9781631050275TheirPerfectMatchMarshNC (7 page)

“Funny you should say that. I felt the same way…until I saw you at the bar tonight. I’d been thinking about you ever since I left your office yesterday.”

She leaned back into him, waves of relaxation winding their way through her body. Her limbs felt strangely heavy, her head light, and her thoughts distant and unfocused.

“I…um…I really shouldn’t be here. Shouldn’t be doing…this.”

“Of course you should.” He’d moved closer, she realized. When he spoke, she could feel his words flutter against her earlobe. “There’s absolutely nowhere else in the world you should be, no one else you should be with. You’re exactly where you need to be, Molly Grayson. Right here beside me.”

His words flowed along with the easy strains of the jazz—silky, hypnotic. “Yes,” she whispered back. At the same time, she felt his hands slide forward off her shoulders and move toward her breasts. He stopped with his fingers spread just above the peaks of her nipples. His massage had left them so swollen and sensitive that Molly instinctively knew that the slightest touch would have sent her body hurtling over a precipice she hardly remembered scaling. All the same, she now teetered right at the top. Though her heart seemed to have stopped, her pulse still raced with a mixture of fear and excitement that intoxicated her.

 Resting her full weight against his chest, she tilted her head back as far as she could and raised her parted lips to his.

But Zane didn’t kiss her.

He claimed her. All Molly could do was hold her breath and surrender as he slid both arms around her, anchoring her tightly against his chest. Then his hard mouth came down on hers with a reckless urgency that caught her completely off guard.

Hungrily, he crushed his lips to hers. Molly felt the rigid outline of his teeth and the forceful pressure of his tongue as Zane crowded his way into the personal space she’d guarded so jealously for so long. Fire invaded her senses and swept every thought from her mind. All that remained was the instinct, every bit as basic and needy as his, that told her to respond with every last tendril of emotion inside her. And she did.

Zane groaned when he finally broke the kiss. Even then, he didn’t quite break free all at once. He moved away slowly, keeping his lower lip in contact with hers for as long as he could. Before he pulled away, he skimmed his mouth over hers one last time, leaving behind the tang of rich, creamy coffee and the heady taste of passion. Molly wasn’t sure whether it was the fervor they’d shared, or the fact that she’d gone without air for at least a full minute that left her with burning lungs and silvery spots dancing in front of her eyes. The somewhat awkward position she’d been in hadn’t helped, either. In fact, her neck felt stiffer now than it had before Zane had rubbed it.

He loosened his grip so she could turn around to face him. Somehow, she ended up halfway reclined in his lap, her thighs bracketed by his and her breasts cushioning his broad chest. Molly could hear their excited pulses thudding about half a beat apart.

Zane raised his hands until they gently cupped her cheeks. His thumbs stroked the curve of her jaw, sending electrical jolts straight to the center of her body. She was embarrassed when her nipples stiffened into tiny, aroused points against his chest. The sensible, modest part of her hoped that Zane couldn’t feel them through his shirt. Her more adventurous side hoped he could.

“Tell me what you’re thinking,” he said.

“I think you can guess.”

“I don’t want to guess. I want to hear it from you. Details.” Slanting forward, he brushed his lips across her forehead and trailed them down the bridge of her nose. Molly shuddered at the contact, prompting an affectionate laugh from Zane. “You don’t like to answer questions like that, do you? I’ve noticed that you tend to dodge them.”

She burrowed deeper into his embrace as if to seek refuge from the uncertainty that tugged at her heart. “I… I have to admit that talking about my feelings makes me a little nervous. It’s not something I usually do.”

“Then it’s kind of ironic that you’ve built a career out of talking about other people’s, isn’t it? Or maybe not.” Zane’s husky voice rumbled against her skin. “Anyway, a little nervousness can be a positive thing. It shows you that you’re testing yourself, stretching your boundaries.”

“Is that something you learned at sea?”

“You mean the value of fear? Absolutely. Being in a life-threatening situation can put your priorities in order pretty quickly.”

“You must have some really exciting stories about your travels.” Molly rested her hands on his chest and laid her chin on top of them, her eyes locked on his.

“A few,” he agreed. “But they’ll keep for another time. Right now I’m more interested in hearing your response to my question.”

His right thumb left her face and glided over her lower lip, then moved lower to strum the top button of her blouse. A soft moan escaped her throat when she felt desire strain the zipper of his slacks.

“I’ve never met anyone like you, Molly,” he continued. “I want to learn everything about you. What you think, what you feel. What kinds of secrets you keep. You know…the deep, dark, dirty stuff.”

“I…I beg your pardon?” Molly blinked up at him, her face contracting into a frown. “What do you mean by that?”

* * * *

He messed up. Zane wanted to kick himself. He was still unsure about a lot as far as Molly Grayson was concerned, but now at least one thing was certain—he’d pushed too far, too fast, and the mood was irreparably broken.

“I didn’t mean anything in particular,” he improvised. “Just that I want us to get closer.”

He knew that his feeble effort at damage control had failed miserably when Molly pushed his hands away and somewhat clumsily extracted herself from his lap. The face he’d so enjoyed touching only moments before was now flushed with an entirely different kind of warmth. Even her eyes seemed to have hardened against him.

The languid, seductive music still flowing from the speakers began to annoy him. Zane crossed the room and pressed the “stop” button, then faced her across a tense silence.

“Maybe we could start all over,” he suggested. “I’ll even put a different CD on.”

He wasn’t surprised when Molly shook her head. “I think it would be better if we didn’t. I appreciate your hospitality, Zane, but coming here was definitely a mistake on my part.”

“I hope you don’t really believe that.”

“I’m sorry…but I do. We talked earlier about how important it was for me to respect your status as a Lovelines client. I didn’t, and I owe you an apology for that.”

“You don’t owe me any damned apology.” Zane didn’t bother to hide his frustration. He wasn’t just disappointed that he hadn’t been able to glean anything that would be useful to Alaric either. The truth was that he’d been genuinely enjoying her company…until he’d remembered his original purpose for seeking her out that evening and subsequently blown their whole date to smithereens.

“I think I do. And I hope you’ll accept it. Now would you mind terribly if I asked you to drive me back to my car?”

She was putting on a brave front, but Zane sensed that she was closer to tears than anger. Sighing, he retrieved his car keys from the kitchen counter where he’d dumped them earlier. “Sure, come on. I’ll take you back.”

“Thank you.”

They walked down to his parking spot without talking, and things didn’t improve much during the short jaunt back to the Lovelines office where she’d left her own vehicle. About halfway through the drive, Zane noticed Molly hugging her arms together.

“Should I turn the heat on? Guess it’s going to be another month or so before we can start enjoying those hot summer nights, huh?”

“I’m all right, thank you.”

He raised a brow at her stiff response. “I meant that as a generic ‘we,’ by the way. I wasn’t assuming anything, just in case you were worried.”

“I understood you. But I’m glad you clarified that all the same.”

Great, he thought with a grimace. Now she was sore all over again. Just what was the deal with her, anyway? If Alaric was right, she was far more skilled at the fine art of manipulation than anyone he’d ever encountered…including Alaric himself. But then, that was probably how his brother had gotten himself into this mess in the first place.

Suddenly, Molly sat up and pointed at the windshield. “Over there—that’s my car.”

Zane swung in behind the nondescript gold Honda she’d indicated. Molly watched him uneasily as he cut his engine and leaned both arms on the wheel.

“Just because I brought you back when you asked me to doesn’t mean that
I
regret what happened, Molly. I want you to understand that.”

“All…all right. I do.”

“Good.” With a curt nod, Zane climbed out of the car and walked around to open the passenger door for her. When she stepped out and reached into her purse for her keys, he finally noticed a hint of regret in her expression too. “I guess I’ll see you back here at some point next week, then.” Her momentary bewilderment made him laugh in spite of everything. “I still need to make my video, remember?”

“Oh—oh, yes, of course. I’d forgotten about that.”

“That’s a surprise, considering how often you’ve reminded me of my duties as your client this evening.”

Now it was her turn to stifle her amusement. “Maybe I did come on a little strong about that. I’m sorry.”

“And I’m sorry I got your weekend off to such a bad start. Hopefully you can pick up where you left off before I came barging onto the scene.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong. Besides, I’m sure my weekend will survive just fine.”

Zane raised a curious brow. “Big plans?”

“I’ve got a few possibilities in mind, yes.”

It was obvious to Zane that she didn’t intend to elaborate. “Well, I hope you make the most of all of them.”

“Thank you.” Molly unlocked her car door, then paused. “I want you to know that this won’t affect the way I treat you as a member of Lovelines,” she assured him. “I see no reason why we can’t have a long and productive business relationship.”

“I never doubted that we could—though I’m a little nervous about the ‘long’ part. I thought Lovelines had the mating process down to assembly-line efficiency.”

He watched her lips thin in the glare of his headlights. “I wouldn’t put it quite like that. But yes, we can certainly get you into the dating scene right away if that’s what you want.”

Zane slammed the passenger door shut and held out his hand. “Until Monday, then, and a fresh start to a strictly professional relationship.”

“Strictly professional,” she echoed. Since he had no legitimate reason to hold her there any longer, he gave her a brief wave and got back into his car.

He pretended to adjust his radio while she started up her engine and slowly pulled away from the curb. It had been an interesting evening, no doubt about that. He’d confirmed that at least one other Lovelines client had a serious bone to pick with Molly Grayson’s business practices, and that Molly was skittish about answering personal questions. What, exactly, it all meant remained less clear.

His blood was raging and his hormones were boiling, and he still didn’t have the slightest idea whether his attraction to Molly Grayson would lead to vindication or disaster.

Chapter Four

“I don’t want anyone who’s too perfect, or tries to appear and act that way. In my opinion, unrealistic expectations only lead to letdowns on both sides. More than anything, I want to be fair to the women I date. I want them to be who they are, not what they think I want. And I’m looking for the same kind of empathy in return.”

On camera, Zane was a natural. He’d shown up that Monday morning in an indigo cotton shirt, no tie, black jeans, and of course his leather jacket. While he spoke, he leaned back in a metal-and-canvas studio chair, his hands resting on his thighs, his head tilted in concentration. While he spoke, he rubbed idly at the side of his lightly stubbled cheek. In spite of everything, including her own abominable behavior on Friday night, Molly couldn’t help wondering how those strong fingers might feel sliding down certain intimate parts of her own anatomy.

“Going great so far.” Behind the video camera, Todd stood and adjusted his focus. From the next room, Molly and Brenda watched the taping through a glass partition. A monitor on the table beside them offered an idea of what a prospective client might see when she viewed Zane’s introduction. No question about it, most any woman would be well pleased with what played out in front of her.

Unlike Molly, Brenda had no qualms about broadcasting her approval. “Omigod, Molly, we have to get him to do an infomercial for us. He’s gorgeous on screen. Almost as delicious as he is in person. I still can’t believe you don’t want to go for him yourself.”

“We’ve gone through that already,” Molly said, a bit more testily than she meant to. “I don’t want to get into it again. But you’re right, he is very relaxed on camera. Some of our other clients had trouble with that part.”

“Once the women get hold of that tape, Zane won’t have a free night for the next six months. Assuming he doesn’t find someone to settle down with right away, of course.”

Molly bit her lip. That thought made her uncomfortable in ways she had no right to be irritated. She knew she ought to go back to work and let Todd handle the video, but for some reason, she couldn’t take her eyes off Zane.

“I’ve traveled the world, but it’s time to settle down,” he was saying now. “The one thing I’ve learned is that human nature is the same all over. We always need the same things. Love and companionship in particular. I’m ready to welcome both of those things in my life. I’m looking forward to sharing what I have to give.”

Todd’s voice broke in after a brief silence. “Okay, that’s a wrap. Thanks a lot, Zane. Terrific job.”

Zane came out of the taping area and found Molly and Brenda in the hall. Molly knew she should have scuttled away, but she remained rooted to the spot and gazing at Zane. His direct gray eyes met hers at once.

“How’d I do?” he asked with a nervous grin.