by Melody Anne
“Thank you, Crew. Now, enough business talk. Have you managed to find a woman yet?”
Classic. The statement made Crew laugh into the phone receiver. “No, father. I’m not looking for love. One step at a time.”
“You know, you aren’t getting any younger, boy. You’ll be thirty-five on your next birthday. It’s time to settle down and keep the family name alive. A good woman will add years to your life.”
Something about the sadness of his tone alerted Crew that something was wrong, but he couldn’t figure out what it might be. It was most likely just his imagination, anyway. His father was as strong and vibrant as ever. If anything were worrying him, he would be sure to tell his children, despite their reprehensible behavior before Richard finally laid down the law.
“I’m not quite ready, Dad, but I’ll let you know when I find the one. As for kids, I don’t see that happening. I’m not the ‘dad type,’” he said, taking a large puff from his cigar and blowing the air out.
“That’s utter nonsense, boy!” his father snapped, sounding much more like himself.
The tense muscles in Crew’s neck relaxed. One worry down. And at least he wasn’t thinking about bedding Haley Sutherland. Unfortunately, if it wasn’t one kind of stress, it was another. His arousal had disappeared, and his father seemed just fine, but once again, he had his father on his back, pushing him to get married and settle down. It seemed there would be no relaxation for him today.
“Dad…” he warned.
“I’m getting to be an old man, Crew, and I demand to have some grandchildren before the good Lord decides to take me from this earth. I don’t see what’s so wrong with that request. Why, most people my age have at least ten grandchildren, but oh no, not me. My kids don’t think about raising the next generation. They don’t think about bringing me some happiness in my declining years…” Richard continued to rant for several long minutes, making Crew set down the phone and rush to the liquor cabinet, where he poured himself a shot of scotch. He needed something warm and soothing in his bloodstream. He knew this stupid speech by heart — he’d been hearing it for years, and he knew he wouldn’t miss a thing.
When Crew picked the phone back up, his father was nearing the end of his whine. “…and that’s why you need to settle down!”
“You’d better not be doing any more scheming. I still haven’t forgiven you for that time Sue Ellen and I managed to get locked in the boathouse overnight when I was twenty-four,” Crew reminded his father.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I wasn’t the one who locked you in, if that’s what you’re implying. But, at the age of twenty-four, you were more than ready to be married. Heck, by now, you should have at least three kids. I wouldn’t mind each of you having a dozen of the little ankle-biters.”
“I get it, Dad. You want grandkids. Talk to Lance. He’s more likely to give them to you than the rest of us.”
Crew felt a slight pang at selling out his brother, but Lance was more the father type, if there were such a thing. Their dad, with his incredible dedication, had given his children a great example of what a father should be, and it wasn’t that Crew didn’t want kids; it was just something he didn’t anticipate in the foreseeable future. Time to cut this call short.
“Hey, Dad. I’m sorry, but I’m getting a call on the other line,” he told him, grateful for the flashing red light. He wouldn’t tell an outright lie, but he’d suffered through his father’s guilt trip long enough; reports of zombies in the spa pool might have sounded good in comparison.
“Fine, fine. But you’ll have no choice but to listen when I show up down there,” Richard said.
“Yes, you can give me the talk about family obligation again, and again, very soon,” Crew told him. His tone was genial, and he hoped his remark wouldn’t set his dad off. Luckily, it didn’t, and he was able to say goodbye.
Crew missed the incoming call, but wasn’t too worried about it. After hanging up the phone, he looked at the clock and found to his surprise that it was nearing midnight. Time really flew when you weren’t having fun. Since he had an early-morning meeting, he decided to call it a night.
Switching his phone over to the emergency desk, Crew locked up the office and headed to his private suite.
Had he known he was going to spend the night sweating in bed with erotic dreams starring Haley, he’d have stayed up and caught up on work instead.
Chapter Ten
Crew woke up in a foul mood. He’d tossed and turned most of the night, finally giving up on sleep at five in the morning, stumbling from his bed and heading straight to the shower.
He would have just guffawed had a fortune-teller laid out his tarot cards and said: “I see in your future a crazy blond woman wearing shapeless clothes. She will approach you with an indecent proposal, and you’ll be unable to do anything but think about her.”
Both awake and asleep.
After washing the sweat from his body, Crew planned his day. There was no time like the present, he decided, to begin his damnable lessons. In order for Haley to become the seductress she wanted to be, she needed first to feel like a beautiful woman.
This was something Crew knew how to do. He loved the courting game, though it had been a while. A man who didn’t spoil his woman or treat her like his most valuable treasure wasn’t worthy of her love. And, hey, it could be fun.
Romance didn’t always mean large gestures. Often it was the small things that mattered most. A note telling her how beautiful she was, a single rose laid upon her pillow at night, a chocolate sitting next to her coffee cup. Small things to let her know she was always on his mind.
Crew was often confused by his fellow men. He didn’t see how guys were so blind to what women wanted and needed. Haley wanted to make men flock to her, but it would help her to find out — and she was about to — why women flocked to him, and how he chose a woman.
Once she knew how incredibly intoxicating she was, she’d be the type of girl he would have approached a week ago. Her only flaw was her lack of confidence. She didn’t realize it, but the only thing he was teaching her was how to love herself — everything else would easily fall into place for her after that.
First on his list of to-dos was to order a large bouquet of pink and purple stargazer lilies, making sure the greenery matched the color of her eyes and the flowers themselves were fragrant enough that each time she entered the room, their smell would tease and delight her senses.
He also ordered breakfast to be delivered, heading to the kitchen himself to ensure that no mistakes were made. He’d yet to find a woman who couldn’t be seduced by silky chocolate and vibrant flowers. The longer she was with him, the more expensive the gifts, but in the beginning, subtlety was best.
Sliding the delicate chocolate truffles onto her plate and attaching a note, Crew smiled and waited for her call. It didn’t take long — about twenty minutes, in fact.
“Crew?” her sleepy voice drifted through the phone line, to his ear.
“Speaking,” he said softly as he made his way toward her room.
“You have an impressive way of wangling a breakfast invitation,” she said, her voice soft and husky from sleep.
“I do what I can,” he replied as he neared her door.
“The flowers are beautiful, and this chocolate is the best I’ve ever had,” she mumbled around the sweet concoction in her mouth. As Crew pictured filling her mouth with much more than chocolate, his groin tightened. Man, he wanted her sweet, full lips around his shaft – hell, all over his body, but especially his shaft!
“Are you going to invite me in?” he practically whispered. To himself, he said: Down, boy!
“Well…you did have breakfast for two sent up. I hate to see such a good meal wasted…”
“Invite me in, Haley. This is Lesson Three,” he said, his voice purposely low and seductive. Satisfaction filled him at the hitch in her voice.
“I need time to get dressed.”
“Then
our breakfast will get cold. You look fine, I’m sure,” he said with a hint of impatience. He really wanted to know what she slept in. Was it nothing at all? The sudden thought had his blood racing.
“Fine. Come on up,” she conceded.
“I’m already here. Open the door.” Crew hung up and waited. He had the master key in his pocket, but he wouldn’t use it. She needed to have the confidence in herself to let him through her door.
The door opened just a crack and Crew first saw big green eyes peering out at him. He said nothing, just raised his eyebrows as he waited for her to open the door all the way.
He wanted to push his way through, take her in his arms, and taste the chocolate on her tongue, but he was supposed to be teaching her. This wasn’t about his own needs, though he promised himself they would get met.
By the time he was finished with Haley Sutherland, she’d never think again about this other man she’d been so desperate to capture. Of course, it wasn’t as if Crew wanted to find himself captured either. He just needed a few nips of her perfect skin, a few cries of passion from her slender throat, and a few whimpers and gasps for air as she fell apart in his arms.
“Are you going to let me in, Haley, or just stand behind the door gaping at me?” he asked with a smile.
She narrowed her eyes, then rolled them as she gave him enough room to step through. Crew waited patiently for the door to shut firmly behind him before he made eye contact.
He was grateful for his decision, because when he turned and saw her, his jaw nearly dropped. She was wearing nothing but a pair of men’s flannel boxers and a tight tank top, displaying exactly what she’d been hiding beneath those baggy clothes.
To make matters worse, the white cotton tank was just the slightest bit too thin, showing him the shadow of her dark nipples beneath the soft fabric. His throat went dry and he took an involuntary step toward her.
As if she knew exactly what he was thinking, she turned quickly and raced toward the bathroom, calling out that she’d be right out. Damn! She was most likely covering up all that beautiful skin.
Lesson Four was coming real quick, because if she wanted to seduce a man, she was certainly more than qualified to do it.
Crew sat at the table, pouring himself a cup of hot coffee and releasing a deep breath while he sat back in his chair and waited. It didn’t take her long, but when she returned, he found that he’d predicted correctly: she was wearing too many clothes.
“You should have stayed in your pajamas,” he said, disappointed by the oversized knit shirt she’d thrown on. At least her slender legs were still on display.
“I was cold,” she lied.
“No you weren’t, Haley. That shirt hid nothing, and if you had been cold, I would have known about it,” he smirked.
Her cheeks flamed; she picked up a croissant and began nibbling on its corner in hopes of hiding her embarrassment.
“Thank you for the lilies — they’re my favorite, but you really don’t need to do that. I asked you to teach me how to be the one to seduce a man. There’s absolutely no need for you to try to seduce me,” she said crisply as she poured tea into a cup and added a little lemon and sugar.
Crew waited until he had her full attention before he spoke, making sure to capture her eyes with his gaze. He wanted her to have no doubt where this was going.
“I don’t do anything by half measures, Haley. I agreed to your ridiculous request, but I’m going to be the one in charge here. If you are to become anything like the kind of woman you’re asking me to make you, then we do it my way — without any complaints. Today’s lesson: you must realize your own appeal. A woman who feels sexy is sexy. You don’t have to be a model — you can be too thin or too large — and you don’t have to be the perfect height or have the perfect curves. You just have to know how to use what you’ve got, and display it in the best possible light.”
Haley looked down as if making a catalog of her best points. Then she shook her head and frowned.
“What are my assets, then?”
That she honestly didn’t know made Crew’s breath catch in his throat. Man, was he turned on. He didn’t know if he’d make it through this “lesson.” Her innocence was…exciting.
Instead of answering her, Crew stood up from the table. He’d lost all his appetite…for food, that was. She tensed as he circled around her and kneeled behind her low-back chair. But, to her credit, she didn’t pull away when he rested his hands on her shoulders.
“First off, your hair. It’s stunning. The color is golden, and the strands are long and soft.” As he spoke, his fingers glided through her hair. Even after a night’s sleep, it was sleek and smooth to the touch.
“Then there are your eyes — the soft green shines with vibrancy and life when you aren’t looking down. Fire flashes in them when you’re determined or irritated. Passion pours out of them when you’re turned on.” His hand moved to her cheekbones as he spoke, his body pressing against the back of the chair. He didn’t want her to look at him, just feel his hands caressing her, and let his words cascade through her so she could focus wholly on herself.
“Don’t forget your neck; its taut, creamy skin with your pulse beating just below the surface can drive a man wild,” he whispered in her ear as he leaned forward and circled his hands around her throat, his fingers gentle as he caressed her.
Her pulse was speeding up, making his own race. He moved to the side of the chair so he could stroke her cheek and run his lips across her smooth skin. Her responses to him were fueling his desire, but he refused to let himself get out of control. This was about teaching her to embrace her sexuality, not about seducing her, even if it killed him.
“Then, of course, we start to reach the perfection of your breasts. When you don’t hide them, they can drop a man to his knees. They’re firm and high and just the right fit for a man’s large hands,” he groaned as his hands moved downward and grazed over the outside of her shirt, shaping her luscious curves with his palms.
Her nipples hardened beneath his touch; her body went limp in the chair and her head fell backward. Crew knew he could lift her in his arms and take her to the bed — make her his right now. With a will he didn’t know he had, he forced himself to continue his demonstration.
“Your hips are curved and perfect, making a man want to grip them tightly in his hands while he pulls you against his body and fits himself right at the edge of glory. I could take you right now and feel a deep, satisfying pleasure from my head to my toes,” he said as he rubbed his hands down her hips before coming around the front of her chair.
He knelt before her, then took her hips again and pulled her forward, her legs spreading around his thighs, aligning her heat perfectly with his excruciatingly hard manhood.
Gripping her backside, he squeezed her firm, yet soft tush as her eyes opened the tiniest fraction of an inch and she looked at him with fire leaping from those beautiful green depths of hers.
“I won’t continue telling you about the most appealing pieces of you, because if I do, this lesson will end with me taking you hard and fast, and we’re not there yet, Haley. But, I want you to go into the bathroom, strip naked and run your hands over your body. I want you to close your eyes as you touch yourself, feel what I’m feeling. I want you to feel what makes you so sexy — feel what will make a man crawl over hot coals to touch.”
Crew pulled her against him for just one moment — just a brief second, it seemed — to try to alleviate the pain throbbing in his groin. Then he moved her back and lifted her hands, placing them both on her chest, causing her eyes to snap open, arousal clouding her vision.
“Go do it, Haley. Go complete your lesson,” he groaned as she automatically flexed her fingers, making the muscle in his jaw jump from the amount of restraint he was exerting over himself.
In a daze, Haley stood up, her legs shaky. Without a word, she turned and went toward the bathroom. He didn’t know whether she’d do what he asked or not right at this moment,
but he knew it would sink in and she’d eventually follow through.
He sat back down, seriously thinking about grabbing a glass of the ice water on the table and dumping it down his ridiculously tight trousers. When he heard a soft groan from the bathroom as the shower started, he nearly lost it.
This lesson was over. Crew stood up and grabbed a sweatshirt he saw hanging over a chair. Draping it across his arm, he hid the enormous erection he was sporting and practically sprinted from her room.
Only one employee tried to speak to him as he made a beeline to his suite. He ignored the woman and dashed into his room. He locked his door behind him and barely paused before heading straight to the shower, scattering his clothes along the way. This adventure with Haley wasn’t going to be good for his body — not one little bit.
Chapter Eleven
For the next five days, Crew tested the very limits of what he could handle. He didn’t know whether he was a glutton for punishment or if he was determined to walk around with certain body parts south of the equator forever swollen. Haley was an eager learner, which made everything, er…harder. If she had been impatient or snooty, this would have been so much easier on him.
He could write her off — say he’d tried and then get her out of his head. But the light of excitement shining in her eyes each time he showed her something new was intoxicating for him. The moment was approaching when he would take her to the furthest reaches she could imagine.
That was a lesson that must be taught — personally. Though she wouldn’t admit to him how many sexual partners she’d been with, he knew it couldn’t be many. She was too shy, too unaware of her own body to have slept with more than a few men. Heck, he wouldn’t be surprised if she’d been with only one or two.
Well, by the time he was done teaching her, she’d be a regular siren in bed. Unfortunately, the thought of her using these skills, the skills he’d taught her, with another man sparked a nasty little twinge in his gut. But he wasn’t going to dwell on that now