The Seduction Of Claudia Read Free Page A

high heels. She felt his well-toned body against hers, smelled him, that special Andrew-ness that always went straight to her head. She relaxed into the dance, deciding to stop fighting him and just enjoy the moment. He slid a hand up her back to her neck and gently pressed her head to his shoulder. She stiffened slightly, but relaxed as his hand stoked down her back again. When the dance was over, he took her back to where Fifi was at the bar, again surrounded by a group of people.
    "You guys looked hot!" Fifi said, in typical fashion. Claudia rolled her eyes and grabbed her martini, took a sip to compose herself. Andrew moved, his body forming a barrier between Claudia and Fifi's group. He sat on a barstool, drawing hers closer to him practically in the same motion, so that her knees were sandwiched between his legs before she knew what had happened. Claudia scowled at him, "Don't you know when to quit?"
    "Not when it comes to you. I don't know what you've done to me, but I'm smitten," he said half-jokingly, placing a hand over his heart.
    "Geez," she said rolling her eyes and taking a big gulp of her drink. "So, Andrew, what have you been up to?" she asked breezily. She figured she might as well talk to him since he was sitting there staring at her. His certainty, his arrogance, was disconcerting to her, but she'd be damned if she'd let him see it. She finished her drink in a gulp that gave lie to her apparent coolness and signaled for another.
    "Am I making you nervous?" Andrew asked, leaning closer to her.
    "No. Why do you ask?" Claudia replied nonchalantly, looking everywhere in the room but at him. Peter caught her eye from the dance floor and beckoned her to him. She shook her head and turned back to Andrew, eyebrows arched.
    "No reason. I spent the last two months in Eritrea, Africa," he responded to her earlier question. "As you know, there is spill over of the tribal unrest in Somalia and Ethiopia into Eritrea. I went there to document exactly how bad things are there. I sold my photographs and story to Time magazine."
    Claudia was taken off guard again because she'd assumed that, being a travel writer, he'd been in some glorious corner of the world enjoying a taste of the exotic with a view to bringing a piece of that back to the US with his stories and photos.
    "Oh. I'll be sure to pick up a copy when it comes out," Claudia said politely, but couldn't stop herself from blurting, "What are you doing here?"
    "My father is the founding partner of the firm. He and my mother like for me to be at these things when I'm in town. A small thing for me to do since I refused to go into the family business, I figure."
    "Ah, ever the obliging son," Claudia sniped.
    "Why can't you stop being so judgmental?" Andrew asked, annoyance plain in his voice.
    "Because I've done this with you before. That's why," Claudia said flatly. "You wouldn't let there be a this between us!"
    "Ugh," she said, disgustedly, "I don't want to argue with you, Andrew. There's no point, is there? We're not together anymore, what we had is in the past. You need to realize that." With that, she grabbed her drink, took a healthy sip. "Hmm, these are good!" she said, apropos of nothing.
    "Maybe you should take it a little easier on the Cosmos," Andrew warned. "Isn't this how you want me, a little tipsy, with lowered inhibitions?" Claudia cooed tauntingly, batting her lashes and leaning forward into him, resting one hand on his thigh. She had a split second to notice how muscular his leg was under her hand before he kissed her. She was too stunned to react at first, then opened her mouth in shock. Andrew seized the opportunity gratefully and slid his tongue into her mouth to taste her. Claudia sank into the kiss for a long heart-stopping moment, then regained her senses and abruptly pulled away from him. She felt flushed and hot, turned on and embarrassed at the same time, because she never engaged in public displays of affection. She reflexively reached for