but a glint of cynicism appeared in his gaze. ‘I have a rule when I date a woman. I pick her up and I deliver her safely home.’
Holly pursed her lips, wondering what her landlady Mrs Fry would make of the handsome celebrity divorce lawyer coming to pick her up. ‘I have a rule, as well. Just dinner. Nothing else. Understood?’
‘Just dinner.’ His gaze locked on hers and something tightly knotted in her belly slowly unravelled. ‘I’ll look forward to it.’ He took out his phone, asked for her number and address and typed it into his contacts. He slipped his phone back into his jacket pocket and gave her another bone-melting smile. ‘See you at seven.’
Zack had a couple of mediation meetings to attend and a stack of paperwork so high it rivalled The Shard, the tallest building in London. He sat back in his office chair and tipped his pen back and forth between his fingers, wondering again why Holly had finally agreed to a dinner date. She’d been so adamant about having nothing to do with him. He would like to put it down to his powers of persuasion but he suspected there was some other reason for her capitulation.
She had something to prove, but then so did he.
He wanted her.
He couldn’t remember when he’d ever been so turned on by the prospect of a dinner date, much less anything else that might follow. Holly was frosty and feisty, but he would soon melt through her defences. Miss Frost would be Miss Firebrand by the time he was done. He could see it in her eyes—the flash and spark of desire that made him want her all the more. She was the most captivating challenge he’d encountered in a long time—perhaps ever. When was the last time a woman had stood up to him? It was almost boring these days how easy it had become to select one from the crowd. He found it strangely exhilarating to have to work so hard at changing her mind. Especially when he knew it was herself she was fighting, not him.
His phone rang and when he saw his father’s number come up on the screen, his stomach did its usual clench. His father had never got over Zack’s mother leaving him for another man when Zack was ten years old. Twenty-four years had passed and his dad was still hoping Zack’s mum would come back. He’d had a few relationships since, but they always followed a predictable pattern—the honeymoon phase and then the hell-on-earth phase. His dad was currently in the hell phase, having broken up with his partner a few months ago. His dad didn’t cope well with rejection. It could take months for him to get his life back on track, with a lot of help from Zack. And then it would all start again when his dad got involved with someone else.
Zack had seen it professionally too many times to count. Men or women who couldn’t let go of a love they had lost. And how the old pain of unresolved issues poisoned every other relationship.
It made him all the more determined never to fall in love. He didn’t want to be one of those people, the broken-hearted person who couldn’t function any more without their partner. To this day his dad still struggled to hold down a full-time job after a break-up.
How could loving someone be worth all that suffering?
He tossed his pen onto his desk and picked up the phone. ‘Hi, Dad, how are things?’
‘I’m okay...’ His voice was flat and toneless and Zack wondered if he had been drinking again. Please, God. No.
‘Just wondered what you were doing this evening. Thought we could hang out. Grab a meal, watch a movie or take in a show or something.’
Damn. Zack rubbed a hand down his face. He’d forgotten today was his parents’ wedding anniversary. The first of April was always a bad day for his dad. It wasn’t called April Fool’s Day for nothing. It was marginally better if his dad was in a relationship but his recent break-up had made his dad depressed. Zack usually kept his diary free so he could take him out and distract him but it had slipped his mind for some reason. Should he tell his dad he already had a date?
But how could he?
If he left his dad to his own devices, who knew what might happen? His dad had been sober for months but Zack knew from experience that he was always only one drink away from a binge. Anniversaries, Christmas and birthdays were the days he had to take action to make sure his dad was safe—or at least as safe as he could keep him, especially when his dad was in a single-and-hating-it phase.
‘If you’re too busy...’
‘No. I’ll make it work.’ Zack injected a shot of enthusiasm in his voice. ‘I’ll pick you up at seven.’
He ended the call and pulled up Holly’s number on his phone. He sat staring at it for a long moment. There were few people in his life who knew about his dad’s struggles and he wasn’t about to start sharing now. He’d spent most of his life watching out for his father and he didn’t need anyone to know how hard it could be at times.
It wouldn’t change anything—it never did.
He pressed the call button but it went through to voicemail. He felt a stab of disappointment. He left a brief message and clicked off his phone. Under normal circumstances he would have sent flowers by way of apology, but sending flowers to a florist seemed a bit weird. He ordered some specialist chocolates instead and sent them by courier with instructions to pick up his handwritten note from his office first. He knew Holly had a sweet tooth because he’d seen her at the dessert table at the divorce party. He smiled at the memory of her spooning gooey black forest cheesecake into her kissable mouth.
Yep, Holly Frost was definitely worth the work and the wait.
Holly was in a Love Is in the Care late-afternoon business meeting with Sabrina. They met at least once a week for coffee or dinner or drinks after work when their schedules obliged and caught up on industry gossip and any issues to do with their businesses. If it was a coffee and quick catch-up, they took turns to meet in each other’s work premises and today it was at Sabrina’s studio, a few roads away from Holly’s shop.
‘Has business picked up at all?’ Sabrina asked, passing a slice of carrot cake Holly’s way.
Holly held up her hand. ‘Not for me. I had two helpings of cheesecake at Kendra’s party last night. And no, business hasn’t improved. I had another cancellation yesterday.’
‘Oh, no! Not another one?’
‘I don’t know what’s going on. Normally at this time of year I have a full diary of weddings. Why aren’t I getting business any more? Now I have to resort to doing divorce parties.’
‘So how was your first divorce party?’
‘Interesting.’ Holly eyed the carrot cake. ‘I met Zack Knight. He did Kendra’s divorce for her. She took a photo of Zack and me standing together. I’ve been dreading her uploading it on social media, but so far she hasn’t, which kind of makes me even more nervous. You know Kendra. She fancies herself a matchmaker.’
‘I saw a photo of Zack recently in a gossip magazine,’ Sabrina said. ‘What’s he like in person? He looks gorgeous. Is he even better-looking in the flesh?’
Holly could feel her cheeks betraying her. Darn it. She couldn’t even hear his name without blushing. And the less she thought about his flesh the better. ‘He was exactly as I expected him to be. Full of charm and full of ego.’
Sabrina’s expression was so full of intrigue she could have moonlighted as a gossip hound. ‘And?’
‘And...I’m
