Seductive Reasoning (8 page)

He wanted to run, to hide upstairs
and bury his nose in a book. Book. He reached into the pocket of his jacket and
touched the slim abridged volume of Copernicus’ masterpiece,
On the
Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres.
His heart rate slowed and the feeling
of panic and dread that had nearly overwhelmed him dissipated. Hell, he was a
professor. He could do this. All he had to do was think of this young woman as
a student.

He threw Kate a smug look. She
thought he couldn’t resist. Ha! He could resist just fine, and he was on his
way to proving it.

“Would you mind answering a few
questions?”

A brilliant smile beamed over the
customer’s face. Her eyes grew rounder and she moved in close. “I’m going to be
part of your research?”

God, she had that lean and hungry
look. She wasn’t a wolf. She was a shark. “In a manner of speaking, yes.”

The woman practically vibrated with
excitement. “Ask me anything.” She reached out and touched his arm. “I mean
anything.”

Fine. “Have you ever been involved
in an experiment?”

The girl smiled. “Well, Dave and
I--Dave’s my boyfriend--decided to do this sex marathon thing once. Whoever
came first had to buy dinner for a week.” She threw him a sheepish grin. “I
lost.”

Seth glanced at Kate who tilted her
head, winked, and gave him a soft smile. He turned his attention back to the
customer. Not that kind of experiment. “What do you do for a living?”

“I’m a full time student at D.U.
The rest of the time I wait tables at the
Saucy Noodle.
”

She was a student at D.U.! He
shifted his gaze to the backpack she’d slung on the floor. Two textbooks poked
from the front pocket.

Why would she waste her time here?
Why spend so much time on physicality? Seth was truly baffled. The woman was
obviously smart, or she couldn’t have gotten into a great university like D.U.
“What’s your major?”

“Political Science. Actually, I’m a
double major. My other is Public Relations. I figure they complement each
other. Aren’t you going to ask me something about sex?”

Not in this lifetime. Seth cleared
his throat and busied himself making notations on his pad.

“I’ve seen you around campus. Every
girl at D.U. knows who Professor Hunk is.” She slid her gaze over him. Slowly.
“You’re even dreamier up close.”

Professor Hunk! Damn his looks. He
was more than just his looks. So much more.

“Isn’t that sweet. You’re
blushing.”

Damn, she’d noticed the blush
burning hotly over his neck and face. He swallowed his pride and continued.
“Why did you choose that,”--he gestured toward the panties--“that type of
garment?”

“I appreciate pleasure. I figure
when my boyfriend sees me in these my pleasure quotient will fly off the
scale.”

Seth felt Kate’s fingers glide over
the back of his neck. A shiver raced down his spine. The woman was relentless.
Little flares of desire danced over his skin at her touch along with other
parts of his body. He shot his gaze toward Kate. Her eyes held a soft
expression; her lips were parted and moist. An erection sprang involuntarily
between his legs. Down boy. A week ago he’d been happy and content within his
academic surroundings, now here he was caught up in a world of ladies underwear
and sexual fantasies.

Only he was the prize.

“So what’s up with you two,
anyway?” The young woman looked at him, then Kate, and back again. “Well, it’s
obvious what’s up, but are you two going to spill the beans on the true nature
of your relationship next Friday night on the show?”

Seth glanced down briefly at the
front of his slacks. The zipper was tented like a freaking neon sign. Geezus.
What a nightmare.
Focus on the goal. Money.
He cleared his throat. “Why
would a political science major need or want to come into a lingerie shop? Why
not focus on hard work rather than physical pleasure? What about intelligence,
common interests, and companionship of the mind?”

“That’s all well and good,
Professor,” the customer said, “but it hardly takes the place of good old
fashioned sex. It doesn’t relieve stress or relax the mind. Wouldn’t you agree
that a calm mind is more conducive to learning?”

Ridiculous. “A mind that is
exercised and challenged is more open to learning. I disagree that a person’s
brain needs to be relaxed before they can learn.”

The woman cocked her head. “What
about exercising the body?”

For a brief moment the torrid image
of exercising the lower half of his body with Kate wrapped tightly around him
resonated through his mind like a sudden burst of solar energy.
Money.
Concentrate.
“I agree that regular exercise is important to a person’s
health and well being, but--”

“Is he always like this?” The woman
glanced at Kate.

Kate moved closer to him and
smiled. She lightly clasped his hand and glided her slim fingers between his
then pressed their palms together. His erection grew harder.
Hi Ho, Silver.

“Let’s just say that Dr. Fallon is
a challenge I look forward to pursuing.”

There she went again, calling him
Dr. Fallon in that sexy I-really-mean-Dr. Phallus-voice that dug even deeper
under his skin.

“Well, you’ve really got your work
cut out for you,” the woman said. She held out the panties. “I’ll take these
with the matching bra and sheer teddy.”

Kate took the panties. “I’ll meet
you at the cash register.” She turned to Seth and smiled. “Dr. Fallon”--she cut
her gaze swiftly to his crotch then back up to his eyes--“I may have my work
cut out for me, but I’d say you’re well on your way to exercising your body.”

By mid afternoon, the crowd of
shoppers had thinned. Kate was looking forward to taking a break when she heard
the bell tinkle over the door.

A woman with shoulder-skimming
blonde hair strode through the door. She wore a tailored red suit, matching
heels, and the look of a woman on a mission. A man of medium height wearing a
suit, pricey leather shoes, and a smirk followed close on her heels.

Kate scooted across the room to
Seth’s side where he had just finished ringing up a sale. She gripped his arm.
“Look who just came in.”

He glanced at the couple and
shrugged. “So?”

Kate gripped his arm tighter.
“Don’t you recognize her? That’s Leslie MacFadden. She owns half a dozen car
dealerships in Denver, and she was just appointed to the mayor’s new council
called Women in Business for Colorado. The man with her must be her latest
boyfriend. They would be the perfect choice.”

“For what?”

Kate rolled her eyes. “We can ask
them to conduct a trial experiment for us.”

Seth frowned and stared at them.
“Maybe. If they’ll agree to it.”

Kate’s entrepreneurial antennae
went on alert. “They’ll agree. Trust me.” She tugged on Seth’s arm and pulled
him with her across the room.

As they drew near, Ms. MacFadden
lifted a pair of string bikini panties made entirely of black lace from a rack
and held them up for her boyfriend’s opinion. “Nice, huh?”

Her boyfriend lifted one brow and
smiled. “Hmmm.”

Yes, Kate thought. This was exactly
the kind of couple she was looking for. “Good afternoon. Are you looking for
something in particular?”

The woman turned and threw Kate a
charming smile. “Yes, I’m going on vacation to Tahiti. I want something exotic
and a bit on the wild side.”

Her dark brown gaze landed on Seth
and the smile turned from charming to coquettish. “You’re the professor.” Her
voice fairly purred in admiration.

The woman’s companion draped a
proprietary arm over her slim shoulders. “So, how has the week gone so far?”

Ms. MacFadden kept her gaze on
Seth. “Pretty good,” he answered.

“Just pretty good? So in other
words neither one of you has won the bet?”

The woman looked at Seth as though
he were dessert. An odd, very uncomfortable feeling poked at Kate. Could it be
jealousy? Was she actually jealous? If she was, what did that mean? She had
always had a great deal of respect for Leslie MacFadden because she had made it
in a man’s world despite being sexy and drop dead gorgeous. But the woman was
coming on to Seth and she didn’t like that one bit. She didn’t want any woman
coming on to Seth.

She watched Seth fidget and push
his hands into the pockets of his slacks. Great. She wanted Seth to see that
her clientele wasn’t all interested in sex. She thought Leslie MacFadden would
be a perfect candidate. Now she wasn’t so sure.

“No, but we still have a couple of
days to go,” Seth commented.

Kate moved closer to Seth. She
rested her hand on his right shoulder and inhaled his scent. The muscles
bunched beneath her fingers. His arm brushed against her breast. She wanted Seth.
No two ways about it. But once they made love would he walk away? Will he leave
her behind just like the other two men she’d allowed herself to care about?

Seth turned and looked at her. His
blue gaze drifted briefly over her face, and emotions she wished she could read
burned in his eyes. What was he thinking?

Kate turned her attention back to
the woman. “What is your astrological sign?”

“I’m a Scorpio.”

Kate turned and made a motion with
her arm. “Come with me. I have some new spring designs.”

They followed Kate across the shop
until she came to a rack. She lifted something from the rack and held it up.
“This is just in. I call it Tiger Love.”

The lingerie was made of diaphanous
material in a muted leopard print. The layers of material were made to fall
suggestively over the woman’s breasts and lower body.

The woman stepped forward and took
the garment from Kate’s hands. “Oh, I love it. It’s seductive and definitely
erotic. May I try it on?”

“Of course. The dressing rooms are
in the back. But first I’d like to ask you a question. As you know, Dr. Fallen
and I are conducting experiments this week, and we thought it would be a good
idea if we chose an independent source to conduct some trials for us. Would you
be interested?”

She touched Seth’s arm. “That
depends.”

“On what?” Seth and Kate said in
unison.

Gone was the sexy demeanor to be
replaced with a shrewd expression. Underneath all that glamour beat the heart
of a ruthless businesswoman.

“I want to change the look of the
commercials for my dealerships. I want something slick and sexy. After all, sex
sells.”

Sex. That was the bottom line here.
Sex did sell. Kate knew it. She bet her money on it. And she won. “Yes, I do
agree. But I don’t just sell better sex. I believe that love plays an important
and tender part in all seductions. That’s part of what I’m trying to prove.”

“My point,” Ms. McFadden said, “is
that if I agree to take part in your research, I’d like the two of you to do a
commercial for me. It will be great. And it really doesn’t matter who wins the
bet. Both of you are good looking people, and I think everyone in town saw the
show. It’ll be perfect. What do you say?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll think about it.”

Seth and Kate replied at the same
time.

Great. “Go and try that on, and
we’ll talk about the particulars.” Kate waved a hand toward the back of the
shop. “Congratulations on your appointment to the mayor’s council.”

“Thank you.”

The man and woman disappeared into
the dressing area.

 “Well, go ahead. Admit it.”

Seth gave Kate a quick once-over.
She stood at the register balancing the receipts against the cash in the
drawer. She threw him an I-was-so-right-and-you-were-so-wrong-look out of the
corner of her enchanting eyes. “Admit what?”

Kate laughed, a feminine, all-woman
sound.

God, he wanted to touch her. Badly.
He shoved his hands into his pockets to keep from reaching for her.

“You thought all of my clientele
were a bunch of new-age women with only sex on their minds and not a single
brain cell in their heads.” Her tone was emphatic.

That’s exactly what he thought, but
he hated to admit he was wrong. “I’m a professional and a scientist. As such, I
am willing to concede certain facts.”

She inclined her head, looked him
dead in the eye, and gave him a billion mega-watt smile. What a turn-on. “You
were wrong. Admit it. Why is that so hard for you?”

Because he spent his life
dissecting the facts. He left no stone unturned, he was a good and thorough
researcher, but in one afternoon, Kate and her customers had thrown a major
wrench in his theory.
Suck it up, Fallon.
“Okay, I admit I was very
surprised to find that most of your patrons are professional women with
discriminating tastes who have more on their mind than just having a good time
in the bedroom.”

“And?”

Seth clenched his jaw together
tightly. “You just love seeing me eat crow, don’t you?”

She smiled.

Seth rolled his eyes. “Okay. Even
an intelligent woman fits good sex into her life to balance out her
professional side.”

Kate licked the tip of her finger
and drew an invisible line through the air. “Chalk one up for the home team.”

He watched Kate stuff the wad of
cash into a deposit bag for the bank, close it securely, and lay the bag by the
cash register. “Come in the back with me. I have something to show you.”

Something to show him? Oh God.

Seth watched her hips rock from
side to side, as she strolled to the back. Her hair lay like black silk around
her shoulders. Mile-long legs tempted him. He needed to get out of here. Fast.
“Can it wait? I’d like to take a walk. Get some air.”

She stopped in mid-stride, turned
her head, and looked at him with suspicion over her shoulder. “No, this can’t
wait. We have experiments to conduct, research to wade through. After all, we
only have a few more days to finish.”