Seduce Me

She shook her head and laughed. “Don’t start.”

“I wouldn’t dare.” Instead he leaned forward in his seat. “Did anyone ever tell you you look most sexy when you’re not trying?”

The more he saw her in conservative mode, the more he liked and appreciated her contradictions. Far from wanting her to leave the conventional clothing behind, he’d begun to look forward to her daytime façade—because he knew he’d be the one to undress her at night.

“You shouldn’t tease me in broad daylight.” Her words were chiding but her voice was soft.

Before he could respond, he felt a brush of heat against his calf.

“Sorry.”

“No problem.” He shifted in his seat and swung his legs over to the other side. If she was going to play prim and proper, he didn’t need mistaken touches beneath the table working to arouse him.

“So as long as I have appearances to keep up I would appreciate you not discussing it again.”

He nodded.

“I appreciate your being so accommodating.” She shut her mouth, pursed her lips in a look that reminded him of his grandmother and blew on the coffee before taking a sip.

He reached for his glass of water and downed half the contents. He suddenly felt another fleeting warmth stir against his leg. A second passed before it registered that her touch wasn’t an accident but a deliberate caress of her foot against his bare leg.

He glanced up and caught her perusing the menu, but her lips were curled upward in a grin she couldn’t contain.

She hooked one foot around his calf and pulled his legs apart, then settled her arch against his thigh. Her toes were dangerously close to hitting a bulls-eye and any semblance of control he’d mustered was almost gone.

“Mallory.” Even he heard the warning edging his tone.

“Hmm?” She glanced up from the menu, wide-eyed but nowhere near innocent.

“What about those appearances you were talking about?” He grasped for a reminder of daily reality, anything to distract her wandering feet and his raging libido. But apparently appearances were all that concerned her because beneath the table where no one could see, her naughtier side had taken over.

She lifted her shoulders. “Look around you, Jack. No one’s paying the least bit of attention to me. I’ve accomplished one of my goals.”

An unexpected smile lit her face. “And now I’m about to accomplish another one.” Her foot wiggled in a provocative movement designed to arouse and entice. And she did both well.

He couldn’t speak without embarrassing himself with a full-fledged groan, and he couldn’t shift positions without allowing her deeper, fuller access. So he settled for counting to himself and attempting to focus on anything but her tantalizing, stirring movements.

“Remember that tension you wouldn’t let me relieve last night?” she purred.

He knew it all right. The same tension had built up inside him again, ready to explode and the little minx knew it.

“Good morning.” Paul Lederman’s booming voice called out in the quiet dining room. “Mind if I join you?”

Jack couldn’t answer if his life depended on it.

“Our pleasure,” Mallory said, speaking for him. But she didn’t remove her damn foot from its perch.

Jack shifted in his seat, unsuccessfully ignoring the push of her arch against his groin and the shot of white heat that followed in its wake.

He cleared his throat. “I hope you had a successful trip.”

“The best kind.” Lederman chose the seat beside Mallory, across from Jack.

At least Jack didn’t have to worry about her leg hitting the wrong target, but he still needed breathing room or he’d detonate like a grenade.

“I’m looking into buying another resort. This one’s in Nantucket,” Lederman said.

Jack made a mental note to check with the firm’s corporate and real estate partners to see what, if anything, they knew of this supposed deal.