Dominating Anna: A Fantasy Fulfilled Novella (9 page)

Chapter Four

Two nights later, Zee
scratched an easy shot when he tried to sink the seven.

“Man, you’ve been ass
at this all night,” said Jake.

“Fuck you,” growled
Zee. “Just take your damn shot.”

“What’s wrong with
you?”

Jess came to stand
beside Jake. Without asking, she took a sip of his beer. “It’s a girl.”

Jake shook his head.
“Zee doesn’t do girls.”

Zee ignored Jess’s
laugh.

“I mean, obviously, he
does
girls, but that’s his job. He’s the only guy that works for me who
hasn’t lost his mind over someone at some point. Even I never had.”

Tugging on Jake’s ear,
Jess said, “Until me.”

He kissed her. “Till
you.”

Zee said, “I’m going
to throw up.”

“Next round’s on you
anyway.”

Grumbling, Zee marched
to the bar. He’d only come out tonight because Jake would have tracked him down
to find out why he hadn’t made their normal Friday night pool game. He didn’t
even feel like drinking.

What he felt like was
staying home in his loft. Alone. Closing his eyes until the image of Anna
didn’t burn behind his lids.

That might take a
while.

He felt someone small
push to the bar next to him. He moved forward with a grunt. Damn hipsters,
taking over all the good old places.

“Buy me a drink?”

Next to him, Anna’s
voice rang clearly through the bar’s din. Zee jolted. He felt her heat, and his
head swam. She looked nothing short of wicked: shortest black dress, no tights,
black heels. She’d done something with that mass of red hair so that it coiled
and curled, falling over her shoulders, draping over the top of her breasts in
the low-cut dress. She was intoxicating.

This was bad.

Jake was here. Jake
was going to see her any minute. Shit, he’d lose his job for sure. You don’t
meet a target for a
beer.

“What are you doing
here?”

Anna winked. “Fine, if
you’re not buying, then I am.” She leaned forward, putting those magnificently
perfect breasts into the bartender’s line of sight. “Rye and ginger,” she said.
“And whatever this guy’s been drinking.”

“One rye and ginger,
one Coke coming up.”

Her head tilted.
“Recovering?”

Zee didn’t meet her
eyes. Recovering, all right. From her. Or at least that’s what he’d been trying
to do. “None of your business.” If he couldn’t get rid of her, he had to get
out of here. Fast.

Jess was there,
suddenly. “Anna! You’re here!”

The women hugged, and
then Jess went on, “I have no idea how you found us, but we need a fourth for
pool. Want to play?”

Anna grinned. God, she
was beautiful. “Sure.”

He was fucking doomed.
That was all. Just doomed.

Anna liked watching
the way Jake and Jess were together. She could see not only the spark between
them—the way her eyes lit up when she looked at Jake’s ass as he bent to
take a shot—but also the ease, the way Jake leaned against her, resting
his chin on the top of her head.

There was a moment of
tension when Jess asked how she and Zee knew each other. Screwing up her
courage, Anna said, “I’m a client.” It was big to her, to say this. Important.
It showed she was taking care of herself. Zee stiffened next to her, clutching
his pool stick tightly.

Jess squealed and
thumped Jake on the arm. “You did it!
Zee
is your operator? And you
didn’t
tell
me! And Jake didn’t tell me.
God.
So now you two are
hanging out?”

Damn it. Anna hadn’t
stopped to think what this must look like to Jake, Zee’s boss. The two men
hadn’t
been talking during the game, just taking shots without meeting each other’s
eyes. She felt a stab of fear. Had she fucked everything up for Zee?

As if on cue, the two
men exchanged a dark glance and then Jake gave a jerk of his head toward the
back door. Without a word, both cut through the crowd. From the alley in the
rear, Anna heard muted shouting.

Jess leaned against
the drink table next to her. “Don’t worry about it.”

“I think I blew it,
huh? I shouldn’t have come here.”

“Zee has many things,
but he has no poker face. It would have come out eventually.”

“If I hadn’t stalked
him here, there’d be nothing to come out.”

Jess smiled. “Really?
Because I think you might be around a while.”

A tiny ember glowed in
Anna’s stomach. “What do you mean?”

“If you were just a
target, he would have left the bar as soon as you came in. He wouldn’t have
stayed unless you were important.”

A crash of metal rang
from the alley way.

“Should we...check on
them?” asked Anna.

“Nah,” said Jess.
“They’ll work it out.”

“Oh.”

“You know about the
accident, right?”

Anna turned so she
could face Jess in the dim beer light that hung overhead. “What?”

“Years ago. Before he
met Jake. There was a car accident, and the girl he was with died. He was
driving. Her name was Keren, I think. Red hair, like yours.”

Anna touched a long
strand that had fallen foward. “Oh. I didn’t know.”

“Jake says he never
got over it. That’s why he doesn’t go for anyone, not more than causally.”

“Maybe I’m casual,
too.”

“Zee was looking at
you like you were cake at a diabetes clinic.”

Anna turned and took
her turn on the table, missing the shot by a mile.

When the men finally came
back in, both looked slightly out of breath.

“This next round’s on
me. Again,” said Zee. “Even though there are approximately four thousand people
at the bar.”

“Damn straight it’s on
you,” said Jake as he slung his arm around Jess. “Fucking bastard.”

“Everything all
right?” Jess asked. Zee elbowed his way away from them through the crowd.

“Yup,” said Jake.
“More than all right. Zee’s got a crush, I guess.”

Anna felt her cheeks
go pink.
A crush.

It didn’t matter how
long it took Zee to come back with the drinks. It didn’t matter that she had no
idea what she was doing here. She was here now, and at some point, she was
going to touch Zee again and watch his eyes light up like they had at the bar
when he’d registered who she was. And that was just the start.

Doomed. He’d been
right.

Someone who looked and
smelled and moved like Anna did shouldn’t be allowed near him. He accidentally
smiled at her when he brought the drinks back. How could he not? She shot him
that grin, the one that made her nose wrinkle, and then she tucked a long
strand of hair behind her ear again nervously. It made him want to pull that
hair back out of place. Make her do it again. It made him want to kiss her.

Which was, of course,
utter horseshit.

Jess and Jake weren’t
helping. Jess did everything but stick her leg out to trip him trying to make
them fall together. Jake was almost as bad. Yeah, he’d been pissed in the alley
after he’d figured out there was more between Zee and Anna than just the job,
and they’d thrown each other around a bit. Jake needed to yell, and by god, Zee
didn’t tolerate yelling well.

But Jake had a point.
You don’t date a target. Ever. The only thing that got him off his boss’s hook
was that Anna was
already
a friend to Jake through Jess. Anna had come
to the business through the side door, and for some reason Jake was going to
allow this...whatever it was.

Of course, this
whatever was nothing. It had to be nothing. Zee didn’t do more than that.

Jess was shrugging
into her black jacket. “Thanks, you two, but I’ve got to get this guy home.”

Jake held up his
hands. “She wants cock. What can I say?”

Bumping him with her
hip, Jess said, “I want you to do the dishes we left.
Then
I want cock.”

Anna said, “I have to
get my card back from the bar. I’ll...see you guys later.” She shot Zee a look
from under her lashes.

What did she want?
Damn it. Why did women have to always have all this subtext? Why couldn’t they
just—

“Zee, you’ll walk her
to the subway?” Jess stood on tiptoe and Zee lowered his head to accept her
kiss on his cheek.

“Thanks,” said Anna
before darting away toward the bar. Was that what she meant? Why didn’t she
just say,
Can you walk with me?
Instead, she made someone else say it
and then ran away.

Jess squeezed his arm.
“It’s okay if you like her, buddy.”

Zee couldn’t speak the
words fast enough. “I don’t.”

“Liar,” she said
cheerfully.

Outside, the wind had
turned again. A metal street sign clanged against a pole, and flurries of bits
of trash skated in the gutter. Anna drew her coat more tightly around her, and
the tip of her nose went pink. For one terrible moment, Zee wanted to wrap his
arm around her shoulders, to draw her close to his side.

“We might get more
snow, they’re saying,” she said, glancing up at him.

Small talk. He couldn’t
do it. He shoved his hands into his pockets so that he wouldn’t do anything
dumb. Zee just needed to get her to the subway and then get away. And stay
away. This need—to touch her, to hold her, to fuck her until she couldn’t
breathe, and then hold her while she slept—was the stupidest thing he’d
felt in a really long time.

Anna took two quick
steps forward and turned to face him. A woman walking while looking at her cell
phone almost plowed into her.

“What’s your problem?”
Anna said.

Zee scowled. “Nothing.
It’s cold.”

Anna didn’t move. “I
mean, what the hell is going on? I know we have chemistry. And all night you
can’t even meet my eyes. You can barely talk to me.”

“Nothing’s wrong.”

“You’re telling me
you’re always like this?”

“So what if I am?” Zee
felt like a stubborn twelve-year-old caught in a lie.

“I tracked you down.”

“You shouldn’t have
done that.”

“Why not?”

Her face, turned up to
his, furious, and all he wanted to do was kiss her. That, or run away through
the cold, darkened streets.

“Because you’re a
client.”

“And because I’m
Jake’s friend. He doesn’t seem to mind anymore.”

“If you want more time
with me, you can pay him for it.”

Anna
flinched—he’d hit the target he’d aimed for.

“Of course,” she said
softly. “You were just doing your job.”

He nodded, knowing he
was an asshole. Knowing it wasn’t just his job.

“So what if I ask you
out?”

Zee gave a hollow
laugh. “A date? I don’t date.”

“Why not?” she asked
again.

Enough of this game of
hers. Zee stepped forward, closing the small gap between them. He leaned down,
bringing his face close to hers. Her body heat reflected against his, and he
could almost taste the cold trail of condensation that rose from her mouth. “
I
hurt women for a living.
”

Anna drew in a shaky
breath but stood her ground, saying nothing.

“That’s all I do.”

Still she said
nothing.

“And I don’t care if
you like getting hurt, if that’s your thing or not. I’m not the man you should
want. I don’t date. I don’t get close. I
hurt
them. You won’t be the
exception.”

“Fuck you,” she said,
surprising him with the heat of her words.

“What?”

“Jess told me about
Keren. You’re the scared one, not me. I
thought
I was scared. I did.
I’ve been scared of everything for years. But when I put myself out there to
get physically hurt, you know what? I liked it. Pain isn’t anywhere near as
scary as I thought it was. Maybe nothing is. And you know what else? I like
thinking about you. I have no idea what—” she waved her hands between
them “—this is or could be. I just know I’m not going to be scared of it.
I’m through being scared.”

“I’ll break your
heart.”

She shrugged. “So
what? I’m strong. I’ll live.”

Something inside Zee’s
chest shook, a deep reverberation. He couldn’t...it wasn’t that easy. “Go. The
subway is just around the corner. I’ve walked you far enough.”