Seduction (Club Destiny) (3 page)

“Inside. He’s
talking to Alex.”

His words had
her stopping in her tracks, before glancing back at the black truck in her
driveway. She should’ve known. Pretending she didn’t care, she forced a smile.
“Have you been to your new school yet?”

“No.” Nate
didn’t look at her, keeping his eyes on the expanse of water they could see
from where they stood. “Dad’s taking me up there in a few minutes.”

“You excited?”
She knew he wasn’t, if his expression was anything to go by.

“Anything will
be better than where we came from.” He admitted, turning back to the house, but
not moving.

Ashleigh knew
from talking to her brother Dylan that Nate was having a hard time at school,
and it had nothing to do with academics and everything to do with the cruelty
of the kids.

Just last year,
the Thomas family had been shocked by Nate’s revelation that he was gay.
Although not a single one of them had any issues with it, including Xavier, her
grandfather, which had surprised the hell out of damn near everyone, not
everyone seemed to be as accepting as Nate’s family. Ashleigh wasn’t sure
whether it was the small town, or just ignorance that had the kids being so
cruel, but either way, Nate seemed to be dealing with it.

 “At least
the year is almost over, right?”

“I wouldn’t quite
say that. We’ve still got the rest of this semester.”

“Oooh. A
semester. That’s like what? Eighteen more weeks?” Ashleigh laughed.

“Fifteen, thank
you. Don’t make it longer than it has to be.” Nate teased.

“Sorry. I’ll
work on getting my facts straight next time.” God she missed her nephew. He’d
always been the fun loving, exuberant child who had kept them all on their
toes. Despite the difficulties and the challenges he seemed to be facing, it
was good to see he hadn’t changed much.

“Well, I’ve put
it off as long as I could.” She told him, turning back to the house. “Time to
check out the chaos.”

Steeling herself
for the
chaos
, better known as Alex McDermott – but she wouldn’t tell
Nate that – Ashleigh followed her nephew up the steps to the house. The front
door stood wide open, the screen door propped open with a small box – great,
the box read “panties and bras”.

Lovely.

Every light in
the house was on and the low sound of people talking filled the space. As soon
as she was inside, Ashleigh remembered everything she had loved about the house
the first time she saw it. Her realtor hadn’t seemed too excited about showing
her the place, apparently it had been on the market for quite some time, and
she hadn’t figured it would be what Ashleigh was looking for.

It had taken one
trek through the house, and less than five minutes for Ashleigh to turn to the
woman, telling her to draw up the papers. After seeing at least twenty other
properties, Ashleigh had been sold almost the minute she stepped inside.

Open, airy, it
was just what Ashleigh was looking for.

The back wall
was nearly all glass which offered a serene view of the small pond and a
handful of trees. The inside was warm and comforting, something that struck
Ashleigh immediately. Dark wood floors and cream colored walls, along with
stone accents on the fireplace, and the bar that separated the kitchen from the
rest of the house, had caught her eye immediately. The rest was a bonus.

Speaking of bar.
From where she stood, just inside the front door, Ashleigh could see her
brother who was animatedly talking to the man she’d dedicated way too many
thoughts to for the last decade. Alex’s back was to her, and she fought the
urge to stand there and stare at him while he was unaware.

Right. As if
anything ever got past him.

Alex McDermott
and all of his sexy as hell goodness was a weak spot Ashleigh had never been
comfortable with. The man was hot as sin, but Ashleigh had sworn off his type
at a young age. Or maybe it was just him that she’d sworn off.

Not that he
didn’t visit her in some of her hottest dreams. But during waking hours, she
did her best to avoid him. Living so far away had made that easy, but
apparently being this close, and the fact that he worked with her grandfather,
Ashleigh would have to put forth some effort to keep him away.

Time to change
the locks.

“What’s he doing
here?” Ashleigh asked Nate, tilting her head in the direction of the kitchen,
keeping her voice low, and trying to sound interested, but not
interested
.

The look Nate
shot her way said he wasn’t buying it.

“He’s quoting
the alarm system Pops is having put in.”

And why couldn’t
her brother have done that? She didn’t ask the question out loud because she
knew Nate wouldn’t be able to answer, and she was pretty certain her discomfort
was obvious, no reason to sound defensive on top of it.

Apparently she
was going to have to have a conversation with her grandfather. She was forever
grateful for him, and his need to make sure she was taken care of, but when it
came to Alex, Ashleigh would rather go without.

Dylan’s voice
got louder, and then a deep, booming laugh echoed through the house, making
Ashleigh turn to look at her brother. He was laughing. It was a rusty sound,
but only because she knew he hadn’t been doing much of it over the years. It
was the sweetest thing she’d heard in a long time.

Sitting her
purse on the counter, she cleared her throat, getting Dylan’s attention. He
smiled, his eyes locking on her, but the man whose back was still to her didn’t
do more than tilt his head to the side, a mischievous grin tilting his
beautiful mouth.

Damn that man.

She suddenly
wished she had checked her face in the mirror before she came in. Not that it
would matter much. Wearing yoga pants, an oversized sweatshirt, and her hair in
a messy ponytail, she’d dressed for comfort, not to come face to face with the
hottest man she’d ever laid eyes on. But she didn’t care what Alex thought. Or
so she tried to convince herself.

Her appearance
was the least of her worries anyway. Right now, she’d have to make every effort
just to breathe.

“Hey, how was
the drive?” Dylan asked, his dark eyes holding a hint of amusement. The
mischievous grin on his face didn’t help either.

“Uneventful.”
She said, stepping around the bar and into the kitchen, keeping her eyes
trained on her brother and not the other man standing so easily against her
counter, who appeared not to be giving her the time of day, although she knew
better.

“You remember
Alex, don’t you?” Dylan asked by way of introduction.

Did she ever.

“I do. Nice to
see you again.” Ashleigh gave him a brief glance, then turned back to her
brother. “What’s going on?”

“Pops asked Alex
to stop by to install a security system.” Dylan restated what Ashleigh already
knew. “Now that you’re here, I need to run Nate by his new school. We’ve got to
pick up a schedule or something.”

Maybe she should
offer to take Nate. The dead last thing she needed was to be left alone with
Alex. Not if she was expected to keep her sanity.

She’d grown
accustomed to her body’s unruly reaction to the man over the years, but that
one night at the Christmas party just a few weeks before had nearly sent her
hormones on strike.

“Why don’t you
stay? I can run out and pick up dinner.” One last ditch effort to keep her
brother close was worth a shot.

“Can’t. Maybe
tomorrow.” Dylan replied as he nodded back to Alex, then turned toward the
front door. “Oh, and Pops said he got held up, but he’d stop by tomorrow to see
how things are going.”

Right. Held up
her ass.

The old meddling
man was interfering, that’s what he was doing. For the life of her, Ashleigh
couldn’t fathom how Pops would think this was a good idea. Her and Alex?

“I’ll walk you
out.” Alex offered, and Ashleigh shot him a glare. He graced her with that
sexy, seductive smile that she had thought about way too many times.

Damn that man.

She fought the
urge to watch him walk out the front door. Then she fought the urge to lock it
and keep him on the other side where he belonged. One of the movers caught her
attention as he headed toward the back of the house.

Great. They were
setting up her bed.

That was clearly
what she needed - more temptation. Couldn’t they have waited to get her bedroom
set back up until after the cocky, arrogant alarm guy left?

Of course not.

Karma was a
pushy bitch, trying to test every one of Ashleigh’s limits. And Alex McDermott
was so far beyond off limits Ashleigh couldn’t even see the warning signs from
where she stood.

Her body wasn’t
heeding the warning signs anyway. And that was after only two minutes in his
presence.

When he was
around, her skin was too tight, her entire body felt flushed, and she would
never have to worry about cold weather again because he heated her from the
inside out.

Sex. That’s the
first thing that came to mind when Alex was anywhere in the near vicinity. Hot,
sweaty, rip-your-clothes-off-and-throw-them-around-the-room sex. And Ashleigh
would be the first to admit she constantly had sex on the brain, but that was
only because she was an erotic romance author. The
only
reason.

Well, that and
because she’d been introduced to Alex McDermott all those years ago.

With a sigh of
disgust, she dropped her head. She had to get over this freakish infatuation
with the man.

She needed some
air.

Ashleigh made
her way to the back deck, her eyes eating up the spectacular view it afforded
her. This was the reason she bought the house. The water looked like glass,
reflecting the warm glow of the sun, the crystal blue sky, and the brilliant
green tree line that reminded her entirely too much of Alex’s eyes.

Shit.

Mind. Gutter.
Damn
it
.

Squeezing her
eyes closed for a second, she fought off the image before once again opening
them. Taking in the calm, smooth water, she remembered the real reason she
bought the house. Inspiration.

Giving up the
view from her Lake Whitney shoreline had been the hardest part about moving.
When she’d glimpsed the pond through the plate glass windows, Ashleigh had been
inspired. Being a writer, she took it where she could get it. Although the
small pond wasn’t as elaborate as the lake, Ashleigh still felt at peace here.

A quick gust of
wind blew across her skin, somewhat cooling her overheated libido, and once
again reminding her of the reason for the unseasonal heat wave in her girl
parts. Why in the world would Pops set her up with Alex McDermott? Didn’t he
know how flustered the man made her?

Wait.

On second
thought, she hoped not. She did not want either man knowing the affect Alex had
on her. Ever.

For as long as
she could remember, Ashleigh had been fighting her body’s reaction to the man
and doing her best not to let on that she felt any sort of attraction to him.
Except for that one night when she’d lost her mind, but she was almost certain
Alex didn’t remember anything about that night. Copious amounts of alcohol
tended to do that to a person.

She’d tried to
drown the images out of her brain once or twice – obviously it didn’t work
after
the fact.

“Nice view.”

Ashleigh
stilled. Alex’s deep voice resonated through every single one of her nerve endings,
sending a shiver down her spine that had nothing to do with the crisp afternoon
air.

“That was part
of the appeal.” Ashleigh said, once again focusing on the water, not bothering
to turn around.

“I can’t disagree
there.” Alex’s voice grew closer as he made his way to the edge of the deck.

Against her
better judgment, Ashleigh did look at him then. The gleam in those emerald
green eyes told her that he wasn’t talking about the pond. “What are you doing
here, Alex?”

“Putting in a
security system.” He said flatly, pretending he was interested in the view.

“It’s a good
thing you don’t get paid by the hour.” Ashleigh retorted. “You waste a lot of
time.”

“I wouldn’t
classify this as time wasted.” The growl in Alex’s rich, deep voice washed over
Ashleigh’s senses, sending a warm shiver across her skin.

“I better go
check on the movers.” Being close to him was too much.

To her dismay,
Alex turned and followed her, reaching the back door and opening it before she
had a chance. Ashleigh dared to look up into those glimmering green eyes and
saw something sparkle there. With Alex, it was difficult to read him, but his
smile was pure seduction and Ashleigh knew it was time to put some distance
between them.

“When will you
be finished installing the alarm and how much is it going to cost me?” Letting
him hear the frustration in her voice wasn’t difficult. Too bad she was more
frustrated with herself than him.