Slow Seduction (5 page)

His hands moved down her back and cupped her behind in his large hands. “You feel so right in my arms,” he groaned into her ear. “How can you keep denying what you feel for me?” He had to fight down his overwhelming need to toss her over his shoulder and carry her to his bedroom down the hallway. Grabbing her hips, he pressed his erection against her. It throbbed painfully with the need to know her body better.

He licked the side of her neck, drawing the tender flesh between his front teeth. She moaned. The sound vibrated over his aroused body and only enhanced his desire to possess her even more. “I want you,” he growled by her ear.

Jenisha stiffened in his arms. “Please let me go.”

“Let me prove how good I can make it for you,” he encouraged as he backed away from her.

“No, I can’t let myself fall in love with you. It wouldn’t be good for either of us in the end.” With tears rushing down her cheeks, Jenisha snatched her purse off his couch and rushed out the front door.

Clinton
stared at the front door in shock by Jenisha’s outburst. What in the hell was she hiding? It had to be something big to make her run from his house with tears in her eyes. Well, whatever it was he would find out and put an end to it. He wasn’t about to loose Jenisha before their relationship even began.

“The hell you will remove yourself from being president of this project,”
Clinton
yelled at Jenisha the next morning in her living room. “How can you even think about doing something so crazy after the closeness we gained last night?” He moved closer to her.
Damn it! I won’t let her do this to us
. Why was she always trying to run away from him?

“That’s why I want someone else to head the project. It isn’t right for me to be president when I know how attracted we are to each other. You’ll get more work done with another person working beside you,” Jenisha replied, twisting her hands together in front of her.

“Why are you so determined to make me think I’m not in love with you?” he questioned. “Placing another woman in your position won’t take my mind off of you.”

He wrapped his hands around Jenisha’s and placed a kiss on her forehead. “In fact, it will just make it worse. Because all I would do is think about you. Now, is that what you want to happen? Doesn’t this reconstruction deserve my full attention?” He searched her eyes with his and waited for an answer.

Slipping her hands from
Clinton
light grip, Jenisha slid them into the back pocket of her jeans and thought about what he was saying to her. He did make a good point. If his mind wasn’t on the project, then he wouldn’t do a good job. She wanted the additional space for the children to be fantastic. Her class, along with the other students at Bryant Elementary, deserved a bigger building for a better education.

“How did you manage to talk me out of resigning?”

Clinton
flashed her an arrogant grin and winked at her. “Because you’re in love with me, and you want to be around me too. You just don’t want to admit it yet.”

Shaking her head, Jenisha made her way into the kitchen. She felt
Clinton
’s eyes on her, but she didn’t turn around. “Is there anything you want?’ she yelled from the refrigerator.

“Yeah, I want you,” He replied behind her.

She grabbed the pitcher of orange juice and closed the refrigerator door. Spinning back around, Jenisha froze as a pair of moss green eyes boldly raked over her body.
Clinton
’s stare was slow and seductive as his gaze started at the top of her head, dropped to her eyes, then shoulders and ended with a lustful gleam at her breasts.

Her heart jumped and her pulse raced as she eased her way over to the table and sat the orange down in the middle. She wasn’t dumb enough not to be able to read the unmasked desire in his eyes, but what he wanted wasn’t going to happen today.

“Now,
Clinton
it’s too early in the morning for that kind of thinking,” she teased, hoping to break some of the sexual tension in the room.

“I think it’s the perfect time to discuss how we feel about each other,”
Clinton
muttered, moving around the table and slowly inching closer to her body.

“
Clinton
, we really need to get started on the designs for the school since I’ve the next two weeks free,” Jenisha replied. She kept moving until her back hit a wall, preventing her from going any further.

The sides of
Clinton
’s mouth kicked up into a slight smile as he looked at the “deer caught in the headlights” look on Jenisha’s face. He quickly closed the gap between their bodies. Placing a hand above her hand and another by her hip, he leaned in until he could feel her breasts pressed against his chest.

“How about you give me a quick ‘I missed you, Clinton’ kiss?’ ” he whispered, brushing his mouth over hers. “I know how much I missed the feel of your perfect lips on mine. I dreamt about kissing you a lot last night and in several different places on your delicious body.”
Clinton
ran his hand down the side of Jenisha’s hip. He smiled when he heard a small moan escape her mouth.
Good. At least I know she does want me.

“No, I think I gave you enough kisses yesterday,” Jenisha complained, pushing him away from her body.

He moved back from her and crossed his arms over his chest. “Does that mean you didn’t miss me one little bit?” He tried to keep the hurt out of his voice.

Jenisha swallowed down a laugh at the crestfallen look on
Clinton
’s handsome face. “Yes, I did miss you,” she muttered under her breath.

His face lit up at her words. “Does that mean I get my ‘I missed you, Clinton’ kiss?”

Walking over to him in the middle of the kitchen, she kissed him quickly on the lips and moved away when he reached for her. “There’s your kiss now let’s get to work. If I let you kiss me any longer we won’t be able to get any work done.”

Waving his finger under her nose,
Clinton
laughed at Jenisha. “I’ll let you get by with that kiss this time, but next time I’ll get the kiss I want.” He turned away from her and strolled over to the kitchen table.

Grabbing the designs off the table, he told her, “I’m going to take these back to my house so I can work on them without any distractions from you and those jeans you’re wearing.” He turned on his heel, strolled through the living room and out the front door without even saying goodbye.

Jenisha fell down into the kitchen chair and poured herself a glass of orange juice. Taking a long, refreshing sip, she hated to admit how empty her house was now with
Clinton
gone. Something about him made her smile without her even knowing it. He had such a presence about him when he entered a room.

Sitting the empty glass back on the table, her mind continued to think about him.
How in the world did I allow his appeal to work on me so quickly?
She was supposed to be happy that he didn’t try to further the kiss. Then why was she so disappointed that he didn’t? Deep down she knew
Clinton
was everything she had dreamt of in a man. He was fun, charming, sexy, understanding, and so damn good-looking. The way his green eyes stared into hers like they were searching for all her hidden secrets was a little unnerving, but she loved how he always gave her his full attention.

He had never once backed away from her flippant attitude. Just thinking about having his talented tongue in her mouth again brought a grin to her lips. Clinton knew how to make a woman crave his kisses. Having him here now just proved how much she wanted him in her bed. She knew Clinton was thinking of a long term relationship when it came to them, but right now the only thought running through her mind was his skin against hers. But she didn’t think Clinton would agree just to a sexual fling, and he shouldn’t have to. He had already told her numerous times that he was in love with her.

Of course she didn’t believe him because she was just something new for him. Once he got his fill, he would be out the door and searching for a new woman’s fantasies to fulfill. Lost in her thoughts, Jenisha didn’t hear the phone ringing until the fourth ring, and then she answered it.

“Hello.”

“When are you going to call and tell me about Clinton? I’ve been waiting since yesterday for your call,” Becky scolded.

She laughed at the disappointment in her friend’s voice. “Sorry, I got a little busy after work and wasn’t able to call you.”

“Please tell me you were busy with that tall green-eyed hunk.”

“Well, I was busy with him, but not in the way you are thinking. We’re just old acquaintances. His brother married my best friend.”

“Shit!” Becky yelled. “Is that the man you talked about for weeks after your visit to
Montana
? You told me he was nice looking, but you forgot to say he was sinfully good looking.”

“We’re just friends,” Jenisha lied.

“Girl, you better let him capture you. It’s not everyday a man like Clinton Campbell rolls into your life. Did you notice how he looked at you? I wouldn’t be surprised if he kissed you after I left.”

“He kissed me twice before we even got to the class room,” she whispered into the phone.

“Damn, why are you keeping all the juicy stuff to yourself? You can’t let a man as delicious as him get away from you.”

“Becky, I can’t allow myself to become involved with
Clinton
. He’ll eventually want something from me that I can’t give.”

“Are you saying you don’t feel anything for him at all? Don’t his green eyes make your heart race when he looks at you?”

“God, yes,” Jenisha sighed. “I feel so many things when I’m around him, but I’m not ready to have
Clinton
in my life.”

“How do you know if
Clinton
isn’t the man unless you give him a chance?” Becky questioned. “Because after seeing him in class yesterday with you, he looked like he would move the world for you if he could.”

Jenisha sighed as she listened to Becky plead with her to give
Clinton
a chance. “I need time to think all this over.”

“Don’t wait too long to make your decision or some other woman will snatch the handsome Mr. Clinton Campbell away from you. A man like him doesn’t stay single long.” Becky told her goodbye, then hung up.

The phone conversation with Becky stayed with Jenisha long after it had ended.
What if Becky was right and I wait too long and another woman gets
Clinton
’s love?
She didn’t want to think about
Clinton
with another woman. She needed to make a decision about
Clinton
and soon.

Clinton
couldn’t concentrate on the designs any longer. He had been sitting at his table for two hours, and now all the lines were starting to run together. Tossing the pencil down on his desk, he ran the back of his hand across his eyes trying to get rid of some of the double vision.

He got up from his chair and walked over to look out his bay window. The warm sun shined in on his face and released some of the tension from his body. Looking across the street, he noticed a little blond-haired boy playing baseball with another little boy in his yard. The cute sight brought a smile to his face. God, he wanted a family with Jenisha more than anything in the world. He just didn’t think it would be this hard to break down all those barriers around her heart. But he didn’t mind waiting for her. She was worth all the heartache he was experiencing.

Jenisha was the perfect woman for him: exciting, intelligent, and beautiful. He loved the honest quality she possessed which his former girlfriend didn’t. He knew what mood she was in from an arch of her eyebrow or from the frown lines of her face.

Moving away from the window,
Clinton
went to stand in the middle of the living room and listened to the silence around him. It was a sound he was getting tired of hearing. He wanted laughter and love flowing around him like his brother had. “God, Jenisha, why can’t you make up your mind about me? All this waiting is killing me. You don’t know how I wish I had you in my arms right now. I could make your life a living fairy tale.”

He wiped his hand across the back of his neck. “You would want for nothing. I could make your every dream come true if you would give me half a chance,” he stated out loud.

Shaking his head about the dilemma he was in,
Clinton
went back across the room, picked up the cordless phone, and ordered a pizza. He always thought better after two hot slices of pizza were in his stomach. Hanging up the phone, he left the room and went to take a shower.

Standing outside
Clinton
’s front door, Jenisha rung the raised doorbell with her right hand and held the hot pizza with her left. She had driven up at the same time as the pizza delivery boy and decided to pay for it. She took a couple of deep breaths and waited for
Clinton
to answer the door. She really didn’t know what she was going to say to him.

“I’m coming,”
Clinton
yelled from the other side before the door was yanked open.

Jenisha’s mouth fell open at the sight of
Clinton
’s wet body standing on the other side of the door. His dark brown hair was brushed back off his forehead showing off his mesmerizing green eyes. Chest hair covered his massive chest and screamed for her touch, but she resisted the urge to run her nails down his delicious body. A drop of water started at the middle of his chest then slid into a pair of well-worn the jeans that were still unbuttoned and showed off his washboard stomach.

He radiated a masculine aura that drew in her body like a magnet. The very air around her sparked with sexual chemistry so much that she thought she might faint from the power of it. How can one man be so perfect for her in so many ways, yet, totally wrong for her at the same time?

“Hi,” she whispered when she finally got her voice back.

Clinton
braced his shoulder against the doorframe so he wouldn’t haul Jenisha into his arms. His mind couldn’t absorb the outfit she was wearing. He knew
Los Angeles
temperatures were warm, but her damn shirt was going to give him a heart attack.

The white top had a slit up the front showing off her smooth stomach with a hint of navel. He didn’t think his woman needed to be wearing something like that in public unless he was around to protect her. It might give too many men the idea that she was free and single which wasn’t the case by a long shot. Plus, the black jeans she had on molded her long legs to perfection. He felt the beginning of an erection happening.

“Jenisha, why are you standing outside on my porch holding a pizza? Is this a part time job I didn’t know about?” he teased.

Jenisha’s soft voice laughed at his joke. “No, I drove up the same time as the delivery boy, so I paid for the pizza. Do you have a problem with that?” she tossed back.

“No, I’m not upset. Come on in before our food gets cold.” He moved back from the door so she could come inside. “Just sit the food in the kitchen while I go and put on a shirt.”
Clinton
shut the door behind them, then turned and headed for his bedroom.

Jenisha spun around and watched
Clinton
’s muscular back leave the room. She enjoyed the way the muscles moved in
Clinton
’s back when he walked away.
I’ve got to stop lusting after him or I won’t get any work done on this project.
Pushing down her desire to follow him, she went in the opposite direction.

Five minutes later
Clinton
strolled back into the kitchen with a white T-shirt in his hand. He paused in the doorway and pulled it over his head and down his chest. “Okay, where’s the food so we can eat?” Eating a slice of pizza wasn’t the first thing on his mind, but he didn’t have to let her know that. She was already jumpy enough around him as it was. He didn’t want to put any added pressure on her that would make her leave.

“Umm, the pizza is on the table.” Jenisha grabbed the paper plates by the microwave and sat them on the table. She was trying to get her mind off that
Clinton
was standing five feet from her with his jeans still unbuttoned.

“Where did you get that shirt from?”
Clinton
asked. He sat in the chair across from Jenisha, grabbed two slices of pizza from the box, and tossed them on his plate.

She glanced down at her shirt, then back up at him. “True gave it to me last year as a Christmas gift. Why? Is there something wrong with it?”

“No, I love how it looks on you. It’s a very sexy top and I’m just surprised you would wear something like it. Especially in front of me, knowing it will have me thinking all sorts of fun ways to get you out of it.”

Jenisha opened her mouth to reply, but he stopped her. “I’m not going to bother you, so please don’t give me another lecture.”

“Oh, okay,” Jenisha whispered, a hint of disappointment in her voice.

Clinton
stopped with a slice of piece halfway to his mouth. Did he just hear a note of disillusionment in her voice? Did she want him to flirt with her after all?

In the shower earlier, he decided to leave the heavy pursuit alone for a while and let them become better friends before he pressed the issue of a deeper relationship. Could he have been wrong? Did Jenisha want him to keep making all the first moves? Well, he wasn’t about to do anything else until he sure she wanted the same thing he did.

“Now, don’t let me eat this whole pizza by myself. Grab a slice.” He pointed toward the half-eaten box.

Jenisha gave him a small smile and pulled slice of pizza from the box. “How in the world did you know this is one thing I can’t say no to?” She grinned.

He watched her perfect teeth bite into the warm pizza. Her eyes closed and she moaned in the very back of her throat. He couldn’t take his eyes off her if he tried. The look on her face at that moment would have another man running from the room with a painful erection, but it only enhanced the attraction he had for her. He wanted to see the same look on her face when he made love to her for the first time.

Feeling his eyes on her face, Jenisha opened her eyes. “Sorry about that. I just love the first bite of pizza.”

His gaze dropped to the corner of her mouth. “You have some sauce by your mouth.”

“Where is it?”

He watched in agony as Jenisha’s moist, pink tongue darted out and removed the sauce from the corner of her mouth.
Clinton
closed his eyes as a rush of desire hit him full force. If he didn’t get out of this room in the next two seconds, he wouldn’t be responsible for his actions. He shoved the chair away for the table and stormed from the room.

“
Clinton
, what’s wrong?” Jenisha yelled at him.

Walking into his bedroom,
Clinton
slammed the door behind him and blocked out the sound of Jenisha calling his name for a third time. He yanked the shirt over his head and flung it across the room. It landed in a white puddle inside the chair next to his bed. He ran his fingers through his hair.

“Shit, I knew this would be a mistake coming here to work on this with Jenisha. I can barely be in the same with her before my love and desire for her takes over.”

He glanced at the closed door and sat down on the bed behind him. “I can’t go back out there until I’m sure I won’t beg her to feel something for me in return. Maybe if I stay in here alone enough she’ll leave and then I won’t have to say anything at all.”

Clinton
didn’t know long he stayed in his room, but when he glanced out his bedroom window it was dark outside and there wasn’t any kind of sound coming from the living room. “I better get up so I can do some work because I’m going to have a long night in front of me.” He raised his body off the bed and went to the door.

Opening the door, he walked down the long hallway.
Clinton
turned to his left and froze dead in his tracks. He couldn’t believe his eyes. Jenisha hadn’t left him! She was sitting at desk looking at his designs. “I thought you would have left by now.”

He slid his hands into the pockets of his jeans and moved further into the room. He looked at the tiny tendrils that escaped the heavy silken mass of black hair at the back of her neck. He would give anything to be able to run his fingers through it.

She spun around in the chair to face him. “No, I really need for us to talk about something,
Clinton
.”

He watched her slender fingers twist together in her lap. He recently figured out that Jenisha only did that when she was nervous about something or had a lot on her mind.

“I already know what you’re going to say.”

“You do?”

“Yes. You want me to back off and not pressure you into a relationship because you never really wanted me in the first place and I shouldn’t have gotten the wrong idea from the few kisses we shared a couple of times.”

“
Clinton
listen you need to let me--“

“It’s okay. I’ve gone over this again and again in my head,” he said in a low, composed voice. “I don’t have to hear the words from your mouth. I’ll make sure we keep our relationship on a business level and nothing more for the remainder of my time here.”

He walked away from Jenisha and went to open the front door. “Maybe you should leave. It’s only making it harder for me seeing you and knowing I can’t have you.” He stood at the door and waited for her to leave.

The bright light from his desk almost made Jenisha’s white top transparent as she stood up. She paused by his desk before she finally made her way to him at the door. Every time she took a step, her breasts move underneath the top, giving him a peek of cleavage. He fought hard not to let her see the hurt she was causing him by leaving.

“Can I say something to you?’ She asked faintly, drawing a step nearer to him.

“Sure.”

Taking the door from him, Jenisha slammed it closed, and the sounded echoed through the house. Stunned, he couldn’t do anything but stand by the door and hear her out. From the withering glance shooting his way, Jenisha wasn’t happy with him, but he didn’t know why.

“How dare you kick me out without giving me a chance to even say what was on my mind!” She snapped.

He noticed that her beautiful eyes were stony with anger. Her lids came down swiftly over her eyes blocking out some of the heat from her stare.
Clinton
knew he should be concerned about what had pissed Jenisha off, but he couldn’t get over how sexy she looked all bent up with unleashed passion.