Dance of Seduction by Elle Kennedy

it, she wound up pregnant and alone. This time, however, she wasn’t worried about herself. It was Josh she was concerned about.
    He didn’t get it. He deserved to be with a nice young woman who could give him a minivan full of children. Not her, not a woman who was pushing fifty, a woman whose body was past its prime, a woman with a grown daughter who was practically his age. A woman he’d no doubt grow tired of.
    She wasn’t beating up on herself. She knew she had a lot to offer—to an older man. A man who would be satisfied with a casual affair.
    Josh Dawson wasn’t that man.
    “I’m an asshole?” he echoed. His lips twisted in a bitter grimace. “I thought I was just the pool boy. ”
    She fought back a rush of guilt. “You expected me to tell my daughter I was with her best friend’s brother?”
    “Yes.” Josh’s nostrils flared. “But I didn’t realize what a coward you were.”
    “A coward?” She shook her head, suddenly wanting to laugh out loud. “See, Josh, this is exactly why we can’t be together. You’re a kid. Impulsive, immature, throwing out insults when you don’t get your way. A child .”
    Vivian instantly regretted her words as Josh’s face turned red with anger and disbelief. Not to mention the flash of pain that was getting oh-too-familiar. She’d hurt him by saying that, but maybe that’s what it would take for him to get the picture. To understand that the two of them were colossally wrong for each other.
    She stood there quietly, watching various emotions dance in his blue eyes like colors in a kaleidoscope. Pain turned to irritation. Anger to bitterness. And finally a deep shade of determination.
    “I’m a kid, huh?” He chuckled softly. “We’ll see about that.” Before she could reply to that cryptic remark, he spoke again. “Do you have access to the Internet on that thing?” He gestured to the computer sitting on the desk next to the kitchen doorway.
    She nodded wordlessly.
    “Good. Go boot up the computer while I make a call, will you, Viv?”
     
    “So what exactly am I looking at?”
    Josh watched as Vivian studied the photograph filling the computer screen. He’d asked his secretary to scan and email all the photos in the album he kept in his desk and, efficient as always, she’d sent the images in less than ten minutes. It had taken a few minutes to download everything, but now, as he stood behind Viv’s chair and saw her wrinkle her nose, his confidence surged.
    A child? He still couldn’t believe she called him that, especially seeing as he’d stopped being a child at the age of fifteen. Immature was the most unsuitable adjective Viv could’ve picked to describe him. And he couldn’t wait to show her just how wrong she was.
    But first things first.
    “I’ll explain about the pictures in a minute,” he replied. “First we make a deal.”
    She twisted in the chair to face him, green eyes wary. Why did she always have that expression on her face when she looked at him? As if it unsettled her just being near him.
    “What kind of deal?” Suspicion lined her tone.
    “I want to take you out on a date.” He held up his hand before she could object. “After you hear me out, if you still think I’m a kid, fine, I won’t push you anymore. I won’t touch you or kiss you or so much as sneeze around you. But—” he smiled slightly “—if after seeing the pictures you change your mind about me being—what was it?—right, an impulsive, immature child, I reserve the right to take you out. Do we have a deal?”
    He lifted his shoulders awaiting her answer. She didn’t seem thrilled at the prospect of the two of them going out, but she didn’t look repulsed, either.
    After biting her bottom lip again, she finally sighed. “Fine. It’s a deal.”
    “Good.” He leaned forward and put his hand on the computer mouse, catching a whiff of Vivian’s perfume as he bent. She didn’t wear those fruity, flowery scents most females his age liked to