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"Um, maybe we should take this slow..."
His response was to do something amazing with his tongue on her inner thigh, and she closed her eyes. She felt him move above her. Okay, it might fit if she sort of moved to the left a little...
Zack dipped inside her.
"Oh!"
He slipped all the way in. Okay, so he fit perfectly. Who'd have guessed?
That was her last coherent thought as she rose to meet him. He set a slow, steady rhythm that drove her wild. She wanted more. Needed it. She picked up the pace and he groaned deep in his chest. His fingers brought her close to the edge and then he sucked her nipple. Oh my! His body shuddered above her and his primal growl echoed through her apartment. It was enough to send her plunging down with him into an abyss of bliss.
Spent, he lay half on top of her, half beside her, his hand cupping her left breast. His eyes closed and his breathing deepened. He was asleep. Or so she thought.
She smiled to herself and snuggled into his warm body.
But he moved away and sat up.
"I have to go." He picked up his shirt. "I've got a long day tomorrow."
"You're leaving?" She couldn't believe it. Had she done something wrong? "Stay. I'm up for round two if you are." She touched his arm and he leaned down and kissed her forehead.
"I have to go."
She watched him dress, understanding dawning. She'd been right all along—he'd got what he wanted, now he was leaving before it became too serious. Sex. That's all this had been to him. Another notch on his belt. An experiment to see if he could bed the good girl.
He kissed her goodbye and straightened. But just as he turned to leave, he sighed deeply and leaned over her again. He caught her face between his hands and caressed her cheeks.
"Annie, Baby, don't look at me like that. I can't stay. We shouldn't have..."
"Fine. Go." She swatted his hands away.
"Annie—"
"Just go."
He sighed. "I'm sorry. I'll call you."
She shrugged, trying to appear unconcerned when her heart felt like it had shattered. Their love making had been beautiful, amazing, and she'd thought that it had meant more to him than just sex. It had to her. But now that it was over he just wanted to get out before he got sucked into something he didn't want—a relationship.
She wasn't surprised, just disappointed. She'd really hoped he might be interested in her, want her in his life.
She should've known better.
He kissed her again but she didn't respond.
"You don't have to stay," she said through gritted teeth. "It's not like this meant anything."
Zack's face turned to ash. He nodded slowly. "Yeah. Right." Without a second glance, he left.
CHAPTER 12
Zack drove home on auto-pilot. The evening had gone from perfect to amazing to disastrous. And he only had himself to blame. He didn't want to leave Annie's place but he had to. He would hurt her feelings if he stayed—more than he would by leaving. Staying would only give her the wrong impression and he didn't want to do that—he wasn't after a relationship so no point letting her think he was, even for one second. Cruel to be kind.
Damn it, if only he'd kept his libido in check nothing would've changed between them. They'd still be friends. On the other hand, he wouldn't swap tonight for a thousand fast cars.
He thumped the steering wheel with his fist as he arrived home. For the first time since he'd bought it, he dreaded the mansion's emptiness.
He thought about Annie, alone in her apartment. He wondered if she would still hate him in the morning. He hoped not. He really could use a good friend like her in his life. Maybe she'd be fine when she thought it through and remembered that it could never work between them. She'd said it herself—he wasn't her type. Maybe she'd be lying in bed now, relieved that he'd left so she didn't have to kick him out or tell him she wasn't interested in dating a guy like him.
Maybe.
For the first time in a long time he stopped at the photo of his family on the mantelpiece, taken twenty years ago. Everyone smiled back at the camera. His parents had their arms around each other. It was the perfect shot of a not so perfect family. He turned the photo face down. He didn't want to be reminded of how their happiness had turned sour. Not now. Not when he could still taste Annie on his lips and feel her breath on his skin.
***
Zack woke up the next morning feeling flat. He forced himself to go to work, but he couldn't concentrate. The figures on the financial statements blurred and he tossed them aside. Phone calls took his attention off Annie and her very delicious body for a while although he often couldn't recall the details of the conversations. Did he buy one thousand shares or ten thousand?
He glanced around his office, furnished in a modernist style by his personal assistant. Sleek glass and polished wood surfaces, tall bookcases and a long desk. Boring. He just didn't like it anymore, didn't want to be there.
He wouldn't allow himself to think about where he wanted to be at that moment.
By lunch time, he'd decided he needed to do something, get out of the office. But go where? Maybe a bike ride...
As he undid his tie and top button of his shirt, Bob called.
"Zack, I need you. McCallum and Horton need you. Dug-E's slipping through our fingers and I've crunched some numbers. If we don't sign him..." Bob let the sentence dangle.
Zack didn't need it spelled out. "You want me to do something with Annie?"
"Yeah. Something drastic."
"Are you sure this Dug-E kid won't sign with you if she was being herself? Because I don't see anything wrong with the way she is." Nothing wrong at all.
"Me either but this kid hates people who conform. He needs excitement." Bob sighed. "Please, Zack, I'm begging you. Take Annie out, make an impact. Do something."
Zack closed his eyes. He knew what he wanted to do but he couldn't do it. Not with Annie. But he would have to see her again. For Bob.
"Sure." The newspaper sitting on the corner of his desk warned of traffic delays due to an animal rights protest. It might do the trick.
"Great idea," Bob said when he told him. "Come pick her up later." He sounded happier already.
Zack on the other hand, wasn't so sure seeing Annie so soon after the previous night was such a good idea. He'd planned on waiting until they'd cooled down, met other people.
Except now that the decision had been taken away from him, he felt okay. Bob needed him. He would see Annie for Bob's sake.
***
Creep. Pool scum Spawn of pool scum.
Annie wished she'd actually said these things to Zack's face, but she had to settle for email. Unfortunately she didn't know his address so she deleted the message without sending it. At least she'd got it off her chest.
Thankfully, her busy morning consisted of fending calls and reading mail from clients and venue managers and she didn't think about Zack more than fifty times. Maybe sixty, but definitely no more than that.
Eventually she grew tired of inventing new insults although son of a toe-sucking alien had been a good one. Besides, part of her knew he was right.
Everything about the Zack and Annie picture was wrong. She was almost a foot shorter than him for starters. But he was a billionaire playboy and she was a goody-two-shoes turned crappy agent. So he'd pointed out.
When she'd finally admitted that to herself, she felt strangely lighter. Although it had hurt at the time, Zack had been right—she sucked at being a music agent. Not completely sucked—she was good at organizing, good at setting up gigs, but she hated the schmoozing part. Pity that was the most essential part of her job.
Her father had been an expert at it. He'd loved the LA lifestyle. After her mother had died, when Annie was only seven, her father turned everything up a notch. His parties got wilder, his drinking more excessive, his attitude more devil-may-care. And the further he descended into decadence, the further Annie went the other way. She'd had to. Someone had to pour him into bed at four A.M. Someone had to clean up after the party goers left. Someone had to make sure the bills got paid on time.
Despite hating his lifestyle, she'd loved him. Maybe more than ever. He needed her, and it had felt nice to be needed. And he'd certainly loved her. Showering her with gifts, taking her everywhere with him all over the country, and showing her off to everyone. But she'd hated that part. He'd never seen how much though, encouraging her to go out, have fun, loosen up. She'd wanted to stay indoors and read a book but he'd wanted to take her to the pool party thrown by his rock star client. He'd encouraged her to drink at eighteen, but she'd never liked alcohol much. She'd wanted to go to college and study journalism or maybe architecture, but he'd wanted her to follow in his footsteps and be an agent. So much so, he'd made her promise on his deathbed.
