She doubted the wisdom of holding out her hand to shake his, but it was the only way to make sure he knew they were done, that whatever sparks had been jumping between them were officially going to be extinguished today at the close of business.
He moved nearer and wrapped his fingers around hers. “I owe you for saving Cuddles today.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head, as his warmth enveloped her head to toe, “you don’t owe me anything.”
“We both know I do. And I always pay my debts.”
Oh God, why couldn’t she breathe?
She wasn’t a virgin, wasn’t some young girl easily dazzled by a man just because he looked in her direction. On the contrary, she was a pragmatic woman who knew only too well just how false a pretty facade could be.
“Take good care of Cuddles.” She slid her hand from his. “That’s all the thanks you owe me.”
Before she could walk away, however, her stomach growled and she snarkily muttered, “Agnes’s call came just as I was about to grab something to eat.”
Again, she didn’t realize her misplaying of the situation until he said, “Let me make it up to you by buying you dinner. Somewhere we can sit outside so the dogs can play.”
Did he think she’d just fallen off the turnip truck yesterday? She knew exactly how he expected a make it up to you dinner to play out. He’d ply her with a few glasses of wine and then the next thing she knew, she’d be flat on her back, begging for him to take her.
It wasn’t that she was a prude. On the contrary, just because Heather had always carefully guarded her heart with men, didn’t mean she’d foolishly given up the pleasure of being a woman. She’d just always made sure that her partners weren’t any more interested in her heart that she was in theirs, and that there was no chance of anything ever going deeper than the physical.
But with Zach...
Daring to give in to the shockingly strong urge to kiss him would be the stupidest thing she ever did. Even from a distance, being near him made her feel completely out of control. If he were to put his mouth, his hands, on her naked skin—
Just the thought of that had her senses reeling.
She took another step back from him. “I’m still playing catch-up from being pulled out of the office for so long this morning, so I’ll have to pass on dinner.”
She told herself she wasn’t being a coward. On the contrary, she was being smart, protecting herself from the exact kind of man that could destroy her.
“Remember what I said about tonight,” she told him before he could press her on dinner again. “Don’t make the mistake of letting Cuddles get away with anything because she’s cute. You’ll only confuse her.”
“What if I’ve got a thing for cute?”
This time, he very clearly wasn’t talking about the dog. Evidently she hadn’t been direct enough with him thus far. It was long past time to put him in his place.
“Then you’d better get over it real fast. Atlas, time to say goodbye to your friend.”
Heather made a low clicking sound, then turned her back on Zach and walked away from temptation.
Chapter Four
Zach wanted Heather with a hunger he’d never felt before. His fascination with girls had started early and he’d been kissing in school hallways way back in middle school, going a heck of a lot further than that by high school. But for all the playing he’d done during his thirty years, he’d never felt such a strong need, especially so quickly.
Had this been the way his father had felt about his mother when he’d met her?
Suddenly realizing the crazy direction his brain was going, he almost lost his hold on Cuddles. She gave a little squeak as he tightened his grip on her.
What was wrong with him, thinking about Heather that way?
Ever since he was seven and his father died unexpectedly of an aneurism, leaving his mother behind to mourn him at the same time that she had to keep raising eight kids, Zach had known that he could never let himself form that strong a bond with a woman. He was too much like his father. Looked like him, acted like him, had all the same interests. He even got the same headaches his father used to get, ones that would come on like a bullet train one minute, and be gone the next. They’d been so much alike that Zach’s uncles had barely been able to be around him after his father’s death because he reminded them too much of Jack Sullivan. Even now, whenever he saw his father’s brothers, he could tell how hard it was for them to be around him.
All his life, Zach had been careful to keep the boundaries clear with women. He was all for great sex until they made the mistake of trying to stick emotions on it, at which point he always got the heck out. He couldn’t stand the thought of a woman falling in love with him, planning her life around him, only to have him checking out on her way too early, the way his father had his mother.
Like father, like son. It was why Zach had always gone for speed. Cars. Women. Life. He wanted to experience as much of it as he could before it ended early. Because he knew he was too much like his father for it to go any other way.
Damn it, he needed to stop wasting time analyzing this thing with Heather. She was hot. Smart. And sex with her was going to be great.
That is, if he could convince her to give him a go.
Finally, he smiled. Because if there was one thing Zach knew how to do better than any guy on earth, it was convincing women to give him a go.
A half hour later, when her employees had all gone home, he dialed her cell phone. “Pizza delivery out front.”