Intimate Seduction by Brenda Jackson Read Free Book Online

is Donovan.”
    Immediately, her heart began pounding, and even though she didn’t want it to, her body began heating up, similar to the way it had yesterday. The man had such a sexy voice.
    “Hello.”
    At the sound of that voice again, she suddenly realized that she had not responded to his first greeting and quickly said, “Yes, Mr. Steele, this is Natalie Ford from Special Touch Housekeeping Agency.”
    “Yes, Natalie, what can I do for you?”
    His words flowed across her body like a stroke of some explosive fluid to a simmering brushfire. She’d never concentrated on the sound of a masculine voice before, especially not to this degree. And the sound of one had definitely never even come close to giving her a sexual thrill. For her to come this unglued meant she had gone without male company too long. What had it been now? Five years?
    “Natalie?”
    She sighed and pushed a lock of hair back from her face while trying to ignore the way he said her name. His sensuous tone stroked something within her that so far no man ever had stroked fully before.
    Passion.
    While growing up she’d known about her mother’s wild and reckless ways, and had gone through life determined not to make the same mistakes Lorene Ford had made when it came to men. As a teen, instead of letting the pursuit of boys occupy most of her time, Natalie had found solace in her books.
    And when she’d gone off to college, being younger than the other students had been challenging. That’s when she had met Karl Gaines. Like her, he had been totally absorbed in his books…or so she had thought. She had found out the hard way that he’d been just ascunning, controlling and manipulating as he’d been brilliant.
    And he had been cruel. He had eroded her confidence as a woman and her ability as a mate to keep the man she loved satisfied sexually. He hadn’t minced words when he’d talked about her lovemaking abilities, or lack of them.
    Even with the disappointment of that brief affair with Karl, Natalie truly believed that somewhere deep inside of her an intense amount of stored-up fire was just waiting to be released. But she was determined to keep it under lock and key, although a part of her yearned to set it free.
    “Yes, Mr. Steele,” she finally said, determined to keep things on a professional level between them. “I’m calling to let you know that Special Touch will be able to accommodate your request to have one of our employees—”
    “One of your employees?” he cut in sharply to ask.
    Natalie knew why he’d done so and modified her words. “ I will be there every Friday, and when my aunt gets back on her feet, she will resume her duties as your personal housekeeper.”
    There. She hoped he was satisfied. She shifted, uncomfortable in her chair suddenly, feeling as if she’d just placed herself at his beck and call for six weeks. She shrugged off the idea, thinking that she would probably be in his home no more than two to three hours each week.
    “That sounds better, Natalie. A whole lot better. Thanks for calling to inform me of the change. It says a lot for your aunt’s agency to try and work with her clients this way.”
    Natalie rolled her eyes. “We aim to please,” she said tartly and immediately saw the error in doing so when he replied.
    “Aim to please? Um, that’s good to know. Goodbye, Natalie.”
    “Goodbye, Mr. Steele.”
    Natalie hung up the phone thinking at least she had gotten through the conversation relatively unscathed and not feeling as if she’d been stripped naked. But for some reason she had been left with the impression that she wouldn’t be so lucky the next time around.
     
    Donovan leaned back in his chair after ending his call with Natalie. It somewhat amused him that she still refused to call him by his first name: but all that would definitely change after they shared their first kiss. After that, not only would she say his name but she would be purring it.
    He closed his eyes to