Seduction by the Book

She saw him, standing on a spit of sand at the ocean’s edge with his back to her. Nick faced into the wind as he stared out at the water.

Trying to call out to him, her voice was lost in the roaring winds. He needed to come back to the main house. The storm must be very close, and she had given her promise to his mother that she would watch out for him. She took that duty very seriously.

The longer she stayed in his employ, though, the stronger her reactions to the sight of him. As usual, today he was a solitary figure surveying his kingdom.

She flew down the steps to the beach and ran headlong into the wind to reach him. “Nick! Come inside now.”

He must’ve heard her, or perhaps just sensed her presence, because he turned around. “What do you want? Dammit! You should be in the main house,” he said tightly.

His voice was thunderous, his face distorted in a scowl. But he was still so handsome and such a masculine presence, standing there with his arms crossed over his chest, that her breath caught in her throat.

It was bad enough that he lived in an enchanted castle, high on a cliff overlooking the ocean. But he’d always reminded Annie of a bewitched fairy-tale figure, one who pinned away for a lost lover to come break the spell that he had been put under by an evil witch.

Except that this fairy-tale figure could sometimes be the most infuriating person on earth. He was aloof and demanding. She’d given him a lot of leeway when they’d first begun training because of his circumstances and because she knew he was in pain.

But many times recently she had been ready to call it a day and walk out on him. At this point in his recovery he was nearly healed and his pains were nothing but echoes.

Only two things had kept her here on his island, putting up with his irritating manner. First was her promise to his mother to try to bring him out of his shell. The damn man fought her at every turn on that score. It was like he enjoyed wallowing in his misery.

And secondly, Nick was just plain hauntingly gorgeous. That probably shouldn’t matter, but it certainly did. His hair, a mixed shade of golden blond with silver streaks, had grown slightly too long, like hers, and brushed his collar. He had a slender build, and at six foot two he towered over her five foot four inch frame.

Nick usually wore boring but expensive gray or navy clothes, even to work out in. But even in dull-colored clothes, the spectacular blue of his eyes always fascinated her. Just as it was doing now, while he shot her a forbidden look that blazed with anger at her interruption.

It couldn’t be helped. Irritating as he may be, it was her job to stick with him and make sure he took care of himself. She was nothing if not loyal and trustworthy. But heaven help her, this was a man who stirred her senses like no man had ever done before.

“I’ll go indoors if you will,” she told him when she got close enough to be heard. “The storm is almost here. It’s too dangerous to be outside.”

The waves had grown tall all of a sudden, she noted. Ever since she’d come to the island, Annie had loved the quiet easy way the surf here rolled in, baby-soft against the beach. The waves were usually like a child, tenderly caressing its mother’s hair with long smooth strokes.

But today the adult waves crashed and thundered against the shallow depths of their sheltered cove. Angry white caps rose up to impossible heights and smacked down with fury against the bottom. The beautiful blues and greens she’d grown accustomed to seeing when she looked out at the ocean had disappeared—replaced by tan-colored water that boiled and stirred, and resembled her grandmother’s chicken gravy.

Despite the heat and humidity, Annie shivered.

“The dolphins will be all right, won’t they?” she asked, holding out her hand to him.

“I’m concerned about Sultana,” Nick said roughly. “She is expected to give birth within days and it will be our first live birth at the center. But every precaution that could be taken seems to have been completed.” He didn’t accept her hand, but clasped his own hands behind his back instead.

The storm was in his eyes today, and it made him seem so much more human. And at the moment, much more annoying.

Nick desperately wanted a few more minutes by himself. It was bad enough that the storm had ruined his plans for the day—this day of all days. The thought of being helpless to assist the research team during the storm also made him remember too clearly another time when he had not been able to help.

Absently rubbing his temple, he felt the familiar ache of memories.

But the worst thing about this storm was knowing he had to spend the rest of the day…and night…alone with Annie. Damn the storm. And damn her.

She got under his skin and he didn’t like it one bit. He was a one-woman man and his woman had been violently taken from him. Other women, no matter how inviting, were distractions he just didn’t need.

He needed to remain frozen and apart. Distance let him maintain his emotional balance. Cold hearts didn’t feel guilt. Being numb meant keeping the pain at bay.

Nick had spent two long years keeping his distance from life, and damned if Annie didn’t bring that tempting heat right onto the island with her. Heat and wanting.

Hell, he just hated these emotions. But he knew his mother would have a fit if he fired Annie. She thought Annie was good for him. Another few weeks of Annie’s perky helpfulness, however, and he might just explode.

His only hope tonight was if he could talk Annie into remaining in her room at the back of the house while he spent the long hours of the storm by himself in his office. He was already restless but it had nothing to do with the coming storm.

The anniversary of Christina’s death made him feel unsettled and uneasy. He wanted to be left alone so he could bring back the sharp pain of missing her.

That pain brought her memory into clear focus and reminded him of all his vows and promises. All the promises he had never been able to keep while his wife was alive. He needed those memories to stay focused now.

“But she’ll be okay, won’t she? Sultana is healthy, you said.” Annie withdrew her hand but took a step closer.

Her voice brought him back to the moment with a thud. Nodding, he backed up a step to keep from touching the vibrant personal trainer.

Lately, every time Annie touched him, he burned—and he was surprised by his growing attraction to her. He didn’t want any part of the lustful urges.

Nick had tried desperately to keep his distance from Annie over the past few weeks, and had worked hard to manage his exercises by his own strength. But she was a personal trainer, and had kept her watchful eyes and sensual hands on his body as he exercised in his home gym.

He groaned silently at the very thought. His unruly desire for her was getting so bad, he had actually considered risking his mother’s wrath by hiring someone else in her place.

Though Annie was strictly his employee, on his mother’s frequent visits, the two women had become friends. Coconspirators against him, he supposed.

It was bad enough that his father was furious with him for quitting the business to come live on the island and devote himself to Christina’s project. Nick didn’t want to risk losing his mother’s support, too.

Family was all important. But as much as he loved his mother, she was a meddler.

Since his wife’s death two years ago, his mind was often distracted. That was only one of the several reasons he’d left his home in Alsaca and given up everything he’d ever worked to achieve. He’d come to honor Christina’s memory and wishes in the very place where she had died.

But his mother was unduly worried about his isolation and absentmindedness. And he knew she thought Annie could bring him back to the world of the living.

In his opinion, Annie was entirely too alive.

“Please come with me, Nick,” Annie said as she looked up at him with those spectacular emerald eyes, flashing in both vivid color and obvious heat.

He had never seen a woman with such vibrance and fire. It fascinated him how different from Christina she was. Of how different Annie was from any woman in his experience.

But he couldn’t let her touch him. Not while he was so vulnerable today. He had to find a way to push her away, make her leave him alone.

“All right. You go ahead. I’ll be right behind you,” he said in his most demanding voice.

She screwed up her wide, full mouth in a frown for a second. But then she swung around and took a couple of steps toward the house before turning back to make sure he was following.

He started out, but soon realized that he’d made a huge mistake. He should’ve taken the lead. That way he wouldn’t be stuck walking behind her and admiring the way she looked as she swung her hips in those sexy, too-short white shorts.

Even in the dull light of the prestorm sky, Annie was radiant and energetic enough to make him forget his vows of celibacy since his wife’s death. She made him think instead of how he would dearly love to run his fingers through that mass of fiery red curls. Or to place his lips against the adorable rusty freckles that spattered across her nose like paint spills.

Her energy snapped about her as if she were static electricity during a thunderstorm. He found himself nearly drooling at the thought of capturing her to him and tasting all that vividness.

Instead, he fisted his hands and stuck them in his pockets. Concentrating on what hurricane preparations might be left to attend to and on how ferocious the storm might actually become, he vowed to keep his growing lust a secret.