Seduction (Club Destiny) (4 page)

“I’ve got two
guys working on it now, so it shouldn’t be much longer. And Xavier already
paid.” Alex stated, closing the door behind them and then turning that
mischievous gleam on her once again.

Maybe she should
try that whole drinking herself stupid thing again. It had been years since the
last time. At least then if she was going to do something stupid – like say, go
all gaga for this guy – she wouldn’t remember it.

Two of the
movers walked into the kitchen carrying her breakfast table, and thankfully
interrupting the intimate situation that she suddenly found herself in. Being
alone with Alex was not smart. No matter how much her body seemed to like the
idea.

“How about
dinner?” Alex asked, but Ashleigh pretended not to hear him. She’d perfected
the art of pretending anytime he was around.

“What?” She
turned to face him as though she needed him to clarify his statement. That was
a mistake.

The man was so
damn hot, Ashleigh’s internal thermostat notched up a degree or two just from
looking at him.

Not only was he
a massive chunk of eye candy, a man Ashleigh had compared nearly every man
she’d ever met to, he was also tall. At five feet eight, she was on the tall
side herself, and his size was one of the things she’d always been drawn to.

At least a head
taller than her, Ashleigh liked that he made her feel small in comparison. In
order to make eye contact, especially when he insisted on crowding her like he
was now, she had to look up. Most of the time, although she was mesmerized by
his eyes, they were the last thing she was looking at though.

No, she found
herself eyeing his broad chest, or his thick, ropey arms, or... well, the rest
of him was off limits where her eyes were concerned.

When Alex
cleared his throat, Ashleigh realized she’d been doing just that. Ogling him.
Again.

“I’ll be glad to
go and pick something up for us if you’d prefer.”

Assuming he was
again talking about dinner, Ashleigh contemplated the repercussions of having
dinner with this man. Knowing her, and the fact that her body had already begun
to ache for him, dinner could likely lead to something more. Much more. And
quite frankly, her limited experience didn’t fare well for her when it came to
taking on Alex McDermott.

No, dinner
wasn’t a good idea. But then neither was him being in her house at all.

Not wanting to
be rude, her grandfather had raised her better than that, Ashleigh came up with
a compromise.

“Why don’t I
order pizza? I’m sure your installers are hungry, as well as the movers.” At
least if she ordered pizza, she wouldn’t risk being left alone with him.

“Pizza works.”
Alex smirked, then turned and walked out of the kitchen.

Thankfully he
didn’t look back, or he would have caught her sneaking a peek at another one of
his exceptionally impressive features.

***
~~ *** ~~ *** ~~ ***

One week later, settled
and having spent more than a few hours a day writing, Ashleigh opted to take a
break, which had come by way of an invitation from Samantha McCoy, Logan’s new
wife.

Instead of
coming up with a multitude of excuses, which was her MO, Ashleigh easily
accepted, hoping that the outing would help to get her mind off of the two
things she’d been overwhelmed with throughout the week – being stalled on the
book she was writing and thinking erotic thoughts about Alex McDermott.

It was a no win
situation. If she could stop thinking about Alex, the first would likely work
itself out. However, if she kept thinking about Alex, the first would likely
work itself out.

Since her brain
hurt from trying to do either, Ashleigh had sworn off thoughts of Alex for the
night. Which was why she was standing in the living room of Logan and Sam’s
immaculate home, trying to feel like she belonged.

After an hour of
engaging in conversations with a slew of people, Ashleigh was still feeling a
little awkward.

Between Logan
and Sam trying to introduce her to everyone, including Sierra Sellers, an
interior designer from Nashville, Ashleigh’s mind was racing, trying to put
names with faces. She’d even had a brief conversation with Luke, Logan’s sexy
as hell twin brother, but he didn’t seem to be in much of a good mood, so she’d
given him some space.

At times, it was
awkward trying to talk to adults about children’s books, especially those who
weren’t parents themselves. As much as they wanted to feign interest, Ashleigh
knew better.

When living a
life of isolation, it was easy to find ways to entertain yourself and Ashleigh
had come up with a few tricks of her own. Watching people was one of those
things that both amused her and provided good material for future work.

The McCoy house
was offering her a plethora of information that could be spun into some really
intriguing books. Suffice it to say, these people were unquestionably
entertaining. Of course, there was the most fascinating of them all, and though
she had sworn him off for the night, avoiding him required some creativity on
her part. The man was relentless.

Up to this
point, she’d succeeded in avoiding conversation with him, but his interest was
apparent, and a little flattering if she were completely honest. Although it was
a day late and a dollar short as far as she was concerned. Had he remembered
what happened so long ago, Ashleigh was pretty sure he wouldn’t be looking at
her like he was undressing her with his eyes. Instead, she hoped he’d be
blushing bright red with embarrassment.

Doubtful, but
she had a vivid imagination.

A commotion
sounded from the front hall causing Ashleigh to turn, just in time to see
Sierra nearly running out the door, Logan’s twin and a sexy blond man following
after her. No one seemed concerned with the drama, and Ashleigh wasn’t about to
get in the middle of it.

When Sam’s voice
drifted from the foyer, Ashleigh made out the words:
Luke
,
frustrating
,
and
gone and done it again
.

“Hey.” The
familiar voice interrupted her eavesdropping. Swallowing hard, Ashleigh
summoned up the nerve to turn around.

“Hi.” One
syllable. That’s all she had to come up with. So how was it possible for it to
come out choppy and a little unsure?

It was odd the
effect Alex had on her. Here she was in a room filled with extremely good
looking men, all successful, confident, but Alex was the only one who could
make her heart pound. From his sexy, unkempt hair, to those dark, dark, emerald
green eyes, to that powerful body, Alex stole her breath.

Even in
comparison to Luke and Logan McCoy, identical twins who were by far the biggest
men Ashleigh had ever come into contact with, Alex was just as intimidating.

Maybe even more
so.

Admittedly,
Ashleigh wasn’t a shrinking violet. Easily above average in height, she was
thin, but not terribly so. She hadn’t been blessed with the luscious curves
that Sam or Sierra possessed, but she could fill out a bikini quite nicely,
thank you very much. Her arms were long, her legs even longer and to top it all
off, she had big feet. They were nice feet, but big nonetheless.

“Walk with me.”

Alex broke
through her thoughts, and Ashleigh managed to fight off the embarrassment. She
had spent the better part of her teenage years being shy and easily embarrassed
– something she worked exceptionally hard to overcome. In turn, she had become
incredibly outspoken, often too much so. So when Alex took her hand, linking
his powerful fingers with hers, she took that moment to prove it. “What are you
doing?”

Wow.
Way to ruin a
moment.

“I’m holding
your hand. It’s this little gesture that affords me the opportunity to touch
you when otherwise you would run for the hills.”

Well, ok then.

The feel of his
fingers beneath hers was making her dizzy, so she let him lead her through the
back door, onto the patio overlooking a stunning pool. The water glowed with
alternating colors while a sound system played something jazzy from overhead.
The weather couldn’t have been better for so early in the year, the air cool,
yet not cold. All combined, it was nice.

With Alex holding
her hand, Ashleigh feared he would realize her palms were starting to sweat
because his hand was hot enough to melt her insides and not because she was
nervous. Ok, maybe a little nervous.

When they
stopped at the edge of the pool, Alex sat on the stone ledge surrounding the
hot tub, easily pulling Ashleigh down beside him.

“How’s the book
coming?”

Instinct had her
tensing, immediately wondering which book he was referring to. There was no
possible way he knew she was Ashton Leigh...

Going on that
assumption, she answered, “I’m up to my eyeballs in fairy dust.”

Alex’s chuckle
reverberated through her, rebounding off each and every molecule and making her
insides dance with pleasure. Even his laugh turned her on.

“Fairy dust,
huh? Does this one end with the princess taming the prince?”

“Well, of course
not.” Ashleigh said, trying to sound stern. “Don’t you know there’s no way to
tame a prince? Unless of course you turn him into a frog, which I haven’t done.
So, no, my prince is actually a horse, who, as it turns out, is best friends
with a barn owl.”

Alex’s shocked
stare made Ashleigh laugh. “What? Do you have a fear of farm animals?”

“Not that I know
of.” Alex recovered easily. “That stuff really excites you?”

Ashleigh wasn’t
going to tell him that she managed to publish the children’s books because her
agent was a hard ass, and since the books were popular, she was hard pressed
not to keep going. But the others she wrote… well, those were what she spent
most of her time on.

“I enjoy what I
do.” She said honestly. “I work for myself … mostly. And I get to meet so many
incredible people along the way.”

Alex seemed to
contemplate her statement for a moment. “So, what do you do in your spare time?
Or do you have any?”

Grateful for the
change of subject, Ashleigh glanced out over the pool, watching the glowing
water ripple gently in the crisp evening breeze. Sitting here with Alex was
nice. She couldn’t say relaxing because she was too overheated to relax, but
his presence did afford her a sliver of comfort.

“I have spare
time. On occasion.” Whenever she took a break which wasn’t all that often, she
thought. “I like to run on those days when I can get away for a bit. Or, I
check off one of the items on my
I haven’t done this yet
list.”

Alex cleared his
throat, causing Ashleigh to look at him. The heat in those emerald eyes was
palpable.

“What types of
things?” Alex’s voice sounded strained, and the way his eyes darted down to her
lips had Ashleigh’s stomach tightening.

“Horseback
riding is one of them. I’ve never done it, so I figure it’s something I should
at least try. Skiing. Possibly riding a four wheeler. Those types of things.”
She wouldn’t mention the other items on her list that were for her eyes only,
like skinny dipping, or having sex in a public place. Or having sex period.

Ashleigh fought
the urge to fidget. She often wondered whether her secret list would have more
interesting things on it if she had, in fact, ever had sex. Hell, she came up
with some astronomical scenes, some she hardly believed would ever happen. At
times,  she could almost picture herself in those scenes. Not that she
would share that with Alex.

Nor would she
tell him that she was Ashton Leigh. No reason to give him the wrong impression.
Those were fantasies she came up with, and not necessarily her own. But if he
knew, would he think they were?

That was the
same question she asked herself about anyone who knew her. If she was outed,
would her friends and family be disappointed in her? Would they be concerned about
her warped mind? Not that she thought it was warped, nor did her readers
apparently.

“You’ve never
been skiing?”

Grateful he was
keeping the conversation on simpler topics, Ashleigh responded, “Nope.”

Her list was
long. So many exciting things she wanted to do. Along with the exhilaration of
trying something for the first time, Ashleigh sometimes needed to get out of
her own head for a little while. Having new things to conquer gave her that
brief reprieve. Since she didn’t have enough time to do them all at once, she
would just write them down for the future. “What about you? Are you a skier?”

“Not much, no.
I’ve been a couple of times, but can’t say I’m good at it.”

“See, that’s the
part that doesn’t matter. As long as you’ve tried it once, you can say you’ve
done it. Then you know whether you liked it or not, regardless of how good you
are.”

Ashleigh took a
chance and looked at Alex. He looked lost in thought, and, not for the first
time, she wanted to get inside his brain and rummage around. She was pretty
sure she’d find some fascinating things there.