by Melody Anne
Now, she was on Catalina Island with a free two-week stay in an exclusive resort, and it was the perfect time for her to learn how to be a consummate seductress. If she could convince this man to teach her, she could go back to her college and ask the guy of her dreams out to lunch — maybe even dinner, if she worked up enough courage.
Haley watched cautiously as Crew Storm checked every inch of his resort, not the slightest possible flaw invisible to his fastidious blue eyes. If there was something wrong, he would find it. The man’s strides were long and powerful, as if every step he took had a purpose, and there was no wasted energy in his movements.
He was tall — intimidatingly tall — standing a few inches over six feet, making her feel almost dwarflike at five foot six. Working on the island had obviously been good to him. His tan was a creamy golden color, making the blue of his eyes glow from beneath his thick, dark lashes.
Without a doubt, however, his hair was his best feature — just long enough for a woman to run her fingers through, then grab a handful and guide his mouth in the direction she most desired.
Although she hadn’t spoken the words aloud, Haley’s face flamed; she looked around, afraid someone nearby could actually hear her thoughts. What was wrong with her? She didn’t want to appreciate Crew Storm’s beauty; she wanted to hire him.
She could do this. When she’d found out she’d won the dream vacation, she’d hopped on her computer and researched all she could about the island and the resort. She’d found out the owner was an eligible bachelor and babe magnet. He had a new woman on his arm every week and was exactly the kind of man she needed to teach her how to be what she wanted to be.
“Do not chicken out!” she snarled under her breath before stepping from the shadows and making her way down the beautiful slate walkway. She’d parked around the corner, since the resort wasn’t open yet and management wasn’t allowing in cars, trying to prevent an early mob.
Though she should be trying to be a femme fatale at the moment, she was woefully underdressed in her loose linen blouse and jean capri pants. She’d been in school for the past three years, plus working part-time at a small stationary store and she never had the energy to dress up or worry about clothes. It had taken her five years of therapy to work up the courage to go to college in the first place, or she would have been finished with her education by now.
Though she’d received a large inheritance when she was nineteen, she hated using the money because her grandparents hadn’t wanted her to have it. They’d just never made a will, and because she was their only heir, the money had come to her. She was sure that if they’d taken the time to designate beneficiaries, they would have left it all to their precious birds rather than to her.
Still, there were times it was necessary for her to dip into her substantial funds. This was one of those times.
It was now or never.
“Are you lost?” Haley stopped the shiver fighting to travel down her spine from just the deep timbre of his voice. Oh yes, she had chosen well. This man could teach her all she wanted to know. He was sex personified.
“No. I’m looking for you, Mr. Storm.”
Nervous tension filled her as his gorgeous eyes gave her body the once-over. When they reached her face, she had the feeling that he’d checked her out and found her wanting.
Too bad!
She’d planned this down to the smallest detail, and she’d make him help her.
“And what can I do for you, miss?”
Oh, the promise in his tone was what women’s wet dreams were made of. She knew he spoke to every woman this way. She’d studied him, read about how effortlessly he flirted — how women fell at his feet. With one snap of his fingers, females young and old were panting, their salivary glands in overdrive.
“Haley Sutherland,” she said a little breathlessly as she stuck out her hand.
After a slight pause, he grasped her fingers and squeezed, then slowly lifted their entwined hands to his mouth and ran his lips across the top of her knuckles, his warm breath brushing over her skin.
“This!” Haley practically shouted as excitement filled her.
Crew’s normal cool seemed to be shaken; he stared at her in confusion. The expression on his face was almost comical as he stood frozen with his lips only a couple of inches from her skin.
“I want you to teach me how to seduce someone. I have been reading about you, studying the way you flirt, how you can have any woman you want. I want you to teach me how to get a man, how to make him want me so much that he can’t see straight, how to make him drop to his knees.”
“Ummm…are you drunk?” Crew asked after a long pause as he dropped her hand and took a retreating step. Haley had no doubt he thought she was crazy. Perhaps she was at the moment.
However, now that she was warmed up, she couldn’t hold back. She followed his steps, not realizing what she was doing until he bumped against the outside wall of his resort and her hand was pressed against his chest.
“I know this seems weird, and maybe I should have eased into it, but I am in love with a man who doesn’t know I’m alive and my psych professor suggested that I ask him out as a way of getting over my fears, but I get all tongue-tied around him, which just can’t happen. I want you to teach me how to make him want me — desire me — need me! I have money. Lots of it. I’ll pay you any amount you want if you will agree to be my teacher.”
Haley didn’t feel a trace of fear as she gazed into Crew’s eyes. All she felt was exhilaration. She knew he could do it — he could turn her from the wallflower she’d always been into a seductress who would get her man.
“Let me get this straight. You want to pay me to teach you how to seduce a man?”
“Yes!” she gasped, relieved he was starting to get it.
“I honestly don’t know what to say.” His tone of voice didn’t alert her at all to what he was thinking.
“Say yes.”
Chapter Four
Crew couldn’t remember a time in his life when he’d been rendered speechless, not even when his father had given him and his siblings that horrendous ultimatum a couple of years earlier.
This wisp of a woman, who looked a bit too much like a teenage girl, was asking him to teach her how to be a seductress. If it were dark out, he’d think he was dreaming. Was she a kid, and was he being punked? Or was she a crazy person who’d escaped from a mental hospital?
Whoever she was, she couldn’t be serious. Who walked up to a stranger and asked such a thing of them? Certainly not a rational person, someone with full brain functionality.
As he stalled to try to figure out how to make her go away, she pulled her hand back and leaned to her right, her other hand propping on her hip, giving him a glimpse of the curves beneath her baggy blouse. Her foot began to tap, and he noticed her slim ankles, and the smooth skin of her tanned shins.
Giving Ms. Haley Sutherland a bit more of a thorough evaluation, he decided she couldn’t possibly be a teenager. There was a woman’s body hiding behind all that fabric, and sparks were radiating in her misty eyes, such a pale color of green that they were almost translucent.
Her hair was tied back in a very sloppy bun, but tendrils of her long blond hair floated about her face. She was pretty, he decided, but obviously crazy, too, which could be a key reason this man she was in love with avoided her at all costs.
It was too bad, really, since she was enticing enough to drop a man to his knees if she knew how to put away the crazy talk and maybe choose another outfit. His inner thoughts amused him, and a smile broke free. He hated to disappoint any person of the female persuasion, but it looked as if this was one damsel in distress he wouldn’t be able to help.
“Well, are you going to just stare at me all day, or are you going to give me an answer?” she huffed, then before he could say anything, she held up her hand. “And before you think I’m insane, I guarantee you, I’m not. I am just tired of sitting in a corner, tired of being this invisible person. Thi
s is one assignment that I’m determined to get an A on, even if it’s not for credit. You wouldn’t know what it’s like to always be invisible, since you’re gorgeous and wealthy and have women drooling over you, but I am all too aware. It’s lonely and disappointing and I just want a new life for myself.”
Crew held up his hand to cut her off. Man, could the woman talk, and talk, and talk. To his utter surprise, her babbling was actually getting through to him on some insane level in his brain. He was intrigued by her request.
How was he supposed to teach her how to catch a guy, though? It wasn’t as if there were books out there on how to seduce a man. Or maybe there were. Hell, he didn’t know. After all, he’d never had to learn the art of seduction. It just came naturally to him, he thought proudly.
“Why would you think I’d even consider doing such a thing?” he finally asked, surprised he was in fact leaning toward accepting her wacko proposal. He didn’t have time for this. There was no way. He had a resort to run, and then to sell. When this project was safely locked in the hands of someone else, he had to start all over on his next project. He didn’t have time for crazy females with even nuttier requests.
“Because I’ve learned about you. The way you flirt with women is simply effortless. If you teach me how to be one of those women you’d want to be with, then I know I can win my guy. He won’t even know what hit him.”
“How far exactly do you want this to go?”
“What do you mean?” By the innocent expression on her face, he could see she really had no clue of what he was talking about. With quick movements, he decided to show her.
In one smooth motion, his arms encircled her, and he backed her against the side of the resort, tucking them both into the shadows and bringing his face to within an inch of hers. The widening of her eyes and quick intake of her breath sent a surge of adrenaline warming his insides. Let her see what happens when she decides to play with fire. By the time he was done with his lesson, she’d run away before he had a chance to blink, and her ridiculous idea would be totally forgotten.
“Do you want me to teach you how to be a seductress, or teach you how to seduce? I can teach you many things, Haley, but believe me, I don’t need to be paid for my lessons — at least not in cash.”
When her cheeks flushed and her eyelids drooped, Crew was overwhelmed with the desire to kiss her. Since she’d be running away screaming in a few moments, he was debating on sampling her lips just one time. Just as he got ready to close the gap between them, her eyes widened and a huge smile spread across her face, causing him to lose his momentum.
What had just happened?
“Yes! That! That’s what I want you to teach me. Oh, my gosh, I couldn’t breathe for a second there as you were all sultry and sexy and pressing against me. It felt like my stomach was on fire and my heart was going a thousand beats a minute. Teach me how to do that same thing to Walker!”
The excitement bouncing from her was a real blow to Crew’s ego, especially when she slid out from beneath his arms and danced in a little circle in front of him. But the wide-eyed innocence in her expression made him want to tuck her away and save her from herself.
“I can’t do this.”
For a split second her smile stayed in place, and then her face fell. He felt as if he’d just shot her favorite kitten. She was obviously crushed.
“I understand. I thought it was a long shot getting you to be my teacher, but a girl’s got to try, right?”
Were those tears in her eyes? He hated feminine tears, hated the power they wielded. Everyone cried, so why did it make him feel like such a tyrant when a stranger shed a tear or two? Until a few minutes ago, he hadn’t even known Haley Sutherland existed, so what did it matter if she was crying?
“I’m sorry, Haley. I really am, but I’m a busy man, and I don’t know the first thing on how to teach this kind of…lesson. I’m sure you can find a good self-help book, though, one that will give you all the answers you need. They’re publishing everything nowadays.”
“I’m sure you’re right, Mr. Storm. I appreciate your listening to me, and thinking about it, even if it was only for a second,” she said, her eyes narrowing at the end of her sentence.
Without saying anything further, Ms. Haley Sutherland turned and walked away from him. He watched the sway of her curvy hips, and, stupidly, he wanted to shout out to her that she had a few moves already capable of seducing a man, but he knew that would be a mistake.
The farther away the crazy woman was, the quicker he’d be able to forget about her. Once she had turned the corner, he went back to admiring his resort, his achievement. Unfortunately, as the day progressed and his doors officially opened, one small woman and her ridiculous proposal remained on his mind.
He knew that the madness would pass soon enough.
*****
Haley walked away feeling defeated for about five minutes. Once she was out of sight of the resort, she turned back around and glared in the general direction of where she assumed Crew Storm was.
He was the only man she’d found so far who could teach her how to be the perfect seductress, but he wasn’t the only man capable of teaching her. With relentless determination building inside, Haley walked to her car and looked at her paperwork. She was going to be staying in a tropical paradise in the summertime.
There were bound to be several single men staying at the luxury resort. At least one of them would take her up on her offer. With a smile, she drove to a small café where she could comfortably wait for the resort to open.
Looking around, she thought, It’s all or nothing.
Haley’s upbringing had been the stuff of horror. It had taken her years of therapy and then college to learn how wrong her grandparents had been in the way they’d treated her. The shame was on them for how they treated her and she shouldn’t feel this much inadequacy. When they’d died and she inherited their money, it had felt not like a victory, but a burden.
Until now, she’d been unwilling to use her inheritance for anything other than her schooling, so she’d squirreled the money away, living cheaply while working on her bachelor’s degree. Now, she was almost finished with her education, but her line of study wasn’t doing much for her at this particular moment. She had a ways to go before she’d make a real living at it.
Some people might have thought her vain or irresponsible for rushing off on a quest to learn the art of love, but if they knew about the despair and utter loneliness of the childhood neglect she’d suffered, or about the many years of being picked on and feeling invisible, they’d probably have given her a pass. She wanted to reinvent herself, and nothing was going to stand in her way.
The spring term had just ended, and with studying for finals and excitement about her trip, she hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep in weeks, and she couldn’t remember the last time she’d thought to feed herself something other than Ramen Noodles and Budget Gourmet. It would be nice to stay in the resort, where she could sleep in without fear of missing school, and eat at the press of a button.
Once her basic bodily needs had been taken care of, the hunt for a new guy to teach her what she wanted would be on. The perfect place to start would be the resort lounge. From her observations, slightly intoxicated men were far more willing to do the bidding of strange women.
After finishing her meal and noting the time, Haley drove back to the resort, surprised by the huge line of people parading down the quaint paths. Luckily, valet parking wasn’t too busy, and she had to wait only about five minutes before a good-looking young man opened her car door.
“Sorry about the wait, Miss, but opening day has been busy. Are you staying with us tonight?”
“Yes I am, and the wait wasn’t bad at all.” She gave him a huge smile and was delighted when his cheeks flushed. Too bad he was so young — and so shy. She needed a man, not a boy.
“Um…just take this slip inside with you, and we’ll be sure to bring your bags to your room,” he stuttered, giving H
aley confidence she didn’t know she had.
“Thank you…,” she said, pausing as she looked at his name tag, “…Sammy. You have a great day.”
Life was already looking up. As she stepped inside the plush lobby of the resort, Crew was nowhere to be seen, but that was OK with her, because there were plenty of men to take his place.
As she looked around, she suddenly felt like sinking through the floor. This place was so far out of her league, she felt it was a sin to be standing on the magnificent floors. Though, she had seven figures in the bank, the clientele here spent that kind of money in a month, for vacation homes, expensive cars, and charity donations.
When her grandparents had died, a big chunk of their estate had been taken in taxes and payment on debts, but she still wouldn’t complain at what she had. She could live comfortably on the interest alone if she chose, but she wouldn’t be able to come to resorts such as this on the money in her bank account.
Beautifully dressed staff members were walking around the crowded lobby, carrying trays filled with eye-catching appetizers and full glasses of wine in honor of the grand opening. The lobby oozed elegance and perfection. Every last touch seemed to have been planned, down to the minutest detail.
Overwhelmed and hoping she hadn’t made a mistake, Haley found she couldn’t get her feet to move. She was underdressed and she stuck out like a sore thumb in the roomful of sophisticated people. Even the cleaning staff were dressed better than she was.
In every direction she looked, handsome men in hand-tailored suits were standing around chatting with other people also dressed to the nines, or leaning against the romantic railings lining the whimsical staircases.
This was a high-class place, one where even the floors stood out with their unique marble patterns, and she felt a thrill to be a guest. Not entirely a good thrill, but she refused to allow herself be too intimidated. Though she felt an intense impulse to turn around and run back outside, she fought it and was winning. She wasn’t that girl who was allowed to associate only with the servants and certainly no one of any social standing, not anymore.