Seven Day Seduction by Emma Shortt Read Free Book Online Page A

was, well, she was simply Louise.
Jude was sure that he would have reacted to her regardless of how
she looked, or how she acted. Hell, he was reacting despite the
fact she wore a fucking ring on her finger. It was inescapable, and
the moment they halted at their table Jude was seized with a desire
to undo her hair, almost to prove a point to himself.
    “I’ll be over with your drink menus in a
moment,” the server said.
    Jude nodded as he held out Louise’s seat.
His fingers itched to unclip her bun as she sat down, but he held
off. Maybe the perfect time to see those honey colored waves would
be when she rode him? He could easily imagine her pumping up and
down on his length, her hair tickling his chest as she sheathed him
over and over…
    “Thank you.”
    Jude took his own seat and poured them both
a glass of water. Louise looked at him, then away, and then back
again. She reached out to take the glass but almost knocked it
over. Jude steadied it, and nudged it across.
    “Sorry,” she whispered.
    He gave her a reassuring smile. “It’s fine,
spill as much water as you want.”
    “The owners might have something to say
about that.”
    “I’ll deal with them.”
    “I imagine you deal with people often,” she
said softly.
    “I like things how I like them,” Jude said
without apology. “So, yes, it is necessary, but it doesn’t mean I’m
not fair. I never take advantage of anyone or deliberately hurt
them.”
    “Unless they’re standing in your way. I bet
things would be different then. Because you always try and get your
own way, don’t you, in the end?”
    It was a question in a question, but Jude
saw little point in answering it. They both knew what he would say.
Instead he chose a completely different topic, something designed
to make her relax, to let her guard down just a little.
    “Tell me about the work you’ve done.”
    ***
    By the time their dessert arrived Louise had
completely run out of things to say about the job. She’d stretched
the conversation as far as possible, all in an effort to avoid
talking about whatever it was Jude had really brought her out
for.
    She could see it in his eyes—those very ones
she tried so hard to avoid—and in his lazy grin, telling her quite
clearly that he knew exactly what she was up to, and would humor
her for a little while longer. But it couldn’t last, and when the
server placed their food down on the table, gave Jude a wistful
kind of look, before disappearing, he finally switched the
conversation.
    The switch was not what she had
expected.
    “So tell me about him.”
    “Who?” she asked, though Louise knew exactly
who Jude meant, and was merely stalling for time.
    “The boyfriend,” Jude grated.
    “Fiancée you mean.”
    He shrugged. “He’ll be an ex soon
enough.”
    “I wish you wouldn’t say things like
that.”
    He smiled and picked up his spoon. “Because
you like the way they sound?”
    “Because they’re preposterous,” Louise
replied, not liking how shaky her voice sounded.
    “Because you’re scared.”
    “Jude, stop!”
    He tilted his head and gave her a look she
couldn’t quite decipher. “Talk and I will.”
    “Fine, William is….”Louise paused, unsure
how to go on.
    “He’s what?” Jude prompted.
    “Very nice,” she hissed. “Sweet, Caring.
Understanding.”
    “Boring.”
    “Jude…”
    “How did you meet?”
    “At work. We met at work,” Louise said, her
mind skipping back to that time. She’d known William for well over
a year, ever since she joined PSO. He’d trained her, shown her the
ropes in the new job, and a few months later they’d started dating.
Louise hadn’t actually seen him that way at first, maybe because
he’d been so studious and thoughtful with her training. She’d
almost begun to think of him as a teacher, or an older brother, not
as a boyfriend at any rate.
    When he approached her and asked her out to
dinner she hadn’t known what to say. But she remembered all the
times