Seductive Reasoning (23 page)

“Since you and Kate obviously spent
the last few days doing the between-the-sheets rumba, what happens now?” Mark
asked. “Are you going back on the show with her?”

Before he’d met Kate, his project
had been his entire focus. When he wasn’t teaching a class he had been doing
research, taking notes, planning his next step. The last thing on his mind had
been women. But Kate wasn’t just any woman. She was
the
woman.

When had his interest switched from
the stars to a woman with a glint in her eye, the sexiest mouth he’d ever had
the pleasure of kissing, and a soul more beautiful than he could ever have
imagined?

Since meeting her, his priorities
had shifted one-hundred eighty degrees, something he would never have believed
possible. He wanted more than anything to be with Kate rather than spend his
time gazing at the heavens through a telescope. When had he found such pleasure
in talking to a woman, touching her, kissing her, making exquisite love to her?

Seth looked at Mark. “Yeah, I’ll go
back on the show.”

Mark stared at him. “What are you
going to say when they ask you if anything happened between you and Kate? Are
you going to deny the whole thing and take the money--like you should, I might
add--or confess undying love right there on television?”

Seth hunched over, his arms resting
on the table. “We’ve talked a little bit about the show, but we haven’t really
decided anything.”

Mark slumped back in his chair and
crossed his arms over his chest. “After the show last Friday, Matthew’s called
an emergency board meeting on Saturday to discuss what she calls the
issue
.”

Seth adjusted his glasses. Yeah, he
was there but he didn’t want to admit it to Mark. “Issue, huh. What happened at
the board meeting?” he asked innocently.

Mark’s expression stilled and grew
serious. He raised his right brow and looked at him.

Seth laid his hand on the table.
“She wants the board to fire me.”

Mark nodded. “Yep. You know how she
gets when she smells anything offbeat. She’s like a barracuda.” He tilted his
head. “Remember last year when she caught Jenkins in his office late one
evening with a student? Granted they weren’t doing anything but sharing a
sandwich and going over the student’s grades, but the bitch gave him a stern
reprimand and then put the entire incident on his permanent record.”

Seth grimaced. “Yeah, I remember.
She and Jenkins had been seeing each other and she thought he was stepping out
on her.” He finished off his beer, dug some bills out of his pocket, and threw
them on the table. “Thanks for coming. By the way, you didn’t happen to pick up
my mail did you?”

Mark nodded. He pulled a stack of
envelopes from his briefcase.

Seth glanced through it quickly
until the return address on an envelope caught his eye. Could this be an answer
to his grant application? Did he hold his future in his hands or the end of his
relationship with Kate?

Kate hung a green silk teddy with
tiny fish embroidered over its surface on a hangar and placed it on the rack
for Pisces. Celtic music floated on the air. A smile curved her lips. Making
love with Seth had been beyond anything she could have imagined. She placed
another garment on the rack, then checked her supply of love poems.

She’d slept restlessly during the
remainder of the night, waking up almost every hour and looking at Seth to make
sure he was still beside her. But where else would he be? For most of the
night, some part of his body had touched her. A hand on her thigh, or breast,
an arm slung over her waist.

Kate checked the credit card
machine and the cash in the register. Everything was in order. After the last
time they’d made love, she’d fallen deeply asleep, the exhaustion of the
evening finally overwhelming her.

She had expected him to leave her.

She had expected him to be gone
when she’d awakened, leaving behind a tasteful and logical note putting an end
to their week together. But instead, Seth had awakened her this morning in the
sexiest way possible. He’d slipped inside her and brought her to mind
shattering orgasm. Again. Then he’d kissed her softly after promising to see
her later, and left her sated in his bed.

Had he accepted her?

He had talked to her, flirted with
her, and made love to her as if it was safe and he already accepted her. This
evening, they were scheduled to reappear on the
Martina Landers Show.
Uncertainty
churned through Kate’s stomach. Would he admit that she’d seduced him and in
fact that he’d seduced her as well? Or would he deny everything, take the
money, and go back to his job?

Kate started across the store to
double-check the dressing rooms when she heard a knock on the door. She
intended to tell whoever it was that the shop wouldn’t open for at least
another hour when she saw through the shop window that her mother was standing
on the porch.

Kate stopped dead in her tracks.
Why was her mother here? This would make the second visit this week. Her mother
averaged maybe two visits a month. Kate refused to allow the old insecurities
and alienation she had always felt with her mother to come crashing down.

With more confidence than she’d
ever felt, Kate smoothed a hand over her skirt and was glad she had not opted
for something more conservative. She’d felt such feminine power when she’d
gotten up this morning, and the short, sleeveless dress fit her mood perfectly.
Putting on a smile, Kate walked to the door and opened it.

“Good morning, Katherine,” her
mother said. “May I come in?”

She was dressed flawlessly as
always. Her suit was impeccable, her hair and makeup attractive but
understated. Suddenly, Kate wanted to shake her mother, to rattle her from that
rigid cage she’d built around herself. Kate opened the door wider. “Of course.”

Her mother stepped inside and
glanced around briefly before bringing her gaze back to Kate. She cleared her
throat, and Kate was fascinated by a look of discomfort on her mother’s face.
The woman was always in control, always cool, and never showed unnecessary
emotions. But clearly a range of them reflected on her face and in her eyes. “I
want to talk to you.”

“Okay, let’s go into the kitchen.”

Her mother diverted her gaze to the
shop and then back to Kate. “I’d like to talk here, if that’s all right.”

Kate’s heart lifted in her chest.
Maybe she wasn’t here to lecture her. No matter what her mother said to her
this time, she wouldn’t allow her to crush her dreams again. “Okay.”

Kate strolled to a table to
straighten some lingerie. She needed something to keep her hands busy.

Her mother exhaled a deep breath.
“I came to say I’m sorry.”

Kate dropped the garments and
jerked her head around. If her mother had said she was planning to strip and
dance naked in the street, she couldn’t have been more shocked. “You’re sorry.
For what?”

She twisted the handle of her purse
between her fingers and Kate realized this was the first time she’d ever seen
her cool, in-control mother nervous. “For the other day. In front of Dr.
Fallon.”

“What about Dr. Fallon?”

Both of them turned to see Seth
standing in the doorway of the shop, looking good enough to eat. A blush seared
Kate’s neck because she remembered she’d done just that.

Seth walked over to her and took
her hand as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Her heart somersaulted
in her chest. He rubbed the pad of his thumb over the palm of her hand.
Tendrils of passion, little sparks of fire ignited along her nerve endings. She
remembered what those fingers could do.

Her mother straightened and stopped
playing with her purse. “I’m afraid I gave you the wrong impression.” She
looked directly at Seth.

“What impression was that?” Seth
asked.

“Please understand that our family
has always felt that Kate had the potential for something better. We had hoped
that she would prove to herself and to her family that she was capable of more
than just designing underwear.

“Katherine has a keen, observant
mind that could be exercised in loftier pursuits. We’ve never understood why
she felt it necessary to design women’s undergarments.”

Why couldn’t she just say that she
was proud? Kate wondered. She knew why. Her mother was a Gemini and love held
them back and kept them from rushing headlong into life. Her mother felt love
was restrictive. But love for Kate meant liberation.

Kate straightened her shoulders and
faced her mother head on. “You’re my mother, and I love you. But I am finished
with trying to prove myself. It’s your turn to prove you love me enough to
trust that what I’m doing is right for me.”

Her mother’s chin jerked upward as if
Kate had punched her in the face. Her gaze bored into Kate’s. Kate squeezed
Seth’s hand, thrilled that she had said what she’d never before had the courage
to say to her mother.

Was her mother proud of her? She
had no idea. It was a simple question with a very complicated and nearly
impossible answer.

Her mother pressed her lips
together briefly. “I recognize your achievements, Katherine, but I also feel it
is important that you reach your full potential and reasonable goals.”

Seth tilted his head. “What do you
consider reasonable goals Mrs. Summers?”

“Worthy pursuits.”

“Such as?”

She threw Seth a very pointed look.
One Kate had seen all of her life. A look that meant she had no intention of
discussing the topic further. Her mother had always expected her children to
listen carefully and follow her wishes to the letter. Kate had done neither.
She’d fought against the restrictive bonds her mother had tried to place on
her, her whole life. “Mother, didn’t you hear a word I said?”

She turned her gaze back to Kate.
The nervousness was gone, the cool façade firmly back in place. “I heard you
quite clearly.”

Kate checked her watch. “The proof
is in the pudding. The shop doesn’t open for another half hour. I have some new
designs for Gemini. Your size and color. What do you say?”

Her mother looked uncomfortable
again. Kate liked seeing her this way. It made her more human, more real, and
more the mother she’d always wanted. “All right. I’ll take a look at them.”

Kate smiled. “Not just look. I
insist you try some on.”

Kate stood outside the dressing
room and waited while her mother tried on the garments she’d picked out for
her.

“Katherine,” her mother said
through the closed curtain, “your shop was mentioned in the paper this morning.
Your father and I were ... gratified to read the favorable comments.”

A little thrill of excitement
skittered up Kate’s spine. She hadn’t read the paper yet. As soon as her mother
left, she planned to greedily devour every word.

Her new confidence in herself
bloomed through her heart and mind. She felt as though she’d climbed a major
hurdle, leaped over a mountain in a single bound or jumped from a great height,
startled and relieved to find herself still in one piece.

“Oh, my,” her mother said.

Kate pulled back a corner of the
curtain and peeked inside. Her mother stood in front of the mirror wearing the
tiniest nightgown, her body still quite youthful. “Mom, you look fabulous.
Daddy’s going to love it.”

A light blush spread over her
mother’s cheeks, but she glanced at Kate out of the corner of her eye and
smiled. “You really think so?”

“Absolutely.”

After her mother made a purchase
and left, Kate blinked back happy tears and tried to steady her rapidly beating
heart. Even though her mother hadn’t said it out loud, Kate knew she was proud
of her. It was a beginning. She hadn’t been able to choke out the words but had
said them in her own fashion. She’d admitted she was proud of her by purchasing
the nightgown. Her mother said it in her mention of the article in the paper.
In her mother’s own way, she had finally begun to accept her. Maybe one day if
she reached that pinnacle of success that she was striving for, her mother
would say it to her face.

And Seth had been here to share
that moment with her. He’d stood next to her, taken her hand and tried his best
to reassure her. Just like he’d stood up for her the other day. It hadn’t been
a fluke.

He cared for her.

Kate turned and looked at him
across the store. He was so handsome he took her breath. She walked to his
side, slipped her hand into his, and laced their fingers together. If he cared
for her, she would have to trust that he wouldn’t break her heart when she told
him that she loved him. “You stood up for me. Again. Thank you.”

Seth cupped her chin. “I care what
happens to you. I didn’t want to but ... I can’t deny it any longer. I care.”

Kate swallowed as emotions careened
through her. Did this mean he might stay? Did she stand even an infinitesimal
chance of him one day loving her? Not the sexy, seductive woman she’d shoved at
him when they first met, but the woman she was deep inside. Did she dare take
that chance? Gathering her courage, she plunged ahead. “What is it about me
that makes you care?”

He smiled and brushed the bangs
from her eyes. “Your intelligence, your sense of fun. We both think outside the
box. But most important, you see beyond my looks. I like you very much.” His
voice became very quiet when he uttered those last words. Emotions darkened his
eyes, emotions she couldn’t read. “In a matter of days we’ve become not only
lovers, but friends. Friendship is the key to any relationship, don’t you
think?”

Her heart plummeted to her feet.
Hope that had surrounded her heart dissipated. Friendship. How could she have
been such a fool?

He felt friendship for her. Nothing
more. Sure, the sex had been great, but she needed to be realistic. He wouldn’t
stick around. She had been foolish to hope and dream otherwise. That little
flame inside that made her believe there could be a lasting and fulfilling
relationship between them snuffed out.