Zachary stretched and casually walked over to Anita— as nonchalantly as he could make it seem at this point. She beamed up at him and turned so she could face him when he sat down.
“We’ve created a scandal, I’m afraid,” she said, laughing behind her hand.
He wasn’t amused but still found himself chuckling. “Yeah, I think it was that last go ‘round that woke the neighbors.
“Uhmmm-hmmmm.” She leaned over and kissed him. “And I don’t care.” She lowered her voice to a sexy decibel. “Meet me in the bathroom . . . I need more of what you gave me last night.”
He could feel the muscle in his jaw pulse; the temptation was so great that he almost lost his game face. “Stop messing with me.”
“I’m not messing with you,” she said, growing completely serious. “I’m so turned on right now that I’m about to slide out of this chair.”
Her comment made him swallow hard, hang his head with his eyes squeezed shut, and then speak to her in a low, pleading murmur. “Baby, you’ve gotta stop.”
“I can’t help it,” she whispered in a near moan. “I might have to go in there and get started without you.”
The image of her graceful fingers sliding into her slick opening, one hand on her breast, kneading a taut nipple, almost made him grab her by the elbow and drag her down the aisle. Anita’s naked, caramel-hued skin started a flash fire in his mind, all the way from her gorgeous eyes to her clean-shaven nether lips . . . she had the prettiest . . .
“So you wanna?” she murmured, touching his leg and making his entire shaft contract.
It was only after she’d touched him there that he realized his leg had been slightly bouncing. “Of course,” he said, breathing out the words. “But we have to pass everybody, you know . . . and have to maybe wait until they go to sleep.”
“I don’t know if I can wait that long,” she said in a quiet rush and then sat back and closed her eyes, breathing deeply through her nose as she traced her collarbone.
Impulse would have made him just take her mouth right then and there, just pick her up and carry her to the restroom, and kick the frickin’ door down. But this wasn’t his contract; it was Lowell’s. It wasn’t his reputation; it was hers. It wasn’t his staff; wasn’t people he’d have to work with day and night. Discipline took over, just like the stabbing pain had in his scrotum.
She opened her eyes and leaned forward. “Baby, please . . .”
He held up one finger discreetly to stop her words. “’Nita, you’re killing me.” When she opened her mouth to protest, he motioned toward the aisle with a swift nod, then let out his breath when he saw Megan do a little jig in the aisle and slap a stylist high five. “When we get back—”
“I know, I know, we’re going to have to talk . . . but I was hoping that wouldn’t be all.”
“Yeah, me too,” he said quietly. “I miss you already.”
“You do?” She hugged herself and bit her bottom lip and then glanced toward the bathroom again.
“No,” he said, laughing to keep from crying.
“All right . . . dang.”
“Not with Lowell’s guys here, you know.” He studied the bathroom and then shook the thought. “No.”
“Be honest, thinking about the mile-high possibilities are wearing you out.” She laughed and poked him with a bare foot.
He shook his head, chuckling. “I admit it— but I want to talk seriously for a minute.”
Her smile faded with his. “Okay . . . guess this is where you dump me, right?”
“Wrong,” he said, taking up her hands, no longer caring who saw. “This is where I tell you that I want to check out your pent house and make sure you’re okay.”
“Oh,” she said stroking his cheek.
He turned his mouth into her palm and covered her hand with his own, kissing it hard. “They still haven’t figured out who’s stalking you or who put pesticide in Lowell’s food. We don’t even know exactly what happened.” Zach held her hands within his, trying to get her to listen. “You met with Lowell little more than a month ago, right?”
“Right,” Anita said, leaning closer and lowering her voice. “I had been looking around because my brothers were getting on my nerves, and I casually asked Ron Epps— the guy I was arguing with the day we met, and—?
??
“Epps?” Zach said, now almost whispering. “You never said his last name before.”