The Seduction Game

“Seriously?” she hissed, hands now on her hips. “Will Thornton, the guy responsible for all the worry and stress in my life, is telling me to think about my health? Do you even know what the definition of ironic is?”

“I’m trying to be helpful.”

“No, you’re trying to be pushy and you can stop it right now, Thornton. I’ll push back.”

They were at the front of the line now and the server was grinning at them, obviously having overheard at least part of their conversation. Will grinned right back, the image of Kate’s hands on his chest lightening his mood by some degrees. Hell, the image of her hands anywhere was appealing, and again Will wondered just how much his desires were influencing his actions.

“Your order?” the server asked, gesturing to the two of them. “Whenever you’re ready, of course.”

“Two beers, two loaded tacos, and two loaded cheese and chorizo quesadillas,” Will said quickly before Kate could get in there with her own tiny order. “Plus some refried beans, some guacamole, and a side of fries.”

“Anything else?”

They both looked at Kate. She was busy pushing her huge glasses up the bridge of her nose—a gesture Will was beginning to find oddly appealing. She was also smiling in a way that was far too sweet for him to feel comfortable with.

“Kate?” he asked. “Did you want anything else?”

“I haven’t even ordered yet,” she said, that same smile on her lips.

“I did.”

“I know,” she chirped. “And I mean wow, two of everything, just for you? You’re a big man, Thornton.”

And though Will knew it was stepping well outside of the boundaries in every possible way, and in no way at all what she meant, he said exactly what was on the tip of his tongue with a damn-the-consequences feeling running through his entire body. “In more ways than one, Kate.”

As a way to wipe the smile off her face, it worked wonders. She went bright red and her eyes widened until they were nearly as huge as the glasses she wore. As a way to press his case? Well, only time would tell.





Chapter Five


Kate sat herself down on the wooden bench with a bit more force than was necessary. Not a good idea in itself as the wood was in no way smooth, and she suspected that when she stood up there’d be a splinter or two sticking out of her ass. She shifted, placed her drink and overloaded plate on the table, and grabbed one of the napkins, which she then flicked out before laying it across her knees.

She felt, rather than saw, Will sit opposite her, his weight making the all-in-one picnic table dip a little. Despite the fact she was on the very edge of the bench, Kate resolved not to slide along the wood and risk not only splinters, but Will’s laughing gaze. Instead, she stayed perched where she was, the delicious smells of the chorizo and cheese filling her nose.

“Eat up,” Will said and though Kate wanted to shoot him a look that vowed revenge, she didn’t dare. Her face was still bright red. She knew it. Flushing and feeling about as cool as Clearasil seemed to be the order of the day where Will Thornton was concerned. He was just so pushy. So infuriating. And so…attractive.

In more ways than one…

Embarrassment hit all over again as his words echoed through her mind and Kate took a long swig of beer. Innocent she might be, but she knew full well what he meant, and understood why it was making her so nervous. Ridiculous. She wasn’t living in the eighteenth century, for frak’s sake. She’d seen a penis. Meg had actually composed a slide show one time and had given Kate the rundown on what was deemed acceptable and what wasn’t, in that particular organ. She suspected, though she had no idea why, that Will would fall into the above-acceptable category and she had to clench her fists in her lap to deal with that idea.

“Everything okay, Kate?”

Not wanting to give him the satisfaction of seeing that his words had affected her in a super weird way, Kate scooped up a taco and pasted a smile on her face. “Of course everything is okay, why wouldn’t it be? These look delicious.”

He mirrored her action with a slight smile and shake of his head, and Kate watched, sort of mute, as he took a huge bite of his own taco, then licked chili sauce off his lips. “That they are.”

He has very attractive lips. The thought came out of nowhere and Kate almost groaned. Unacceptable! How would Seven of Nine behave in this situation? Certainly not like this.

She tore her gaze away from Will’s smiling lips and lowered her head, concentrating on eating to the exclusion of everything else. Silence reigned as they both tucked into the food in front of them. Every so often Kate could feel Will’s gaze on her but she determinedly ignored it and downed the taco, followed by beer, followed by taco, followed by beer. Ten minutes or so later and she was near full to bursting—another of her habits was chugging food down as fast as possible lest it make its escape.

“More beer?” she finally heard Will ask.

“Are you having some?”

He shook his head. “No, I’m driving. One is my limit. I’m gonna grab a Coke.”

“I’ll have some water, please.”

While he was gone, Kate wiped her hands and lips with the napkin and edged carefully across the bench until she was sitting comfortably in the middle. She could hear intermittent guitar notes from a table across the way, laughter from all around, and conversations in about four different languages. And if that—the atmosphere—wasn’t enough in itself, the food was amazing. There was no getting round that fact. How had she not known about this place? Well, no matter. She would bring Meg next week. A treat for her long-suffering worker and very bestest friend.

“Here you go.”

Will set the icy water in front of her. At the sight of it, Kate became aware that her throat was abruptly, and oddly, dry. It had to be due to the heat. It was certainly not due to him.

Yeah, you tell yourself that.

Ignoring the knot of panic that was lodged in her chest, Kate reached out to take a drink. But, to her shock, and her absolute horror, Will sat down right next to her! And she was in the middle of the seat, meaning there was not a lot of room for him to actually sit. His thigh met hers, his arm not more than an inch or so from her shoulder.

Kate’s stomach flipped. Hard.

Her heart thudded. Harder.

All the good feelings she’d just experienced disappeared to be replaced by an acute and searing embarrassment.

“What are you doing?” she squeaked.

“Huh?” Will looked about as innocent as a snake as he pulled his plate across the table and carried on eating. “What do you mean?”

“Sitting here. On my side.”

“Oh.” He paused to swallow whatever was in his mouth. “You didn’t shift across to make room for me?”

“You know full well I did not.”

He grinned. “I can move if you want.”

“Yes I do.”

“But why?”

Why? Kate gaped at him. Was he really so stupid that he didn’t get why she didn’t want him sitting next to her? That he was the enemy, that she hated him? And worse, the scent he was wearing was competing with the chorizo and cheese for prominence, tickling her nose and making her feel all sorts of dizzy. Kate swallowed desperately to try and get a grip.

“Because I—” She halted, trying to work through her crazy thoughts, only to realize that it wasn’t just the fact that he was the enemy. And, of course, he didn’t get it because he had no way of knowing that she was swooning like a teenager. The shame.