Seducing Zeb (Tarnished Saints Series) (11 page)

“No!” he shouted, causing her to pull away and look up to him. Her tongue shot out and licked her lips and
he almost burst just at the sight of it. “Get away from me,” he said softly, but she just smiled and came closer.

“Playing hard to get, Zeb? That rather turns me on.”

“I mean it,” he said, holding up one hand. “You can’t play your little games with me and think they are going to work.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Damn it, Cat, can’t you see you’re being no better than your mother?”

That got her attention. Her smile turned into a pout, but this time it wasn’t one of h
er sexy pouts, but one of frustration and aggravation.

“What are you trying to say, Zeb? That I’m nothing more than a whore?”

“I’m not saying that. I’m just saying that you can’t use your sex appeal to control me.”

“Control you? Is that what you think I’m doing?” She stood up and hopped over the edge of the tub, giving him a glorious view of everything that excited him and he wanted right now – and also everything he wasn’t going to get any
more tonight.

“Cat, come back. We need to talk.”

“I think you’ve done enough talking already.” She picked up his shirt from the floor and pulled it on, hiding her glorious naked body from his sight. “All I wanted was to make love to my husband, but now I see that you have no intention of truly making me your wife.”

“Don’t pull the guilt trip on me.” He hoisted himself out of the tub as well, sloshing water onto the tiled floor. “After all, you knew all along that we both had no intention of staying married yet you purposely tried to seduce me.”

She blinked once, and then twice, and he was ready for her to explode with angry shouts, but instead she kept her calm composure and just stared at him with those big brown eyes. “Believe me, that wasn’t seducing. After all, you were very willing and your body doesn’t lie. I think you have a lot to learn about women.”

“I think I know not only more about women but I know more about you than you know about yourself.”

“That’s not true.”

“It is, Cat. I know that you are a woman who has always got what she wanted by using her looks. If you weren’t sexy and beautiful and
always dressing so enticing, then I doubt you’d get anyone to do anything for you at all.”

“You have no idea what you’re saying. I don’t need to use my looks for anything.”
She crossed her arms defiantly over her chest as she spoke.

“Then prove it.”

“What do you mean?”

“For the next week
stop using your looks to control people, and if you can prove to me there is more to you than just what’s on the surface than maybe I’ll consider possibly stopping the annulment.”

“You bastard! Who said I wanted to stay married to you a
nyway?”

“Well, don’t you?”

“I may have before, but not anymore. And what about you? You act so high and mighty but you are no different than what you’re accusing me of doing.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”
Now it was his turn to cross his arms over his chest.

“It means that you use your looks
as well as your money to control people all the time.”

“I do not.”

“Yes, you do. Look around at this apartment,” she said splaying her arms outwards, which made the shirt she was wearing open wide, giving him a glimpse of what he’d almost had. “You like to impress people with not only your looks but also your wealth and your little toys. You wear expensive suits and jewelry. You drive a Mercedes convertible, and for God’s sake your condo even heeds to your every wish just by the command of your voice. That is, a female voice and you’ve named her!”

Zeb didn’t know how to answer that. It wasn’t the same. Not really. He’d worked hard for everything he
had, he didn’t lure it out of anyone with a smile and a flash of bare skin.

“After all, you may have paid for all this yourself, but
we both know that you did it from the money you earned stripping.”

“No, that’s not true,” he started to defend himself,
then realized that what she said did have merit. “I only paid for my schooling that way. The rest came from actual cases.”

“I see.” She raised her chin in
challenge. “So you just flash your bare skin, smile and grind your hips whenever you need to, but all that doesn’t count. I’ve got news for you, it’s no different than what you’re accusing me of doing.”

“So where do we go from here?” asked Zeb
seeing that neither of them was going to win this conversation.

“I’ll tell you what. I’ll agree to your stupid challenge, but only if you agree to do the same to prove to me that you’re not as shallow as I’m thinking you are right now.”

“I don’t have to prove anything.” He picked up his clothes from the patio and headed inside. He could hear the pitter-patter of her wet feet on the tiled floor as she followed him.

“You c
an’t do it, can you? Just what I thought,” she said with a laugh. “You are so full of yourself that you can’t even drop the ego or the glitz and glamour to look inside for a mere week.”

“I know what’s inside me, don’t you worry about that. I think you need to look inside yourself and see if all the prettiness is only on the outside.”

“Fine. I’ll do it. I’ve got nothing to hide. But only if you do it in return.”

“
Fine,” said Zeb, taking her up on the challenge, never being able to turn away when the gauntlet was dropped at his feet. “I’ll show you that I can get any woman I want or anything else for that matter without all the glitz and glamour as you call it.”

“T
hat means you can’t flash your money in expensive restaurants, or wear your Armani suits or any of your expensive jewelry either.”

“Oh really? Well, then it is only fair that
you can’t wear makeup, dress in sexy clothes that show your legs and cleavage, or use that little pout to get what you want.”

“I won’t have to. So is it a deal?” She reached out her hand to shake his.

He rubbed his hand over his hair realizing he didn’t want to give up all these things, but would do it for a week just to see her try to get by without using her looks. That alone was worth more than money could buy. And since this was only temporary and he was going to win anyway, none of it really mattered. He’d prove his point and then they’d go through with the annulment just like they’d planned.

“Sure,” he said, shaking her hand, and she gave him that seductive smile and a satisfied soft moan that sounded like and orgasm again. He pulled his hand away quickly. “You’re goin
g to need to stop that, Cat.”

“Stop what?” She batted her eyelashes.

“Stop the orgasmic moans, the pout of your lips and the batting of your eyes. You know, maybe we should just forget it, because I can see this is just a waste of time. You’re never going to do it.”

“Don’t you trust me?”

“No,” he said, looking at her out of the corner of his eye.

“You already shook on the deal. Just like a lawyer to lie and go back on his word.”

Now, because of that comment, he wanted to prove her wrong even more. She needed to know that not all lawyers were like her late father. “All right, we’ll do it. But I’m writing up a contract for you to sign and we’re going to have to have a third-party be the judge. That way they can keep an eye on you and your doings while I’m at work.”

“Whatever you say,” she said, then reached out and stretched and yawned, giving him full view of her alluring breasts. I’m going to bed, I’m tired.”

She headed for the bedroom and stopped and looked back at him. “Are you coming?”

Why did
she have to keep asking him that? He felt his groin stir every time she said it. He knew he couldn’t sleep in the same bed with her without wanting to do her. And if this whole contest to prove his point were ever going to work, then he’d have to nip her actions in the bud.

“I hope you don’t mind, bu
t I sleep in the nude,” she added with a wink and headed into the bedroom.

“Damn you, Cat,” he said under his breath, wondering
exactly how to word the contract that he was going to write up quickly.

Chapter 9

Cat woke to the sound of pounding, thinking at first it was just her head from drinking too much champagne last night. Then when it continued, she realized someone was at the door to the apartment. She got out of the big king-sized bed, still wearing Zeb’s shirt that she’d tossed on last night after she got out of the hot tub. She knew she’d had too much champagne, and embarrassment set in when she remembered exactly how she’d tried to seduce Zeb.

She looked around, wondering just where he was, then walked out into the living room and saw the pile of blankets and a pillow on the couch.

“Hello, anyone home?” came a voice from the other side of the door. Cat probably wouldn’t have answered it if she hadn’t recognized the voice as that of Zeb’s aunt, Penelope. Or as he called her – Aunt Cappy.

She buttoned up the shirt to hide her nakedness and pulled open the door.

“Oh, good, I was starting to wonder if you two were in the middle of making love.” Aunt Cappy motioned for the taxi driver to bring her luggage into the condo. Cat just stepped aside and half-hid behind the door as the taxi driver walked in and plopped down two suitcases and then went back and got two more. Aunt Cappy handed him some money and then closed the door.

“Well,” she said, her eyes scanning Cat. “Looks like I did interrupt something.”

“No, not at all,” said Cat, feeling her face starting to flush. “If you’re looking for Zeb, I’m not sure where he is. And how did you get in?”

“The door man let me in and told me where to find Zeb as soon as I explained I was his aunt.”

Just then, Zeb came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around him and using another one to dry his hair.

“Aunt Cappy,” he said in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, I’m glad I didn’t get her a few minutes earlier, or I might have seen a little more than I’d expected.” She barged into the room, looked at the pile of blankets on the couch, dipped her brows and then looked up to both of them. “Did someone sleep here last night?”

“I’m guessing it was Zeb,” said Cat, looking over to see the grimace on Zeb’s face. “Probably after he refused to come
into the bedroom with me.”

“Aunt
Cappy, now isn’t a good time. I’ve got court this morning and I’m already late,” growled Zeb picking up his Rolex from the coffee table and glancing at the time.

“Yo
u won’t be needing that,” said Cat, plucking it from his hand.

“Give it back, I don’t have time for games,” he said
, snatching it away from her. “And I only hope to hell I have a clean suit in the closet and a pressed shirt and tie.”

“Won’t be needing those either,” Cat said with a smile.

“Why not?” asked Aunt Cappy, making herself at home by plopping her carpetbag down on the couch and then dropping down her body next to it. She kicked off her shoes and put her feet up on the coffee table with a tired sigh.

“Zeb and I have made an agreement not to use our looks or anything flashy or showy to ge
t what we want for the next week.”

“
Hah! That’ll be good,” said Cappy. “But how do you know that each of you will stick to the bargain?”

“Aunt Cappy, you can’t s
tay here,” said Zeb, but the pushy woman just ignored him.

“Well,” Cat continued. “My lovely husband here doesn’t trust me so he’s writing up a contract for me to sign.”

“That’s absurd,” said Cappy, moving her feet off the table and turning around to look at them. “If anyone needs to sign a contract, it should be you, Zeb.”

“That’s a great idea.”
Cat smiled and nodded her head. “I hadn’t thought of that.”

“Now wait a moment, I’m not signin
g anything,” complained Zeb, as Cat sat down next to Cappy, excited to hear more about this idea.

“
Zeb also said we need someone to moderate and judge and make sure both of us stick to our bargain.” Then Cat had a wonderful idea. “Why don’t you do it, Aunt Cappy?”

“Oh, I suppose I could
,” said Cappy, scrunching her face for a second as she seemed to consider it. “Yes.” A huge smile crossed her face. “I’d love to do it.”

“Ok, then it’s settled,”
said Cat with a nod of the head.

“Now wait a moment,” Zeb protested. “I never said I agreed to this.”

“Who better than your aunt?” asked Cat. “Especially since she knows both of us.”

“I don’t have time for this,” said Zeb
, and stormed off toward the bedroom to get dressed.

* * *