Billionaire Bad Boy (14 page)

"You know," he said, "you really aren't
a very good flirt, are you?"

"You sound surprised. I thought I'd made that
obvious from day one when all we did was argue."

He smiled. "We weren't arguing, we were
disagreeing. Besides, I thought that was your way of flirting. I guess not all
guys fall for that don't-mess-with-me attitude. I'm just a sucker for
punishment."

Annie sucked in a breath and dared not look at his
face. Did he just say, in a round-about way, that he liked her? From the
beginning?

Or did she just get the wrong message entirely?

That must be it. No way would he like her. Want her,
yes, to add to his tally, but not
like
her. Not enough to have a proper
relationship with her anyway.

"Poor Peter," he continued. "I think
you scared him into quitting."

"Very funny. He hasn't quit, I saw him before. He
just swapped tables with the crabby old waiter. And I don't think I was the one
who scared him off."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, nothing," she said lightly, "but I
saw that look you gave him."

Zack's grip on her waist tightened and he
humphed
but said nothing. She smiled to herself. Nothing like a little white lie to
bring out the truth. The smile slipped and she breathed out a long breath. This
was getting intense. And scary.

"Do you want dessert?" he asked, breaking
into her thoughts.

"Of course I want dessert. It's the best part of
any meal. Besides, I haven't got any ice cream at my place after you ate it
all."

He took her hand and led her back to their table. "It
was Snoopy."

"Really? Did he use one paw or two to hold the
spoon?"

"Very funny."

They ordered dessert and coffee and considered playing
a practical joke on the waiter to get him to smile but decided it wouldn't work
because his sense of humor was locked away somewhere along with his real
accent.

When they finished, Zack paid using his gold credit
card and Annie bit her lip. She should offer to pay her half but she'd have to
stop eating for a month to afford it.

"My treat," he said, signing. How did he
read her mind like that? It was unnerving. He stood and helped her out of her
seat. The waiter produced their jackets from thin air and Zack placed Annie's
around her shoulders. His fingers caressed the back of her neck, leaving warm
tingles in their wake.

"Let's go," he said, his voice a low rumble.

Flustered from the tingles and the voice, Annie
stumbled and would have tipped forward if he hadn't caught her.

"You haven't had too much to drink again, have
you?"

"No." She sniffed. "I don't need to be
drunk to make a fool of myself. I do a perfectly good job when I'm sober."

***

They drove home in record time and Annie wondered if
Zack had kept to the speed limit. It wouldn't surprise her if he hadn't—speeding
fit his image.

He helped her from the car when they stopped outside
her building, and held her hand as they walked to the door. The gentle rubbing
of his thumb across her palm sent a rush of blood to her head. Even with high
heels on, he towered over her. But far from being intimidating, his size suited
him. Annie felt the power behind his touch, and his self-confidence.

He strode toward her door, never taking his eyes off
her, even to see where he was going. The two dark orbs burned fiercely, their
intensity warming her entire body. She sensed the connection between them, but
it wasn't enough. She wanted more, more of him, and every nerve ending tingled
in anticipation.

She fumbled with the key in the lock and managed to
get the door open despite her shaking limbs. Zack hesitated just inside the
door, as if deciding whether to take her to the bedroom or straight to the
sofa. Apparently both were too far. He gently pushed her back against the wall
where they stood.

"Annie," he said, voice rusty, "I'm
sorry."

He brushed a knuckle down her cheek and her stomach
fluttered. Muscles clenched in places that had lain dormant for too long.

"What for?" she asked in a thin voice.

"I can't help this." He kissed her lightly
on the lips, then again, lingering and tasting and breathing hard. He pulled
away. "You just do this to me..."

But before she could ask what she did, his mouth had
descended again and cut off all words and all thoughts except one—she
needed the kiss to continue or she'd die. No way was she going to stop him this
time. She couldn't even if she wanted to.

If his caresses made her skin tingle, his kiss made it
burn. She reached up and curled her fingers in his hair, relishing the way it
slid through her grip like a waterfall. Then she noticed nothing, except his
delicious lips and tongue, and the way he turned her body to mush.

Zack's hand slipped around to her back and unzipped
her dress. His movements had quickened, becoming urgent along with his fierce,
deep kisses. The fingers that traveled down her spine felt warm and firm as he
pressed her to him. His desire—rubbing hard and long against her stomach—was
unmistakable.

Then all of a sudden, as if he'd finally lost all
self-control, Zack tore the dress off and leaned down to take her nipple into
his mouth.

The ruined dress slithered to her ankles and Annie
cringed at the amount of money he'd just wasted, then all thoughts disappeared
as his fingers delved into her panties. Slowly, slowly, sensations rippled from
her thighs to her breasts to the roots of her hair as Zack's mouth and fingers
worked together as a tandem team and heated her body to boiling point.

"Oh, my..."

She shuddered, twice, and her body exploded into
millions of fragments. She might have screamed. She might have called his name.
She definitely saw stars.

Zack picked up her limp body and carried her to the
bedroom. He lay her gently on the bed and stood back. His breathing was hard
and erratic, and his eyes gleamed as they traveled the length of her body. It
was time to put him out of his misery.

She knelt on the bed. "You've already seen me
naked," she said. "I think it's time I saw you." Who said that? It
couldn't have been her. She'd never been so brave, or wanton, in her life
before.

She started to unbutton his shirt, but progress was
too slow so she ripped it apart. Buttons popped off and showered them. She
unzipped his trousers and reached inside. Zack groaned and closed his eyes. She
widened hers and let go. He was
very
well endowed.

She pulled his trousers and his shorts down and he
sprang free.

"Oh, my..."

But he hadn't heard her, or if he did, he showed no
response except to push her gently back on the bed and kiss her hard on the
lips. He leaned on one arm, spread himself alongside her and caressed her
thigh. Her skin vibrated beneath his touch. She'd die if he didn't enter her
soon.

"Now," she breathed, but he sat up and
fumbled in the pocket of his trousers.

"Condom," he said through ragged breaths.

He tore open the packet and she watched as he
stretched the condom over his length. His very long length. Maybe this wasn't
such a good idea. She was badly out of practice and she wasn't sure her body
was built for a man like Zack.

"Um, maybe we should take this slow..."

His response was to do something amazing with his
tongue on her inner thigh, and she closed her eyes. She felt him move above her.
Okay, it might fit if she sort of moved to the left a little...

Zack dipped inside her.

"Oh!"

He slipped all the way in. Okay, so he fit perfectly. Who'd
have guessed?

That was her last coherent thought as she rose to meet
him. He set a slow, steady rhythm that drove her wild. She wanted more. Needed
it. She picked up the pace and he groaned deep in his chest. His fingers
brought her close to the edge and then he sucked her nipple.
Oh my
! His
body shuddered above her and his primal growl echoed through her apartment. It
was enough to send her plunging down with him into an abyss of bliss.

Spent, he lay half on top of her, half beside her, his
hand cupping her left breast. His eyes closed and his breathing deepened. He
was asleep. Or so she thought.

She smiled to herself and snuggled into his warm body.

But he moved away and sat up.

"I have to go." He picked up his shirt. "I've
got a long day tomorrow."

"You're leaving?" She couldn't believe it. Had
she done something wrong? "Stay. I'm up for round two if you are." She
touched his arm and he leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"I have to go."

She watched him dress, understanding dawning. She'd
been right all along—he'd got what he wanted, now he was leaving before
it became too serious. Sex. That's all this had been to him. Another notch on
his belt. An experiment to see if he could bed the good girl.

He kissed her goodbye and straightened. But just as he
turned to leave, he sighed deeply and leaned over her again. He caught her face
between his hands and caressed her cheeks.

"Annie, Baby, don't look at me like that. I can't
stay. We shouldn't have..."

"Fine. Go." She swatted his hands away.

"Annie—"

"Just go."

He sighed. "I'm sorry. I'll call you."

She shrugged, trying to appear unconcerned when her
heart felt like it had shattered. Their love making had been beautiful,
amazing, and she'd thought that it had meant more to him than just sex. It had
to her. But now that it was over he just wanted to get out before he got sucked
into something he didn't want—a relationship.

She wasn't surprised, just disappointed. She'd really
hoped he might be interested in her, want her in his life.

She should've known better.

He kissed her again but she didn't respond.

"You don't have to stay," she said through
gritted teeth. "It's not like this meant anything."

Zack's face turned to ash. He nodded slowly. "Yeah.
Right." Without a second glance, he left.

Zack drove home on auto-pilot. The evening had gone
from perfect to amazing to disastrous. And he only had himself to blame. He
didn't want to leave Annie's place but he had to. He would hurt her feelings if
he stayed—more than he would by leaving. Staying would only give her the
wrong impression and he didn't want to do that—he wasn't after a
relationship so no point letting her think he was, even for one second. Cruel
to be kind.

Damn it, if only he'd kept his libido in check nothing
would've changed between them. They'd still be friends. On the other hand, he
wouldn't swap tonight for a thousand fast cars.

He thumped the steering wheel with his fist as he
arrived home. For the first time since he'd bought it, he dreaded the mansion's
emptiness.

He thought about Annie, alone in her apartment. He
wondered if she would still hate him in the morning. He hoped not. He really
could use a good friend like her in his life. Maybe she'd be fine when she
thought it through and remembered that it could never work between them. She'd
said it herself—he wasn't her type. Maybe she'd be lying in bed now,
relieved that he'd left so she didn't have to kick him out or tell him
she
wasn't interested in dating a guy like
him
.

Maybe.

For the first time in a long time he stopped at the photo
of his family on the mantelpiece, taken twenty years ago. Everyone smiled back
at the camera. His parents had their arms around each other. It was the perfect
shot of a not so perfect family. He turned the photo face down. He didn't want
to be reminded of how their happiness had turned sour. Not now. Not when he
could still taste Annie on his lips and feel her breath on his skin.

***

Zack woke up the next morning feeling flat. He forced
himself to go to work, but he couldn't concentrate. The figures on the
financial statements blurred and he tossed them aside. Phone calls took his
attention off Annie and her very delicious body for a while although he often
couldn't recall the details of the conversations. Did he buy one thousand
shares or ten thousand?

He glanced around his office, furnished in a modernist
style by his personal assistant. Sleek glass and polished wood surfaces, tall
bookcases and a long desk. Boring. He just didn't like it anymore, didn't want
to be there.

He wouldn't allow himself to think about where he
wanted to be at that moment.

By lunch time, he'd decided he needed to do something,
get out of the office. But go where? Maybe a bike ride...

As he undid his tie and top button of his shirt, Bob
called.

"Zack, I need you. McCallum and Horton need you. Dug-E's
slipping through our fingers and I've crunched some numbers. If we don't sign
him..." Bob let the sentence dangle.