Carly Phillips - Hot Stuff

They turned to leave, but Theodore glanced back over his shoulder. "Brandon, please try to steer the conversation away from the interview. I'm certain the board members will overlook your academic background in favor of your other skills."

As usual, other, meaning his athletic ability, was not meant in a positive sense. Still Vaughn didn't miss the irony. His parents, who'd always disdained his sport, now begged him to take a coaching position because it would help their standing.

Well it was too damn bad. "I'm not taking the job," Vaughn said clearly.

But his parents were out the door, heads together, plotting which person deserved their attention next.

He shook his head and groaned. "Damn but they never change."

"What world do they live in?" Annabelle asked.

"Their own."

"How can they not see you? How can they not appreciate your talent? Your drive? Your altruism?"

As she extolled his virtues, something inside him softened toward her even more.

"Listen, about the interview-" she began.

He clasped her hand and cut her off midsentence. "You did a good job promoting the lodge." He swallowed hard. "Thank you for that."

She narrowed her gaze. "No yelling, no screaming?" She pressed the back of her hand against his forehead. "Are you feeling okay?"

He laughed. Shockingly he'd never felt better. "I'm fine. I'm also not stupid and I know what you were trying to do with that report."

Annabelle smiled. "I never said you were stupid. Now would you care to fill me in on why you haven't sided with your parents when it comes to the news report? I'm sure you hated it as much as they did."

And Annabelle had been steeling herself for the confrontation all day. She just hadn't expected it to happen at the party.

He headed for the couch, pulling her along with him until they were seated, thigh to thigh. "Let's get a few things straight."

She tried to concentrate, but his body temperature was too strong, her attraction too potent.

"For one thing, I never side with my parents."

"I can see why." Watching the family dynamics was painful in the extreme. "They really don't get you, do they?"

He shook his head. "And neither do you. At least not when it comes to gauging my reactions." But that wasn't her fault. He'd refused to let her in. "Do you know where I spent the afternoon?"

"Running around the lake at the lodge?"

"Hiring a new security firm and then adding extra men so we don't lose much time. And all the while, I was thinking about how I could save the lodge. Which led me back to the fact that I'd hired you, then tied your hands with lack of information."

She blinked, startled into silence. "I really didn't expect you to realize that."

He reached his arm along the top of the couch and leaned back, laughing. "Well I may have taken a few hits to the head in my day, but eventually I can do the math. I need you to help me succeed and you need information out of me to do your job." He inclined his head. "You see? I get it."

She grinned. "So I can expect your cooperation from now on?"

He nodded.

Seeing opportunity, she snuggled closer. So close she smelled his delicious aftershave and her insides curled with warmth and desire.

She peered up at him and fluttered her lashes. "Your cooperation in all things?" she asked, deliberately coy.

"All things business," he said with a grin and a quick wink.

She laughed. "Well you can't blame a girl for trying." Meanwhile he'd given her his professional trust and she couldn't imagine a better gift. "Don't we have people to see?" She gestured to the study door.

He let out a groan. "That we do."

During the next excruciating few hours, time made more painful by the dominant overseeing of Vaughn's parents, Annabelle discovered a few more things. She learned not only did Vaughn consider this town home, but he had good reason.

The college board of trustees applauded the television interview. They felt Vaughn's devotion to children only bolstered their desire to hire him as a coach, and his old teacher's admission of academic difficulty made him more human to them. More real.

But not to his parents. They couldn't see beyond their own expectations and disappointments.

Annabelle saw everything.

Including the fact that he'd become the man he was today, not thanks to his parents but despite them. And that was a credit to Vaughn's strength of character. She admired him. Enough to know she intended to pick up where they'd left off earlier that morning.

And she'd do so tonight.

THEY'D DRIVEN HOME in comfortable silence, then parted at Annabelle's bedroom. Now she steeled her nerves, adjusted the straps of the only teddy she'd brought with her and knocked on Vaughn's door.

Her knees were shaking. For all the fun and teasing she subjected him to, she wasn't so brave now when her pride was at stake.

The door swung open wide and she stood facing Vaughn. Physically exposed, she felt emotionally stripped as well. But she hadn't come this far to turn back now.

She looked into his sexy gaze and drew a deep breath. "Hey there, Vaughn."

"Annie," he said in a gruff voice.

The sound of her nickname took her off guard. "I…" She glanced down, unsure of what she'd been about to say and discovered he was wearing a pair of black boxers and nothing more. Tanned skin, powerful muscles and a rock-hard body, she thought, trying to catch her breath.

Her gaze flew to his. "I thought you'd be a Jockey kind of guy," she said to break the tension.

"I'm dyslexic," he blurted out at the same time.

From arousal to understanding in seconds flat.

Annabelle blinked and as Vaughn stepped back into the room, she followed him inside. Though she couldn't tear her eyes from his gorgeous body, she also knew what it cost him to admit his childhood weakness.

"Do your parents know?" she asked, settling herself on the edge of his bed.

He nodded. "And before you say anything, yes, you'd think a professor would understand. He doesn't," Vaughn said flatly. "All they know is that the educator's son couldn't hack school. I'm not their pride and joy, I'm their biggest embarrassment."

Annabelle winced. The insight was more than she'd expected and she wondered how he'd coped as a boy being misunderstood by his parents.

How sad. And how shocking that she wanted to make up for all he'd lacked. Though her parents had died, she'd had Uncle Yank to celebrate her successes along with Lola and her sisters to wipe her tears and help her through her frustrations.

"Well, I understand your family dynamics a lot better now." Not that she could comprehend how his parents could put their pride above their child.

"That's nice but don't think I'm looking for your sympathy," he said, folding his arms over his chest, erecting barriers in case she rejected him too.

Oh yes, she understood him so much better now. "Good." She cocked her head to one side. "Because I’m not offering any. So how'd you learn to compensate? I saw you going over contracts in the office and I know for sure you wouldn't have gotten to this point in your life if you were still struggling the same way."

He shrugged, still cavalier, still acting as if what she thought didn't matter. "I met someone who cared enough to point me in the right direction."

She rose and stood toe-to-toe with him. "You were fortunate."

"Yes, I was," Vaughn agreed. But he wasn't about to tell Annabelle it was her uncle who'd been his savior. He'd bared enough of his soul for today.

His body, however, he wouldn't mind stripping further. Hers either. He wanted her. Wanted to feel and stop all the damn talking, especially about him. And since she'd come here for just that reason, he knew she wouldn't resist.