Brenda Jackson - Seized By Seduction

“I’m Quasar, and I hope it’s okay to call you Randi.”

“It is.”

“Great. I’ll see you in two hours, Randi.”

“Alright, Quasar.”

After Randi disconnected the call, she couldn’t stop the butterflies from swirling around in her stomach. She would get to see Quasar Patterson again. And soon.

CHAPTER FOUR

QUASAR FELT RANDI FULLER’S presence long before he saw her. Since it was a gorgeous day in May, he’d chosen to sit at an outside table in the beautiful historic section of Georgetown. His gaze searched up and down the cobblestone sidewalk, but he didn’t see her.

He would have been the first to admit that nothing about his attraction to Dr. Randi Fuller was normal. He’d been attracted to beautiful women before, but this was different. It was something he couldn’t explain...like what was happening now. When had he actually been able to feel a woman without being buried deep inside her body? All he knew was that he was convinced Randi was close by, either parking her car or coming up the sidewalk...although he had yet to see any sign of her.

“More coffee, sir?”

He glanced up at the waitress, who was smiling at him. She’d been to his table three times now, and his coffee cup was still pretty full. She was young, probably no more than twenty-two. And more than likely a student. He’d seen her looking at him a couple of times, and he’d felt nothing. Not even a twinge of excitement or a flutter of desire. “No thanks. I don’t want any more coffee.”

She gave him a sexy look...or at least she tried to. “Would you like anything else, then?”

He didn’t have to ask, Anything like what? “No thanks. I’m good.”

“Yes, I’ll just bet you are.” And then she walked off, deliberately sashaying her hips as she moved toward another table.

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

Quasar quickly switched his gaze from the waitress to the woman standing beside his table. He couldn’t keep his eyes from dragging all over her before staring into the most gorgeous pair of brown eyes he’d ever seen. Up close they were lighter than he’d thought they were. “No, you’re not interrupting anything,” he said, standing.

He liked everything he saw. Smooth, creamy, cocoa-colored skin; high, perfectly sculpted cheekbones; a cute nose; a pair of lush lips and pretty ears with dangling gold earrings. He thought she was gorgeous. Irresistibly hot.

And there was no way he could overlook the thickness of the black hair spilling to her shoulders and framing her face in such a sassy and sexy way. He could imagine her raking her fingers through it or pushing it back off her face. She was wearing a yellow print sundress with spaghetti straps that highlighted beautiful shoulders. And he couldn’t help noticing she had a gorgeous pair of legs. She managed to look both graceful and sensual at the same time.

He extended his hand to her. “Randi.”

She took it. “Quasar.”

Why did his name sound so damn sexy on her lips? And why were they standing there holding hands while something akin to hard-core sexual chemistry flowed between them?

“I hope I’m not late,” she said, finally easing her hand from his.

“Not at all,” he said, sitting back down after she’d taken her seat. “What would you like to drink? Coffee? Tea? Juice?”

“Tea will be fine.”

“Anything else?” he asked, handing her the menu.

“What do you suggest?” she asked, placing it aside and looking over at him.

Quasar focused his gaze on her too-luscious lips and thought he honestly didn’t want to go there. The first thing he would suggest was for them to go back to his hotel room. He could visualize her naked and stretched across his bed while he kissed her all over. He would see if all that creamy cocoa-colored skin was as sweet as it looked. Deciding not to let erotic thoughts get the best of him, he said, “They have delicious pancakes here.”

“Then that’s what I’ll have with my tea.”

“Okay.” He motioned for the waitress, who, unlike all those other instances, seemed to take her time coming to his table. He gave her their order and was glad when she finally left. He liked being alone with Randi. Although there were people sitting at other tables, it seemed as if she was the only one in his little corner of the world.

He knew how dangerous getting this caught up in a woman was, but he brushed the concern aside. He was a man and she was a woman, and the strong attraction between them was nothing more than a normal aspect of human sexuality, right? Even she’d alluded to that. However, he couldn’t shake the idea that the chemistry between them was way too explosive, and there had to be more to it. Randi Fuller was too deeply embedded in his system, and for the life of him, he didn’t know how she got there.

Or how long she would stay.

Other than dealing with an annoying ache in certain places, though, he had nothing to worry about thanks to Lilly Alpine, the woman he’d planned to marry. She’d known the reason he’d gone to prison and had promised to wait for him. She hadn’t. Instead she’d married the person he’d gone to prison to protect. His brother, Doyle. Because of Lilly’s betrayal, Quasar would never share his heart with another woman. So whatever this thing was with Randi, he was fine with it since he wasn’t doing anything foolish like putting his heart on the line again.

He felt his stomach clench when she nervously licked her lips. “Thanks for agreeing to join me for breakfast, Randi. Did you enjoy the gala last night?”

“I did. There was a large crowd.”

“Yes, there was,” he said, leaning back in his chair.

“What about you? I know you were working, but I hope you managed to enjoy some of it.”

“Yes, I did.”

Their gazes held, and he felt a tightening in his chest. He wished at some point he could be unaffected by her but had a feeling that wasn’t possible. Especially when his fingers were itching to run through all that hair on her head. He couldn’t help but be drawn to how it cascaded around her face.

“You did an outstanding job assisting law enforcement with the Erickson case,” he said. “I don’t want to think of what would have happened to Striker and Margo Connelly had we not gotten to the cabin when we did.”

“I’m glad I was able to assist. I got a call from Ms. Connelly thanking me personally, and I enjoyed our conversation. I understand she and Striker Jennings are seeing quite a lot of each other these days.”

Quasar chuckled. “Yes, they are.” There was no need to mention that he had a feeling a wedding would be in the works before the year was out.

“I could tell that night that you, Striker Jennings and Stonewall Courson are close friends. I watched you and Mr. Courson race into that burning house to help get Mr. Jennings and Ms. Connelly to safety.”

Quasar thought about the night and the fear racing down his spine that he and Stonewall would not be able to get Striker and Margo out alive. “The three of us are more than that. I consider them as close to me as brothers.” Then, deciding to be up front with her in case she didn’t know his history, he said, “We served time together in prison.”

He watched her features for some kind of shock. When that didn’t happen, he waited for the questions. They didn’t come, either. He could only assume that she’d known. Evidently her psychic powers were at work.

“Not sure if you’ve heard the federal government has completely taken over the Erickson case,” he said. “They’re determined to find out how he died while locked up at that federal prison. It’s still all a mystery.”

She nodded. “Yes, I heard that.”

“It seems the murderer covered his tracks well. So far there aren’t any leads.”