The Temptress
Authors: C. J. Fallowfield,Karen J,Book Cover By Design
The
Temptress
C.J. Fallowfield
Kindle Edition
Version 1E
ASIN: B00SXHE93G
Copyright © 2015 C. J. Fallowfield
The right of C.J. Fallowfield to be
identified as the author of the work has been asserted by her in accordance
with the copyright, designs and patent act 1998. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.
Any unauthorised reprint or use of this
material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form, or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express
written permission from the author. Nor in any form of binding or cover other
than that in which it is published.
This book is a work of fiction. Names,
characters, businesses, organisations and places or events, are either the
product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance
to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Image Copyright © 2015
Editing by Karen J
Proofreading by Fallowettes
Cover Art by Kellie Dennis at Book Cover by
Design
http://www.bookcoverbydesign.co.uk
Book content pictures purchased from iStock
and Dollar Photo Club
Foreword
The
Temptress
is a standalone erotic romance novel.
Other
titles by C.J. Fallowfield
The
Austin Series
Destined
(The Austin Series Prequel) ~ New Leaves, No Strings ~ Baggage & Buttons
Forever
& an Engine ~ The Honeymoon Period ~ Love & Loss ~ Infinite Love
&
The
Austin Series Complete Box Set
31 Days
31 Days
of Winter ~ 31 Days of Summer
For the
Night
Strangers
for the Night ~ Virgin for the Night ~ Filthy for the Night
Ménage for
the Night ~ Sophisticated for the Night ~ Biker for the Night
Dominant
for the Night ~ Actor for the Night
For full details
of my work, please visit my website:
http://www.cjfallowfield.co.uk
Playlist
Single
Ladies (Put A Ring On It) ~ Beyonc
é
Bonkers
~ Dizzee Rascal and Armand Van Helden
I Am
What I Am ~ (Respect feat. Hannah Jones)
Feel The
Need In Me ~ Utopia
A
Thousand Years ~ Christina Perri
Dedication
This book is dedicated to my friend Sandra Hayes,
who came up with “Mr. Haw He Haw” and my wonderful French mother, Françoise.
She ensured that I learned about my French heritage and visited my relatives
there often, despite me having been born and raised in England. France, Paris
in particular, is definitely one of my favourite places in the world.
A special thanks must also go to each and every
member of my street team
The Fallowettes
, whose support and friendship I
never take for granted, my editor and best friend Karen J, authors Georgia Le
Carre and Lan LLP, every book blogger that has accepted a copy of one of my
books to read, review and promote and of course you, the reader. I’m forever
grateful that you chose one of my books, out of the many on the market, to
read.
CJ x
Lulu
McQueen
I smiled as I sat at the traffic lights and the
smartly dressed businessman in his BMW waiting next to me dropped his mirrored
shades down his nose to cast an appreciative eye my way. I kept a hand on the
leather steering wheel as I gave him a smile back. A bit of harmless flirtation
in the morning never did anybody any harm. I revved the powerful engine on my
Mercedes AMG GT S as he slid his glasses back up and put both hands on his
steering wheel and did the same, with a faint smile, as we waited for the
lights to change to green. The second they did I left him standing and laughed,
as the exhilaration of the acceleration of my new baby made my heart beat faster.
That was the trouble with men, most of them underestimated me. They just saw me
as eye candy, someone they’d like to bend over their office desk and fuck, no
one ever took me seriously. I’d been blessed with excellent genes, not only did
I look stunning, but I had a brain too, which most men obviously thought lay
somewhere between the domes of my breasts, as that’s where they focussed all of
their attention when they were talking to me. I’d come away from University
with a First Class Honours degree in Business Management and had just completed
my Master’s Degree, doing it part time while I worked.
As a teenager I’d loved the attention my face
and figure got, the feeling of power it gave me to know how badly men wanted me
was heady, but the older I got, the more tired of it I became. Sometimes I
wanted someone to see past the façade, to get to know me, the woman inside this
blessed tempting package. I shook my head in amusement, I’d been nicknamed
The
Temptress
by my employees. I owned Sweet Temptation, a highly exclusive
honeytrap agency for women of means. If they suspected their husband or partner
was having an affair, they turned to us to provide evidence, or to test his
fidelity by enticing him to make a move, which was photographed or recorded. I
had a bevy of stunning women working for me, all chosen specifically for their
beauty and brains. We charged high fees, because we were high class.
Immaculately groomed and turned out, intelligent and witty, quick thinking and
trained in the art of surveillance, disguise and evasive measures, with a tech
room that Q from Bond would have killed for. I didn’t do as much field work
now, instead working more sociable hours in my office and holding client
meetings, but when I was in the field, I’d never failed. If I hadn’t found
evidence, I’d used my charms to see just how enamoured they were of their
partners and not one had walked away without propositioning me. So the nickname
had stuck, and when I purchased my new car, courtesy of record profits last
year, I’d chosen a very sexy red, which seemed fitting for my persona. I pulled
into the ground floor garage, opening the car door to stretch my long legs,
clad in the finest silk stockings and gently put the heels of my Louboutins
down as I stood up. I straightened my black knee length skirt and white silk
blouse, then propped my Givenchy shades on top of my head as I activated the
remote locking and headed to the lift. Looking good in this business was a
prerequisite. If a client didn’t find me attractive, it would call my ability
to do my job into question.
‘Morning, Violet,’ I smiled, as I stepped into
the reception area of my offices to find her already at her desk. I was a
creature of habit and always arrived at eight-thirty, give or take a couple of
minutes, therefore she always made sure she was here at eight-fifteen. She was
a very efficient personal assistant.
‘Morning, Lulu,’ she beamed and walked over,
handing me my large mug of black coffee, as she reeled off my list of meetings
for the day while we walked down the corridor to my office. She’d been my PA
for five years now and I classed her as a friend, a good friend. She was a very
attractive, petite blonde, with light green eyes and barely came up to my
shoulder. Then again, at five foot ten in bare feet, I had an advantage over
most women, before I even put on one of my pairs of high heels. Shoes were a
particular fetish of mine. ‘Greg Richards has been on the phone already and a
dozen red roses were delivered. I’ve put them in your office.’
‘O God,’ I groaned, as I thought of my
disastrous evening with him last night. Greg was a personal hook up, nothing at
all to do with work.
‘I thought the dates were going really well?’
she asked, looking up at me puzzled.
‘They were,’ I nodded, with a sigh of
resignation. ‘
Really
well, he’s the first guy that I’ve connected with
in forever, but we took it a step further last night and let’s just say …’ I
grimaced at the thought of it and Violet pulled a sympathetic face in return.
‘Crap in bed? I knew it. He looked too cute, in
that
too sweet to be an amazing lay
way. What was it? Shit kissing, tiny
dick, poor oral technique, no stamina?’
‘Let’s say answer E, all of the above,’ I
smiled sadly and opened the door to my office as she burst out laughing behind
me. I looked back at her over my shoulder with raised eyebrows, wondering what
was so funny.
‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t find it funny, it’s
very serious. No woman should be subjected to an E. How did you handle it? Not
“it” obviously if it’s that small, I mean did you tell him?’
‘No, of course not,’ I gasped. ‘I faked it and
made an excuse about an early meeting this morning.’
‘Well that’s not a lie, the meeting room’s set
up ready and breakfast pastries are on their way. So another one bites the
dust?’
‘So it appears,’ I sighed, as I sniffed the
beautiful roses he’d sent to me, that Vi had put on the edge of my desk. I’d
really thought he might have been someone to go the distance with. We’d dated
for twelve weeks, equalling my longest relationship record. He was intelligent,
good looking, sophisticated, funny, everything I looked for in a guy. I wasn’t
particularly bothered by money, as I had enough of my own. Greg really had
seemed the perfect package, until last night. I’d never had such bad sex …
ever.
‘Was he really that bad? Or are you making
excuses?’ she asked quietly. I looked around at her surprised. ‘Don’t fire me
for saying so, but you date all these really nice guys, that most girls would
chew their right arm off to have, yet none of them are right for you.’
‘You make it sound like I’m some …
whore
,’
I replied with a frown.
‘I didn’t mean it like that, I know you only
have sex after the three month rule, you’re
so
particular about who you
sleep with, but I can’t help thinking you’re setting them all up to some ideal
that they’ll never reach. I think it’s because of
him
.’
‘Him?’ I tried to play for innocence as I sat
down in my comfortable leather chair, taking another sip of my coffee.
‘Right, pretend you have no idea who I’m
talking about. Your one night stand that blew your mind. Since him no one
compares Lu, I think you have this unrealistic memory of that night and measure
every guy since by those standards and I bet it wasn’t even as good as you
dream about.’
‘Trust me, it was better,’ I whispered, my
heart racing a little at the thought of my one night of recklessness. I’d never
had a one night stand before, or since, but he had spun my head with his charm
and good looks and that sexy as hell French accent. ‘Damn it Vi, I haven’t
thought about him in ages,’ I moaned.
‘You big liar,’ she laughed. ‘You
always
think about him. I don’t know why you don’t put your considerable detective
skills into play and track him down. Between you and that Ian who does all our
background checks, there’s no one that couldn’t be found if you really wanted
to.’
‘I don’t,’ I replied firmly, as I turned on my
computer. Not sure who I was trying to convince. ‘That’s the beauty of an
amazing one night stand, Vi. It’s a perfect night that you’ll both remember
forever, without it being tarnished by awkward first dates, uncomfortable
silences when you’ve exhausted the topic of the inclement weather or, God
forbid, when he stays over and you discover skids in his underwear. I can
relive that night whenever I want in my mind, with no absolutely no downsides.’
‘Unless you count the fact that he was the best
sex of your life and you’ll never have it that good again.’ She raised a
gloating eyebrow at me, knowing there was no talking my way out of that one.
She was spot on, I was convinced of it. ‘So I ask again, was it really that bad
with Greg?’
‘So,
so
, bad,’ I confirmed, cringing
with a shudder as I got a flashback of it.
‘Are you going to break up with him? Or try
again, just in case? First times can be tricky, pressure on both sides,
clumsiness and all that.’ She nodded vigorously, making me laugh.
‘You sound as if you’re talking from
experience.’
‘I am! Jared wasn’t shit hot first time around,
all clashing teeth, head bumping, falling off the bed and spraining his ankle,
then
,
to cap it all, he got one of my pubes stuck between his teeth. Being a dentist
and into hygiene and all, it was like I’d forced him to lick the toilet bowl.
He spent half an hour in the bathroom trying to extract it, cutting his lip on
my tweezers in the process, so neither of us were in the mood by the time he
hobbled out.’
‘Violet,’ I laughed, wiping the corner of my
eye. ‘And you tried it again?’
‘He’s hung,’ she shrugged.
‘Unlike Greg.’
‘Try once more, it’s not the size of the wave,
but the motion of the ocean.’
‘Easy for you to say, when you’re blessed with
a man with a Tsunami for a wave, as well as plenty of motion by the sounds of
it,’ I replied, with a roll of my eyes and shake of my head. ‘O Vi, I’m going
to die a spinster and I don’t even have a cat to dispose of the remains,’ I
moaned, as I leaned back in my chair and put my fingertips to my temples.
She smiled, then held up her finger as she
grabbed the handset of my phone. ‘Good morning, Sweet Temptation, how can I
help you?’ she breezed. I smiled and downed most of my coffee, she answered the
phone without me even having realised it had rung half the time, she was so
damn efficient. She covered the handset and gave me a roll of her own eyes, as
she went slack jawed. ‘
Logan Steele
, for you,’ she advised, over
pronouncing his name.
‘I’ll take it,’ I confirmed, shaking my head at
her reaction. Logan was a seriously good looking guy, a former high class
escort that I used to hire from time to time if we had a cheating wife to
expose. His track record was unblemished, just as mine was. We’d been for
drinks one night, after a case, but unbelievably there’d been no sexual
chemistry between us at all, which was a damn shame as he was supposed to be amazingly
gifted in bed. A talent that Summer Beresford, the latest hot actress to hit
the big time, seemed to be the recipient of. I’d never have taken Logan as the
settling down type, but he was proof that things weren’t always what they
seemed. Maybe Greg deserved a second chance. ‘Logan, how are you?’
‘Ok, I guess, Lulu. You?’ he replied in his
deep baritone.
‘Business is excellent, thank you.’
‘That’s why I’m calling actually, I need a bug
placing on someone’s phone. Ian’s already hacked the texts and emails, but
voice calls would be an added bonus.’
‘Who’s the mark?’ I asked, grabbing my pen and
notepad.
‘Daron Beck.’
‘The movie star?’
‘One and the same. I think he’s behind a
blackmail attempt, threatening to expose me.’
‘O dear. Dipped your toe in his water with
Summer?’
‘They were never anything,’ he bit back quickly
‘Can you help or not? I’m on a tight timeframe.’
‘I’ll help,’ I confirmed, he sounded stressed,
which wasn’t like him at all. He was one of the most laid back, easy going guys
I’d ever met. ‘Any preference on the girl?’
‘As close to Summer as you can get. Dark hair,
blue eyes, curvaceous figure. Innocent and pure looking, but with an obvious sex
appeal.’
‘I know just the girl,’ I nodded, as I made
some notes, thinking of Lily, one of my new recruits. ‘Timescale?’
‘Urgent. He hangs out in The Domville bar most
nights, looking for company. You need to be aware that he’s not as pleasant as
he may appear. Your girl will need to be careful, he has an aggressive temper
and has been known to slap girls around before.’
‘I’ll warn her, but we’re equipped to handle
that. I’ll make sure she stays in public areas, just in case, besides they
always go as a team of two. One for the lure and one to observe and capture the
evidence.’
‘How’s Trey working out for you?’ he asked. I
smiled broadly, Logan had recommended Trey Douglas, a blond haired, blue eyed
stunner, to fill in for any cases involving a woman as our mark. He was a
little young for my tastes, but I know a few of the girls had designs on him.
He was how Logan was when I met him though, totally focussed on his job, with
no interests in dating or settling down.