Seductive Reasoning (2 page)

Seth pressed his mouth into a thin
line. “I know you’re my boss.”

She straightened her shoulders
abruptly. “Well, that’s a start.” She spread the fingers of her right hand on
top of her desk. “It’s absolutely imperative that I approve of any public
appearances that may directly or indirectly affect the reputation of this
university.” As she said the words, she lightly patted the surface of her desk
as if to emphasize her words.

“I heard that you intend to appear
on television. A local talk show, I believe, one that I and the board feel is
highly inappropriate. Considering the nature of this show, it might reflect
badly on the university.”

Seth cleared his throat and
prepared to argue his case. “I understand your reservations, Dean Matthews, but
I assure you that I will be discussing astronomy and my research project. Period.
Nothing more. I’m hoping that my appearance on the show will benefit the
university and not harm it.”

She pursed her lips again and
lightly rubbed the tips of her fingers over a file sitting on her desk. “Dr.
Fallon, surely you could have chosen a better venue to discuss astronomy and
that project of yours.”

She chuckled with a dry, cynical
sound. “I couldn’t believe my ears when I discovered you planned to be a guest
on
The Martina Landers Show.
That woman interviews everybody from male
strippers to transvestites.” Her last words scraped from her throat in a sound
of incredulity.

Her assessment was indeed correct,
but the way she said it made him squirm. He would never agree to appear with
those kinds of guests. Damn it, if he didn’t owe his old friend, the station’s
general manager, a favor for wrangling him a press pass to view NASA’s hot new
telescope before it launched, he wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place.

An expression of warning clouded
her features. “What do you think keeps this school running?” She slumped back
in her chair and held her hands palm up. “It certainly isn’t hotshot professors
like you.”

Her comment irritated him, but he
held his emotions in check. She was the dean for Christ’s sake. It almost
sounded like she was jealous. Why would she envy one of her professor
underlings? He didn’t have a clue.

He opened his mouth to say
something, but she held her hand up in a stop gesture. “It’s tuition fees and
donations from generous benefactors,” she continued. “Your appearance on this
show could cause us to lose some of our funding. As a result, heads could roll.
I don’t know about you, Dr. Fallon, but I want to keep my job.”

She sighed and shook her head. “You
know how small the academic community is, professor.” Her voice was patronizing
and irked him to no end. “It’s absolutely imperative that our teachers not
engage in anything that might reflect in a negative way on this school.”

She folded her hands on top of her
desk. “You’re an intelligent man. I can’t imagine how you allowed yourself such
a gross error in judgment. Fortunately for you, there’s still time to rectify
the situation. Call the show’s producer and tell them you’ve changed your
mind.”

Annoyance grated over his nerves,
and he fought to keep his voice clear and even. “I can’t do that, Dean
Matthews. The show is scheduled for this evening.”

She rested her elbows on the
surface of her desk and steepled her fingers beneath her chin. “Obviously I
haven’t made myself clear.”

His heart pounded and anger burned
his throat. “And if I refuse?”

An implacable expression of power
blanketed her face. “If you cancel your appearance on the show, I’ll go to bat
for you with the board and recommend that you be allowed to keep your job.”

Keep your job.
Of course he
wanted to keep his job. He’d planned to stay at the university and become
eligible for tenure. “I see.” He rose from his chair and stared at her. “If
you’ll excuse me, I have some thinking to do and a decision to make.” He turned
and walked to the office door.

Just as his hand closed over the
knob, she said, “I hope you make the right one, Professor.”

 “I just banged Gloria Finch’s
brains out in the elevator.”

Seth Fallon nodded his head, but
didn’t look up. “Hmm, that’s nice.” He sat in his university office behind his
large, maple desk. A neat stack of his students’ final exam papers claimed the
lower left corner of his desk. The rays of a gorgeous, spring sun shone through
the slats of the white blinds hanging at the window. Built in bookcases packed
with books and numerous three-ring binders of notes from projects he’d worked
on over the years lined the walls.

A brass and semi-precious stone
Tellurian Orrery representing the various planets and their motions in the
solar system topped a rosewood stand on his right.

Dust motes danced in the air and
settled on his desk. Seth frowned. He reached in the top drawer of his desk and
quickly wiped the particles away with a dusting cloth.

A refreshing breeze lightly scented
with the smell of the university’s newly mowed lawn blew in through the half-opened
window and ruffled Seth’s hair. The sheaf of notes on interplanetary weather
influences he’d been trying to concentrate on for the past hour was jerked from
his hands. His head shot up. “What the hell?”

Mark Sanders, his best friend, and
a fellow professor in the Astronomy Department shook his dark head. “Fallon,
you didn’t hear a word I said.”

Seth nodded. “Of course I did. You
heard a bang in the elevator. Finch was there. Now give me back my notes.”

Mark hid the notes behind his back.
“You’re a high-brow.”

Seth couldn’t stop the familiar
sense of discomfort settling over him at being the brainy type instead of
socially adept like the rest of his family. He removed his wire-rimmed glasses
and pinched the bridge of his nose. How many times had his parents and siblings
called him weird and strange? Maybe a million times, but affection always
resonated in their voices. “You’re just jealous because I’m smarter than you,”
he told them. So what if he was a highbrow? He had never wanted to be less
intelligent than he was, just more skilled at conversing with people at various
social functions and private parties.

Mark rolled his light blue eyes and
shrugged his athletically broad shoulders. “Hey, aren’t you supposed to be on
television tonight?”

Resigned to the fact his friend was
not going to leave, Seth leaned back in his chair and folded his hands in his
lap. “Yes. Six o’clock. Sharp.” The earlier meeting with Dean Matthews had been
on his mind all afternoon and had interfered with his concentration, but he
didn’t want to discuss it with Mark. At least he’d made a decision and decided
to go through with his appearance on the show. With a little luck, everything
would go as planned and there would be an increase in private funding and a
flurry of new student applications for the university. Then Dean Matthews and
the board would have to let him keep his job.

A sick feeling settled in the pit
of his stomach. But if everything blew up in his face, he could kiss the job he
loved and his tenure goodbye. Was his project worth it? Yes.

His colleague slid onto the edge of
Seth’s desk. Mark lifted a paperweight Seth’s sister had given him, turned the
crystal over in his hand, then set it back down on the desk in a different
position. Seth picked up the object and put the gift back in its original spot.

“Once you’re on TV, pal, you’ll get
calls from the ladies. You won’t be able to beat them off with one of your
astronomy books.”

Seth shifted uncomfortably in his
seat at Mark’s comment. He didn’t want calls from the ladies.

In the past eight years since he’d
graduated with a doctorate in astronomy, dating and honing his skills with
women hadn’t topped his list of priorities. When his urges needed tending, a
woman in Colorado Springs took care of them. She lived far enough away not to
ask for any commitment. Besides, they had an agreement.

His astronomy project held number
one priority, not some woman making impossible demands on him. Women never fit
into his structured life. They tried to, but they brought stuff with them like
makeup, nail polish, and hair goop. Who needed that? Contentment filled his
life. Why change?

Besides, he hated socializing.
Waste of time, if you asked him. Why spend an evening chatting up some woman
when viewing the stars through his telescope was much more appealing?

He looked at his friend and shook
his head. “You’re exaggerating. Women won’t be calling me.” A part of him
worried about women cluttering up his life.

Mark burst out laughing. “That’s so
typical. You never really pay attention, do you?”

“Pay attention to what?”

“Women, you idiot. All you have to
do is walk into a room. Their eyes bug out of their heads and they start
drooling.”

Seth blushed to the roots of his
dark brown hair. He quickly slipped on his glasses and rummaged around on his
desk for some work to do. Damn it, he wished he hadn’t inherited his father’s
looks, but what could he do about it?

“It’s time you got a social life.”

He glanced at Mark and frowned. “I
have a social life.”

Mark snorted. “A social life means
having drinks with friends and going out on dates. A social life means trying
for the world boffing championship--not attending lectures and academic teas!”

Seth huffed out a breath.
Here
he goes again.
“Do you ever think about anything other than sex?”

“Do you ever think about anything
besides your work? Your life is one big science project. You analyze and
dissect everything. Life isn’t about that--it’s about living for the moment. I
don’t think I’ve ever seen you without a book in your hand.”

Seth shrugged. “So, I like to read.
Big deal.”

Mark folded his arms over his
chest. “It is a big deal when it takes over your life. You need to get out. You
need to see women and get involved with something or someone that isn’t related
to your work.”

“I do get out.”

“I don’t mean driving back and
forth from your house to the university. I mean going out for something other
than academics.”

“You act like I’m some kind of
hermit. Just because I don’t go chasing women every night of the week doesn’t
mean I don’t get out. I went to England last year. That’s getting out.”

His oldest friend gave him a droll
look. “You went to England to view an eclipse. I bet you spent every moment
either gazing at the stars or in your hotel room with your nose stuck in a
book.”

His friend’s words struck home.
That’s exactly what he had done, but he’d be damned if he’d give Mark the
satisfaction. “I met a fellow astronomer. A real babe. We screwed our brains
out under the stars.”

Mark leaned forward and placed his
hands flat onto the surface of Seth’s desk. His gaze swept over Seth’s face
searching for any sign of deception before he grinned. “I think I believe you.
Blonde or brunette?”

Seth thought for a moment. He
had
met a fellow astronomer, but she was approaching seventy with five
grandchildren and her hair was gray. “Redhead.”

Mark cocked a dark brow. “A true
redhead?”

Seth shook his head. “I never kiss
and tell.”

Mark smiled and straightened from
the desk. He glanced at his watch. “I have a hot date. She’s coming to my place
for drinks first because I don’t want to miss the show.” He dug his keys from
his pocket, walked to the open doorway, and threw him a mock salute. “Have fun
tonight.”

Fun? Seth thought. Fun wasn’t on
his agenda. He hoped like hell his appearance on the show wouldn’t sully his reputation
as a serious minded professional.

“Come on, come on.” Kate stared at
the traffic light, willing it to change. Running late--again--and stuck at the
corner of Lincoln and Colfax. She thrummed her fingers on the steering wheel of
her bright red Toyota and glanced at her watch. Twenty minutes to six. Channel
Four expected her no later than five thirty.

The light changed and the traffic
inched forward. Sunlight streamed in through the windows and touched her skin.
Trees along the street budded in the balmy Colorado spring weather. Progressive
rock poured from her radio.

Kate brushed a strand of dark hair
out of her eyes. The drive to the television station normally took twenty
minutes, but trying to figure out what to wear ate up her time and made her
late. She’d decided on a bright blue sheath with matching sandals. A trio of
gold stars dangled from each ear.

Upon arrival, a petite woman with
wiry blond hair, the producer of
The Martina Landers Show
, greeted Kate
politely and showed her to the green room.

The woman opened the door and
ushered Kate inside. A man stood by the window in a dark suit, his hands jammed
comfortably in his pockets, his back to her. At the sound of her entrance, the
man turned. Their eyes locked.

Her nipples tightened instantly.
Heat pooled between her thighs and pure lust burned over her skin. Good God.
“Seth Fallon. What are you doing here?”

He adjusted the wire-rimmed glasses
resting on his nose. Her knees turned to water and her scalp tingled at the
gesture. God, she loved a man in glasses. Particularly this man.

“Kate Summers. I might ask you the
same thing.”

His incredibly sexy voice slid
beneath her skin and aroused her further. How could this be happening? She
thought she’d gotten over the lustful ache she’d had for Seth when they
attended college together. At the time, she’d wanted to do a lot more than sit
in class with the man and take notes. Now her desire for him burned brighter
than ever. She cleared her throat in an effort to find her voice before she
leaped on him and ripped off his clothes. “I’m a guest tonight on the show.
What about you?”