Lori Wilde - His Final Seduction

The sabotages had been fairly minor, mere inconveniences than anything else, until a month ago when someone had planted a small bomb at the Tokyo resort. The bomb had been found, the resort vacated and the explosive neutralized with no harm done, but clearly, the situation had escalated. Taylor Milton had beefed up security at the resorts and ever since then, there’d been no new occurrences and the threatening letters had stopped. It was eerie, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Quint noticed no one took the seat beside Jorgie, but otherwise, the plane was full. Once they were airborne, he sent a text to his coworker Jake Stewart, who was at this very moment boarding a plane to Los Angeles for Eros’s Make Love Like A Movie Star tour.

Any lookers? he typed into his BlackBerry.

Is that all you think about? Jake returned his text.

Quint laughed. Pretty much.

Casanova fits you to a T.

Get back on the horse, man. Jake had been divorced for over a year and as far as Quint knew he hadn’t dated. He’d been bugging him to let loose and just have a fling, but Jake was one of those Dudley Do-Right types who never broke the rules.

Two words, Jake texted back. Morality Clause.

So, any lookers?

Yeah.

That took him by surprise. Quint smiled. Yeah?

Not my type.

All the better.

Door’s closing. Later.

Chuckling, Quint put his BlackBerry away. The flight attendant was distributing drinks and he heard Jorgie order a Bloody Mary. After she’d been served her drink, he took the bottle of water the attendant gave him and slipped into the seat beside her. “Rough night?”

She looked startled to see him.

He nodded at her drink. “A Bloody Mary is a common hangover cure.”

“No.” She shook her head. “In fact, I rarely drink…”

“Fear of flying?”

“Not at all.”

“The mystery deepens. You don’t seem the type to drink alcohol at nine in the morning.”

“Precisely.”

“I’m not following you.”

“I’m doing things I wouldn’t normally do.”

“Ah.” He nodded. “Bad breakup.”

“How do you know that?”

“You’re traveling alone and drinking Bloody Marys and headed to an Eros resort. Common cure for a bad breakup.”

“So you’re saying I’m a cliché?”

He shrugged, grinned.

“I wasn’t meant to be traveling alone. Actually my friend Avery was supposed to come with me, but at the last minute she changed her ticket, hopped on a plane to another Eros resort, leaving me holding the bag. I think I’m due for a Bloody Mary, don’t you?”

“Drink up. I’ll order you another.”

She looked at the water bottle in his hand. “You’re not drinking?”

“Not in the mood.” He kept grinning. “But you go right ahead.”

“That grin gets you laid a lot, doesn’t it?”

Whoa, he hadn’t expected that from the girl next door. His admiration shot up a notch. “I do all right.”

“You haven’t changed a bit since high school.”

“It doesn’t sound like a compliment the way you say it.”

“What’s not complimentary about being a twenty-nine-old man with a high school mentality?”

“Ouch, kitten. Withdraw the claws. I’m not the guy who done you wrong.”

“No, but you’re the one who decided to sit here. Better be prepared to take a little mortar fire or head back to where you came from.”

This was getting really interesting. Quint leaned back in his seat, buckled up his seat belt. He could do his job just as easily sitting here as in the last row. “It’s a long flight and I’m all ears.”

“You ever been engaged, Quint?” A disgruntled expression crossed her face and he found himself wishing he could hunt down the ex-boyfriend who’d dumped her and punch him out.

“Nope.”

“Ever come close?”

“Nope.”

“Ever want to get married?”

“Never crossed my mind.”

She took a sip of her Bloody Mary, pointed a finger at him. “Smart man.”

“So,” he said, quickly changing the subject. “How’s Keith? I saw him at our ten-year high school reunion and we had a few drinks. Shot the breeze, but we haven’t kept in touch since then.”

“Keith just got married, and he and his wife are expecting a baby girl in the fall.”

“No kidding. But he’s only…”

“Twenty-nine, same age as you.”

“Seems too young to be tied down.”

“He’s really happy.”

“Good for Keith.” A wistfulness swept over him. It seemed all his buddies were getting married, settling down. He didn’t get it. There was so much living to be done. You could get married and grow old anytime. But you were only young once.

“How’s your parents?”

“They decided to follow their bliss and moved to Santa Fe. Mom runs an art gallery. Dad takes tourists on guided deer hunts.”

“And your brother?”

“Gordy’s still in the air force. He’s gonna be just like Dad. Career military.”

“But not you?”

“Naw. I’ve never been much for having other people tell me what to do. The service wasn’t a natural fit. How about your parents?”

“They finally sold the house on Janie Lane, moved into a condo in downtown Fort Worth.”

“You’re kidding me.”

“After years of suburban living, they said they wanted to be where the action is.”

“I’m impressed. Paula and James living it up in Sundance Square.”

“Things change,” she said.

He raked his gaze over her, couldn’t stop himself from taking in the swell of her breasts beneath her blouse. “Yeah, they do. What are you up to these days? Keith told me you worked for a big accounting firm and that you’d gotten your CPA.”

“Still there.”

“Is it the only job you’ve ever had?”

“Other than working at Six Flags when I was sixteen.”

“Hey, Keith and I worked there one summer. At the ice cream emporium.”

“I remember. You got fired for giving free banana splits to pretty girls.”

“That memory of yours…” Quint shook his head, grinned. “It’s wicked dangerous.”

Their gazes locked and that same compelling zap that he’d felt when he bumped into her in the airport flashed through him again. What was this sudden, unexpected chemistry? She wasn’t the type he normally went for. He liked tall, supergorgeous, sleek blondes with legs to the ceiling and more boobs than brains. Jorgie was nothing like that.

“Tell me, what is it that you do?” she asked. “When you flattened me in the terminal you said you were late for work. I thought you must be a pilot or flight attendant or something.”

“I work for Eros,” he said.

She eyed him. “In what capacity?”

“I’m an instructor.”

An eyebrow rose on her forehead as if she didn’t believe him. “What kind of instructor? I never figure you for the professorial type.”

“I teach How To Make Love Like Casanova. The male counterpart to How To Make Love Like A Courtesan.”

Jorgie almost choked on her Bloody Mary. “You’re serious?”

“Yep.”

“What do you teach them?”

“The art of seduction.”

She giggled.

“Hey, it’s not that funny.” He pretended to look hurt. Hell, if a guy couldn’t laugh at himself, who could he laugh it? The Casanova thing was pretty goofy.

“Are you practicing your skills on me now?” she asked.

“On an old friend?” He made a “no way” face and shook his head.

“Really?”

“Scout’s honor.” He held up two fingers of his left hand.

“Then how come you’ve got your elbow at the level of my breasts? You counting on an accidental boob graze?”

“What? You think I have no finesse?”

“You can stop trying to look affronted and move your elbow.”