Irresistible You

IRRESISTIBLE YOU

Copyright © 2012 by Celeste O. Norfleet

All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the author.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

For questions and comments about this book, please contact Celeste O. Norfleet at [email protected]

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Prologue

Juliet waited in the line for nearly half an hour. There were dozens of people behind her, all frustrated, all tired and all stranded. She looked up at the mountain of a man in front of her. Tall and wide, he talked loudly and nonstop on his cell phone as did the man behind her, although his conversation was a bit quieter. It was just her luck to be sandwiched between the only people in the city with uninterrupted cellular service.

She inched forward in line, adjusting her huge travel bag over her shoulder. Finally she saw the gleam of the marble counter on the front desk. She was almost there. She was tired and her feet hurt. She’d been walking for forty minutes and had gotten less than a mile. That’s when she decided to try the nearest hotel instead of walking another thirty blocks to her stepmother’s apartment.

Eagerly she looked toward the front desk again. The concierge stationed there was irritable and short tempered, but who wouldn’t be. This was New York City in the midst of a blackout. And it had been decades since the last one.

Juliet looked around impatiently then peered out through the floor-to-ceiling glass windows in front of the hotel.

It was still light outside, but it wouldn’t be for long. The sidewalks were packed as the mass of humanity ambled along, trying to make their way home.

New York City at rush hour was crazy enough. New York City in the midst of a total power outage in the midst of rush hour was insanity. Angry pedestrians, overcrowded buses and taxicab fares that were like highway robbery were just some of the things Juliet had no intention of dealing with.

She turned just as the huge man took his key and walked away. Thank God she was next.

“Can I help you,” the desk clerk asked sarcastically.

“Yes, I’d like a room please,” she said although the word
duh
was precariously poised on her lips. But she didn’t dare risk saying it.

“We have one room left, fifteenth floor.” He slapped a key on the counter. “That’ll be four hundred twenty-five dollars.” Juliet pulled out her wallet and handed him a credit card. “Sorry, cash only. In case you haven’t noticed, there’s a blackout, which means no electricity.”

She looked at him sternly. “Yeah, I noticed. This place doesn’t have backup generators?”

“Only for emergency use,” he said. “Cash only,” he repeated.

She slammed her large bag on the counter and began digging into her wallet and purse, all the while praying that she had enough to pay for the room. Two minutes later she was still digging through her things.

“Look miss, do you want the room or not?” The front desk clerk said as he looked at Juliet with annoyance along with the rest of the people in line behind her. “I can’t hold it for you forever.”

Juliet continued to dig in the bottom of her bag. So far she had found sixty-three dollars and some change. “Hold on, I’m still checking.”

The clerk turned away from her and asked to help the next person in line.

The man with the cell phone attached to his ear disconnected, closed the phone and stepped forward. “I’d like a room, one night, king size bed, top floor, no smoking.”

The clerk looked at Juliet as she glared up at him. “Sorry lady, I told you I only had one room left. First come, first served.” He looked back to man. “That’ll be four hundred and twenty-five dollars.”

The man pulled out his wallet.

“Cash,” the clerk emphasized as he looked over to Juliet.

“No credit cards?” he asked.

“Look around, no electricity, no credit cards.”

“Fine,” he said as he began pulling bills from his wallet. He quickly peeled off four hundred dollar bills then looked at the rest of the cash in his hand. He counted a five dollar bill and five ones. He reached into his pants pocket but came up empty. He proceeded to check his suit jacket then his briefcase.

“Here, I found another five, that’s sixty-eight,” Juliet said as she placed the cash on the counter.

“Good for you,” the clerk said sarcastically.

“I’ll take anything you have, single, double, anything.”

“Sorry, like I said, I only have one room left and this gentleman just asked for it.” He turned back to the man. “That’s four-twenty-five.”

“I was here first. I have the cash, just not all of it.”

“Sorry lady,” he turned his attention back to the man. “So do you want the room or not?”

“Yes, I have a little over four hundred dollars cash. I can get you the rest plus a nice tip when the bank opens tomorrow.”

“Sorry, next.” The clerk looked at the next person in line.

“Wait,” Juliet said to the clerk. “Just give me a second.” She leaned over to talk to the man now standing at the counter beside her. “Look there’s only one room left. I don’t have enough to pay the full rate and apparently neither do you. Why don’t we make a deal.”

“What do you suggest?”

“Simple, we pool our money and get the room together before someone else gets it. We can work out the details later. I don’t know about you but I don’t want to spend the rest of the night walking the street trying to find another hotel room or fighting some vagrant for a park bench. Do you?”

It took less than a second for the man to decide. He slid his cash across the counter. “We’ll take the room.”

The clerk immediately placed an all full sign on the counter and handed him the key. He took it, turned it over in his hand and smiled. With all the technology and automation these days, he couldn’t actually remember the last time he’d seen a hotel room key.

“Sorry folks, no more rooms available. You can sleep in one of the chairs in the lobby for twenty dollars apiece. Next.”

Juliet shook her head at the hotel clerk’s audacity as she smoothly took the key from her new roommate’s hand. She read the room number then walked off down the hall heading toward the elevators. “I hope you’re not some crazed lunatic with delusions of being on the front page of the
New York Post
,” she said over her shoulder as she pushed the elevator button several times.

“Hardly,” he said calmly, as he stopped at the first door and pushed it open. “This way,” he said holding the door to the stairway open and waiting for her to realize her mistake.

Juliet turned to him then back to the elevator. She shook her head then walked to the staircase. She looked him up and down as she approached the doorway making a quick assessment of his character.

He was a professional no doubt. Tall dark and handsome, he reeked of money. He wore an expensive tailored suit and carried a pricey laptop case. She paused a moment to see his eyes—they were brown and framed with long black lashes. “You’re not some rich nutcase are you?” She passed by him not particularly waiting for a response.

“I’m about to share a hotel room with a strange woman, whose name I don’t even know, in the middle of a New York City blackout. I think that’s about as much of a nutcase, as you put it, as it gets.”

She walked up the stairs then stopped on the first landing and turned to him, “Juliet.” She held out her hand to shake. “Let’s not bother with last names for the time being, okay?”

“Fine with me, we can just play it by ear,” J.T. said shaking her hand evenly. They each nodded, agreeing to make the best of an unusual situation.

“Shall we?” Juliet prompted.

“After you,” J.T. said as he allowed her to lead the way leaving him free to continue watching her body move as she walked up the stairs.

She moved quickly and confidently, despite the large bag slung over one shoulder. And although she wore a nicely fitted business suit with high heels, she didn’t look like she worked in an office. She seemed to have way too much bravado for that.

J.T. smiled and nodded his appreciation. This was definitely going to be a night to remember, and he had no idea how right he was.

Chapter One

The new CEO of Evans Corporation, also known as E-Corp, J.T. Evans, was a certifiable workaholic when it came to business and a rogue when it came to love. From coast to coast he’d left a trail of broken hearts like the exhaust fumes of his latest sports car. With a reputation for being a savvy executive
and
a player, he had enough charm and charisma to seduce the wings off an angel while developing complex algorithms for high tech software.

Taylor Evans was concerned, and knowing her son’s habits didn’t make it any easier. Seeing him splashed across the society pages with a different woman every night, made it necessary. A part of her knew that she was doing the right thing, but still there was another part that just wasn’t sure. J.T. was adamant about remaining a bachelor. Even though she and her husband, Jace, had a loving marriage, J.T. had always equated love with being tied down.

The thought of what she was about to do made her brows furrow. She looked around pensively. The stillness of the moment did little to ease her worries. Then, she smiled confidently, knowing without a doubt that she was doing the right thing. She had waited long enough for her son to settle down, but he was always too busy. So now, it was up to her to make the first move. And in less than twelve hours, she had done just that.

Taylor closed her leather binder and placed it on the desk in front of her. J.T. had taken her to lunch. They had spent the last twenty minutes coordinating schedules and events that required his attendance. Still looking down, J.T. continued to make notation in his calendar.