hands for a moment, her body still stark naked, the chill of the air conditioning blowing over her skin. For a moment, she thought about ripping the garment to shreds.
Instead, she hung it on a spare hanger and shoved it onto a rack. The knot in her throat pushed harder. She felt the heat of humiliation burn over her skin.
Why did she think she could get a true reaction out of Seth Fallon? He wanted his money. He’d told her that was the only reason he was here. But she thought just for a second he might really touch her. Only he didn’t. He had resisted just like he said he would. He’d looked at her with complete indifference like a slide under a microscope, a phenomenon of nature to be examined and recorded. Kate swiped a stray tear from her cheek. Okay, so she wasn’t the sexiest thing around, but she thought with the help of the lingerie, seeing her in it, in the flesh, he might give in, not be able to resist.
She was wrong.
But she wasn’t giving up. The week had barely begun. She finished dressing, glanced at her reflection in the mirror, and pasted on a smile. She would get through this week and win her prize money even if it killed her. She had wanted to seduce him then and there in the storeroom and get it over with. If she had, he would be gone from her life. He would go back to the university, and she would still be here. Alone and still trying to get a man to see beyond her packaging to what lay inside. But at least, the men in her past didn’t invade the empty crevices of her heart.
After dinner, Kate settled with Seth in the study, where he sat rigidly on the sofa. The smell of freshly popped popcorn wafted through the air. A bowl of chocolate kisses and two glasses of iced tea sat on the coffee table.
Kate swung her legs up onto the sofa, scooted close to Seth, and rested her hand on his shoulder. The muscles under her hand felt hard and very male. She smiled sadly, unsure if her next attempt at getting Seth to notice her would work.
With a little luck, a few more days of this and he would explode right into her arms. At least before the week was done, she would know what it felt like to have him give in to his needs, and she would experience his loving firsthand.
And then he would leave.
What if he didn’t manage to resist? She would win the wager. But at what price? She would be right back where she started essentially, because she still wouldn’t have a man who loved her and appreciated her for who she was. A shiver of heat and need trembled through her body.
“Are you cold?” Seth reached for the crushed velvet throw on the back of the sofa and spread the blanket over her legs.
Kate shoved it aside. When she did, her dress hiked up a bit giving him a generous view of her legs. She watched the Adam’s apple in his throat move up and down. Good, she was getting to him. About time. He’d been getting to her since she first saw him again at the television station. “Are you ready?”
Seth jerked his head in her direction. “Ready?”
“To watch the movie.”
He swallowed. “Oh that. Right. Yeah.”
Kate pushed the play button and tossed the control on top of the coffee table. The movie started. Kate had deliberately set the bowl of popcorn out of her reach so she would have to lean over Seth to reach it. She pressed her body against his side and scooped out a handful of popcorn. While still leaning against him, Kate looked at him. “Would you like some?”
An adorable blush pinked his face. He blustered and cleared his throat. “Look Kate, I don’t think that--”
“Popcorn. Not me. At least not yet. Unless you’re ready.”
“No.”
“No, you don�
�t want popcorn? Or no, you’re not ready?”
“Yes.”
“Yes, which?”
“Popcorn. I’ll take some popcorn.”
Kate straightened from where she rested against his shoulder and cupped his hand. She dropped a few kernels of popcorn into his palm and let the tips of her fingers caress his skin.
Absently, she brushed the back of her hand against his neck. God, he felt good and he smelled good, too. He had that Seth scent mixed up with a tangy no-nonsense aftershave. No designer fragrances for him. He was so big, so male sitting there beside her. He made the room into what it should be, a cozy nook where there had been only loneliness before. Now, she had a man in her life. At least for a while. She intended to enjoy it while it lasted.
She wished he would touch her. Really touch her.
Frustration raced through her until she thought she would die. Finally, the movie came to the scene with Clark Cable and Claudette Colbert in the hotel room. Kate hit the pause button and turned her attention to Seth.
“Why did you stop the movie?”
“Because I think it’s time for another experiment.”
Seth rose from the sofa before she could stop him. He paced to the window and back with his hands in his pockets. “Look, Kate, I think we’ve experimented enough for one day.”
Kate refused to give up. She had to get some kind of definitive response from him before the end of the day. If not for the money, then for herself. She had to know beyond a doubt that she was attractive to him, that the tools she did have, her own personal tools, did work. “I disagree. The more experiments we conduct, the more data we have to draw our conclusions from.”
She pointed to the chart he had made and displayed on an easel in the study. “Besides, we’ve barely begun to fill in the chart, to draw the graph. If we don’t have data, how will we ever finish?”
He looked at her, then back at the chart. “Okay, one more.”
She intended two more before the clock struck midnight, but he didn’t have to know that. “One more.”
He removed his hands from his pockets, straightened, and faced her. “What did you have in mind?”
“A kiss.”
“A kiss. This was all about resistance, remember?”
She smiled. “I remember. I’d like to see if you can resist a kiss from me. If you can resist responding.”
“But--but, this was about resisting sexy lingerie. You’re not wearing lingerie.”
She snapped her fingers. “I can fix that.”
Before he could respond, Kate slipped from the den, ran to the bedroom, and put on a simple chemise in a floral print with spaghetti straps.
When she came back to the den, Seth was in the exact position she’d left him. She picked up a pad and pen from a side table and walked to his side. “Here. You can record your reactions and observations on this pad, then transfer the data to the chart.”
Seth took the objects from her hand. She noticed he tried hard not to really look at her body in the chemise. He looked at her feet, a spot over her shoulder, anywhere but directly at her. “Let’s see. Subject, meaning you, is aware of the lingerie and me, but is trying desperately not to be. I think our experiment needs a catalyst.”
“A catalyst?”
“Uh, huh.” Kate stood on her tiptoes. She felt the hem of the nightgown slip up her thighs. She wrapped her arms around Seth’s neck and let her breath waft over his mouth. “The kiss.”
Slowly, she brushed her mouth lightly over his, just a test to discover texture and softness. His mouth was neither soft nor hard, but somewhere in between. Just the right amount of softness combined with just the right amount of firmness to drive a woman mad.
Gradually, she increased the pressure and her boldness. She nipped first at his lower lip, then his upper, all the while keeping her eyes on his. His eyes were open, a deep ocean of intense blue staring back into hers. There were no chips of amber or green in his iris, just pure color.
Tentatively, she slipped her tongue from her mouth and ran the tip over his lips. She heard him suck in a sharp breath. Good. She rubbed her tongue over the seam between his lips tempting him to open his mouth. She eased back a little. “Open your mouth for me. We need to do this for the experiment. We need to let things just happen.”
He moved his lips slightly, just enough for her to dip her tongue inside his mouth. She closed her eyes and moaned.
Why wouldn’t he give in? Why wouldn’t he respond? What was the matter with her? What was the matter with him?
Just as those questions floated through her mind and she was about to cut the experiment short, Seth moved his mouth against hers, nipping into her lower lip. He moved his head closer, increased the pressure. All at once the kiss changed from light to desperate, then to flash point. His tongue stroked deep inside her mouth. His lips suckled and rubbed over hers, a desperate, greedy mating of mouths. His hands delved into her hair. He tilted her head, changed the angle of the kiss, and took the kiss deeper. Then deeper still.
One arm snaked out and drew her close to him. The hem of her gown rode up to almost her waist. He grasped her fanny, pushing her into the juncture between his legs, into his growing erection.
As quickly as the kiss had turned avid, he pulled back from her. “What’s wrong?” The words shuddered from her throat. The breath clogged in her lungs, and her knees nearly collapsed. Her body sang with unfulfilled need and desire.
He moved away from her until they were no longer touching. “I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry.”
The stab of pain pricked her heart unexpectedly. Was he sorry because she didn’t do it right, or sorry she wasn’t someone else? “I’m not. I almost won. You nearly gave in.”
“But I didn’t, and I don’t intend to.”
“We’ll see about that.”
Chapter Five
Seth stood by the bedroom window and listened to the water run in the bathroom. He glanced at the bed. She’d already turned back the covers. Candles were lit. She’d even strewn petals over the sheets. Soft music drifted from the stereo.
The stage was set. The players were ready.
At least she was ready. He had thought he would go out of his mind when she walked into the den wearing that little nothing of a nightgown. She’d caressed him and his control had nearly cracked. But God, when those soft, sweet lips touched his and her wet tongue slid into his mouth, he knew he was a goner.
If just sitting with her on the sofa and seeing her in that nightgown made him nearly lose control, what the hell would happen when he was in bed with her? He closed his eyes tightly. He didn’t want to think about the consequences. But he had to. He would be fired and probably never finish his research and prove his theory without the money. He needed to win and that meant resisting Kate.
Seth remembered the way she had responded and given everything she had in that kiss. Kate had wrapped herself around him and poured on more than seduction. The woman made him feel things and not just lust and need.
Other things.
Being here, in her house made him want things he didn’t think he needed--like a real home with a woman permanently in his life. He knew if he let her crawl under his skin, she would end up crowding him. Kate had the potential to make him admit his greatest fear.
He was terrified that one day the whole world would find out that he was a fraud and didn’t have all the answers. In truth, he didn’t really know all that much about the cosmos. Proving his theory would somehow heal the insecurity he harbored inside himself.
He heard a soft rustle behind him and turned. She stood in the door of the bedroom with the light of the hallway a golden halo around her. God, she was beautiful, but she also looked vulnerable. He’d seen that look several times now in her eyes, on her face, and he didn’t want to think about why. She was here for the same reason he was, right? To win the bet? She had a goal too. One he knew she wanted as badly as he wanted his.
She strolled to the bed and sat down.
Kate lifted a hand to her mouth, gently patted her lips, and yawned. “Time for bed.”
Seth averted his gaze and walked to a slipper chair over by the window. He stripped off his shirt and laid it neatly on the back of the chair. When he reached for the zipper in his pants, he stopped. “Would you mind turning off the light?”
Without a response, he heard the gentle rasp of sheets and bedclothes, then the snick of the lamp switch. Darkness engulfed the room. Seth waited for his eyes to adjust, then took off his slacks. A veil of moonlight floated in through the windows, forming a silver puddle at his feet. Candles glowed on the dresser, their shadows dancing over the walls.
Without asking, Seth walked to the candles and snuffed them out. “Fire hazard.” It was the only explanation he could think of. In truth, he couldn’t stand to see how beautiful Kate looked in candlelight another moment, or he might scrap his goal of winning and jump head first into bed with her.
Okay, relax. Consider the data, the responses, and an answer will present itself. All he had to do was wait until she was asleep and then come to bed. “I think I’ll go downstairs and work for a while.”
“If you go downstairs, I’ll be forced to come with you, and I’m really tired.”
“You don’t need to come with me. Go to sleep.”
“No, I wanted to conduct one more experiment before the day ends.”
“When we were in the den you said--”
“I know, but I’ve changed by mind.”
Changed her mind. Just like a woman. “You can’t change your mind. That’s part of being a scientist, part of conducting experiments. What if Louis Pasteur or Jonas Salk changed their minds in the middle of their research? Where would the world be?”
“Exactly. They moved forward because they had to. They both knew the results they sought were at the tips of their fingers and turning back was not an option. Seth, we have to move forward and that means you coming to bed with me.”
For some inexplicable reason, whenever she called him Seth, he wanted to let go and allow himself to be seduced. But all the seduction in the world wouldn’t help him gain what he really needed--acceptance.
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