Page 53 of Seduction

The limousine came to a stop.

“Born from nothing good,” he finally said.

“Did your brother care that you were in love with her?”

He sniffed. “No, he didn’t. He didn’t love her, so he wouldn’t have cared.” Jake shifted abruptly in his seat. “We should go inside.”

With that one statement, the heaviness dissolved out of the air. I broke eye contact to turn and see what was behind me. A traditional Southern colonial mansion sat behind the lush lawn and trees, which canopied over a sidewalk that had warm orange lights running along each side of it. A restless feeling raced through me. I wanted to stay in the car and get to the bottom of Jake’s neurons and learn more about his brother and his ex-girlfriend. But I also wanted to discover what was inside that mansion.

“This place looks seductive. That’s for sure,” I whispered.

As soon as I turned to face Jake, his mouth covered mine. He kissed me so fervently that he guided my back down onto the seat. Then I felt a jolt as our masks collided.

“Fuck,” Jake said, rubbing his mask at the spot that covered his forehead. “Are you okay?”

I chuckled. “I’m fine. But we should do either-or—make out until we can’t stop ourselves from going to the next step”—I wiggled my brows—“or go inside and discover what kind of excitement awaits us.” Both options would’ve been equally pleasurable.

“Let’s go,” Jake said then helped me into a sitting position. Without pause, he got out of the limo and opened my door.

Taking his hand, I squinted at the unlit windows of the sprawling mansion. “Are we the only ones here?”

Jake winked. “We’ll have to see, won’t we?”

* * *

We walkedside by side up the path. My nerves made me hold his hand tightly, and he let go of it to put his arm around me. I loved that he did that. The gesture made me feel safe and secure, even though I was still shaking a little as we ventured up the steps that led to the grand porch.

Jake let go of me to lift the lid over a keypad pasted against the stucco.

“Is this your mansion?” I asked.

Jake put his arm around me again. “No,” he said as he pushed the door open.

I pressed a hand against my jumpy heart as we stepped into a large, dimly lit vestibule that ran from one end of the manor to the other. I wrinkled my nose because I could smell fresh plaster and paint. About two feet ahead of us was another door.

“This almost feels likeAlice in Wonderland,” I remarked.

Jake smirked as he pressed his balled fist against the wood. “Are you ready?”

My smile was pensive.

“Relax, beautiful. This is all fun,” he said.

I nodded stiffly.

Then he knocked three times, and the door opened by itself.