Hypnotic Seduction (The Seduction Series) (7 page)

“A physical therapist friend taught me a way to alleviate tension headaches,” she explained. “It’s best if you lie on your back on the floor.”

He shook his head to clear the image of her naked, straddling him on the carpet.

Yeah, that was just what Kurt Preston needed to walk in on. It would kill any shot Jordan had at becoming
chairman
.

Get a grip, idiot
. Hannah wasn’t like the endless parade of women who were constantly trying to maneuver their way into his bed. She would never come on to him—which perhaps was why the fantasy of being with her was the only way he’d been able to come in the last two weeks.

“What the hell.” He dropped to his knees and stretched out. “It’s worth a try.”

She knelt down and lifted his head, sliding her curved fingertips under the base of his skull. “Just relax and let the weight of your head rest on my fingers. A lot of headaches are actually muscles spasms in your neck and scalp. This helps to stretch and relax them.”

He gazed at her upside-down face poised only inches above his, her huge silver eyes staring back at him. He’d never noticed her wearing mascara before. Who would’ve guessed her light brown lashes could be so thick and long?

For that matter, she had blush on today, too. The extra color on her cheeks emphasized how delicate her bone structure and straight little nose were. Edward was right. She was pretty. Jordan bit his tongue to stop himself from telling her how nice she looked.

“So what do you think Mr. Preston’s all hot and bothered about?” she asked.

“I attended the hospital’s dedication of the wing last night. My date lost an earring in my car, and it rolled under my feet. When she bent down to find it, her face ended up in my lap. Stuffed-shirt Preston strolled by in the parking lot just in time to see her sit up with a beaming smile.”

An amused sputter burst out of Hannah, suggesting she wasn’t as uptight as he’d once thought. “I would’ve loved to see his expression.”

“Go ahead, laugh. I’m going to have to do a helluva fast tap dance to talk my way out of this one.” He steeled himself against the distracting scent wafting around him. Damn, she smelled good—kind of like summer. Was it possible to bottle a season?

“Mr. Preston is the board member whose middle name is Ultra Conservative, isn’t he?”

“He’s also the vice chairman. Truthfully, they’re all singing the home and family blues to me. My social life has a bad enough rep as it is. The last thing I need is more speculation about my morality. As if I don’t have enough pressure in my life.”

“I could bring you a copy of the hypnosis recording my therapist gave me for between sessions. It might help you relax and relieve some of your tension.”

Hypnosis? “Why the heck are you going for hypnotherapy?”

The pink in her cheeks deepened.

“Sorry if that seemed nosey.”

“No, it’s okay. It’s just....I get nervous around men. The hypnosis is supposed to boost my self-confidence.”

“That’s silly. You seem self-assured enough to me.”

“Maybe in my job. But not with
guys
. I started treatment about ten days ago, and already I feel a lot more relaxed.”

He lay there studying her sweet features from a whole new perspective, and his mouth turned desert-dry. Forget pretty. Make that beautiful. If her sexy pout was just a millimeter closer to his lips, he’d....

God help him, he wanted to kiss her. But that lewd cartoon, compounded by all the harassment rumors Renee spread had stacked the deck against him. If the board got wind of him playing slap and tickle with his new assistant, he not only wouldn’t become
chairman—
he’d be out of a job entirely. Not to mention, his grandfather would probably disown him for poaching the woman he wanted.

“Feeling better?” She smiled.

“Uh—yeah,” he rasped past the dryness in his throat. “Thanks.” Amazingly enough, the ache in his head was nearly gone.

Unfortunately, the throbbing had simply moved south.

foot-in-mouth
dis•ease
n. An acute condition in which an individual inserts a foot into one’s oral orifice. Not to be confused with hoof-and-mouth disease.

Caution: Inserting a foot in one’s mouth can have serious side effects.

Hannah sank into her seat at a corner table in the main building’s cafeteria that afternoon. The corporate campus had four smaller satellite lunchrooms scattered among its other six buildings where the majority of the hourly production workers ate. Therefore, mostly office and research personnel patronized the dining room in the corporate building.

“Well? How’s it been going?” Callie asked, sliding into the chair across from her.

“Life’s been great.” Hannah stabbed her fork into her chef’s salad and flinched at the clatter of dishes and a tray someone accidentally dropped. “In fact, I feel so good about myself I’ve started using the elliptical machine I haven’t touched since I bought it a year ago.”

“Tell me about it.” Callie snorted. “My only workouts consist of carrying exercise equipment into my apartment and then back out when I get sick of it collecting dust.”

Before getting up each morning and falling asleep each night, Hannah listened to the audio recording Diana had made to reinforce her treatment. She couldn’t believe how much it had boosted her confidence—or the erotic fantasies it inspired. Each day, she felt more and more self-assured....
and more sexually frustrated
.

Callie sipped her drink and pointed at Hannah’s powder blue sheath. “If you’re feeling more confident, why are you still dressing like my Aunt
Gertie
?”

“I don’t know.” Hannah sighed. “I guess I feel funny about suddenly changing my appearance. And to be honest, my entire closet
is filled
with outfits like this. I’ve lost five pounds since my first appointment with Diana. I’d like to lose a few more before I buy anything new. Anyway, I can’t spare a penny until I’m sure I’ll still have a job next week.”

“Don’t worry. Everyone’s thrilled with the great mood JC’s been in. There’d be a major revolt if he tried to get rid of you.”

Hannah crossed her fingers. “I hope so. My probation ends with this week’s paycheck. He looked at me sort of weird all morning. Like he couldn’t make up his mind about me.”

“As soon as you get your raise, we’re going shopping to make your outside over to match your new inside.”

“That’s probably not such a hot idea. My new inside’s having some really indecent dreams. Jordan would croak if I walked into the office dressed to play out one of them.”

Callie peered at her. “I hope you’re not falling for—”

“
Too late
. I’ve had a crush on him since day one.”

“Huge mistake. The only guy more anti-marriage than JC is Bryce.”

“Believe
me,
I have no illusions about my boss.” In the last month, Hannah had placed more dinner reservations and florist orders and transferred more phone calls from giggly women than in all her combined years of working.

“Good. Our esteemed CEO is paranoid about predatory women. The whole reason he let Renee go was because she couldn’t keep her hands to herself. JC’s a fair man, but he’s not afraid to fire someone who makes too many mistakes or spends their days drooling on his mail.”

That explained Jordan’s reaction when Hannah had told him she’d been engaged to her last boss. “I’ll be sure to keep my hands glued to my computer keyboard.”

“And don’t listen to the rumors she’s spread. Renee is an
itch
with a capital
B
.”

Regardless of the woman’s less than noble character, Hannah couldn’t blame Renee for her lack of restraint when it came to Jordan. Hannah had only been working for him a month, and she’d already done her fair share of lusting.

Wendy Carson, the assistant to the director of Regulatory Affairs, breezed past their table and glared at Hannah.

“What’s her problem?” Hannah whispered. “Ever since I started here, she’s been giving me nasty looks.”

“She’s just one of Renee’s friends. She’ll warm up once she gets to know you.”

“Let’s hope so. I don’t need any enemies.”

“Oh, you acquired plenty of those when you accepted your job. Every female employee under the age of forty wants to work in JC’s office—Wendy included. She’s just pissed your boss turned down her application. He cited her poor attendance as his reason, but she thinks it had more to do with her being tight with Renee.”

“So you think Wendy’s holding it against me that I got the position she wanted?”

“Who knows?” Callie shrugged, taking a sip of her iced tea. “But if she is, welcome to Club Pariah. Ever since Bryce made me coordinator of administrative standards—which is just a fancy name for office watchdog—I’ve been an outcast. The secretaries all hate the quality evaluations I have to do on their work every few months.”

Which explained why only a few other women ever sat with them.

The security guard who’d signed Hannah in the first day stopped next to her chair and smiled down at her. “Hello, Miss Oliver. I never had a chance to congratulate you on getting the job.”

For some reason, every time the
guy
spoke to her, he gave her the willies.

“Thanks.”

“How about I take you to lunch sometime to celebrate?” He flashed his tarter-stained teeth at her. “You name the day.”

She glanced at Callie who gave a nearly imperceptible shake of her head, suggesting he might be an adult version of one of those nerdy stalker boys from high school.

“That’s sweet of you,”—Hannah glanced at the nametag on his uniform—“Chuck. But I really need to eat with Callie for the next few weeks. I still have a lot to learn about my new job.”

His ghostly complexion flushed to a shade just short of his spiked red hair. He crept off toward the cafeteria line, muttering, “Right.”

Callie grabbed Hannah’s arm, sputtering with laughter. “Smart girl. I guess you figured out Chuck is our corporate creep.”

Even though the
guy’s
breath smelled as if a small animal had crawled into his mouth and died, Hannah felt bad about hurting his feelings.

“So anyway,” she said, returning to the conversation Chuck had interrupted. “If so many employees wanted to work for Jordan, why’d he have so much trouble finding a replacement? Isn’t it the company’s policy to promote from within? Or did Pulaski lie to me about that?”

“No, it’s the truth. Except most internal applicants didn’t have the experience or administrative skills JC needs.”

“Some must have had as much as I do.” Which she prayed would be enough.

“A few. But the only qualified candidates were either close to retirement, married, or they had kids. They weren’t available for the amount of travel or overtime your position requires.”

“I can understand that. I’ve been late for class so many times in the last month I’ve decided to skip registering for the summer semester.” Fortunately, she only had a week to go until her final exams.” Hannah nibbled on a piece of cheese from her salad. “What about you? Didn’t you want a promotion?”

“And give up working for Bryce? No way.”

“Ahhh, so you have a thing for your boss, too.”

“I wish it were just a thing.” Callie’s eyes rolled. “I’ve been in love with him since I was twelve.”

“Twelve? I though the company frowned on employees hiring people they know.”

“Normally it wouldn’t have been allowed. JC let our relationship slide because Bryce and he are buddies. Your boss knew there was nothing personal between us and that Bryce and my older brother Michael were best friends growing up. When Bryce looks at me, he probably still sees my braces and glasses.”

“I didn’t know you have a broth—”

“I don’t. At least not anymore.” Callie stared down at the table. “Eight years ago, the idiot drove home drunk from a party and wrapped Bryce’s car around a traffic light.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“The only bright spot was Mike didn’t kill anyone else. Bryce still blames himself. He was supposed to be the designated driver. When some girl invited him back to her place for the night, he left Michael his keys. It wouldn’t surprise me if Bryce’s guilt was the whole reason he hired me.”

“Maybe. But if you were a lousy assistant, I’m sure he wouldn’t have kept you.”

“Oh, I know that.” Callie chuckled. “He wouldn’t know what to do without me.” She shoved the piece of fudge cake she’d bought to the table’s center. “Have some.”

“Not today.” Hannah pushed it back. “I don’t want to ruin my sexy new figure.”

“Now that’s the attitude.” Callie scooped up a big forkful of cake. “I’ll ruin mine, instead. Bryce isn’t about to give me a second glance, no matter how good I look—especially since he knows he would have to reassign me to work for someone else.”

If Callie was that crazy about her boss, obviously Hannah had to cross Bryce off her own potential husband list.

Despite how good she’d begun to feel about herself, it was probably unrealistic to set her expectations as high as the two most gorgeous men in the company. Number three and four, on the other hand, were still fair game.

~*~

Hannah spent most of the next day deciphering Jordan’s notes on his presentation for the board of directors meeting the following week. It had a gazillion detailed graphs and charts.

At four o’clock, he stepped behind her and studied her computer monitor. “Are you having any problems with the spreadsheet?”

“No, but you really should’ve considered medical school.” She glanced back at him. “You have the handwriting for it.”

His mouth quirked in an amused twist. “Getting bold now that your probation period is over?”

Darn. If she didn’t watch it, she’d get herself fired. All week she’d unconsciously been getting more and more audacious in her comments. “Can I assume you’ve been happy with my performance?”

“Absolutely. Do you have any doubt?”

“With the way you keep staring and frowning at me while I’m working—yes.”

Jordan’s face suffused with color. He dragged his gaze from hers and tapped the pay envelope she hadn’t noticed on her desk. “I guess you haven’t looked at this yet.”