Holding Her Close (Bits and Bytes, Book 0) (Bits & Bytes) (6 page)

She sighed and closed her eyes again. Of course
Zach was already gone. What had she expected? Even though she didn’t make a habit of one-night stands, she’d done it a couple of times. There was sex, sometimes there was sleep in the same bed, and there was never more the next morning.

At least he’d saved her the trouble of an awkward goodbye. She pushed herself upright, hair falling around her face as she slouched forward.
They’d gotten that last regret out of their systems, they could be in the same room together again, and she’d be done with the immature swooning.

Right. It was closure. It had been incredible, but that chapter of her past was finally finished. She could move on.

Her phone buzzed on her nightstand and she grabbed it out of habit. She couldn’t hide her smile as she flipped through the messages from Zach.

Had an early meeting
or I would have said goodbye.

Best closure ever.

Enjoy your day.

She pushed out of bed. Why did that make
her feel better? Nothing else had changed, but knowing she wasn’t the only one it left an impression on helped. Now she just had to focus on reminding herself an impression was all she needed.

Shower, work, maybe
start digging up her next contract. She’d been single for so long for a reason, and last night wasn’t enough to make her forget long-term relationships consumed souls. Throwing herself into a new project for work should get rid of the lingering traces of something she couldn’t name.

Zach tried to ignore the one-on-one meetings going on in the conference room. Vance was interviewing everyone individually to “get to know his new people better.” Zach didn’t like the sound of it, but hadn’t been able to craft a valid objection.

He made himself comfortable in the chair across from Scott's desk and waited for acknowledgment. When they had decorated, he’d given Scot
t crap for the plastic-framed mesh on metal legs. Even though they kind of matched the modern décor everywhere else, the chairs were butt-ugly. Zach had realized over time they were also the most comfortable chairs in the office.

Framed magazine reviews and industry awards glared at him: black frames against white walls reminded him how much they had poured into the company.

Scott glanced in his direction, but didn't pull his attention away from the three flat screens between them. “You score?”

Zach studied him. Had Rae already said something? No. The question was too vague. So why couldn’t he find a frame of reference.
“Huh?”

Scott nodded toward the conference rooms.
“Miss bun-so-tight-it-has-to-give-her-a-migraine who was winking at you through the entire evening. I’ll take that as a no.”

Zach shrugged. That should be his segue. The entire reason he was there. This wasn’t the kind of secret he could keep, and it wasn’t like it was a big deal he’d slept with Rae. They’d both agreed it was an outlet. A means to an end. So why was he hesitating?

Scott typed a few more things, still not pulling his attention from his work. “Probably smart. Odds are she fucks like a woman who knows she’s attractive.”

The statement sent an unwelcome rush of images through Zach’s head. Rae’s unique combination of bold seduction and hesitation. The way she slid against him. Her soft curves yielding to his attentions. He shifted in his seat when his cock responded to the memories. This was not the time.
“I assume.” He didn’t want to be talking about Selina. Someone else was on his mind. “You could have said something.”

Scott looked at him for a moment, eyes hard, before turning back to his computer.
“You didn’t call that yourself?”

Scott had to know he was talking about brining Rae to dinner without warning him first.
Zach pinched the bridge of his nose. His entire week was going to be filled with political games; he didn’t want to play them with Scott. “I’m not talking about her.”

Scott shook his head, clicking on something and generating a series of beeps.
“I told you I was bringing a friend.”

Damn it he needed a fix. Stupid indoor anti
-smoking laws. Zach sighed. “Really? And it slipped your mind to mention your 'friend' was...” he trailed off, rethinking his sentence so it sounded less emotional. “Her?”

“
Are the two of you on speaking terms, or not?” Scott finally looked at him, mouth twisted in irritation. “Because really, a decade of listening to you not talk about each other has worn on me.”

“
I wouldn’t have guessed.” Zach couldn’t keep the sarcasm from his voice.

“
So no issues then.” Scott’s tone had shifted to something less casual, and his attention was fully on the conversation now. “You can be in the same room together and no one has to plan around your childish spat.”

Why was there so much aggravation there? Zach rolled the words over in his head,
examining the delivery as much as the meaning. Was that a hint of possession in Scott’s voice? “No issues. She and I are good now.”

Scott shook his head and turned away.
“Glad to hear something that happened in high school hasn’t left you permanently scarred.”

That was definitely a sneer in his voice. Zach needed to watch his step on this one, though he still wasn’t sure why. He forced his smile to look casual, and kept a teasing tone in his voice.
“Like you’re one to talk.”

Scott’s jaw clenched and he glared at Zach.
“You know I’m not stupid, right?”

That had come out of nowhere. Zach blinked. He shouldn’t slide into this argument, but he hated being on the defensive.
“I wonder sometimes, but for the most part, yes.”

“
You go out of your way to avoid each other for the majority of a decade.” Scott spoke through clenched teeth. “The only girl besides Kelly to ever dump you. Suddenly she’s at your house, she’s in your office with the door locked, and she’s texting you in the middle of a fucking business dinner.”

Zach couldn’t hide his surprise. So that hadn’t gone unnoticed after all
, and still he couldn’t bring himself to own up to it. “I was talking to—”

“
Your broker, yeah, I get it. That short little guy who lives at the end of the rainbow because really? You’ve got a broker?”

Zach
had no idea how to regain control of the conversation, putting him more on edge than any of the details of what Scott had to say. “Your point?”

Scott’s lips drew into a thin line, and he sat straight up, shoulders
back. “She’s not a game. This isn’t the woman you tag at a convention because you’re bored.”

Possessiveness. That’s what that sound was. Zach should have recognized it sooner, but he hadn’t expected it. That answered that question. He wasn’t mentioning last night at all. Since it had only been a one
-time deal, there was no reason. Scott was one enemy he never wanted to make. “I get that. You can pretend she’s your little sister all you want. I don’t have any plans to go after her.”

Even as he spoke he heard the twist of language in his words. It was just habit. That was all. He hadn’t spun it that way to create his own loophole. Never promising not to do it, instead just saying he didn’t intend to. Because he didn’t. He and Rae were done. The past was tied off. Even if he was still thinking about the night before.
He certainly wasn’t wondering what would have happened if he’d been able to stick around that morning. Talk, joke, find out what other buttons she had that made her moan. That’s what memories were for.

“
Whatever.” Scott shook his head. “I don’t want to do this with you.”

That made two of them. Maybe a change of subject was the best idea.
“At least she’s not the HR director, right?”

Scott tensed again, and then exhaled.
“Good call. You get any good intel?”

Zach felt the tension leak away and gladly slid into the new topic.
“Jordan says he's quitting if they start making the rules. Chloe says they'd better give her a pay raise if she has to put up with their bullshit. Marketing is drooling over DM’s media budget.”

Scott chuckled.
“So, typical day at the office?”

“
Pretty much.” Zach made a mental note not to mention Rae again, and to change the topic if she came up. So nothing new there except his reasons. “I talked to Jim this morning.”

Jim was their attorney, and had been reviewing their buy
-out offers since they’d arrived.

Scott's posture shifted. His hands fell away from the keyboard and he sat straight up. He pulled his attention completely away from his computer.
“And?”

“
They've finished looking everything over. Not really any surprises, just a couple of things they want clarified before we sign.” Zach knew that wasn't the news Scott wanted, but it was all he had.

Scott folded his arms on his desk and dropped his head into them. The desk muffled his response.
“What if I don't want to be bought out?”

Zach hated this conversation, and the five million times they'd had it in the last six months. It wasn’t that he wanted to sign the paperwork anymore than Scott did. He didn’t like having their company ripped away either
, but they didn’t have a choice. He'd given so many replies he wished he just had a randomizer to play one back each time. “Really?”

Scott peered up at him, eyes narrow.
“Thanks for your sympathy. Maybe next time someone smashes your dreams against the rocks I can return the favor. Oh, wait. You don't dream big. You just capitalize on other people's ideas.”

Standing, Zach took a step toward the door. Something in the back of his mind told him not to rise to the taunt, but holding back was getting old. It wasn't supposed to be like this. They weren’t supposed to fight, they were supposed to collaborate.
“Tell you what. How about I come back when you're ready to deal with reality?”

Scott slammed his fist against his desk. A loose pen jumped and fell, clattering against his plastic chair mat.
“How about you come back when you've bought your soul back from the highest bidder?”

Nails digging into his palm
s, Zach pushed the office door open. He bit back the “fuck you” sitting on the tip of his tongue. “Yeah. That sounds like a good idea.”

****

Rae tried to make out the clang of her swizzle stick against her glass amid the chatter in the bar. She stared at the milky brown swirling around ice. What was she doing there?

Someone slid into the seat next to her
. The smell of cologne mixed with the alcohol on his breath was so strong she almost gagged. He loosened his tie and undid the top button on his shirt.

Rae looked him over, trying to decide if he was cute. It was hard to tell. He looked like every other twenty
-something in the bar: trying too hard to prove he was someone.

She turned away when he looked in her direction.

He leaned closer, his breathy question making her eyes water. “Hey, beautiful. Is it true chubby girls try harder in bed?”

She tugged down the edge of her shirt and moved to a different stool, not bothering to answer.
It had taken a long time to get over the image issues she’d had when she was a teenager, but for the most part she recognized her curves weren’t the same as being overweight. That didn’t mean any comments to the contrary hurt any less, though.

A series of basketball games blared in the background, overlapping each other and clashing with the chatter. A voice whispered in the back of her head if she wanted to take her mind of
f Zach, a sports bar filled with young businessmen just like him, but slimier, was probably not the way to do it.

She’d had the same thought two hours earlier, but had hoped the alcohol would make it better. Now she was just drunk enough to realize
she wasn’t in the mood for a cheap stand-in.

“
What's your poison, hot stuff?” The stranger’s alcohol-laden breath brushed her ear, and he wrapped an arm around her waist.

A chill crawled under her skin. She jerked away from the grabby douche.
“Nothing you can afford.”

His eyes narrowed.
“Like you’re going to find better offer.”

“
She said she’s not interested.” A hand rested at the small of her back, and Zach’s familiar voice erased the cold roaring through her.

What was he doing there? And what would it take to keep his hand there a little longer?

Drunk douche’s eyes narrowed as he looked Zach over. “Not in you.”

“
Maybe not.” Zach’s arm brushed her spine. “But at least I can take no for an answer.”

Rae watched the scene unfold, horror ting
eing her fascination. Her stomach winced in protest, or maybe that was the three white Russians reminding her she hadn’t eaten that night.

“
Slut.” Drunken douche turned away, stumbling when he ran into the bar stool.

Zach stepped after him, hands clenched into fists.

It was tempting to let him go after the drunk douche, but Rae forced herself to put a restraining hand on his arm. She wasn’t some princess who needed a knight in shining armor, but knowing that didn’t stop the unexpected rescue from warming her. “He’s not worth it.”

He snarled and spun back to face her. His expression softened. He slid into the stool next to her.
“At least let me pick up your tab.”

He was being so sweet. She wanted his hand on her back again. To lean against his shoulder, to forget putting him behind her was part of the reason she’d been drinking.

She shook her head, stopping when the room tilted at strange angles. “Already covered, but thank you.”

He slid
her drink away from her. “You look wobbly.”

“
Only a little.” She wanted him closer again so she could lean on him. No, she didn’t. She was fine. “Maybe it’s time to call it a night.”

She hopped off the stool. Her heel hooked on a rung and she stumbled, destroying her attempt at a cool getaway.

Zach caught her, one hand on her shoulder and the other on her hip to help her stand again.

A whisper of his cologne washed over her and she swallowed. Damn it, she didn't need him there. She hurried to right herself, almost falling backward again in the process.

He studied her for a minute, concern heavy in his eyes. “You're calling a cab, right?”