Royal Seduction

The tension in her expression eased. “You’ll come right over?”

Riley assured her he would.

She plucked a file from the top of the small stack she carried and handed it to him. “Her name’s Catherine Houston. She’s twenty-six and in good health. She’s in conference room three. She’s due at the gym after her nutrition orientation. Oh, and you should probably know…” Faye paused long enough to pinch her bottom lip between her teeth. “I think she’s wealthy. Definitely upper crust. She purchased the whole line of vitamins, and some other supplements, too. And she bought several of the books we have for sale. She could be good for the clinic. So be nice to her.”

Riley’s mouth twisted. Rich, self-important people he could do without.

“Now, don’t look like that,” Faye chided. “It’s not like she’s arrogant or anything. Just the opposite, in fact. She’s really personable. Very nice. I like her. I just thought we should be nice—”

“We’re nice to everybody.”

A groan rumbled from the back of her throat and she frowned. “Oh, forget I said anything. You’re absolutely right.” She waved her free hand in the air. “I’m just trying to think of anything and everything that will help us overcome the mess that Dr. Richie left us in. This whole thing has got me inside out and I’m not thinking clearly.”

That was easy to believe. Her effusive remorse confirmed she was professional to the nth degree, and Riley knew that commenting on a client’s affluence was atypical for her. Obviously, the situation had her stressed to the max. It had everyone stressed.

“I wish Dr. Richie would show his face,” Faye muttered. “Sure would make my life easier.”

“Everything’s going to be okay,” he assured her. “Go on over to the hospital and I’ll get to the meeting just as soon as I can.”

Alone in his office, he stared at the plain manila file in his hand and stifled a sigh.

Definitely upper crust.

Great. Just what he needed. A pretentious little rich girl.

He knew the type. Women who thought they were above people like him. What made it all the worse was that he knew it was true.

Faye had been adamant that this woman was friendly, but that wouldn’t keep him from feeling second-rate. His mouth cocked cynically and he snatched up his lab coat.

Well, better to get the session over with, he thought, pulling the door of his office closed behind him and making his way down the hall.

The door of the conference room was open, but the shapely blonde had her back to the door so Riley tapped to get her attention. She swung around to greet him, her shoulder-length hair swinging, her lush, shiny lips smiling to reveal two rows of perfect, pearly teeth. Her flawless skin glowed. And he imagined the silky feel of it beneath his fingertips.

Something strange twanged in his gut. The muscles there went tight as a knot. And his throat… It went so dry he felt as if he’d swallowed a mouthful of powder. The greeting he’d formed in his head refused to roll off his tongue.

Immediately, mild confusion knitted the woman’s smooth brow.

“Is everything all right?” she asked.

Her voice had an exotic, Mediterranean lilt that triggered a reaction stemming from the most primitive part of his brain. The skin on the back of his neck quivered, and the urge to ask her to repeat herself welled up in him fiercely. Not because he hadn’t heard her question. No, it wasn’t that at all.

She blinked, thick, tawny lashes brushing against milky skin. “Dr. Lassen set me up with Sally Henderson, the nutritionist. Dr. Lassen said she’d try to stop by, too.”

“Sally’s out sick.” Riley moved to the oak table and set the file on it. “And Dr. Lassen was called to a meeting. It was unavoidable. Have a seat and we can go over this information.”

As greetings went, his had probably been too abrupt and not nearly friendly enough, but he seemed to be fighting his way out of a strange fog at the moment.

When she remained by the window on the far side of the room, Riley asked, “You are Catherine Houston?”

“Yes.” She tucked a strand of wavy hair behind her ear, but only advanced a step or two closer to the table.

Her hesitation surprised him. Usually, women of her ilk were confident and assertive. He waited for her to finally reach him, and then he pulled out a chair for himself, hoping she’d follow suit. Opening the file Faye had given him, Riley found the booklet and thrust it toward her.

“Read this over,” he instructed. “And I’ll answer any questions you have.”

She turned the booklet over in her hand, looked at the front and back cover. Then she flipped through the pages. A quick, unexpected grin played at the corners of her mouth, and Riley felt his belly go taut once again.

“I have to read this?” Her cute nose wrinkled.

“There is only one good—knowledge—and one evil—ignorance.”

“Socrates.”

“That’s right,” Riley said. “He was a smart man.”

“Yes, but even Socrates would balk at swallowing all this in one sitting. Eighty-six pages?” she observed, glancing down at the last page. When she looked up at him, her eyes gleamed mischievously. “I don’t mind reading. I’m just surprised you’ve got that kind of time on your hands to sit there while I do.”

If she’d felt at all uncertain before, she’d certainly made a rapid recovery.

Good and truly put in his place, Riley said, “Yes, well…I didn’t realize… Maybe we should just touch on the high points.”

She laughed, and he felt the enticing notes slowly tumble down each vertebra of his backbone. His spine arched slightly, and he rested his elbow on the top of the conference table, liking the unexpected calmness that washed over him.

“There in the introduction—” he indicated the booklet in front of her and she flipped to the appropriate page “—you’ll see that there are four basic nutrients: water, carbohydrates, proteins and fats. They’re referred to as the building blocks of a good diet.”

Her head was bent, her attention directed at the printed words. Riley couldn’t help but notice how the sunlight streaming through the window glinted off her hair, igniting it like golden fire. She looked like an entrancing goddess.

“Good nutrition,” he espoused verbatim from what he’d memorized since taking over as director, “is the foundation of good health.”

He let his gaze rove over her profile, along her high cheekbone, down her pert nose and the curve of her jaw-line.

“Choosing the healthiest forms of those four basic nutrients,” he continued, “and consuming them in the correct balance—” he took an instant to inhale the soft flowery scent of her “—will enable your body to function at its optimal level.”

Catherine Houston roused something in him. Something deep. Something basic. It was almost as if she were luring him—in a way he hadn’t been lured in a very long time.

Like a blaring horn, the dangerous thought snapped Riley out of the bizarre trance that had nearly ensnared him. He sat up straight, and with conscious effort, folded his hands into his lap.

Obviously he found the woman attractive. There was really nothing he could do about that. She was a beautiful woman. He was a red-blooded man. Physiologically, that was all it took.

She chose that moment to tip her head to the side and glance up at him. The smile she flashed beaned him like a two-by-four between the eyes, and his breath left him in a rush.

“Food is necessary,” he blurted.

Her smile magnified, and so did his internal reaction.

“What I meant to say is that good nutrition is necessary.” He slid his chair several inches from the table. “Look,” he told her, his tone sharper than he intended, “the information you have there in that booklet is self-explanatory. It’ll provide you with everything you need to know about nutrition and how what you eat affects your health. Read it at your convenience. If you have any questions, I’m sure Dr. Lassen would be happy to schedule another session with you.”

What poor business practice! Faye would be upset with him, for sure. But he needed to get away from Catherine Houston. She was short-circuiting his brainwaves and turning him into a blubbering idiot.

Her sexy mouth parted, her surprise apparent, and her full bottom lip became the all-encompassing focal point of his concentration. His gaze skittered across it, and he imagined slowly tracing the outline of the smooth, dusky skin, first with a soft caress of his thumb, then with moist strokes of his tongue.

He stood, his thigh hitting one corner of the booklet that overhung the table and sending it shooting a good foot toward the center of the table. He cleared his throat and raked his fingers through his hair.

“Are you all right?”

What was that accent? he wondered. Italian? Greek?

Riley patted his breast pocket with a shaky hand, and immediately wondered what the hell he was looking for. “Fine,” he said. “I’m fine. Like I said, read the book. And I’m sure Dr. Lassen will make herself available to you. She’d have been here today, but she was called to a meeting. And Sally’s out sick.”

“Yes,” Catherine replied quietly. “You said that.”

Great! As if uncalled-for rudeness weren’t enough, now he was looking downright dopey. The woman was turning him into a blubbering idiot!

“Of course, I did. I was just…” He nodded, letting the rest of the thought fade because he had no idea what the hell the rest of the thought was. He was just what? So preoccupied with this woman’s physical attributes that he’d lost track of what he had and hadn’t said? “Well, if there’s nothing else, I’ll point the way to the gym. I’m sure you can find it. You don’t seem directionally challenged.”

Directionally challenged? Where was his brain coming up with this crap?

“There’s a trainer wait—”

“Just a moment, please.”

Riley went silent. There was sudden authority in her voice he hadn’t heard before. He was just glad she’d said something that made him shut the hell up.

“I’ve been talking to some of the other clients,” she said. “They told me about a weight-loss aid that the clinic offers.”

“You want to lose weight?” He couldn’t keep the incredulity out of his query. It was really none of his business why she’d come to the clinic, and humiliating the clients with discourteously toned questions was a worse business practice than asking them to reschedule appointments. But…

Why on earth would she think she needed to lose weight?

Her cheeks tinged pink. “I’ve got these nagging five pounds.”

This was a prime example of why this job was going to send him round the bend. Helping to make perfect bodies even more perfect wasn’t his idea of practicing medicine.

“So buy bigger trousers.”

As soon as the words rolled off his tongue, Riley knew he’d made a terrible mistake.

But Catherine Houston didn’t tell him off as he expected. Even though she probably had every right to. However, she didn’t even seem insulted by his blunder. She remained amazingly composed.

No negative emotion tainted either her tone or her expression as she said, “Since buying bigger trousers isn’t an option for my next shopping excursion, I’d like to ask you about NoWait.” She paused, but not long enough for him to respond. “Everyone I’ve talked to just raves about the product. I’ve heard that it’s all-natural. Can you tell me about it? What’s it made of? How does it work? And how can I get my hands on a bottle?”

Riley pushed back the open facings of his lab coat and tucked his fists into his pockets. “I’m sorry to say the clinic isn’t endorsing NoWait at the moment. That could change, of course. And if it does, we’ll let you know. But—”

“Oh.” Her smile waned. “I’d heard such amazing things about it, though. I was told a dab of the oil behind the ears melts off the pounds.”

That was only one effect, unfortunately, Riley thought. The other one was a bit kinkier.

The decision to pull the oil made good sense. The change in the behavior of those who had been using NoWait was blatant. If word got out that the clinic was promoting a product that had people feeling uninhibited and spontaneously sexual, it could result in some very bad press for the clinic, and in this litigious day and age it could also mean lawsuits galore.

The silence grew awkward, and he realized she was waiting for more information. Well, she wouldn’t get it from him.

“Another way to accomplish your goal,” he said, “is by working out at our exercise facility.” Proud of his smooth transition, he continued, “The gym is on the second floor. Take the elevator at the end of the hall. You can’t miss it.”

From the look on her face, he could tell she recognized the dismissal for what it was. Her silky blond hair fell over her shoulder as she shifted to pick up the booklet from the table. She took her time sliding out of her chair, the muscles in her shapely legs tensing, long and lean.

Riley didn’t want to look, but he couldn’t help himself.

Placing her hands on the padded armrests, she raised up to her full height. She had excellent posture, he noticed, his gaze skimming along the flare of her hips, her trim waist, the lush curve of her breasts. His tongue stuck to the roof of his cottony mouth. He couldn’t swallow.

The woman was a knockout.

Her sapphire eyes flashed. “I want to thank you for the time you’ve spent with me today. You’ve been very helpful.”

She lied with the utter perfection of having been schooled in the art. If his cheek muscles hadn’t been paralyzed by her mere presence, he just might have smiled.

When she took a step toward him, the light scent of sun-warmed flowers wafted in the still air of the conference room. His gut tensed, and he could almost feel the smoky tendrils of that enticing trance plucking at him, tempting him all over again.

Time to make an exit. Riley murmured, “Have a great evening.”

The fact that it was only two in the afternoon wasn’t lost on him, but it was too late to retract his valediction, as he’d already turned on his heel and scurried from the room like a frightened rabbit.

Oregon was a lush and beautiful state. Catherine had landed in LAX and chartered a small private plane to Portland. This city had been very lucky for her cousin Max. He’d found great happiness here. Was she hoping it would be lucky for her, too?

Sighing, she lifted her face up to the sunshine. The trainer she’d met in the gym had encouraged her to work hard. Then she’d whiled away the afternoon with a good, long steam, a massage and a warm shower. She felt like a new woman as she pushed open the glass doors and exited the clinic.

She’d told her father she needed time. That hadn’t been a lie. She wished she had more than the two weeks he’d given her to get used to the idea of marrying a man she didn’t love. She’d told her father she planned to shop for her trousseau. On that point she’d stretched the truth a bit, she feared. Shopping for a wedding she wanted nothing to do with wasn’t high on her priority list.

She wasn’t quite sure what she was looking for from this trip. But for right now, she simply wanted to forget about home, forget she was royal, forget all about her impending engagement, her looming nuptials. She wanted to be just like everyone else. Was that so much to ask?

“Dr. Lassen, hello!” Catherine was pleasantly surprised to meet the nutritionist in the outdoor breezeway between the hospital and the new health clinic. “It’s a beautiful afternoon, isn’t it?”

“Lovely.” The doctor greeted her with a smile. “I’m awfully sorry I couldn’t check in on you as I’d promised, Catherine.”

“It’s quite all right. I hope you don’t mind my saying this, but you look awfully harried.”

The woman nodded. “I just came out of a meeting. Many men. Much testosterone.”

“Stressful, huh?” Catherine grinned. “Sounds like you need a break. I was just looking for a place to have a cup of tea. Want to join me?”

Dr. Lassen shifted her briefcase from one hand to the other. “I’d love to. And I’d kill for a muffin to go along with it. I worked right through lunch today and then I had to meet with hospital administration all afternoon.”

“Let’s find you something to eat, then,” Catherine said.

“There’s a coffee shop just around the corner.”

They headed off along the crowded sidewalk.

“How did you make out today?” Dr. Lassen asked.

Humor had Catherine’s mouth twitching. “Who was that man you sent to see me? The one who filled in for Sally.”

“Dr. Riley Jacobs. He’s the new director at the clinic,” she said.

Dr. Riley Jacobs. His treatment of her had left Catherine feeling a bit put off. And surprised.

She’d read a great write-up about Portland’s Healthy Living Clinic in the newspaper the very first day of her arrival. Apparently it was a friendly place, one that was extremely popular with the locals. Unlike some of the exclusive fitness centers that catered to the affluent sector of the population, this clinic was a facility where anyone and everyone could go to improve their health and well-being.

Since she’d decided to shed her royal status and become a run-of-the-mill tourist for a bit, Catherine had thought that the clinic could be the perfect place for her to meet people as well as lose a few extra pounds.

She’d toured the clinic with Faye Lassen yesterday and had arrived today feeling fired up about starting her fitness regimen…but the handsome Dr. Riley Jacobs had nearly snuffed out her flame.

“Why?” Faye frowned slightly. “What did he do?”

“Well,” Catherine began, “I guess it’s more what he didn’t do.”

Before she could explain further, they arrived at the coffee shop and spent a few moments being seated by the hostess. And then the waitress arrived with menus.

“I don’t believe we need those,” Catherine told the teenager. “We’d like two cups of tea, please. And a muffin for Dr. Lassen.”

“Blueberry or low-fat bran?” the waitress asked the doctor.

Dr. Lassen chose the bran.

Once the teen walked away, Dr. Lassen planted both elbows on the tabletop. “Now that you’ve rescued me for a much-needed break, I think that makes us friends, don’t you think? You have to call me Faye.”

Catherine smiled. “I’ll be happy to call you both. Faye and friend.”

Faye reached for the napkin, shook it out and placed it in her lap. “Now let’s get back to Dr. Jacobs and what it was he didn’t do. He was supposed to go over the nutrition information with you, but if you have to ask his name, it seems he didn’t even introduce himself.”

“Oh, he attempted to go over the information,” she assured Faye. “But something happened. He seemed to become…” Catherine searched for just the right word, but finally had to settle on one that didn’t seem to her to be quite appropriate. “Befuddled.”

Faye reached up and pushed her glasses higher on her nose. “I’d use a lot of words to describe Dr. Jacobs, but befuddled would never be one of them. He’s extremely capable. Very intense. So much so that he can be a little grumpy at times.”

“Bearish and brusque was the description I came up with.” Catherine grinned. Once he’d left the conference room and she realized that her nose had gotten out of joint, she’d decided that no one—other than her father—had ever treated her so curtly before. She’d wanted to call after Dr. Jacobs and ask if he had any idea just who she was. However, she’d immediately chuckled to herself.

Of course, he hadn’t had any idea who she was. And that was exactly how she wanted it.

The entire time she was working out in the gym, she’d thought about the incident, and she was actually pleased that the man had felt free enough to show his true colors. If he’d known her identity, he’d have probably been less candid.

She’d wanted to forget the problem she was facing and experience the regular, workaday world. And that was just what she was doing.

“Ah, so you did see his gruff side.”

“Just a touch.”

Faye sighed. “Sorry about that.”

The waitress served their tea and Faye’s muffin. Both women thanked the girl before she went off to check on other customers.

“Don’t apologize,” Catherine said to Faye, automatically reaching for the string attached to the tea bag. “He didn’t bother me. In fact, I may have deserved the terseness. I was pressing for information, you see. I’d heard about NoWait from some of the people I’d talked to before leaving the clinic yesterday. When he told me the oil wasn’t being used any longer, I should have left well enough alone.” She lifted one shoulder a fraction. “But I didn’t.”

Faye’s mouth flattened. “Yes, we have pulled NoWait. For the time being, anyway. In fact, Dr. Jacobs is still in the meeting with hospital administration. He arrived after he’d met with you. It was his decision to stop using NoWait. But I back him one hundred percent.”

Catherine was disappointed all over again. From what she’d heard from the people in the gym that oil was like some kind of phenomenon. “That’s too bad.”

“It was causing some side effects that were…unexpected.” Faye seemed to put extra effort into splitting her muffin in half.

The comment made Catherine curious, but her probing for information on NoWait had already gotten her into trouble once today so she let her questions go unasked. “Well, unexpected side effects can’t be good.”

Faye lifted her chin. “That’s the consensus of hospital administration, too. But we’re thinking of doing some testing. That’s what Dr. Jacobs is up there discussing now.” She nibbled the muffin and swallowed. “Now, back to your session with him. Did he answer your questions about a healthy diet? If not, I’m going to give him what for when I get back to the clinic.”

“Oh, please, no.” Catherine set the tea bag on the saucer. “Don’t say anything to him. As I said, he did go over a little bit with me.”

A very little bit.

She paused long enough to sip from the cup. “But then he got all flustered and started repeating himself.” She tried not to smile. “He seemed to be a little confused with the time of day. He was tense about something, that much was clear.” Absently, she picked up her spoon and swirled it in the hot liquid. “He actually ended up rushing out of the room.”

“Hmmm.” Faye’s eyebrows arched. “That sure doesn’t sound like him at all.” Something in her gaze twinkled. “But the mere peculiarity of it does sound interesting, though.”

After a moment, Catherine commented, “He doesn’t smile much, does he?” Then she lapsed back into memories of her short time with him. Finally, she couldn’t hold back her question any longer. “Is he married?”

Faye stirred a splash of cream into her tea. “Dr. Jacobs? No.”

The cup warmed Catherine’s fingers as she cradled it between both hands. “He’s quite good-looking.”

“Um-hmm,” Faye agreed. She tipped her head a fraction. “You interested?”

“Let’s put it this way, I like handsome men just as much as any other woman does.” Catherine straightened the angle of the spoon sitting in her saucer. “I don’t mind admitting that there’s something about Dr. Jacobs that intrigues me….”

Ever since she’d turned twenty-one, she’d had a slew of men chosen for her—very wealthy, very appropriate, very boring and forgettable men. But there was nothing about Riley Jacobs that was forgettable. In fact, he had been on her mind all afternoon. What was it about him that attracted her?

Almost as if she’d heard the silent question that whispered through Catherine’s head, Faye teasingly suggested, “Could it be the challenge?”

A mysterious and awesome sensation suddenly filled her…a sensation so delicious it had her wanting to curl her toes into the soles of her shoes.

“Could be,” Catherine breathed. “It very well could be.”

Two

C atherine sat in the exam room tapping her fingers against the side of the paper-covered mattress on which she sat. When she’d asked to make an appointment with Dr. Jacobs, she’d meant she merely wanted to talk to the man. However, the receptionist must have misunderstood and thought she needed medical assistance and had escorted her here.