Slow Seduction

Slow Seduction

by Marie Rochelle

Warning

This e-book contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language. It may be considered offensive to some readers. Ocean’s Mist Press’ e-books are for sale to adults ONLY, as defined by the laws of the country in which you made your purchase.

Copyright (c) 2007 by
Marie Rochelle

Cover art and design (c) 2006 by Steve Cook

DEDICATION/ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

To my grandmother who is always there when I need a friend to talk to.

Jenisha Roman’s gaze roamed over the bent heads of the seventeen children in her second grade class. Her eyes darkened with love at the adorable sight they made working on their weekly Wednesday spelling test. She hoped more of them studied the list words better this time than last week; out of her entire class only seven children had passed the quiz.

A smile touched the corner of her mouth at the frown on some of their angelic faces. She adored her students like they were her very own children. Each and everyday she came to work something surprising always happened. There was never a dull moment in her classroom and she loved it.

Picking up the red pen from the corner of her desk, she graded the homework she had assigned the day before. From the corner of her eye, she noticed her assistant Becky on the computer working on a new list of words for the following week’s test. Her assistant had been with her for the past fifteen months and she didn’t know what she would’ve done without her. Becky loved working on shapes, colors and numbers with the children. With an assistant to entertain the little ones, she had more free time to work on her lesson plans and the bigger assignments for the school week.

Sighing, Jenisha glanced back over at the stack of paperwork and grabbed another sheet off the stack. After she finished with it, she tossed it the graded assignment with the other papers that needed to be stuffed in backpacks before class was over. She didn’t like hump day. It made her feel rushed to get so much done before Friday so her class didn’t have homework. At this age, she felt children should enjoy their weekend and not worry about finishing up homework for Monday.

Rubbing the corner of her left eye with the back of her hand, she glanced out the open window by her desk. She watched as a light breeze ruffled the tests on her desk, but none fell on the checkered floor.

The humid weather in
Los Angeles
always caused her naturally curly hair to become extremely dry and fuzzy, so last week she had an appointment with her stylist and the unmanageable mess straightened mess. Now, she loved how her hair looked. It was so much easier to manage in the morning.

The soft clicking of the apple shaped clock in the back of the room drew her attention and made her realize the class had less than five minutes to finish up.

“Okay, boys and girls, you have about four minutes left on your test. Make sure you’ve checked your words and written a sentence with each one.” She would have loved to give them an extra five minutes, but she couldn’t because they had a lot more to do before class was over.

“Time’s up. Please pass your papers to the front of the room so I can pick them up.” Getting up from her desk, Jenisha stood in front of the classroom and waited while the students passed their tests toward her.

Taking the stack of quizzes from each child in the front row, she laid them on the desk behind her. “Why don’t you take out your books and start on your homework reading assignment now? If you’ve any questions before class is over I can answer them for you.”

The sound of backpacks opening and books being tossed on desks followed her as she retook her seat. Stacking the papers into a neat pile, she opened her leather attaché case and stuffed them inside. As she reached across the desk for a notepad, her name came across the intercom behind her.

“Jenisha Roman, please come to the front office.” Principal Mark Kimball’s authoritative voice announced over the intercom.

Why was Principal
Kimball calling her to his office?

The fine hairs on the back of her neck stood up and brushed the collar of her new polka dot dress. Jenisha felt her body sizzling with anger. How dare he interrupt her class like this? Even the cool breeze licking across her skin couldn’t keep her anger from boiling to the surface.

Sucking in a couple of quick deep breaths, Jenisha didn’t move from the seat until she knew her nerves were ready to deal with Mark Kimball. She still couldn’t believe he asked her out two weeks ago. She had turned him down instantly.

Something wasn’t right about him. When she looked into his amber colored eyes they were like bottomless pits—totally void of emotion. He hadn’t spoken a word to her since then, so it must be very important from him to call her and not his secretary. Whatever it was, she would deal with it and move on. The less time she spent alone with him the better off she was.

Jenisha stood up from her chair and pulled down the hem of her skirt. She didn’t want to give Principal Kimball any ideas. Walking over to the computer center at the back of the room, she leaned down close to Becky’s ear and whispered. “Do you think you can watch the class for me while I go to the office?”

“Sure, I’ll watch them. You go ahead and see what Mark wants.” Becky saved the file she was working in and got up from the work station.

“T
hank
s.” Jenisha said then left the room.

Strolling down the long empty hallway, she listened as her new heels clicked against the checkered title. The sound echoed across the lockers and for some reason she thought the walk seemed longer than usual. She wondered why Principal Kimball wanted to see her so late in the afternoon. Hopefully, this wasn’t another attempt to ask her out again. She didn’t know how many times she could tell him
no
in a nice way.

Jenisha shook her head. No, she wasn’t going to allow any negative thoughts to enter her mind. She got her point across loud and clear the last time Mark cornered her in the staff lounge. He wasn’t about to go down the same road again with her. However, whatever he wanted from her she would handle it head-on without any fear. Most of the teachers in the school were scared of Principal Kimball because of his quick temper, but she wasn’t. The first time he yelled at her, she would make sure it was the last time.

As she continued down the hallway, her dress brushed her long legs. Legs she hated since the sixth grade, but other people constantly told her how amazing they were. She wanted to scream at them that having long legs wasn’t exciting. When she was younger, all the guys she wanted to date was shorter than her and they never wanted a date a girl taller than them.

No. Her forty-two inch legs had been a pain until she decided to do something about them. So, instead of hating them for the rest of her life, she started working out to make them look the way she wanted. It took almost a full year, but she finally she had legs she was proud of.

Slowing down her fast pace, Jenisha paused inside the empty hallway and tired to calm her nerves. She hated the man on the other side with such a deep passion. Her stomach started doing a nosedive at the thought of being alone and behind a closed door with him. Pulling her dress closer to her body, she dreaded the thought of his cold, clammy hands anywhere on her body.

Jenisha sighed as her hand grasped the cold metal doorknob.
The only thing colder than this doorknob was Mark’s heart.
She shoved the door open and flinched as a gust of cold air hit her in the face. Her body broke out in goose bumps as she walked into the room and slammed the door shut.

She glanced around the small, cramped office very quickly nervous a cocky Mark would appear at any minute. But, t
hank
fully, he was nowhere in sight. However, she knew that he was probably in his office waiting for her. Taking long confident steps, she walked until she encountered his secretary’s desk, which was located in the very back of the room between the water cooler and the bathroom. It was almost like someone made the space especially for Robin.
What was that old saying? Out of sight? Out of mind?

Robin Carter wouldn’t acknowledge her first. The woman couldn’t stand the sight of her and she didn’t know why. The first day Robin started working for Mark, she made it a point of antagonizing her any free chance she had, which was usually on a daily basis.

“Good Morning, Robin.” She muttered, drawing the younger woman’s attention to her.

Robin’s indigo eyes shot up from the magazine and glared at her. “Well, it’s about time you got here,” she spat as she brushing a lock of her shiny black hair over her thin shoulders.

“They have been waiting almost fifteen minutes on you.” She glanced at Principal’s Kimball closed door, then back at her.

They were waiting for her?
“Do you know who’s in there with Principal Kimball?” She knew it was best not to piss Robin off with too many questions.

“If I did know, do you really think I would tell you?” Robin snapped, rolling her eyes. She picked up her discarded magazine and finished reading her article.

Jenisha couldn’t believe how Robin got pissed over one simple question. The girl was becoming a pain in her side. Easing away from the desk, she went over and knocked on Principal’s Kimball door. She didn’t have time for round two with Robin when she hadn’t started round one with Mark.

“Come in, Jenisha,” Principal Kimball yelled from the other side.

Turning the door handle, she walked inside Mark’s sanctuary. As the door closed softly, the smell of too much Old Spice cologne and Old English furniture polish tinkled her nose. Rubbing her index finger across her nose, Jenisha fought back a sneeze as she moved to stand in front of his desk.

A pair of tan male slacks caught her peripheral vision, but she didn’t pay much attention. Yet, the outline of his body did seem very familiar. However, she wanted to escape Principal Kimball’s office as quickly as possible, that alone made her not want to give the man another thought. “You wanted to see me, sir?”

Mark Kimball tapped his fingers on his freshly polished desktop. He couldn’t take his eyes off how the fitted dress hugged Jenisha’s curves. He hated how his body always responded to the silky sound of Jenisha’s sweet voice. He wanted her with a crazed passion, but she looked at him like he was something she found on the bottom of her expensive, three inch high heels. “You’re the president of
‘Expand the school’
committee, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I’m the president and I’ve waited weeks to hear back from the architect” Jenisha replied. “Have you finally heard something?”

“As a matter of fact I have.” Mark answered, still hating the way her voice made his body surge with excitement. “Our new architect/contractor is sitting right behind you. I’m surprised you didn’t notice him when you walked in.” He pointed to the chair behind her.

“Jenisha Roman, I would like for you to meet Clinton Campbell.” Mark made the introduction brief but formal. “Clinton Campbell, please meet the president of
‘Expand our School’
committee, Jenisha Roman.”

Turning around slowly, Jenisha’s eyes widened from shock. She couldn’t believe
Clinton
was barely five feet behind her. His tall body looked very relaxed in the dark leather chair. Her heart fluttered in her ribcage and she felt thrown off by his expected appearance, and the pure joy she felt at seeing him after so many months almost made her gasp.

She thought she would never lay eyes on his handsome face again after her brief meeting with him at True’s house back in
Montana
. Her mouth opened and closed several times, but she couldn’t get any words past her dry throat and lips.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Ms. Roman,”
Clinton
extended his hand.

Damn! His voice was still as warm and inviting as she remembered. That voice had tormented her so many times when she was alone in her bed at night. The cold air blowing from the air conditioner around them couldn’t cool her body down.

Shaking herself out of the trance
Clinton
had just seduced her with her, Jenisha eased her hand into his larger warmer one. “Nice to meet you too, Mr. Campbell.”

Clinton
’s cologne stirred her senses, making her think about steamy days and nights filled with him in her huge canopy bed. Embarrassed by her wicked thoughts, she quickly dropped his hand. Tossing him one last quick glance as he sat down, she spun back to face Mark.

Mark smiled at the disbelief on her face. “Jenisha, Mr. Campbell has agreed to work on the designs and construction for the additions at a cheaper price than the other two designers located here in
Los Angeles
. So, of course, I had no choice but to hire him on the spot.”

“Are you sure you Mr. Campbell is the right choice?”

“Is there a problem with us working together, Miss Roman?” His voice taunted as he stood.

“No, I’m just surprised you would come all this way to work on a small project like this one.” Jenisha answered. “I know you probably have more important clients than us.”

Clinton
smiled. “I see you’ve heard of Campbell Design and Construction. Please let’s not be so formal. Call me Clinton since we’re going to spend so much time together.”

She wasn’t going to let
Clinton
trick her into admitting she already knew him. Principal Kimball didn’t need another thing to use against her. “Mr. Campbe…
Clinton
, I researched all the best design firms in the country and yours was in the top ten. I wanted you, but I didn’t think Principal Kimball would actually contact you.”