InstructionbySeduction Read Free Page A

apartment went
completely unnoticed. The man opened her refrigerator and said, “Do you have
any import beer in here?”
    “Top shelf, right-hand side.” Leah said, still reeling. The
stranger reached in and grabbed a Smithwick’s.
    “That’s exactly where I would have put it,” he said. “You
going to close that door? It’s colder than a penguin on ice cream out there.”
    Leah closed the door and turned the deadbolt out of habit.
She was half expecting the man to be gone when she turned back but instead he
was rummaging through the utensil drawer. He pulled out a bottle opener and
cracked open the beer.
    “Okay, what’s going on?” Leah walked toward the kitchen, her
brain beginning to thaw. “Who are you and why are you drinking my beer?”
    The man took a long pull on the beer and set it down on the
kitchen counter. He turned back to her, crossed his arms and leaned against the
counter.
    “I’m Hale. And I’m drinking your beer because I prefer
imports over domestics.”
    “What a coincidence, me too. Now why are you in my
apartment?”
    Hale’s eyes met hers in a very knowing but serious look.
    “You asked for me. I can make your dreams come true.”
    The room spun around Leah. Box makes dreams come true .
She thought of the open box in her bedroom. Open, not closed. You can’t open
the box . Again desire pulsed through her and she closed her eyes. Wrong!
No! Go away!
    “You’re not going to pass out, are you?” Hale asked. “I hope
not. I prefer people conscious.”
    Leah shook her head. The improbability of it all—no, the
impossibility…
    “It’s not impossible. Don’t you think that everything is a
choice?”
    Leah nodded.
    “Then can’t you choose to make something happen?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “That’s the problem. That’s what I’m here to help you with.”
    Hale picked up the beer and took another drink, then handed
the bottle to Leah. She raised it to her lips without thinking and took a long
pull. It was slick and sweet where Hale had drunk from it. So sweet and
intoxicating…
    Ignoring every sense of propriety she knew, Leah licked
around the tip of the bottle to gather up every bit of what he’d left on it.
When she looked up at him he didn’t look shocked or amused. Instead he just
looked at her like it was something that he would have done.
    “So like I said, I’m here to help you with your problems.
Starting with this one.” Hale pushed away from the counter and began tugging
off his tie. He tossed it over a chair that was haphazardly pulled away from
the table. Then he began to unbutton his shirt.
    “What are you doing?” Leah squeaked.
    “It’s hard to do this wearing clothes. I’ve tried and was
unsuccessful.”
    “Stop!” She squealed as he pulled his shirt out of his dress
pants to finish unbuttoning.
    “Do you really want me to?”
    Leah paused. She really didn’t. From the moment the bizarre,
beautiful stranger breezed through her door like the January Kansas wind she’d
wanted nothing more than for him to take off that fabulous suit. But dare she
say it? Dare she say what she wanted? Would she be prepared for what followed
if she did?
    “I don’t know what I want,” she whispered.
    “And therein lies your problem.” Hale continued to unbutton
his shirt. He let it fall open, exposing a perfectly hairless, chiseled chest.
“What is it that you’re afraid of?”
    “Maybe I’m afraid of getting what I want.”
    “Now we’re getting somewhere.”
    Hale slid out of his black jacket and deposited it on the
same chair that held his tie. He turned back to Leah and put his hands on her
shoulders. His touch was amazingly warm, even after being out in the cold and
handling the beer straight out of the fridge. It sent hot shivers through
Leah’s body and sent her hormones spinning. She closed her eyes.
    Soft pressure moved her in a semicircle, putting her back
toward the fridge. Her eyes still closed, Leah let Hale push her back until she
was