Enticed (17 page)

“I had to come home early because I had come down with the same flu that kept Jason out of school this particular day. I walked in on Zach and his lover entangled on my bed, with Jason nowhere to be found. I raced around like a lunatic to find him. Finally I made my way outside to our backyard. That was when I noticed the gate around the pool was opened. I realized the hot tub was on, so I went to investigate. He was under water,” I managed through the tears. Drew wrapped his arms around me and held me tight. “I jumped in and pulled him free but it was too late. He’d been without oxygen too long. The damage was done.”

Drew brushed my hair with one hand. “How is that
in any way your fault?” he asked softly.

My red-rimmed eyes met his. “I should have left. Zach wanted to me to leave. He begged me to leave. He did everything short of kicking me out of the house himself, but I stubbornly held onto our rotting corpse of a relationship. If I had left at any point up until that day, Jason would be with me right now. But I wanted
my fairy tale. I sacrificed my son at the altar of some mythical happily ever after.”

“Oh, Rachel,” he said softly as he kissed the top of my head. That one act of kindness broke the dam and set the torrent of ye
ars of unexpressed sorrow free, something I had been unable to do at the funeral or those dark, dark days afterwards, I wept in the comforting arms of another as Drew rocked me gently. I clung to him as each sob racked my body. The room darkened as long minutes passed, until I was reduced to nothing more than hiccupping breaths. He disengaged himself to pour me a glass of bourbon, which I did not decline when he offered it to me.

The liquid burned as it flooded my throat, but it helped numb the pain of my open wound. I didn’t speak until I emptied the glass, which he refilled immediately. “This still doesn’t solve anything,” I pointed out, but drained the second glass anyway.

He chuckled softly as he put the bottle on the table. “Thank you for trusting me with your story,” he said. “I get the feeling not too many people know about it.”

I shook my head. “My friends from that period of my life, mostly. And Jonathan.”

“You told Jonathan?”

I nodded. “He asked if I had kids,” I answered with a wry smile. “I left out most of the details
, though.”

“It certainly explains a lot,” he said. “I know I could never figure out why you were single.”

I chortled. “Please.”

“Why is that funny?”

“Jonathan already told me how you feel about girls like me.”

“
Impossible,” he murmured as he drew closer. “There are no girls like you,” he said as he brushed a strand of hair from my tear-soaked face.

Maybe it was the booze, or the intense emotional day, but I was rooted to the spot as his head tilted toward mine. He hadn’t shaved that morning, so stubble circled those
sensual, full lips as they descended toward mine, and even the shock of his warm mouth upon my skin couldn’t pull me from my trance. I sat, frozen, as his lips savored mine in tentative, open-mouthed kisses that did more to warm my insides than a couple of shots of booze. Finally his tongue traced my lips to tease them apart.

I gasped in spite of myself, and he deepened the kiss. I could taste the whiskey on his tongue as it blended with mine. I hadn’t been kissed in so long that my body responded to it as though it was the very first time. My toes practically curled as he brazenly explored the deep recesses of my mouth. He moaned into my mouth as he pressed me back against the sofa, which reminded me of every erotic dream I had ever had of him.

Only this wasn’t a dream. It was real. Finally my brain fired into action and I pulled away. “Drew, no.”

“Why?” he asked as he tried to take me back into his arms.

“It’s not right,” I insisted as I pushed him gently away. “I work for you.”

His eyes were dark and stormy as he stared down at me. “Is that all?” he wanted to know.

I stared into his handsome face, overcome with a flood of emotion that his kiss had stirred up within me. I gulped hard as I tried to regain control of my senses. “It’s been an emotional day,” I said, side-stepping his question. “We’ve been drinking… we’re upset. We don’t need to further complicate things by mistaking sex for comfort.”

He said nothing for a moment or two, and then he chuckled low under his breath. “Like I said,” he murmured softly, “like no other girl.”

With that, he reached for his sandwich and proceeded to behave like a proper gentleman for the rest of the night.

I blamed the whiskey for how much of a letdown that ultimately proved to be.

I was relieved to have the house to myself the following day, to work through my scattered emotions in the wake of Drew’s kiss. I had literally dreamed of that moment for months, but nothing could compare to the reality of it. His embrace was powerful and commanding, which was something I had never experienced before. My love affair with Zach had been childlike in comparison, mostly because we were both kids when we met and fell in love. He was my first lover, and while he was perfectly attentive and conscientious, it was more like a puppy with a ball. He chased after me with youthful exuberance that had no pride, often begging for my desire in return. Drew, on the other hand, was in complete control. I doubted sincerely he had to cajole any woman into bed. He simply swept onto the scene and took what he wanted, like an unsolicited kiss from his household staff.

I was still shaken up about it when Alex dropped Jonathan off the night before. My favorite boy had a stuffed animal in one arm and a bag from a game store in the other, but he discarded everything once he came through the door. He found me in the living room cuddling with Yoda on the couch, and he practically jumped in my lap.

Alex watched us closely as I ruffled Jonathan’s hair. “Have a good day?”

Jonathan stole a glance at Alex before he looked back at me. He nodded but said nothing.

“I think Yoda has to go outside,” I said, which dismissed Jonathan as he led his four-legged friend to the backyard.  I stood to face Alex.

“Enjoy your ‘me’ day?” he asked.

I felt my face flush and I cursed the knowing glint that shone in his eyes. “It was lovely,” I said.

“I bet,” he murmured as he studied my face. “Same time next week?”

I nodded and followed him to the front door. He stopped just before I could shut the door behind him. He looked as though he wanted to say something desperately, but debated doing it right up until he opened his mouth. I’m not sure even he knew what he was going to say until he said it. “Maybe next week you and I can spend the day together while Jonathan visits his mom.”

My eyes opened wide as I processed his unusual proposal. “Are you asking me on a date?”

“You’re single, right?” he asked. “You’re available, no prospective suitors. Nothing going on,” he probed. “Why not?”

“Other than the fact I don’t like you?”

He laughed. “You don’t like me because you don’t know me. Let’s rectify that.” His eyes narrowed as he surveyed my face. “
Then maybe next weekend I can be the one who causes the blush to rise in your cheeks.”

I glared at him and stepped backward. “Goodbye, Alex,” I dismiss
ed before slamming the door in his face and practically stomping down the hall, towards the backyard.

Jonathan was quiet the rest of the evening. He didn’t want to go into detail about his day. I had to drag it out of him that they had spent the day at the fair, with Alex and Max tagging along for good measure. I suspected that his mother had been on her best behavior, likely confusing him and making him feel disloyal to Drew or me if he admitted that he had a good time.

He turned in early, uncharacteristically refusing a bedtime snack of his favorite lemon squares and cold glass of milk.

The next day he and Drew were gone by the time I emerged from my bedroom, mostly because I had stayed in later than I ordinarily did. I took a long
bath; I read a bit of my book, I worked on my laptop… anything at all to avoid seeing Drew after our passionate encounter the night before.

After they had gone, I couldn’t stay locked in the house for another day. I hopped in my car and headed to Santa Monica. I had wanted to invest in my own bicycle to ride along the beach, so I figured this day was as good as any other to finally pull the trigger and do it. I stopped at a bike shop, which set
me up with all the stuff I needed. A half-hour later I was at the beach. I enjoyed spending time by the water, though being at the familiar beach without Drew or Jonathan felt wrong somehow. I kept looking out at the ocean, wondering where they were and what they were doing.

As it turned out, both of them had woven themselves under my skin when I wasn’t looking.

I made it home before they did, and prepared dinner for the three of us.

Unlike the day before, Jonathan was back to his bubbly self when he bounded through the front door. He showed photos on his phone of the pictures they took from the yacht as they sailed. “You should have been there!” he said. “
We saw dolphins, look!”

As it turned out he had researched the dolphins he saw all the way home, so he entertained both Drew and me with the information he had learned, virtually monopolizing the conversation. I got the distinct impression this was fine for Drew, who said very little to me since what had happened the night before.

He was either giving me a wide berth out of respect or he had seriously reconsidered his behavior. It was impossible to tell which one was which as he sat at the head of the table, his chin in his hand, as he listened to his son. Our eyes met briefly here and there, mostly to share an amused grin over Jonathan’s enthusiasm, but other than that he was on his best behavior.

It actually proved to be depressing. Though I never needed his attention to validate me, it was a shot to the ego that a man like Drew Fullerton could tell me that he’s never met anyone like me
before taking me possessively into those ever so eligible arms.

The world was his oyster, but he had wanted me.

The truth, as I quickly learned, was that he had been lonely and drunk and I had been available. I had never been to a bar at closing time, but maybe that was merely all it was – compulsive behavior seeking instant gratification.

He didn’t even call me into his study to discuss the day, as we had become accustomed to doing. In fact, he turned in early. He had a business trip the following morning and he wouldn’t be back until the following week.

Whenever he called in nightly to check up on Jonathan’s progress, our interactions were cordial but brief, and neither one of us spoke about what had transpired between us. But it planted his voice in my ear right before bedtime, and more than one randy dream followed as a result. I began each day baptizing myself in frigid water just to wash the shame, and newly awakened desire, away.

During the day,
Jonathan kept me suitably distracted from my moony daydreams. By Friday we were back in the zone, and my memories of the Saturday before had started to fade.

Alex made no more mention of a date when he picked up Jonathan that Saturday. After they left I hooked my bike on the back of my car and drove to the beach for the day.

The next day I bought Jonathan his own bike and we went to the coast together.

Drew got home much too late that Sunday to see either Jonathan or me, which was a mixed blessing. Unfortunately the more I thought about him, the more
confused I became. The dream Drew stepped in where the real-life Drew often withdrew, and by the time he got back from Hong Kong, I had already made love to him in my mind.

This blurred the lines even more than they already were.
Pandora’s Box had officially opened.

The third of October fell on a Monday
, which happened to be the day Jonathan and I spent at the offices of Fullerton Enterprises International. By then we had our own office on the top floor of our building, just down the hall from Drew’s. Jonathan had a stack on his desk, detailing the company that Drew had acquired on his trip to China. I had a similar stack on my desk, as I had to learn about the material in order to test Jonathan on it.

Before we could dive in, Drew called us down to his office for a formal meeting. We sat in the chairs opposite his desk, which faced out over the familiar skyline of Los Angeles.
“I have a special project for you both,” Drew began as he leaned across the desk on his forearms, linking those long, graceful fingers together in front of him. “Three, actually.”

“What is it?” I asked.

“The Fullerton family has long been known for hosting holiday parties from Halloween all the way to the New Year, but unfortunately in the last many years we’ve been unable to uphold this long-standing tradition. I think it’s time to start up again, starting with a Masquerade Gala on Halloween.”

“That’s only weeks away,” I pointed out.

“Indeed,” he said. “It will take two very capable people to organize this event, and the Christmas and New Year’s Eve parties that follow.”

“We get to
throw parties?” Jonathan asked with eyes as wide as saucers as he filled in the blanks.

Drew grinned at him. “Three. If you both think you can handle it, of course,” he added as he looked at me.

I wanted to remind him that I was a teacher, not a party planner, but I didn’t feel like getting into that particular argument in front of Jonathan. Drew read my mind and explained his request. “I realize, of course, that neither of you are professional party planning professionals. But one day Jonathan will step into my shoes and run this company. A big part of running anything is learning how to organize and delegate. Those are the key lessons in overseeing these projects, which I thought would be a lot more fun for you both than reading reports and memorizing data.”

Jonathan nodded excitedly. “My first real grownup party!” he gushed as he looked over at me. “Say we can do it, Rachel. Please?”

I didn’t know what to say as I looked in between Drew and Jonathan. “I’m a little out of my element here,” I admitted.

Drew offered a dismissive shrug. “My assistant does most of this for me, and you’re every bit as qualified and educated as she is. I’ve already advised her to be available to either of you throughout the process, making it as painless as possible.”

“Please, Rachel? This will be so much fun!”

I pursed my lips as I stared into Jonathan’s hopeful face. “Jonathan, why don’t you
go back to our office for a bit? I want to speak to your father privately for a moment.”

Jonathan didn’t like the sound of that, but he went without a fuss. The minute the door closed behind him I turned back to Drew. “That was unfair dropping that in my lap in front of him.”

Drew looked anything but apologetic. “I already told you, I don’t do fair.”

“And if I say no?”

His eyes were hard as they challenged me. “Then my assistant does it anyway, and my son misses out on an opportunity.” I hesitated, feeling a bit overrun by his tactics. “If compensation is the issue…,” he began, but I cut him off.

“You know that’s not it,” I snapped. “These are extensive, time-consuming projects.”

“With challenges that you can tie into any current lesson plan,” he countered. “That’s your specialty, right?”

I sighed. “
This is not a job for a teacher. This is what a wife or a girlfriend or a personal assistant would do. It’s inappropriate, Drew.”

My heart toppled to my feet
as the look in his eye darkened. “I think we already crossed that line, don’t you?”

It was the first mention he’d made of our kiss, and it was so unexpected it took my breath away. “All the more reason not to muddy the waters any further.”

“You can certainly say no if you choose,” he agreed.

I thought about Jonathan, and how happy he was to be included in the ‘fun’ part of his father’s business. “Can I?” I asked.

“I already put Simone in charge of the invitations for the Masquerade Gala, all of which she mailed last week. You can check with her regarding the guest lists as well as the exact dates we picked for these events. She also has all the information on the caterers and florists we use, which I would recommend contacting today.”

I was flabbergasted how efficiently I had been roped into this new task. It didn’t help matters that I was equally intrigued by how much fun it could be, just the same as Jonathan. I relented with a heavy sigh. “
I guess I should go get started.” I stood.

“
I wouldn’t give this to you if I didn’t think you could handle it.”

“
You keep saying that,” I responded.

His voice softened. “Then isn’t it about time you believed me?”

I took a deep breath. “So is there a theme for your shindig?”

He smi
led. “Medieval royalty.”

“Of course,” I replied.

Jonathan nearly came out of his skin with excitement when I returned, laden with information Simone handed me the second I walked out of Drew’s office. Apparently she knew I wouldn’t say no to his request every bit as much as he did.

We spent most of the morning researching Medieval-themed parties so that by early afternoon we could visit with cat
erers to plan the banquet meal. Fortunately for us, this caterer was from England and had hosted many Medieval-themed parties, some in actual castles. Poppy Burnham produced a list of different menu items to consider, from hearty meat options to earthy root vegetables and egg dishes to satisfy our vegetarian guests.

When Jonathan and I returned home, we opened up the ballroom I had completely forgotten that they had.
Several globe-shaped crystal chandeliers hung like planets and stars from the barrel ceiling, and the grand space featured a grand marble fireplace, as well as double doors that opened onto a private terrace with its own fountain. Jonathan perched himself in the middle of the room with his tablet and a sketchpad, tasked with turning our more modern space into a Medieval castle for Party Number One.