Tempted

by Anthony, Alexandra

  I couldn’t help but smile at his confidence. I had a feeling this was going to be an experience I’d never forget.

  ***

  After a long, eventful day spent with Nick, I was happy to head home to decompress. I'd figured Nick was one of the flaky Hollywood types, living the typical, scripted life. I found him to be refreshingly likeable...and honest.

  I was waiting on a return call from Siobhan. She’d only texted me with an obscure ‘Malcolm=the sex was on fire’ and a thank you for the phone call alerting her media blitz. It had been another successful day for my friend. For me, it has been an eye-opener of sorts. I needed to be less judgmental and jaded. Not everyone in Hollywood lived a lie after all.

  Rethinking my last thought, I knew losing the cynical thing probably wasn’t going to happen.

  After a quick shower, I'd pulled on a pair of pajama pants and a tank top. I'd just curled into the couch with a pint of Chunky Monkey ice cream when my phone rang. The caller id was marked ‘PRIVATE’.

  Pressing ‘answer’, I placed the phone to my ear. "Hello?"

  "Hello, Savannah. I'm making sure you made it home in one piece," Nick’s voice seductively coiled around his innocent words. He was doing his best to be nonchalant, but it was clear what he was doing. He had stepped up his seduction campaign. ‘Operation Seduce Savannah’ had commenced.

  I giggled softly into the phone. "I did. And in one piece too. I'm assuming you know what you're doing is blatantly obvious?"

  The line was silent. "I don't know what you mean. I'm simply concerned about your well-being." He did his best to sound shocked and outraged at the same time, failing miserably on both counts.

  My lips pursed and I shook my head. "Yeah, uh huh. Good night, Nick."

  "Night, Savannah."

  If I closed my eyes right now, I could picture that heart-stopping smile and dimples as clear as if he was sitting in front of me. And I couldn't stop the warm contentment that washed over me at the comforting sound of his voice.

  What was wrong with me? He’s my boss. As much as I wanted him, I couldn't go down this road. There was no going back after you slept with someone. Even if things ended well, it was there lurking in the shadows, a constant reminder of what could have been…and what should have never been.

  Sinking back into the couch with ice cream, I aimlessly flipped through the channels on the TV. I was halfway through the pint when the doorbell rang.

  Glancing at the clock over the mantle, I sat the container on the coffee table. It was after eight o'clock. Who would be ringing my doorbell this late?

  My quick peek through the peephole in the door answered my question. Kevin stood on my doorstep, looking like he’d stepped out of a J. Crew catalog. I found myself to be both disappointed and aggravated at his intrusion. I had to push down the hope that if I blinked, I’d see Nick standing in his place, filling the door frame with the imposing beauty of his body, to see the warmth of his mysterious eyes staring down at me. No matter how many times I blinked, Kevin stood there instead, a poor substitute for the man I wanted to see.

  What was he doing here? I wasn't in the mood to deal with him tonight, but I cracked the door open anyway.

  "Hey. What are you doing here?" I leaned heavily against the doorframe, giving him a distracted smile.

  He took in my appearance and offered an offended groan of frustration. "You're not ready?"

  "Ready for what exactly?" I didn't appreciate his tone or the look of disdain on his overly tanned face. My mind was working overtime trying to figure out how to get him off my porch and out of my hair.

  "We were supposed to go to dinner. Remember?"

  Shit. I'd been so wrapped up in my warm and fuzzy feelings for Nick that I'd totally forgotten about our weekly dinner date.

  "I'm going to have to cancel. I had a long day and I'm exhausted. Give me a call next week. Maybe we’ll try again then.”

  His eyes flashed angrily. "Uh yeah. I saw the pictures of your long day. Shopping with Nick Hart looks extremely taxing."

  I huffed at his obvious sarcasm. "Uh, Kevin? He's my boss."

  He pushed past me into the living room, pacing the floor. "Really? It looks like the lines are blurred. You were holding hands and looking at him like he was your personal champion. And when you were planning on telling me you were working for Nick Hart?"

  Was he jealous? Kevin and I had maintained a tentative friendship. Occasionally the lines blurred and we would date again briefly. I'd been trying to disentangle myself from his life for some time now. He just wasn't willing to let go.

  "I didn’t realize I had to answer to you regarding my personal life. What Nick and I do doesn't concern you. I thought we were friends, Kevin."

  I plopped onto the couch and watched him pace. How had I ever found him sexy? His dark blond hair was artfully styled, his tan a little too perfect to be real. He paled in comparison to the overwhelming presence of Nick Hart. He had a way about him that made you want to drink in every curve of his muscular body from head to toe.

  Stomping down my impatient libido, I picked up the ice cream and resumed eating.

  He stopped in front of me with his hands on his hips. "You're making a fool out of me. And you might want to stop with the ice cream if you want to fit into your jeans."

  Ignoring his barb, I raised my eyebrows and I glanced up at him curiously. "And why would that be, Kevin? We're friends."

  His guilty look made everything click into place. He still hadn’t given up on a relationship. Had I been blind to think that he’d accepted our arrangement?

  Obviously.

  "I want you to look at me like you looked at him in that picture," he muttered. His shoulders tensed as he turned his back on me.

  This couldn’t be happening. Not tonight. "What are you talking about?"

  "Look at them. Then you tell me what you see." He spun around and fiddled with his phone. After he found what he was looking for, he handed it to me with a sneer on his face.

  A multitude of alarm bells rang in my head. Kevin had saved every picture from my outing with Nick to his phone. The first few pictures were innocent enough. We were walking side by side, trying to get through the crowd of paparazzi. It was the fourth picture that actually made me sit up straight and look closer. It was when Nick had taken my hand and pulled me close to him. I'd curled into his side without thinking, looking up into his face with a tiny smile. It looked innocently intimate. The gentle curve of his mouth as he stared down at me shattered my heart into a million tiny pieces. My fingers twitched as I fought the urge to run my fingers over the screen of his phone.

  Kevin wasn’t exaggerating. Our body language said it all in the rest of the pictures. You could see the attraction between the two of us. It leapt from the screen, demanding immediate attention.

  I cleared my throat anxiously and handed him back his phone. "He was only protecting me from the cameras." Even that bullshit line sounded weak to me. I wouldn’t buy it if someone used it on me.

  "You've never smiled at me like that." He slumped on the couch next to me. "I can't compete with him."

  "There's nothing to compete over, Kevin. I'm not dating anyone right now." My voice was barely audible and I reached out to pat his hand softly.

  He took my offering of comfort as an invitation. He lunged at me before I could react. His mouth covered mine, his warm lips hard and uninvited.

  I pushed away from him angrily. "Nick, what are you doing?"

  "Nick!?! Nick!" Kevin scoffed. His face turned into a mask of undisguised fury. "I'm Kevin. Not your new boyfriend."

  Oh boy. My slip had only made this worse.

  "I think you should go. We'll talk once you’ve calmed down." I started to stand up when he grabbed my wrist. Staring down at his hand, my anger rose. “I suggest you take your hand off my wrist.”

  He didn’t move. I took my other hand and peeled his fingers away from my skin. His hand fell limply to his side, his eyes contrite.

  “Jesus
, Savannah. I’m sorry…”

  I waved him off. “We’re done here. Just leave, Kevin.”

  He wordlessly walked across the living room. He stopped in the doorway and looked back at me. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. But you hurt me too.”

  My head fell into my hands as I heard the front door slam closed. When had my life turned into a circus?

  It was a rhetorical question. I knew what had caused my life to turn upside down.

  His name was Nick Hart. And I couldn’t find it in myself to care.

  ***

  Exhausted and disgusted at myself after consuming the entire pint of ice cream and my encounter with Kevin, I'd finally stumbled my way into bed. Closing my eyes, I rolled to my side, my mind being drawn back into the pictures Kevin had shown me. What had started as an innocent attraction was quickly snowballing into something I couldn't control. It had a life of its own, content with the mess it was creating.

  Letting out a snarl of frustration, I kicked the covers away. Sleep was being elusive and my sex drive...well, let's just say it was on overdrive. What was it about Nick Hart that made me weak in the knees, able to consume my every thought? No man had ever, and I mean ever, had this strange effect on me.

  My mind sorted through the last two days, from the meeting in Elliot's office, the strange encounter in the karaoke bar to the time I spent with him today. The irresistible pull I felt to him was unlike anything I'd ever felt. When I closed my eyes, I could feel his hand in mine and even the groggy memories from the bar seemed clearer now. We'd almost kissed in that hallway. He'd pressed me into the wall and I'd let my alcohol-fueled lust take over. I'd felt his hard cock throbbing through his jeans when we'd embraced.

  God, I'd wanted him in that moment…

  When my hand slipped into my own panties, it wasn't my fingers I was feeling on my skin. It was Nick. He loomed over me, completely nude. His pale skin gleamed as he trailed kisses over my breasts, his mouth and body lowering until he nuzzled each hip bone with his nose, his tongue snaking out to lick my overheated flesh.

  "You want this, Savannah. You don't have to deny it now. We're all alone," he breathed against my skin. My hips bucked upwards, desperate for his mouth, his fingers...his cock. "Tell me what you need.”

  "You. Nick, I need you," I moaned. And damn it, I needed all he had to offer. I’d beg for it and ask for more.

  His lips curled back to reveal his even, white teeth. Slowly, teasingly he pushed my legs apart, spreading me open to him. His fingers drifted over the slickness of my folds, his thumb ghosting over my swollen clit. My breath caught in my throat in anticipation.

  "That very first night, we could have had this," he whispered, his eyes flickering up to mine. "We still can, you know. You and I could have an eternity."

  His sleek body shifted over me. Our eyes met, but we didn't say a thing. We didn't have to; our bodies spoke for us. He let out a moan as his lips met mine, his tongue begging for entrance that he never needed to ask for. I drank him in, my answering cries sounding foreign to me. Our kisses were searching, soft yet firm.

  When he drove into me it was with a controlled slowness, as if he was savoring the moment. His dark eyes closed for a split second, only to flutter open and lock his passionate stare on me, devouring me with his eyes.

  Our lips parted. His teeth caught my lower lip and he nibbled it softly. He finally released it, his thumb caressing my cheekbone with a gentleness I'd never expected. Dropping his head to my chest, he buried his face between my breasts. Every kiss, lick and caress he showered on my needy skin made me lose myself further from the feel of him. My whole being arched towards him, melting against his cool skin.

  We moved together effortlessly. My hands blazed a trail down his bare chest, coming to rest on his magnificent ass. I pulled him in deeper, smiling wickedly at the feral snarl that escaped his full lips. Strong hands lifted my leg, leaving it in the crook of his arm as my other hitched around his waist.

  I wanted to crawl inside of him, to be totally surrounded by him. And as if he understood, he caged me in his embrace, his hips moving faster, my own rolling to take him deeper…to feel every inch of him.

  When we met our climax, it was explosive and glorious. Hands gripped and pulled, hungry mouths consumed one another. It was if we couldn't get close enough. His huge frame shuddered above me and I trembled against him.

  He collapsed to the bed, pulling me with him. He smoothed my hair away from my face with gentle hands. "If I'd only known this was what I'd been waiting for, I would have tried harder."

  A faint ringing sounded. Trying to ignore it, I chose to reach for him instead. I rolled him over and straddled his slim hips, letting my hands explore his skin. My fingers twirled over his nipples, my nails traced his sharp collarbones. No matter how I tried to ignore the constant ringing, it became louder.

  And just like that, my eyes opened and I was alone in my room, the covers twisted around my legs. I'd drifted off to sleep but the dream had taken care of my frustrations momentarily. My soaked panties clung to my skin as I reached to turn my alarm off.

  Pulling a pillow over my face, I groaned. I was due at Nick’s house in less than two hours.

  How was I ever going to face him today after having such an erotic dream? Better yet, how was I going to face the reality of it myself?

  Chapter 4

  Face the Music

  I'd been shuffling anxiously outside the front of Nick's door for at least five minutes. Really, I was being silly. After all, it was only a dream. A spectacular, intense mind-blowing dream but it meant nothing, right? From where I stood on the porch, I could hear the muted sound of a guitar, blending in with the faint sounds of the surf crashing on the beach. After another few minutes of nervous fidgeting and mental cursing I squared my shoulders and raised my hand to knock when the door was yanked open, completely catching me off guard. I stumbled back and ran into one of the beams.

  Julia stood with her arms crossed, staring at me knowingly as if she was privy to my thoughts. A kind smile alighted her attractive features, tiny laugh lines crinkling around her unusual, almost golden eyes. "You can't stand out here all morning, pacing around. Come in and have a cup of coffee before you go speak with him."

  She turned on her heel, leaving me to scramble after her. She led me into the kitchen and pointed to a barstool. "Sit."

  I'd no sooner than sat down before she placed a steaming mug of coffee in front of me. "You look tired." Her observant eyes missed nothing.

  "I haven't been sleeping well." I blushed, the heat spreading across my face. I sipped at the coffee and traced my fingers over the granite counter. "Julia, how long have you known Nick?"

  Julia flinched at my question. She busied herself in the refrigerator, taking her time poking around before retrieving a pitcher. She poured herself a glass of orange juice before she spoke. "Since Mr. Nick was young. He was alone since his family had passed on. He only had Malcolm back then and well...you’ve met Malcolm. He’s a tad…unorthodox. He’s as much as my son as Ian or Jason. He takes care of me and he’s been a blessing."

  I considered her words, remembering how fondly Nick looked and had spoken to her. "I think he loves you very much. It's sweet."

  Julia gave me a smile and hesitated, obviously torn. Emotions warred across her face. I sensed that she wanted to say more but was holding back. She fluttered her hands, shooing me away. "Mr. Nick is likely expecting you. You shouldn't keep him waiting. He's in his library."

  I pushed away from the breakfast bar and headed down the hallway to find him. Along the way, I stopped to notice the vivid, black and white photography framed on the wall. Some were landscapes, but many were of crumbling buildings, abandoned and left to let nature reclaim them. I hadn’t expected such simplistic pictures hanging in his house. He was a walking contradiction, one moment he was the boy next door with his dashing smile and charismatic charm. Then next he seemed unsure of himself, timid and nervous. And just when I figured him out, he
oozed sex appeal and made me feel like I was burning alive from the inside out.

  At the end of the hall, the heavy door to Nick's library was cracked and the sounds of an acoustic guitar glided out into the hallway. I paused outside the door and peeked through the crack.

  He looked totally at peace. His bare shoulders were slightly curved, cradling the guitar with his elegant hands. His black head was bent over the guitar as he strummed through a melody. He abruptly stopped and would scribble on music sheets strewn across the table. It was during his moment of writing that he must have felt the weight of my stare. He glanced up and his face broke into a wide grin. "Savannah, come in."

  Taking cautious steps into the room, I approached him slowly. If it was possible for his grin to increase, it did. The dimples in his cheeks deepened and he jutted his chin to a chair across from him, motioning me to sit. My eyes focused briefly on his tattooed arm. I hadn’t expected to see that. I squirmed in my seat, crossing my legs uncomfortably.

  "I didn't mean to interrupt," I stammered. I fiddled with the straps of my messenger bag. Images from the sexy dream I’d had of him hit me like a ton of bricks as I sat in such close proximity to him. The fact that he was sitting shirtless wasn’t helping matters.

  He snorted. He set the guitar aside and stuck the pencil behind his ear. "You’re here to help me. My house is your house." He stretched like a cat, the muscles in his chest rippling. "Are you ready?"

  Oh, I was ready. But what I was ready to do had nothing to do with work. I blushed to the roots of my hair and stared at the wall over his shoulder as the remnants of my dream curled around my mind. I was willing to bet if I closed my eyes, I could picture his naked body poised above me, almost feel my skin pressing against his. "Sure. Can you put on a shirt first?"

  "If it’ll make you more comfortable. C'mon, love." He stood, his threadbare jeans hanging low on his hips. The t-shirt he pulled over his head left little to the imagination. It was also worn and tight, hugging his sculpted chest. He sauntered gracefully over to his desk, motioning to it with a sweep of his hand. "You can set up shop here. I hope you don't mind if I play while you work."