Your Alluring Love (The Bennett Family)

by Layla Hagen

  I dismiss his impression of an accent with a wave of my hand. “Fake accents are like fake orgasms. All noise, no substance.”

  Nate’s irises instantly darken and he rises from the table, stalking in my direction.

  “If you had to fake orgasms, you’ve been dating the wrong men, love.”

  Damn. He says that typical British endearment word without any accent, but I’m tempted to double-check if my underwear is still in place or if it spontaneously vanished into thin air. I’m in such trouble. Shrugging one shoulder, I try not to let on how much his proximity affects me. I’m not sure I’m succeeding.

  “That’s why I’m still looking.”

  “A word of advice? Colin won’t cut it.”

  “Because he’s nice? Nice guys don’t hurt women.”

  “Getting bored to death is also a form of pain. Should be officially considered an affliction.”

  “You know what’s a pain? You!” I point my forefinger at him, following every word with a sharp tap on his chest. “You’re a pain in my ass.”

  “Why, because I’m telling you the truth?”

  “Yes,” I admit, dropping my hand to the side, recognizing defeat. “I was just messing with you. I have no intentions of going out with Colin. Turned him down a couple of times, but he’s persistent.”

  “Be firmer.”

  “I will next time. He weaseled out before I could today.” Out of the corner of my eye, a movement at the entrance of the restaurant catches my eye. “Damn, he’s coming back.”

  “You want him to stop asking you out?”

  “Yes.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I have an idea. Are you game for anything?”

  Licking my lips, I avert my gaze from his mouth to a spot on his shirt. “Yeah. What do you have in mind?”

  The bastard kisses me. The second his mouth covers mine, everything around us fades. Aligning his body with mine, he pushes me against the counter, lighting a match inside me, setting free all my pent-up desire. His lips are rough, scorching everything in their path. He kisses me like a man possessed, exploring my mouth, tasting and probing and demanding.

  Somewhere at the back of my mind lurks the thought that this is all for show, but it sure as hell feels real. I become aware of all the points of contact between our bodies, of the slight tremor in his chest, as if he’s fighting hard to control himself. My hands move along his chest of their own accord, shamelessly touching him. I start with the taut swell of his skin over his broad, strong shoulders, then lower my fingers to the defined squares of his abs. A smart woman with more self-restraint than me would stop there, but a haze of lust has befuddled my neurons. As such, I lower my hand even more until I reach the dent of his obliques. A groan reverberates from deep inside him. My fantasy supplies a terribly detailed mental image of the V formed by said oblique muscles. I imagine there is a dusting of hair starting under his navel and leading into his boxers.

  Nate intensifies the kiss, his tongue inviting mine to dance in a maddening rhythm. One of his hands cups the side of my jaw, protective and possessive in equal measure. The other hand explores me. Feeling the slightly callused pads of his fingers trail along my exposed forearm is pure torture, lighting up all my nerve endings. When he reaches my shoulder, his thumb moves in small circles down to my clavicle, resting at the base of my neck. I legitimately fear I might spontaneously combust.

  Desperately needing a mouthful of fresh air, I pull back. Nate rests his lips at the corner of my mouth. His hot breath caresses the skin on my cheeks, and the sharp rhythm of his inhales and exhales betrays how deeply this kiss affected him. I swear the air between us crackles. He steps back and I instantly move to the right, desperately needing to put some distance between us. Glancing toward the entrance, I notice Colin’s gone. That’s when it hits me how rude this was to Colin. I’d just told him I’m not interested in dating. It was also unprofessional. Granted, my servers are on their break, but someone could have still walked in.

  “What was I thinking? Putting on a show?” I mutter on a groan.

  Nate doesn’t miss a beat. “I didn’t give you a chance to think. As you can see, it worked out great.” A satisfied grin spreads on his features as he steps in my direction.

  I almost jump back, pointing a menacing finger at him. “Stay where you are. I haven’t been kissed this good in a long while. My hormones can’t be trusted.”

  And lo and behold, my legendary no-filter answers finally decided to make an appearance—at the most inappropriate of times, of course. Nate bursts out laughing, ignoring my warning and closing the distance between us.

  “Always happy to be at your service.” His voice is low and husky. With every word, a warm breath lands on my cheek. It feels like velvet against my skin. I want to wrap it around myself and sleep cocooned in that velvety warmth.

  Breathing in and out, I try to gather my wits. It’s a difficult task, given how everything about Nate is overwhelming. The mere memory of our kiss is enough to turn me on and, most dangerously, have me wanting a repeat.

  “The news you mentioned?”

  “Right. The Delicious Dining team wants to move forward. They want to include all your restaurants in the feature.”

  “Wow. I can’t believe this. Thank you so much.”

  “As a next step, they’d like to meet with you in about two weeks.”

  “Blake too?”

  “Their focus is on restaurants, so they specifically asked to see you.”

  “Got it. What do you want for a snack?”

  “It’s safest if I go now. Otherwise, I might do something crazy.” He smiles at me, and I warm all over again. Oh my. I can still taste him on my lips and tell the exact places where he touched my waist and the back of my head.

  “Okay.” I won’t lie; I was hoping he’d stick around a while longer, although for what purpose exactly, I’m not sure. Well, we could find plenty of purposes like kissing, ripping each other’s clothes off. Damn, I can’t follow this line of thought. It’s dangerous.

  I walk him to the restaurant entrance in silence, mulling over how one kiss can affect me so much. In my defense, it was a scorching-hot kiss. As he bids me goodbye in the doorway, he leans in.

  “Alice?”

  “Yeah?”

  “That was one hell of a kiss.”

  Chapter Seven

  Alice

  My mind is reeling for the rest of the day, and more than once, I catch myself smiling for no reason. Well, that’s not true. There is a reason. He’s about six feet tall, candy on a stick, and his name is Nate. A small part of me still fears I might have imagined the kiss, or dreamed it. I want to call and ask him more details about the meeting with the Delicious Dining team, but I need a breather first.

  I throw myself into work until late at night, and then reason it’s too late to call him, so instead I do it first thing the next morning. Sitting cross-legged in my bed, still wearing pajamas, I dial his number. He answers right away.

  “Took you an awfully long time to get those hormones back in check.”

  He effectively breaks the ice, and I find myself grinning.

  “Yep. Whipped them good, gave them a lecture. Don’t worry, you’re safe now.”

  “You’re not.”

  I lick my lips. “What?”

  “You heard me.”

  Oh boy. His voice is low and seductive. Bedroom voice. Right, I can’t let my mind go there. I called with a purpose.

  “I wanted to ask for some tips. What will the meeting with the Delicious Dining people be like?”

  “You should definitely have a pitch prepared.”

  “A sales pitch?”

  “More than that. They’ll want to know about you too, the story behind the restaurants. In a nutshell, they want a captivating story. Something to keep viewers glued to the TV. You should elaborate on the points we talked about when we met at Blue Moon.”

  My stomach sinks. I know my strengths
, and captivating a group of strangers with my storytelling isn’t one of them. I can efficiently prepare a sales pitch, and I can even confidently throw around marketing terms such as ‘unique selling proposition’ and ‘competitive advantage,’ but telling a story is another beast.

  “Sounds complex.”

  “I’ll help you prepare.”

  “I like how there’s no question mark at the end of that sentence.”

  “Not giving you a chance to turn me down.”

  “You have time? I’m sure you have a million things to do before leaving.” My throat almost closes up as I utter that last word.

  “I have time. Does Friday evening work?” His tone is downright bossy now. A delicious twinkle of awareness travels through my limbs. I can’t believe bossy is doing it for me. His alpha caveman tendencies were one thing, but this is different. Maybe it was just a mishap. I should test this some more, make sure I’m not imagining things.

  “What if I say no?”

  “I’ll show up anyway.”

  “You don’t even know where I’ll be.”

  “Damn you, woman, stop fighting or I’ll kiss you again when I do find you. And I’ll kiss you good, hard, and long.”

  Oh my! There’s definitely a twinkle, possibly even a sizzle. I don’t recognize myself.

  “You’re a bad man.” My voice is a raspy whisper—my bedroom voice. Pulling myself together, I smooth a wrinkle on my bedsheet with the back of my hand, forcing my trail of thoughts on a safe path again. “But thank you for wanting to help. I really appreciate it, Nate. Let’s meet at Blake’s bar so we can include him in the conversation. Even if he won’t come to the meeting, I don’t want him to feel left out.”

  “Sounds great.”

  “My car is out of the mechanic’s shop,” I add quickly before he can offer to pick me up.

  “Afraid to be alone with me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. You should be.”

  “See you on Friday.”

  “Looking forward to it. And Alice? Just because we won’t be alone doesn’t mean you’re safe with me.”

  Oh God. This man is killing me.

  ***

  Nate

  I meet with both Logan and Sebastian the next evening for drinks, and while we’re rehashing old memories, I feel like an ass because I kissed their sister. I owe these guys—the entire family. They kept me grounded in a time when I was lost, and how am I repaying them? I briefly consider coming clean about Alice, but what good would that do? It was a one-time thing, and even though she’s been on my mind constantly since, there won’t be a repeat, even if I have to fight myself every second on Friday evening.

  Friday comes around quickly, and at four o’clock I receive an unexpected call from Horowitz, asking if I can meet him in his office. I assume he finally has the contract for London ready—the office in the United Kingdom took their sweet time sending it over—and I agree to meet him right away.

  Horowitz is pacing in his office when I arrive. He gestures for me to sit in the chair in front of his desk, but I’m too wired to sit.

  “No need. I can sign while standing too. I’m assuming this is about the London contract?”

  Horowitz clears his throat, and I realize he looks uncomfortable. I’ve only seen him uncomfortable once before, when wife number two caught him banging someone. She came to surprise him at the office, and the surprise was on her. She raised hell, yelling at him loud enough for the entire floor to hear.

  “There’s been a change.”

  “A change?”

  “The London office decided to go in another direction with the hire.”

  My body goes cold. I don’t remember leaning in, but here I am, my knuckles resting on the desk.

  “What?”

  Horowitz throws his hands up in despair. “They decided to go with the good-for-nothing Abbott.”

  I finally sink in the seat, closing my hand into a fist. “Abbott? He doesn’t have half the experience I do.”

  “No, but he has the right DNA.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “He’s David’s nephew.”

  David is the head of the London headquarters. “I had no idea.”

  “Not many people do, only those at the top. What can I say, nepotism is alive and well in corporate America. Or corporate United Kingdom in this case.”

  “Screw this, Horowitz. David has seen what I can do.”

  “Yeah. My bet is the nephew won’t last the year in the position. Ratings will go down.”

  My blood starts to boil with anger.

  “I don’t want the ratings to go down. I just want the job. I’ve earned it, and it was a done deal.”

  “Nothing’s a done deal without a signed contract, I’m afraid. Look, there’s nothing to do about London now.” Horowitz leans forward, thumping his arms on the table. “But I have a good offer for you here at headquarters. We need a new executive producer for our star show.”

  That piques my interest, because the star show, as he put it, is the network’s shining achievement in years. It’s a local production, and it’s killing it in national ratings. It’s as far as it can be from The 300, but an interesting challenge. It also already has an executive producer. A damn good one. “Why do you need a new one? Teller is the best man.”

  “The poor chap has to retire early. He’s too sick to continue working.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

  “Yeah.” He opens the drawer under his desk, taking out a stack of papers. “I have the contract ready for you to look over it.”

  “How long have you had this?”

  “We’ve been searching for a while for someone to take over. When I heard the news from London, I thought, ‘their loss, our gain.’ Read this. The salary’s seven figures, and you’d be running your own show.” He pushes the stack of papers across the table toward me.

  “I won’t bother reading it unless you can assure me I have full creative control. It’s the only thing that matters to me.”

  Horowitz laughs wholeheartedly. “You’re a difficult bastard to work with. Read the contract. You’ll like the terms, and everything is negotiable. A man of your talent is hard to come by.”

  “When do you need an answer?”

  “As soon as possible.”

  “I’ll read this over the weekend.”

  He claps as I take the contract off the desk. “Perfect. Be smart about this. It’s a lot of money.”

  Rising from the chair, I shake his hand, and leave his office.

  My mind is spinning until I pull the car in front of the studio. I have too much energy and I need to walk it off, so I take the stairs up to the studio instead of the elevator. Clara waves when she sees me. Her smile fades when she approaches—probably a direct effect of seeing my expression up close.

  “I’m confused. You have a contract in your hand but look like someone pissed in your coffee. What’s going on?”

  “Let’s head outside on the balcony.”

  “So, what went down with Horowitz?” Clara asks once we’re outside.

  In quick words, I tell her the London deal fell through, but I have a new offer here in San Francisco.

  “Wow,” she says after I finish. “What are you going to do?”

  “I’m going to take the job.” I run a frustrated hand through my hair. So many years of hard work just to see the opportunity I’ve busted my ass for disappear.

  “Great! I don’t have to find another boss. You don’t have to find another assistant.”

  “There are many advantages to staying here.” Alice being the most important one.

  “Ah yes. Alice Bennett is one of them, right?”

  “Clara, don’t start.”

  She crosses her arms across her chest, giving me her trademark Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about look.

  “Would I be wrong to assume she’s the reason why you haven’t been out with anyone since you landed in San F
rancisco?”

  “Why do I have the feeling that answering this will open a can of worms?”

  Clara lets out a sound somewhere between a yelp and a cry of victory. “It’s already open, but until now I’ve filled it with my imagination. I’m dying for some facts. Spill the beans.”

  “You’ve given this a lot of thought, huh?”

  She nods eagerly. “My first thought was childhood sweethearts or something, but while I was having lunch with Pippa one day, Sebastian and Logan stopped by. They have big-brother behavior written all over them. They probably would’ve ripped you a new one if you’d gotten hot and heavy with their sister.”

  “Your confidence in me is astounding.”

  “Hey, you’re a badass, but there’s two of them. So, anyway, I discarded that idea. Now I’m going more for unrequited love? Love from afar? What is it?”

  I mask my smile with a fist, watching her as she bounces on her toes, like she’s preparing to take off.

  “Come on, I’m dying here, Nate.”

  “I was rather enjoying your monologue.”

  She points a menacing finger in my direction. “Don’t mess with the woman who buys your morning coffee.”

  “And I buy yours sometimes. How did we escalate to threats already?”

  “That’s how I roll. So?”

  “It’s a mix of everything you said—”

  “So you did get hot and naughty when you were teenagers? And the brothers let you live? Or didn’t find out? Huh… you’re sneakier than I gave you credit for.”

  “Not what I meant.”

  Her shoulders sag in disappointment.

  “We always had a thing for each other but didn’t act on it. Part of that was Alice’s age, and yeah, Sebastian and Logan did make it clear their sisters were off-limits. Later on, I was always traveling.”

  “And the other part?”

  “You know my track record with dating and relationships. I always thought it was preferable to have Alice in my life as Sebastian’s little sister, or as a friend as she grew up, rather than as an ex or not at all.”

  “Sounds like someone believes relationships, in general, are doomed.”