Seduction by the Book

He’d always thought that sex was a sacred trust. One best shared only once in a lifetime and mostly for procreation. Fidelity and honor meant more than mere bodily urges. And he would not betray Christina’s memory by jumping the first woman that had turned him on since her death.

Annie stirred the stockpot on the range as she heard the first tinkling sounds of rain against the shuttered windows. Before he left for the mainland, the chef had given her instructions for keeping herself and Nick fed during the storm and its aftermath.

The freezer was stocked with things that could be defrosted and heated up on the outdoor barbeque grill after the storm. She was making a big pot of her mother’s Irish stew that could be reheated on a small propane gas stove during the storm if the island’s electricity went out.

Annie could hear Nick in the other parts of house as he rummaged around, locating kerosene lamps, flashlights and candles. She didn’t worry about his physical ability to move through the house anymore. Not like she had when she’d first come and he’d been so unsteady on his injured knee.

It had taken all her knowledge of anatomic kinesiology and experience with physical conditioning in people with limited mobility to help him reestablish the strength in his legs. And then, of course, there had been the whole problem of motivation. Every time she’d pushed him a little further than the time before, he’d blazed with anger and backed away from her, almost as if her touch had somehow burned him.

Lately, the tension in the air between them was thick enough to make her more nervous than she liked to admit.

“Would you care to join me in a cup of tea?”

The sound of his voice startled her and she dropped the spoon into the stew pot. “Darn. You surprised me. Don’t sneak up on me like that.”

He reached for a pair of tongs from the round carousel that held kitchen utensils. “Sorry.” Dipping the tongs in the stew, he retrieved the spoon, wiped it off with a towel and handed it back to her with a polite bow. “Here you are, mademoiselle. No harm done.”

“Pretty slick, Nick, and how very European of you. I didn’t realize you were so familiar with a kitchen. I just imagined you’d always had a chef and would barely be able to find the kitchen, let alone know where things were kept in one.”

“Don’t tell anyone,” he said with a frown. “I’ve been sneaking into the kitchen for most of my life. Ever since I found out that’s where the sweets are kept.”

Annie giggled, put the lid back on the pot and turned the heat down under it. “If you’re serious about making tea, I’d love some.”

“Certainly,” he said with a formal air. He began opening jars and putting fresh water into the tea kettle.

She stood aside to watch him work and waited, she supposed, for him to drop something or in some other way need her help. Which she knew would not make him happy.

Sure enough, her hovering angered him. “Sit down. This will take a few minutes.” The darn man intimidated her, but she couldn’t let him know that.

She did as he asked and sat at the narrow kitchen table, but the nervous energy spilled off her like rapids over a waterfall. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I’m just not used to sitting while someone else works. I really appreciate you letting me stay here with you through the storm. I never would’ve been able to stand being in the U.S. not knowing if you were okay.”

Her words gushed out. “I mean, I’ve never been through a hurricane before. Is it going to be terrifying? I think we’re all set, don’t you? Should I be doing something?”

“Calm down.” He turned away from the counter. “You’re becoming hysterical. Everything will be fine, trust me,” he said with a rare smile.

There it was again. Lately whenever he smiled, an odd feeling that a big change was coming flew through her mind and heart. She’d been having these mystical sensory imaginings for days—no maybe it was weeks now.

It was something her mother would no doubt call Irish intuition. Fate appeared to be poised for stepping in and stirring its own pot of mischief.

But Annie was sure whatever it was couldn’t be connected to the impending storm. The hurricane had been planned for and watched over for days. No, this would be some major change for her and Nick personally, she felt it in her bones.

Hw was much healthier now than when she’d first arrived on the island and better able to take care of himself. Maybe he was considering letting her go. That wouldn’t be too much of a shock, even though it would make her sad to have to leave him. But she’d known all along that this was not a permanent assignment.

“Do you always talk so fast when you’re nervous?”

“Yes. I guess I do.” She watched as he moved smoothly around the stainless steel kitchen, putting together tea and water and then setting china cups on the table.

The man was going to use real china for their casual tea. Wouldn’t Ma think that was something?

He set the silver teapot down to steep on a little cart next to the table, and then he pulled out a chair and sat down beside her. “There’s no need to be worried about the storm, Annie. I’ve been through several hurricanes. Proper preparation is the key. Most storms are not direct hits and end up just being long, boring ordeals.”

She wasn’t nervous about the storm. If she was worried about anything, it was the fantasies she’d been having lately about the man who was her boss and the possibility that soon she might never be able to see him again.

Sitting next to him now was making her thighs tingle. And wasn’t that an odd thing?

“Would you like biscuits with your tea?” he asked.

She shook her head and tried a half smile. He was close enough that she was catching his scent. The smell of salt spray, a whiff of some expensive aftershave and the musk of a light sheen of sweat lingered in the air and made her feel warm and itchy. There was something wild in that combination that she didn’t quite recognize, but today it was definitely doing strange things to her body.

“You know why I didn’t want you to stay here on the island during the storm?” he asked as he poured the tea.

“You weren’t worried about my safety.”

“No. I’d planned to ask you and the rest of the staff to leave me and go down to the village today so I could be alone in the house,” he said. “The storm put a crimp in my plans.”

“You wanted to be alone today?” She knew this was a special day for him. But if it had been her, trying to get through the anniversary of the death of a loved one, she would’ve wanted all her family and friends around for support.

He tilted his chin with a sharp nod. “It’s just a little ritual of honor that I began last year that helps me bid Christina goodbye again. A commemoration I suppose you’d call it.”

“Will that be all ruined now?”

Nick studied her for a moment. “Not if I can help it. Since you have insisted on staying on the island, I want you to spend the balance of the night in your suite alone. You should be able to find things to occupy your time there while I’m in my office.”

He was such an annoying prickly loner of a man. “I guess that would be okay,” she said through gritted teeth. “As long as you promise to call me if you need anything.”

On the other hand, who could complain about being alone in that fabulous suite with her CD player and the luxury of being able to read her books without being interrupted? It had been a dream of hers since she’d been a little girl.

Not that she hadn’t loved growing up in a houseful of kids, but family sometimes became so overwhelming.

“Just try to sleep through the storm, Annie. It’s the easiest way. The whole affair is usually so dull.”

She would never mention it to him, but nothing could ever be dull while he was around. He had created a gray world for himself here, but her world had been full of nothing but exciting living color ever since the day they’d first met.

Two

After dinner, Annie cleared the dishes, put the pans into the sink and ran water over them. “Would you like coffee with your dessert?”

“Yes, thanks,” Nick answered as he stood and backed away from the kitchen table. “Is there something I can do to help?” He needed to get this damn meal over with so he could be alone.

She laughed and the sound lingered in the air, stirring his blood as if she were a real-life wizard with a magic wand. “You volunteering to do the dishes, Nick? I can just see that now. It would be almost as odd as seeing you eating dinner in the kitchen with me has been.”

“Well, perhaps I might be slightly too fumble-fingered to actually wash. But I feel competent enough to dry the dishes if you wish.”

He’d actually liked eating in the kitchen at the same table with her. It had been strangely cozy and warm. And as much as he wanted to be alone, prolonging the intimacy for just a little longer might not be so terrible.

Besides, drying dishes would give him something to do with his hands as he tried to get his needs under control.

Using the back of her suds covered hand, Annie flipped the hair back off her shoulder. “I’m going to let them soak. Until you…retire for the duration of the storm. Just let me set the coffeepot up, then I’ll get the lime custard pie out of the refrigerator and flame the meringue.”