Mr. Scandalous, page 3
“What if he has an itty-bitty penis?”
“It’s the motion of the ocean that counts, baby. All that matters is that he rocks your boat.”
Jayne giggled. “You two are so funny.”
“Okay,” Eden said, growing serious as she risked expressing the real fears piling up inside her. “What if he thinks I’m a lousy lay?”
“Ooh,” Jayne said. “I can help you with that one. If there’s ever anything you want to know about driving a man wild in bed. I’m your go-to gal. Call me anytime.”
Ashley spread her palms. “There you are. Problems solved.”
Eden gulped. “All right, smarty-pants. Here’s the biggie. Worst-case scenario. What if he’s repulsed by my burn scars, can’t get it up when he sees me naked?”
Undaunted, Ashley jutted out her chin and challenged, “Best-case scenario. He thinks you are beautiful no matter your scars and your crazy worst-case-scenario voice. He’s a great kisser with minty breath and he’s got a gigantic penis. You have splendid sex and get your creativity back. Business booms, you fall madly in love, get married, buy a house in Connecticut, have three kids, two cats and a Pomeranian named Kibble and forty-five years from now you’re still playing Tarzan and Jane with each other just like Mr. and Mrs. Lockerbie.”
Eden sucked in her breath. Did she dare to dream that dream? Was she brave enough to take a step toward claiming her sexuality?
Do it. Take a chance. What have you got to lose?
What indeed?
She’d been holding herself in reserve for too long. By not taking risks, she’d closed herself off to her creative wellspring. She needed more intimacy, not only with her work, but with her body as well.
She glanced at the basket in the window, the one completely lacking in pizzazz.
That boring basket made her decision for her. If she wanted to get her inspiration back she had to take charge and move toward her goals.
She was going to lunch with Alec Ramsey. How else would she ever discover if those sparks between them would come to nothing or might lead to something wickedly wonderful?
The next morning, excited about his upcoming date with Eden, Alec prowled the hallways of his West Chelsea offices. His exuberant edginess, as it so often did, spilled over onto his employees.
He was walking fast and talking faster, sorting through focus-group data, sending his content creators back to the drawing board for a brand launch that had fizzled, confabbing with his assistant Holden about upcoming appointments.
Everyone took their cues from Alec’s go-go-go energy. They were keyed up and working at a frantic pace.
Everyone, that is, except taciturn Holden, who remained calm no matter what was happening around him.
The young man’s unruffled aplomb was the reason Alec had hired him. He needed an assistant who balanced Alec’s high-octane traits. Holden kept him grounded when Alec might have otherwise gotten off track following his quicksilver mind wherever it chose to flow.
“Reschedule my one-o’clock workout with Randy,” Alec told Holden. “Something’s come up.”
Holden, who at twenty-two was more efficient than many executive assistants twice his age, swiftly made a notation in his cell phone. “Oh, and by the way, your uncle is in your office.”
“Mac?” Alec broke into a grin. “He’s back from Fiji?”
Holden nodded. “Helping himself to your twenty-year-old Scotch, I might add.”
“He can help himself to anything he wants. I am what I am today because of Uncle Mac.”
“I’ll restock.”
Alec pushed into his office to find his tanned, lean-muscled uncle sitting cocked back in the plush leather chair that had once belonged to him.
Mac looked a little tired, however, that is until he flashed Alec a row of straight white teeth and raised his tumbler of Scotch in a salute.
“You old dog!” Alec exclaimed, slipping around the desk to embrace Mac in a bear hug as he rose to his feet. “You’re back early!”
“There’s only so much of those warm tropical breezes and sultry island girls a man can take.”
“Yeah, right.”
Mac set his glass down and feigned a boxing move. Alec feigned in return. They embraced again, slapping each other on the back.
His father’s younger brother had never been married and never aspired to live a conventional life. He was the consummate free-spirit and Alec’s mentor, teaching him everything he knew both about business, commerce and marketing. For forty-nine years Mac had lived the very life he extolled—rich, single, jet setting.
“So,” Mac said. “Meet any interesting women while I was gone?”
“Nope, no one.” Alec shook his head. Without understanding why, he didn’t want to tell Mac about Eden. Besides, there wasn’t much to tell.
Yet.
Mac wagged his head. “Boy, you’ll never live up to my reputation if you keep spending so much time on the sidelines.”
“You’re a legend, Uncle Mac, there’s no living up to you.”
His uncle laughed, but the jocularity seemed forced, and Alec wondered if something was wrong. “Well, you might not have my charisma, but you’ve got the soft soap down pat.”
“Thanks,” Alec said, although he wasn’t sure that was a compliment.
“By the way.” Mac waggled his cell phone. “While I was waiting on you I checked out your
latest YouTube episode, All Women Are Goddesses. He hooted. “You really believe that?”
“Yes. Don’t you?”
Alec did believe women were goddesses. Nothing fascinated him more than the fairer sex. He loved the smell of them, their softness, the way their minds worked.
Chalk it up to having four sisters. Fact was, he adored the women. Tall ones, short ones, plump ones, thin ones. He made no discrimination. That’s why he couldn’t settle for just one. There were simply too many wonderful ladies walking the face of the earth.
“All women are goddesses?” Mac arched an eyebrow.
“All women,” Alec said firmly.
“Even the...”
“Don’t go there.” Alec shook his head.
“Your Eagle Scout ethics are showing, but I’m betting that video gets you laid ten times over.”
“That wasn’t the point of the recording. I made it in response to comments from my some of my subbies, who are under the impression that women exist solely for their pleasure. I had to set the record straight. I might advocate the single life, but under no circumstances do I condone taking advantage of anyone.”
Mac’s eyes bugged. “Hell, then what’s the point of Sex and The Single Guy? You might as well get married along with your buddy Randy.”
Alec frowned. He’d never really noticed before how crude Mac could be. Alec studied his uncle. Something was going on.
“You know how I feel about marriage, but just because marriage is not for me, doesn’t mean it gives me the right to put down those who choose another path. This isn’t the 1980s.”
“Just remember the last thing you want is to end up straitjacketed in suburbia, working two jobs to support five kids, only to die of a heart attack way before your time and never getting to enjoy life,” Uncle Mac said, referring to Alec’s dad.
“That won’t happen to me.”
“Because I made it my mission in life to save you from my brother’s fate. Thank God, I succeeded. Can you imagine yourself living in Connecticut and trotting home on the train to your sweet little wifey who’ll give you nooky twice a month with the lights off if you’re lucky, three rug-rats with attention deficit disorder, two neurotic cats and a dog who won’t quit peeing on the carpet.”
“Uncle Mac, are you okay?” Alec shifted his weight uncomfortably. This wasn’t the live-and-let-live uncle he adored, and he didn’t want to have this conversation.
What he wanted was to make reservations for his lunch with Eden. He could have gotten Holden to make the arrangements, but for some odd reason Alec had wanted to handle it himself. He glanced at his Rolex.
“I’m fine, why?”
“You seem…” Alec studied his uncle. “Angry.”
“Me? No, no. Just jet-lagged.”
“You sure?”
“Listen, I won’t keep you,” Mac said. ‘I just dropped by to invite you to dinner with Sophie and me.”
“Which one is she again?”
“You remember Sophie. I’ve dated her on and off for fifteen years. Leggy redhead, Southern accent, killer rack.”
“Now, now,” Alec chided. “No objectifying women. We’re over twenty years into a new millennia.”
Mac shook his head. “Good thing I retired when I did. I can’t keep up with all these new rules. Oh, by the way, Sophie’s got a date all lined up for you.”
Alec winced. “Listen, Mac, I don’t know about a blind date.”
“Shh. You’ve build a titan brand with Sex and The Single Guy. You’ve got a reputation to uphold and, seeing as how your partner has decided to up and get married, the mantle of bachelorhood rests on your shoulders. You gotta show the world you’re all about fun, fun, fun. Besides, Sophie says her friend used to be a circus acrobat.” Mac winked. “Bet you never dated one of those.”
“You got me there.”
“I’ll send a car around at six. We’re going to see Moulin Rouge after dinner at Kim Sum’s. My treat”
Alec didn’t want to go on a blind date, but he hadn’t seen Mac in three months. It was the least he could do for the uncle who’d done so much for him.
“Sure. Okay. See you tonight.”
The minute the door closed behind Mac, Alec plopped into his chair and reached for his cell phone. Circus acrobat be damned. He had a sexy, erotic gift-basket designer on the hook, and he was determined to see where that might lead.
Alec made reservations at an intimate restaurant on Forty-fourth Street that was way overpriced for lunch, but what the hell? What was the point of having money if you couldn’t use it to spoil a special lady? He was definitely looking to impress her.
Eden represented the kind of naughty, no-strings-attached relationship he’d been searching for since Randy had announced his engagement. Showing a willing woman an exciting time would remind him exactly how good it was to be single, footloose and fancy-free.
He requested the restaurant’s most expensive bottle of champagne, asked them to have it on ice and then called his florist to order a small bouquet of flowers.
Alec planned on laying his cards on the table, giving Eden the full court press. He wanted her to know exactly what was on his mind—that he was very attracted to her, and wanted to spend time with her, but making it clear that he wasn’t the marrying kind. If Eden was up for fun and games, then Alec would deliver.
In living color.
Alec didn’t want to waste either of their time with silly mind games, nor did he want her to get hurt. If his initial impression of her had been wrong and she wasn’t all about adventure, then he needed to know that now.
Because ever since their electric meeting yesterday afternoon, Alec had only one goal on his mind.
Seducing Eden Montgomery.
Chapter Four
“You were right,” Jayne Lockerbie told Sarah Ramsey Armstrong. “Alec and Eden are perfect together. Sparks flew the minute they laid eyes on each other.”
Sarah pushed a strand of sleek blond hair behind one multi-pierced ear and grinned over the top of her cubicle at her co-worker. They were both financial analysts for Howard and Nussbaum Investments, although Jayne only worked part-time.
“When you gave Zach and me that erotic gift basket for a wedding present I knew whoever had created it was exactly the kind of woman Alec needed. Earthy, grounded, intelligent and yet incredibly sensual. And when you told me Eden was single, well, the matchmaker in me went nuts.”
“That’s Eden to a tee—even if she doesn’t yet have the self-confidence to realize her feminine power. But with our help, she will.” Jayne grinned.
“Yes! Enough with the glossy airheads already. Alec goes for shallow women because they’re not a threat. My brother needs someone who’ll challenge him both inside the bedroom and out, whether he knows it or not.” Sarah clapped. “Making this match is going to be such fun.”
“Are you sure Alec is ready to settle down?” Jayne frowned. “I care about Eden, and I don’t want to see her hurt. She’s vulnerable, especially since the fire. I think the last guy she dated really did a number on her ego.”
“Relax. My little brother’s got his faults, but he’s not a heartbreaker.”
“But he promotes a brand that worships the merits of bachelorhood over marriage, and he has dated a lot of women. In all the pictures I’ve found of him on the internet, he’s never with the same woman twice.”
Sarah waved a dismissive hand. “A lot of what you see is P.R. for staying on brand. Alec doesn’t treat women frivolously and he hasn’t had nearly as many girlfriends as he likes everyone to believe.”
“Really?”
“Now, he wouldn’t admit it if you tortured him, but I’ve seen the wistful way he looks at Randy and Jill and me and Zach. No matter how much he protests, he’s just not built like Uncle Mac. Sooner or later he’ll realize what he’s missing by clinging to his silly belief that love, and marriage mean the death of fun and adventure. And I think your Eden is just the woman to teach him how to face his fears. He’s going to love monogamy once he gets a taste of it.”
“How do you know?”
Sarah held out her left hand and admired the big diamond sparkling there. “Until I met Zach, I was afraid of commitment, too. We Ramseys are a stubborn bunch, but when we do fall in love, we’re in it for the long haul.”
“I remember.” Jayne laughed. “I kept trying to tell you what a wonderful thing a good marriage is.”
“Call me a slow learner. Let’s hope Alec realizes sooner than I did that there’s nothing more profound than building an intimate life with someone who always has your back no matter what. Not to mention that it’s hot, hot, hot.”
“The sexual chemistry between those two was unmistakable,” Jayne said. “I thought Eden’s boutique was going to spontaneously combust.”
“All they needed was a push in the right direction.” Sarah nodded. “They’ll thank us in the end.”
“I’ll call Eden after she comes back from their luncheon and see how things went.”
“I’ll keep you posted on what Alec says.”
The two women grinned at each other, and Sarah started humming the matchmaker song from Fiddler on the Roof.
Would lightning strike twice? Or had yesterday simply been a fluke?
Biting her bottom lip, Eden changed from her Nikes in the ground-floor ladies’ room in Alec’s West Chelsea office building and slipped into the pair of four-inch Jimmy Choo ebony sling-backs Jayne had loaned her.
Was Alec Ramsey really the man she wanted as a sex mentor?
That was the question she was here to answer.
In the meantime, she had caved and conceded to Ashley and Jayne’s suggestion that she vamp out, although she couldn’t shake the feeling she was leading Alec on, acting like an experienced, sexually confident woman when she was anything but.
“Act the part,” Ashley had said and then insisted Eden borrow her skintight black leather skirt that was long enough to hide Eden’s burn scars but short enough to generate plenty of head-turning interest.
On the subway ride over she’d gotten several appreciative stares at her legs.
“Perceiving, behaving, becoming.” Jayne had imparted her wisdom along with the Jimmy Choo’s, and a pair of dynamite black fishnet stockings with sparkly rhinestones sewn into the seam.
But what had finally convinced her to give Alec a chance was the latest upload on his Sex and Single Guy social media platform. The way Alec advocated responsible sex and described woman as goddesses, impressed her. As an influencer aimed at bachelors, he might be commitment shy, but watching the recording clued her in that Alec definitely knew his way around the female body.
And that was exactly what she needed. A temporary tryst with a considerate, educated man who wouldn’t head for the hills when he discovered her secret.
Eden peered at herself in the bathroom mirror, startled by how unruly she appeared. She ran a hand through her rowdy curls to tame them. The humid weather played havoc with her hair, giving her a just-tumbled-out-of-bed, beach-waves look. Her lipstick was too red, her mascara too thickly applied.
Rocker chick glam.
She felt restless and reckless and edgy, and those alien feelings scared her. She wished she’d had the courage to explore her sexuality more fully before the fire, before she had the scars to contend with, but she’d been too chicken. Frightened of catching a communicable disease or of ending up like her mother or of getting her heart broken.
Or all three.
Which was why she was in the situation she was in. Sexually frustrated and her creativity stagnant. Dare she hope that Alec Ramsey held the key to her liberation?
She glanced at her watch. Five minutes to one.
“Show time,” she whispered to her reflection, slipped her sneakers into her tote bag, took a deep breath and headed for the fourteenth floor.
Controlled chaos greeted her when she stepped off the elevator and pushed through the double glass doors with Sex and Single Guy logo etched into the panels in bold, masculine font.
Phones rang incessantly. People hurried to and fro, squeezing past each other in the narrow corridor at the same time someone was holding an impromptu sales meeting right there at the central credenza.
The walls were bright and splashy, featuring advertisers’ posters hawking everything from imported liquor to expensive automobiles to the trendiest menswear fashions.
Copies of Alec’s runaway bestselling book, The Sublime Art of Seduction, were stacked everywhere. Executive toys rested on computers and desktops. Daring alternative rock music blared from a high-tech sound system and a help-yourself popcorn machine filled the air with the scent of freshly popped, buttered popcorn.
