the desserts arrived, conversation lulled in favour of enjoyment of the delicate fare. Lily relaxed, let go of the deathly grip on her notebook and turned her attention to her food.
Instead of relaxing with her, Zach’s tension increased. Why hadn’t he been able to banish personal thoughts of her from his mind?
Maybe it wasn’t his mind that was causing the problem. Maybe he needed to indulge his curiosity. He twirled the stem of his wine glass between his fingers. One little taste test. Just to see. So he could put it out of his thoughts once and for all…
‘The coffee crème is delicious.’ She turned to him and smiled. A simple smile, yet he wanted to rush her into the supply closet at the rear of the conference room and kiss her among the broom sticks, buckets and mops.
He was losing his mind. Could only think of tasting her, nothing else, even though every fibre in his being warned him it was dangerous to think this way. Even for a moment. ‘Um—’
‘I hope the lemon panna cotta and fruit coulis equals it.’ She dipped her spoon into the confection again. ‘Would you like me to ask the caterers to give you a serving of the coffee crème, too? I’m sure they’d have some spares, if you’d like to try both.’
‘No. Thank you.’ He cleared his throat, forced civil words out, couldn’t quite hide the deeper timbre of his voice. ‘I’ll be fine with…what I have.’
He tried his lemon panna cotta, praised her choice and tried not to think about her mouth. They were in the middle of a conference meeting, and his awareness of her was off the scale.
She blinked. That rapid flutter again of her lashes. ‘That’s very good. I’m glad you’re enjoying your…dessert.’
‘Yes.’ The coffee arrived. With relief, he turned to the man on his right and engaged him in conversation until things began to wind down.
Finally, the time came to deliver his short closing speech. He got to his feet. ‘You’ll all need time to think, to confer with colleagues, to run the figures. I suggest phone conferences tomorrow and Wednesday to conclude our business. Phone Lily in the morning. She’ll let you know what time slots are available.’
From the corner of his eye, he saw Lily scribble something in her notebook and underline it.
With murmured thanks, the guests moved out. Zach saw them off at the door while Lily set the caterers to work on the clean up. She returned to his side just as Hardy clamped an unlit cigar into his mouth and said around it, ‘A phone conference doesn’t suit me. Come to my office tomorrow at 4.00 p.m. I’ll give you my answer then.’
‘I’m not available at that time.’ Zach tried to instil regret into his tone. ‘Nor will I be available for anything but phone conferences for the rest of the week. You’ll understand that I’m busy.’
As a concession, Zach acknowledged the other man’s probable commitments. ‘I’m sure you must have a full schedule, too. Perhaps you’d like to call on Thursday or Friday. I’m prepared to extend the deadline for you.’
‘We’ll see.’ Hardy barged out the door, proposal tucked beneath his arm and a scowl on his face.
‘Nice exit.’ Lily’s chuckle washed over Zach, sensual and free. She looked into his eyes, the smile still lingering on her lips. ‘Do you think he’ll accept your proposal?’
‘I expect he will, eventually.’ He dipped his head closer to her face. Wanted her. Didn’t want to.
She gasped. A soft sigh of sound that revealed her reaction to him. ‘Well, um, I’ll just have one last word with the caterers, then. To make sure they’re, um, all finished catering.
‘Don’t wait for me. You go on back.’ She drew in a shaky breath. ‘I’ll join you when I’ve calmed—in a minute. I’ll join you in a minute.’
He left. It was either that or snatch her into his arms and kiss them both senseless, momentary acquaintances or not.
CHAPTER THREE
‘CAN I help you?’ Lily closed the filing-cabinet drawer, and offered a questioning smile to the boy who stood in school uniform in the middle of the reception area of her office, his shoulders hunched, his profile to her.
Two and a half weeks had passed since she’d started work at Swift Enterprises. Two and a half weeks filled with a growing, unspoken awareness between her and a man unlike any she had known.
Clients had come and gone. Lily had managed the appointments, ploughed through the pile-up of work, and hadn’t bungled anything too badly. Earlier today, Hardy had finally signed on the dotted line, yielding to what he knew was a great deal, just as Zach had predicted he would.
Lots of things had happened, but this was the first time Lily had seen a child in the offices. The boy should have seemed out of place, yet somehow he didn’t.
‘Oh, hi. I didn’t see you there. Is Zach ready?’ He turned fully to face her, slung his backpack onto one of the chairs and pushed his hands into his pockets in a gesture she had seen Zach use countless times. ‘He said we’d have to go by four o’clock.’
‘And it’s almost that now, isn’t it?’ Slowly, she returned to her desk as she tried to assimilate what she was seeing. This boy was the image of the man on the other side of the closed office door. The same thick-fringed hazel eyes, same hair. Same mannerisms, same frown. Everything. It was all there.
Zach’s son?
The possibility hadn’t occurred to her until now. Faced with it, she felt…unnerved. Her mind leapt immediately ahead. Where was the mother of this child? What relationship did Zach have with her? Why didn’t the boy call his father ‘Dad’?
And what game had Zach been playing with her? He was a well-known and, it was assumed, carefree bachelor, and had been sending out ‘attracted to you’ signals since they’d met. Those signals had only grown stronger on both sides, she had thought, even though Zach had been clearly fighting them all the way.
She’d had no intention of acting on them, either, of course. Had intended to put a stop to her side of things just as soon as she worked out how. Hadn’t she?
Of course she had! But what had Zach been thinking?
‘Um, your fath—Mr Swift—is taking a phone call.’ The boy shouldn’t be made uncomfortable because of her surprise and shock. And she was shocked. ‘I’m sure he’ll be finished his call in a moment.’
The boy nodded. ‘I’ll just wait, then.’
‘Yes. Make yourself at home.’ She pretended to go back to work, but all that showed up on her screen as she typed was meaningless gibberish.
At times recently, she had wanted to yield to Zach’s interest, and to her own. To step forward instead of stepping back, just once, and see what happened. She shouldn’t have wanted that. She was living a deception. He wouldn’t want her if he knew her secrets, and she needed to protect herself, too.
But it appeared he also had secrets.
Zach opened his door and came out. He glanced at her, and his eyes flared with familiar heat.
