“Just goes to show even a leopard can change his spots with the right motivation,” Lila answered, and Sophie could hear the happiness ringing through her voice. “So, tell me. You haven’t done anything silly about what we talked about last month, have you? I’m worried about you.”
Sophie huffed out a small breath and lowered her voice. “To even have an opportunity would be a fine thing. No, don’t worry, I still haven’t been able to do any snooping around Zach Lassiter. I’m quite safe.”
Their conversation turned to more general matters and after Sophie replaced her handset on the cradle, she took a moment to hug Lila’s exciting news to herself. Her friend had been fiercely independent for so long, had carved a strong career for herself against some pretty tough odds, and now here she was—on the precipice of a whole new adventure in her life. Marriage to a man she clearly loved with all her generous heart, and expecting his babies.
Truth be told, Sophie felt a little envious of Lila. What would it be like, she wondered, to carry the baby of the man you loved? Without realizing it her eyes strayed to Zach’s closed office door. She shook her head. She wasn’t in love with Zach Lassiter. Of course she wasn’t.
Sure, she was attracted to him. Majorly attracted to him, even though she had some niggling suspicions that he knew more about Alex’s disappearance than he was letting on. But she didn’t know him. Not really. Certainly not enough to begin contemplating what it would be like to have his child, and certainly not enough to fully trust him. Even so, she couldn’t help wondering what it would be like to be the sole focus of his attention. To feel not only his gaze upon her, but his lips, his hands, his body, as well. Zach stood a good six inches taller than her own five and a half feet and he had a strong build. How he found the time to stay in shape with the hours he spent in the office or out on business calls she didn’t know, but it was easy to see in the way he walked and in the fit of his clothing that he took care of himself.
She could only begin to imagine what it would be like to trace the outlines of his muscles from shoulder to chest...and lower. Tendrils of heat spread from the pit of her belly and made her insides clench on a surge of need so intense it almost made her gasp out loud.
Sophie pushed away from her desk and went through to the kitchenette to grab a glass of water. She took a long drink of the chilled liquid, but it did little to quell the turmoil in her body. She was being ridiculous. A woman like her was not Zach Lassiter’s type. She lacked the refinement he’d surely expect in his women. Not that anyone ever saw him out with a woman on his arm. He was as closed and careful about his relationships, if he had them, as he was about everything else in his life.
It made her wonder again just how much he knew about Alex Santiago’s disappearance. Unlike everyone else, he hadn’t openly speculated on where Alex could be. Did that mean that he knew something and was keeping it secret, even from the police? Sophie shook her head slightly. She didn’t want to contemplate it. Surely Zach wouldn’t withhold vital information from what was now a police investigation.
Zach appeared in the doorway, a sheaf of papers in his hand and a worried frown on his forehead.
“Did you w-want me for something?” she asked, her voice a little wobbly.
An inner groan tore through her. Want her? Like she wanted him? She’d have to work harder to guard her tongue. She turned away to reach for a mug from the cupboard so he wouldn’t see the twin spots of color she just knew would be glowing in her cheeks the way they always did when she was uncomfortable.
“Yeah, can you come into my office when you’re finished in here? I’ve been going over the pitch we’re sending out for potential investors in the Manson project. I need you to help me fine-tune some things.”
“Sure, I’ll be there right away. Coffee?”
“Thanks,” he replied, already walking away.
Sophie quelled the sigh that built in her chest. Yes, he wanted her all right. For work, not for play.
* * *
Her nerves were stretched raw by the end of the week. She and Zach had worked late most nights, he even later than she, and he’d beaten her into the office each morning, as well. Even getting half the chance to check around his office was impossible. Lila certainly would have no worries on that score.
Sophie knew it was important that they get their pitch perfect for the Manson project. It was something that Alex had started before he had disappeared. It had become a matter of pride for both her and Zach to deliver no less than Alex would have when it came to sourcing investors for Ally Manson’s start-up. The seventeen-year-old prodigy was an IT genius and Alex had been hugely excited by the opportunity to launch her idea of a nationwide computer-assisted home disability network. Astute investors at the outset would be integral to her success and, by association, theirs, as well.
For all the hard work and long hours they’d been putting in, Sophie was still surprised that Zach was spending so much extra time at the office, and most of it with his door closed. A couple of times she’d entered his office, only to hear him abruptly put his caller on hold or close his laptop so she wouldn’t see what was on his screen. There was something going on that wasn’t quite right, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.
But it wasn’t his hours that had unsettled her the most this week. It was just him. For some stupid reason, Lila’s news had triggered something in her that had begun to blow out of proportion. She’d been able to control her attraction to him without any issues over the past eighteen months, even though they’d started working together more closely since Alex had disappeared. Now, though, the proximity was driving her crazy and affecting her concentration when it was more important than ever that she be on the ball.
It was as if her hormones had gone into overdrive, as if her friend’s pregnancy had triggered a persistent reminder that Sophie was twenty-eight, painfully single and childless—and that time wouldn’t forever be on her side. Her body remained in a heightened state of awareness even when she wasn’t around Zach—but when she was, it was a hundred times worse.
He only had to brush past her for every cell in her body to spring to aching, and embarrassingly eager, attention. And her dreams...she didn’t even want to think about them, or about waking—hot, sweaty and wanting in the worst way.
Several times this week she’d battled with canceling tonight’s dinner but some masochistic inner demon stopped her whenever she found the words to tell him their date was off. But it wasn’t a date, was it? It was a reward, a bonus. He’d made it clear in his invitation he wanted to say thank-you for her work. Technically, she’d earned it. Still, the prospect of an evening in his company was winding her as tight as a spring and her constant battle with herself had worn her defenses ragged.
Sophie shut down her computer at five-thirty and slid her backup drive into the side pocket of her bag. She planned to have a long, hot, invigorating shower and take her time over getting ready for this evening. She was going to enjoy herself, dammit. He was an attractive, well-educated and erudite male. Tonight was a reward for her hard work. She had earned every second of it and would savor every bite of what would no doubt be a delicious meal.
“Everything still okay for this evening? I thought I’d pick you up at your place around seven-thirty.”
Zach’s voice cut through her resolve like a hot knife through butter. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t sit opposite him over an intimate meal and not be driven totally crazy with wanting him. She’d be hopelessly uncomfortable and make some stupid mistake, like letting him know how she
