Seven Day Seduction (4 page)

The fact that it was so far away from Jude?
That had to be a bonus point, didn’t it? But as Louise unzipped her
briefcase, and pulled her laptop free, she honestly didn’t know
whether she was relieved, or disappointed.

***

Jude watched from the mezzanine level as
Louise was shown to her desk. Marianne, in an effort to make up for
not informing him of the changed appointment, was going out of her
way to make sure the new analyst comfortable.

A clean desk, a comfy seat, the offer of
coffee.

Louise smiled as she set her laptop up,
plugging it into the network point, and arranging her mouse. She
smiled some more as Marianne pointed something out to her. Jude
would have liked to have been closer to them. Close enough to hear
whatever they were talking about, to find out what was making her
smile like that. But he’d decided to keep his distance. For the
moment at least. Until she was settled.

The distance was not going to last long.

He’s spent most of the night considering the
situation, and when he’d arrived at the office Jude’s mind was made
up. Even if it hadn’t been, he knew it would have the moment he saw
her.

She wore another pencil skirt. This one was
black, resting just below her knee, with a tiny slit at the back.
She’s tucked another shirt into the pencil skirt, and over that was
a black waistcoat. Her hair was in the same tight bun, and a pair
of gun-metal grey glasses were perched on the bridge of her
nose.

She looked like the perfectly fantasy
secretary, Jude thought. Like she was just begging him to come on
over and strip her bare.

It took a tremendous amount of willpower to
stop himself doing just that. Because, during that long night, both
before he’d pumped himself to orgasm imagining her legs wrapped
around him, and after, Jude had thought everything through.

The decision had then come to him.

The only decision it was possible to
make.

Louise was going to be his. Before the week
was through she was going to be underneath him, screaming his name,
and begging him to give her more. But he was going to have to do it
right. This could be no rushed seduction.

And the fact that she was engaged? Jude
frowned, leaned against the wall, and tightened his grip on his
coffee mug. He’d never poached from another man before, it had
never been necessary, and he’d never thought himself that type of
guy.

He’d been woefully wrong.

Louise was engaged to be
married. Jude accepted that. But she wasn’t
actually
married, and in his desire
clouded mind, that meant she was not taken yet. There was still
time.

Besides how stupid was her
fiancé if he thought it okay to wait around to marry her? Had she
been his Jude would have had her down the altar the day after that
ring was on her finger.
Wedded and
bedded…

His scowl deepened. He knew he was
constructing excuses in his mind. Knew he was thinking up ways to
explain his behavior, but he couldn’t help it. The idea of walking
away from Louise wasn’t something he could face.

Yes, it had been less than twenty-four
hours.

Yes, he hardly knew her.

Didn’t seem to matter.

His mind was made up. Louise would be losing
that skirt, that shirt, and anything else she wore. And then after
that, she’d be losing the ring too.

***

Louise shut down her programmes, and
stretched out her back. She’d been sat in the same position for six
hours straight, her muscles were practically screaming at her to
stand up and move around. But, muscle aches aside, she was pleased.
As she reached out to turn her laptop off she smiled slowly, her
mind playing over the work she’d managed to get through. It was a
significant amount, and she hoped Jude would be happy with it.

Wherever the hell he was.

Her smile dimmed slightly as she unplugged
her mouse and curled the cord around it. It was—she checked her
wristwatch—half past seven, eleven hours since she’d arrived at
work, and she had not seen him once. She knew he was around, other
members of staff had mentioned going to see him, but where he was,
Louise did not know.

Not his office that was for sure. She’d
walked past it twice. Once when she went to eat her lunch, and
again for a toilet break. The door had been open, and no one had
been inside.

Part of her was glad that he’d kept his
distance. She’d spent the first couple of hours of the morning with
nervous anticipation whirring around in her gut, waiting for the
moment he arrived, the moment those same feelings would hit her
again.

But he hadn’t, and soon enough the work had
absorbed her, allowed her to push him to the back of her mind and
simply get on with the job. She’d done plenty, and as Louise looked
around the nearly empty office she nodded to herself, it was time
to call it a night.

She stood up and packed her
laptop into her briefcase, before grabbing her satchel, and putting
it on her shoulder. Her stomach grumbled as she moved away from her
desk, grumbled loudly. Louise pressed her hand to her belly. The
glowing lights of the vending machine were playing off one of the
flat screens. For a moment she was tempted to grab herself a candy
bar, but resisted.
Those skirt wont zip
themselves shut.

“You’re hungry. Me too. Let’s get some
dinner.”

Louise froze, all thoughts
of food and vending machines forgotten. All thoughts of
anything
forgotten for
that matter. A riot of feelings hit her, chief among them horror.
And then, and though she wanted to take them back the moment they
formed, her mind screamed two words. Screamed them loud and
clear.

At last.

“Chinese maybe?”

His voice came from behind her. Louise
swiveled around until she saw him. He was leaning against a door
behind, and off to the side, of her desk, by the drinks machine.
Louise didn’t know where that door led, a stationary cupboard she’d
assumed. Obviously that was not the case.

“Or sushi if you prefer. Tell me, how has
your day been?”

The question was so simple, and yet Louise
stumbled to answer it. Once again she was tongue tied, her stomach
flipping, her heart thudding. Jude was dressed in jeans, sneakers,
and a dark tee. It outlined his brawny physique to perfection. She
could see the muscles in his arms, the hardness of his belly. It
was too much.

He
was too much.

Why did he make her feel like this?

How could she make it stop?

“It was fine,” she finally said, that
question burning in her brain. “I dropped everything I’ve done so
far in SharePoint, like you instructed. I think you’ll be
pleased.”

“I don’t doubt your ability to please
me.”

Her eyes widened. She
tightened her grip on her briefcase, refusing to interpret those
words the way her brain
wanted
to interpret them. “Then I’ll see you
tomorrow.”

“Wait.”

He stepped forward. No, Louise thought,
prowled was a better word. His hands were in his pockets, his head
titled a little to the side. He was so good looking. It wasn’t
fair!

“Dinner,” he said. “I thought we could have
some together.”

He wants to have dinner
with you
… Louise practically quivered at
the thought. Images moved through her mind in rapid succession.
Jude sat across from her, his lips moving around his food, those
teasing smiles coming free and easy…

Heat flooded her body, and Louise had to
grit her teeth against the onslaught. She spoke quickly, before she
could even think it through, before she could say anything stupid
“Thank you for the offer, but I should get home. It’s late.”

He smiled. “You’re hungry.”

“I’m fine.”

Another smile, and then he was just inches
in front of her. She could feel the heat coming off his body, smell
whatever it was he showered in. It tickled her nose, made her want
to take a deep breath…

“Louise,” he said slowly, almost gently.
“Just stop. We both know you need to eat something. I do too. So
let’s go and eat together.” A pause and then, “I’ve been looking
forward to it all day.”

It was entirely possible that Louise might
have squeaked slightly. “The working day is over.”

Jude nodded. “Sure is.”

“I’m officially off the clock now.”

“Yes,” he agreed, grinning. “Time to
play.”

Oh my
God
. He was flirting with her, actually
flirting with her! Louise couldn’t quite believe it, and she
floundered for a moment unsure what to say. When she finally spoke
the words that came out of her mouth were not the ones she wanted
to let out.

“I don’t think it is appropriate for me to
go out to dinner with you.”

“And why isn’t it appropriate, Louise?” Jude
asked.

She swallowed. “For the next six days you’re
my boss.”

“I am.”

“So, it’s best if we establish our
boundaries now,” she said. “I realize that your staff, your office,
are more…erm…informal than I’m used to. But eating dinner, at this
time of night, with the boss, is not something I feel comfortable
with.”

He sighed, and shook his head, a small smile
playing around his lips. “So here we are already.”

“What—”

“You need to let those boundaries go.”

She gaped, unsure what he was getting at.
“Excuse me?”

“Louise, you are not a stupid woman. In fact
I would say that you are scarily intelligent. It did not escape my
notice how fast you worked today, how much you got done.”

“I don’t—”

He stepped forward. Louise
wanted to take a step back, but something held her in position,
like she was frozen. Their gazes locked. What Louise saw in his
made her shiver in a way she hadn’t thought possible. Like her skin
was itchy. Like something was trying to break free.
Dear lord.

“There aren’t going to be any boundaries
between us,” he said softly. “None.”

“What are you saying?” she whispered, unable
to believe Jude could possibly mean what it sounded like…

He reached out a hand, slowly, almost like
he was giving her time to lean back if she wanted to. For some
reason, a reason that made absolutely no sense, Louise did not. She
stayed exactly where she was, heart pounding, breaths coming in
shallow little gulps.

One long finger caressed her cheek, from the
point beneath her eye, all the way down her jaw. It felt like a
trail of heat, shivering along the contact from his skin to
hers.

“I want you,” he whispered.

Her heart stopped. Confusion slapped her.
For a moment Louise wondered if she’d heard him right.

“So badly,” he added.

Louise couldn’t believe the words she was
hearing. How was this possible? That Jude Jacobs, the hottest man
she had ever met, wanted her?

Unbelievable.

Her heart started beating again, forcefully,
painfully. William’s face seemed to be superimposed on every beat,
and Louise sucked in a shaky breath. Dear God, how could she have
even…it didn’t matter whether Jude wanted her! She was promised to
someone else.

***

“I’m engaged,” Louise whispered, and maybe
she hadn’t meant for him to hear it, perhaps she didn’t even
realize, but the tone of her voice told him plenty.

Disappointment.

Regret.

Desire.

They were going to have so much fun
together.

Jude nodded slowly, holding her gaze,
wanting her to understand exactly how he felt. “I know,
sweetheart,” he said. “I saw that excuse for a ring you’re
wearing.”

She narrowed her eyes. “My ring? There’s
nothing wrong with my ring.”

“It doesn’t fit you,” Jude said.

“Excuse me?”

He shrugged. “Too boring, too staid. You
should be flashing a huge emerald, or a bright red ruby.”

“I’m perfectly happy with my ring.”

“But not with your fiancée.”

She gasped. The sound made him hard, Jude
couldn’t help it, could think only of how it would feel when she
was gasping his name. Christ, he’d been on a knife edge all
day.

“You know nothing about him.”

“No,” Jude agreed. “I don’t. But I’ve
thought about him, about the situation. Seems it’s all I’ve been
able to think about for the last twenty-four hours.”

“Well then.”

“But then it also seems to me,” he added,
“that if your man hasn’t bedded and wedded you already that he has
no one but himself to blame if you decide to look elsewhere.”

“Excuse me,” Louise spluttered. “Bedded and
wedded? That’s an outrageous thing to say.”

“What’s outrageous, sweetheart, is the fact
that you’re still single.”

She glared. “But I’m not. Didn’t you hear
me? I’m engaged.”

He shrugged. “Single is single until that
wedding certificate is signed. I still have time to make my
play.”

“To make your play…you need to stop right
now,” she whispered, her eyes wide. “I am not interested in that
sort of relationship with you. I’m engaged.”

“Of course you’re interested,” Jude said
softly. “You think I haven’t noticed the way your eyes widen? The
way your heart rate increases when I come near? You blush and
stumble over your words.” He paused. “It’s very cute…and sexy as
hell.”

“Oh my God!”

“Last night I thought about it a lot,” he
admitted. “The image of that pencil skirt of yours is going to stay
with me for a very long time.”

She stepped back, stumbling slightly. “I
have to leave.”

Jude followed her. “You’re running because
you’re scared. Scared of the way I make you feel.”

And another step back. “No, I’m leaving
because this is…you can’t say things like this to me.”