Enticed (8 page)

I shook my head. “No, thank you,” I declined politely.

He nodded toward the leather couch that overlooked the tall windows facing the garden. “Please. Have a seat.”

“Am I in trouble?” I asked as I did as he directed.

He shook his head. “To the contrary, in fact.” I held my breath as he joined me on the sofa. “I thought we could speak privately about the future.”

This was it
, I thought. I was either going to get a job offer or one-way ticket back to Dallas. I clasped my hands in my lap and I waited.

“Obviously I had some concerns when I first arrived,” he started. “It’s always a risk bringing someone new into the home, and we’ve been burned before.”

“I understand,” I said.

“But after watching you interact with Jonathan, I do see a connection there that has been missing up until now. It’s a connection that he desperately needs, and I think you can agree.”

Again I nodded.

“Any remaining concerns I have about your taking a permanent position with the family tie directly to this connection. While it is a positive thing now, I worry that he might become too attached to you in the future. He’s not an entire class full of children that will move up a grade at the end of the year. What happens in a year or two, if you decide you want to return to Texas or settle down with a family of your own?
I just don’t think he can handle that type of abandonment again. Not after what his mother has done.”

I nodded. I understood what he was saying. “You want a long-term commitment.”

“I want what’s best for my son,” he corrected. “Right now that means you. But if you don’t see yourself staying with the position long-term, then perhaps it would be better if you just leave now, before he gets more attached.”

I found the thought of leaving Jonathan unbearably depressing. He wasn’t the only one who had become attached over the past few days. I knew my world was richer for having Jonathan in it. I said as much to
Drew. “I don’t know what the future will hold. But I do know that I would never do anything to purposefully hurt Jonathan, or any child.”

His eyes were piercing as he examined my face for any hint of insincerity. “But what happens when you have
children of your own?”

I looked away. “That is not an issue.”

“Why not?”

I looked back.
It was an intensely personal question, but I answered it anyway. “I won’t be having any children.”

He appeared taken aback by my declaration. “May I ask why?”

“No,” I said quietly.

He was even more confused, but did not pry. “I would like to offer you this position, Miss Dennehy. The first contract, as you
are aware, sets a term of one year, at which time we can reconvene and renegotiate as necessary.”

I nodded that I understood. “I can commit to a year,” I said.

“Good,” he said as he rose to grab a folder from his desk. It was the contract, with other specifics spelled out, such as medical benefits and the eye-popping salary of $150,000 payable in advance. It seemed astronomical to me. Even when I researched what private schoolteachers made in some of the wealthier parts of Los Angeles, it nearly doubled what many could expect in the same profession.

Given that I wouldn’t have to pay room and board, this put nearly
all of that money in my pocket, truly making it an offer I would have been an idiot to refuse.

But I was quick to learn it came with a
significant catch. Now attached to that contract for employment was a non-disclosure amendment. Anything that I learned while living in the house, whether personal or business, I was bound by the contract to keep to myself or be sued for the entire sum of my salary. “Loyalty is a main priority for me, Miss Dennehy,” he informed me. “I reward it handsomely. And I have zero tolerance if it is broken.”

“I understand,” I said as I glanced over the agreement. It was clear that, especially with his high-profile divorce proceedings, he wasn’t about to risk any critical information leaking to the public.

“Like I said, I’ve been burned before,” he said.

It made me think of the starlet who had tried to extort money from him.
Clearly this wasn’t a mistake he was going to make again. Still, a red flag went up immediately. This didn’t feel like just a job anymore. I felt like I was joining the military, the mafia… or a cult. “I would like time to think about it,” I said.

It was his turn to nod. “Take your time. Consult with a lawyer if you wish. But I would like an answer by week’s end, just so I can find a replacement
if you decide to decline.”

I gathered the folder and retired to the guest room. I was up until well past midnight reading the fine print of the contract. It looked straightforward
enough.

So why did I feel I was signing away my soul to the Fullerton family?

It took two days of deliberation before I finally made my choice, and it had everything to do with Jonathan. The closer I got to leaving him, the more painful it was.

For the second time in my life, I was willing to risk it all for a child that had completely and utterly captured my heart.

The signed copy of my contract was on Drew’s desk by that Friday, when I flew back to Texas to tie up loose ends and officially close that long, painful chapter of my life at last.

“May I pour you a drink
, Rachel?” Drew asked as I sat on the supple leather sofa in his warmly paneled study. I offered a small smile as I nodded. Normally I didn’t drink, but I felt like celebrating. Everything was going well in my new position as Jonathan’s teacher, so well that Drew and I had gone back to calling each other by our first names.

I watched him as he stood at the bar in one corner of the room, his back to the French doors that led off toward the sculpted gardens in the back yard. He wore a snug pair of dress pants and a white dress shirt opened at the collar. I could see just a hint of dark ha
ir on his chest, which his unbuttoned shirt no longer concealed.

I felt something in my belly fire to life like an old furnace. Out of sheer embarrassment, I looked away, but it was a second too late. I knew from that victorious smirk on his face he had caught me staring at his body.

Why he felt this was funny, I had no idea. So I asked. “What’s so funny?”

He walked around the bar and headed toward the sofa with two crystal snifters of brandy. “You think that’s the first time I caught you staring at me, Rachel?”

I flushed hot as I looked away. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He rested his arm along the back of the sofa, near enough to touch a tendril of my hair with his long fingers. “I think you do,” he said softly.

I gulped back a swallow of that strong amber elixir, which helped me look him in the eye… eyes so blue I thought I could see forever. When his eyes traveled across my face to light ever so briefly on my lips, I felt my stone cold resolve start to slip. I moved away from him, but he caught my ponytail in one hand and released my hair in a chestnut curtain around my shoulders.

“I’ve been waiting to do that since the day we met,” he murmured before he ran his fingers through my hair. I shivered in spite of myself.

“How long has it been, Rachel,” he asked softly. “How long has it been since you were touched… held… kissed?”

I couldn’t answer. I was frozen stiff
within his gaze. I couldn’t move as his head tilted toward mine.

Worse, I didn’t want to move. I felt the heat of his body as he sat so close to mine. Those strong arms were a heartbeat away. I ached to feel them around me. I ached to feel his warm mouth cover my own.

The minute he kissed me, I nearly melted into a pool of goo. My mouth opened and his tongue probed deep within my mouth, toying with my tongue until my arms slipped around his neck and I was kissing him back.

How long had I wanted to do this? I couldn’t even begin to remember as I felt him press me back against the sofa.

Our drinks were forgotten on the table as we tangled together, his hands in my hair, my fingernails dug into his powerful back, as he fit himself between my legs. I felt him hard against me as he ground against me.

My insides immediately went up in
flames, and heat threatened to consume me. Alarms went off in my head, strident buzzing alarms that demanded I stop this behavior at once before it got out of control.

This sense of urgency pulled me right out of that study in Beverly Hills and landed me square in my single bed in Grand Prairie, Texas.

I blinked in confusion as I stared at my cell phone, which was chirping loudly from my nightstand. When I grabbed the phone, I stared uncomprehendingly at the date, which was still weeks away from moving back to Beverly Hills to start my job, officially, as Jonathan’s private teacher.

I shot up in bed as I realize
d what had happened. For some strange reason, I had dreamed about a lustful embrace with Drew Fullerton, my future employer.

I was shocked at the dream and shocked at myself for having it. It was the most inap
propriate thing I had ever done, intentionally or otherwise.

I swung my feet over the edge of the bed and tried to catch my breath. My entire body felt as though I had been in that room with
Drew, in his arms, the recipient of his kiss. If I closed my eyes, I could slip back into those arms and feel his hard body pressed against mine.

I shook my head violently to rid myself of the imagery.
I jumped in an ice cold shower and blasted any residual feelings away until my teeth chattered.

I still wasn’t one hundred percent by the time I reached the school
that sunny morning in May. We were two weeks from the end of the school year, after which I would pack up a moving van and head west for California.

Maybe
, I thought to myself. Another dream like that one and I’d likely freak out entirely and never make it out of Texas at all.

A legally binding contract was only half as binding as the promise to myself years ago that I
’d never get involved with another man as long as I lived. And for more than three years I had kept my promise. I stayed far away from any man who had crossed that line in the sand, even if he hadn’t been aware he was crossing it.

The dream Drew had definitely crossed it.
I was so emotionally and physically impacted by my lusty dream that it made me second-guess my decision for the first time since I returned to Texas.
Was
moving into the home of such a handsome and charming stranger a smart thing to do?

Was Nancy right?
Had I bitten off way more than I could chew?

Of course,
I could do what I always did, hole myself up in my tiny apartment and live my life day after day like I had become accustomed to, safe and in control of my own destiny. It would mean breaking the contract and returning the money, but those concerns were trivial at best. The truest question was if I could turn my back on Jonathan.

For the last couple of months we had talked almost every night, with me teaching him remotely using video chats. Since he was so advanced, he was easily doing the school work I assigned to my class. He’d become such a big part of my life that I really couldn’t picture a day without him anymore. It was comforting to have him to talk to at the end of the day, even if it was to chat about what mov
ie we had seen or what book we had read.

Throwing all that away now seemed a little drastic
over some silly dream I neither planned nor controlled. I had no romantic illusions when it came to Drew Fullerton. He was my boss and nothing more.

I
had kept in contact with him over the past couple of months, and our relationship had been completely professional. Generally we video chatted once a week, just so he could be kept abreast of Jonathan’s progress. We had such a chat the night before, which could have contributed to the unusual dream. Due to the time difference between Texas and California, I would often talk to him right before bed. This put him right into my subconscious to do with him as it willed as it took over while I slept.

Drew himself
had never been anything but a perfect gentleman. Why my psyche had decided to cast him in an X-rated movie as my eager costar was beyond me. Thanks to Jonathan, I already knew that he didn’t dig fat chicks, which would have left me out of the running even if I
had
been interested, which I most definitely
wasn’t
.

I usually would have
worked through this confusing and conflicting data with my best friend, Nancy, but she was one step away from locking me in her basement to prevent me from leaving at all. She had been completely shell-shocked that I had gone to California in the first place. That I announced I was going back, permanently, was way more than she could bear. She had harped in my ear week in and week out what a mistake I was making. One minute she was trying to marry me off to every eligible bachelor in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex, the next she was fighting every decision I made in regards to the most eligible bachelor on the planet.

The change
I was making was so drastic she immediately assumed it was impulsive, that I hadn’t thought things through, that I was still pissy and trying to spite her. And she used every weapon in her arsenal to try save me.

“How is it going to look to have a single, attractive woman move into a mansion of a billionaire? Everyone is going to think you’re a gold-digger.”

“His brother already sounded that trumpet,” I informed her. “But it doesn’t matter what they think of me. Just what I think of me. Someone once told me that… can’t remember who.”

She glared at me. “How do you know you can trust this man? He has a reputation of being ruthless, y
ou know. Not to mention a manwhore. He goes through playmates like tissue paper. He’s the kind of man you hate, remember?”

“He and I found a way to communicate,” I assured her. “He insul
ted me once, I stood my ground. He changed his tune, problem solved.”

She sighed. “You’re not a naïve person, Rachel. You can’t believe that something this big has fallen into your lap without
any catch.”

“Yeah, the catch is that instead of a class full of students I get to say goodbye to year after year, I can hang in there with this boy until he marches off to college. He’ll take my heart with him, just like he was my own flesh and blood son.” She dropped her eyes. “But if you met him, you’d know it’s worth every minute.”

Her eyebrow arched. “Which one are you talking about, exactly? The little Fullerton, or his super handsome, super wealthy, super eligible father?”

I scowled at her. “You know better than that. I know what I’m getting into, Nancy. Please trust me.”

Eventually she dropped it, mostly because we had been friends long enough that she knew once I made up my mind, there was really no stopping me. We’d had that conversation nearly ten years before, when I had made a similar decision that she felt I had been rushed into.

Turned out she was right and I paid dearly for my mistake, but I knew this was different. I wasn’t that same 19-year-old girl anymore. I had learned hard lessons and paid my dues.

Plus, this time I wasn’t blinded by love. I no longer believed in a fairytale prince whisking me away to a picture perfect happily ever after. I believed in my skill as a teacher, and Jonathan’s receptiveness as a student.

That was all we needed.

Now that he could see my results, Drew no longer questioned my methods. He promised to stay out of my way once I moved to Los Angeles. He had major business mergers in the works that would keep him busy for the foreseeable future. This was one of the many reasons I spent a lot of time video chatting with Jonathan night after night, even if we were just watching a movie together.

His loneliness was palpable three states away, so I never declined when he wanted to chat.

We talked about books and classwork and sometimes, when he’d let his guard down, we talked about his family. Not often, usually only after Elise had tried to swoop in and seize custody of him.

According to Jonathan, the judge had approved supervised
, scheduled visits once a week. His mother didn’t respond well to this new stipulation, which made these interchanges awkward and uncomfortable.

“I wish I didn’t have to see her,” he’d complain.

“You don’t mean that, Jonathan,” I’d gently correct. “She’s your mom.”

“No, she’s not,” he would reply sadly. “She never was.”

I would always divert his attention to something more positive. It wasn’t my place to encourage such negative talk against one of his parents, and I would never think to do so. While I didn’t necessarily understand Elise’s decision to leave her child as well as her marriage, it wasn’t my place to judge her. All I really wanted was for all of them to find a suitable compromise in Jonathan’s best interest.

Nancy thought I was nuts to get involved with it all. She read way more gossip sites than I did, so she had all the “dirt” on who left whom and why
, and she had no use at all for Drew Fullerton. As far as Nancy was concerned, Elise had every right to leave him. She had been made the fool in the press thanks to his countless indiscretions, all of which began after her significant weight gain while she was pregnant with Jonathan.

This notably included
allegations early on that Drew had had more than one affair with Jonathan’s countless nannies. As a result, Elise found herself a little love slave in the tennis instructor at their country club, tit for tat. “Rich people do this all the time,” she said.

“Which rich people do you know that do this?” I shot back.

“I know people!” she’d insist. “Besides. It’s not my place to say.”

I gave her a pointed glare. “Exactly.”

The closer we got to my departure date, the more passionately she fought to keep me within the familiar borders of Texas. She would point out any earthquake or trembler that affected the Los Angeles area, along with crime statistics and pollution reports.

“Stat
e income tax,” she declared, officially reaching the bottom of the barrel.

So she definitely would have used this highly inappropriate dream as a concrete reason why I couldn’t go to California. Lord knows she used every other excuse all the way up to that Satur
day morning I was due to leave ten days later.

Fortunately I hadn’t had another dream
by then, and was feeling in much better control of my emotions. Apparently it was just some weird little mental detour, but I had seemingly found my way back, no problem.