He didn’t wait to read signals or give her room to make the first move. As far as he was concerned, she’d made it by contacting him. He slipped his arms around her and eased her into a little alcove carved out by the entrance to the bathrooms. She immediately felt perfect in his arms. Her body felt just as amazing as it had that first night. Unable to wait a minute longer, he lowered his mouth to hers.
But she didn’t respond like he expected. Instead of melting, she tensed. Instead of sliding her arms around his neck, she gripped his forearms. Zach broke the kiss, angled his head, and approached her again with more passion.
“Zach—”
He caught her open mouth under his and exploited it with his tongue, just a slow glide along the inside of her lower lip to warm things up. A sound ebbed from her throat, and her body softened a little. Now they were getting somewhere. Zach eased her against the wall and sank into the kiss. And when she sighed into his mouth, when her hands loosened on his arms, he let his body lean into hers. That was when she finally kissed him back. Her lashes fluttered closed, her head tilted, and her hands combed into his hair.
In the time it took to strike a match, all their heat from that first night returned in one fiery explosion. She met his tongue with her own, sucked at his lips, and arched her body into his. Zach doubled his arms around her, letting himself get lost in her taste, her heat, her musky wildflower scent. His cock rubbed against his jeans as Tessa rubbed against him.
Fuck dinner. He wanted her somewhere they could get horizontal. Yesterday.
He lifted his mouth from hers, just enough to murmur, “Let’s skip dinner.” He kissed her again. “You can be my appetizer, my entrée, and my dessert. I’m starving.”
When he met her lips again, she moaned and pulled back. “I’m sorry.” She licked her lips and unhooked her arms from his neck. When she looked up again, her discomfort showed in her expression. “I really need to talk to you for a few.”
Zach laughed at himself. He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Okay. Sorry, I got carried away.” He kept his arm around her and glanced toward the waiting area. “Did you get reservations?”
“It’s a long wait. Want to sit in the bar?”
“Sure.” The darker and more private, the better.
She stepped away, but Zach didn’t release the hand at her waist and pulled her in beside him for the short walk. When she slid onto the seat of a booth, Zach moved in beside her. There was already a half-empty glass of red wine and a manila envelope sitting under her purse on the table.
He turned toward her, laid an arm along the back of the small booth, and stroked a hand over her hair. She smiled, but she seemed…distracted was the only way he could describe it. Maybe a little distant. He could appreciate that. They were strangers in pretty much every way but the most intimate, and she wasn’t someone who picked up guys regularly.
“I’m so glad you called,” he said.
“Thanks for seeing me.”
That felt like an odd thing to say, but she was definitely unique. “I’ve been thinking about you. How long will you be in town?”
“Actually, I’m not sure.”
Something was off. This felt too…formal. “Why’d you stay?”
She lifted her gaze and met his eyes directly. “Because we need to talk.”
His plans for the night hit a wall. “We need to talk” was never a good phrase coming from a woman’s mouth, but he tried to act like they didn’t chase a cold streak down his spine. “That sounds…ominous.”
She licked her lips again and tucked one side of her hair behind her ear. “You want a drink? A beer, maybe? Something stronger?”
A knot formed at the pit of his stomach. “I’d like you to tell me why I’m here, because it doesn’t feel like we’re on the same page right now.”
Her eyes lowered to his shirt. She licked her lips again. Exhaled.
Now he was nervous. And frustrated. “Tessa.”
“I’m trying to find a way to say this without—”
“Don’t. Just say it.”
She took a breath. “When I met you the other night, I told you I was looking for your, you know, your double, your twin, your costar—”
“Yeah, Ian.”
“That’s where the problem begins.”
“What problem?”