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"Look, Annie, I didn't mean to offend you. I'm just trying to do what Bob asked. I'm sorry if you took it the wrong way."
"The wrong way? You just told me to have sex with you! Tell me the right way to take that sort of comment."
Her temper increased to the same temperature as her feet when she heard his soft laugh. The man was infuriating—he'd just propositioned her and now he was trying to laugh it off! Definitely a jerk.
"I wasn't offering to have sex with you, I was suggesting you make it appear as if you have a lot of sex. And like it. You know, talk it up a bit at parties, around Doggie-Whatshisname."
She bit her lip. "Oh."
"Look, I'm sorry you misunderstood me. I won't bring up sex again. Promise."
Damn.
"And I always keep my promises."
Double damn.
"Now get in. I don't want to follow you all the way home."
She almost cried with relief when she slid into the leather seat of the Ferrari. She dared not check her feet—she didn't want Zack finding out how much pain she was in.
"My car's just around the corner."
"We'll pick it up later." He put the Ferrari into gear.
"What? Why?"
"Because you can't drive with blistered feet."
"How did you know?" she asked weakly.
"The limping gave you away."
She glanced at him but his expression was unreadable. So maybe he wasn't the jerk she'd originally thought him to be. Not only was he gorgeous but he was considerate and observant too. She could almost forgive his arrogance and forget that he was out of her league.
Almost.
She directed him to her Santa Monica apartment and opened the car door when he pulled up to the curb.
"Wait there," he said, leaping out.
"Why?"
He jogged around the hood to her door. Uh-oh. What's he doing? The answer came when he leaned in, scooped her into his arms and drew her to his chest.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Carrying you to your door. Then you're going to open it, I'm going to take you inside, sit you down and put something on those feet."
She didn't know what to say. In fact, she couldn't say a thing or she might cry. No one had ever done anything like this for her before. Although technically he did owe her—it was because of him that she'd worn the stupid shoes in the first place.
Okay, so he wasn't being gallant, just making up for his earlier comments. Fair enough. That she could handle. No point getting all mushy over every man who carried her over her threshold.
She bit her lip. She was definitely not going to cry in front of Zack. He was a charmer. He knew the right moves, the right words, and she needed to remember that or she was in danger of losing her head, her heart, and a few other body pieces that tingled and liquefied as she felt the hard muscles in his arms clench around her. She knew his type—the smooth talker, the sort of guy who liked to keep score. She needed to be on her guard around him.
Inside, Snoopy, her black and white terrier, greeted them at the door.
"It's all right, Snoopy," she said, "Zack's not abducting me, he's just..." What was he doing?
"Rescuing you?"
She frowned. Snoopy cocked his head to the side.
"Cute," Zack muttered. He placed her gently on the sofa and disappeared into the bathroom.
Uh-oh. What if he looked inside her cabinet? She did a mental check of all the embarrassing contents and was thankful he wasn't there to see her blush.
He emerged carrying a tube of burn cream. She doubted it would be all that effective on blisters but she didn't say anything as he knelt beside her to apply the cream to the soles of her feet.
At first it tickled and she struggled not to giggle and pull her feet away. But then she relaxed as the cream cooled her heated skin. After a few minutes, the gentle, circular strokes had lulled her into a sense of deep satisfaction.
"Mmmm, that feels sooo good." She sighed and flopped back into the cushions.
The stroking stopped abruptly. "I think that's enough," he muttered, voice gruff.
She opened her eyes and blinked. "Why did you stop?"
He screwed the top back on the tube of cream. Although she couldn't see his eyes, his lips were drawn into a taught, white line. "I've finished."
"What about the other foot?"
He handed the tube to her. "You do it," he snapped.
Weird. What the hell had she said to make him close up? They'd been enjoying a nice, almost sensual experience and he'd stopped as if he were afraid of—
Realization thunked her in the head. For her it was a sensual experience, but not for him. He probably thought she was falling for him and he didn't want her to. He wanted to keep their relationship on a business level. No wonder her near-orgasmic reaction to his foot massage worried him.
And he definitely wouldn't want her to fall for him. Noooo... Not her, a mousy nobody.
Well, if he didn't want her, that was okay. She certainly didn't want to fall for an arrogant jerk like him either, and she'd have great satisfaction in doing it. Or not doing it. Whatever.
"I'm going," he announced.
"Fine. I've got a lot of things to do anyway."
"Fine. I'll pick you up tomorrow."
"Tomorrow? What for?"
"A ride." He strode to the door, opened it and was gone without even a backward glance.
She sighed and flopped back on the couch. Wonderful. Zack thought she was a loser. Worse, a desperate loser who wanted him. Problem was, she did want him. Only physically of course. But he'd made it clear he'd never want her in the same way. Just as well. She wasn't a casual fling kind of girl.
***
Zack closed the front door of his Beverly Hills house and leaned back against it with a loud sigh. That had been close. He'd had a lucky escape. Annie looked so good lying on her couch, her skirt riding high on her slim legs, her body responding to his touch. He'd felt her tension ease as he massaged her feet.
Oh yeah, those feet! He wasn't a foot fetishist—in fact, he'd never noticed a woman's feet before, never touched them the way he'd touched Annie's. But she had soft soles, high arches and sensitive toes. Sexy toes.
He stripped off his T-shirt and headed to the bar. He poured a strong Scotch, no rocks, and swallowed it in one gulp. He made another but didn't drink it. He'd develop a drinking problem by the end of this assignment if he wasn't careful. He needed to keep reminding himself that Annie was just that—an assignment. Nothing more.
Definitely nothing more.
***
The next morning, Annie rummaged through her closet for something suitable to wear. It didn't take long before her bed disappeared under a mountain of clothes. She'd tried on every pair of shorts, Capri pants and trousers she owned, but none of them seemed right for a ride with LA's sexiest businessman. That was assuming he was talking about a motorbike ride and not a horseback ride.
Boy, she hoped he hadn't meant a horseback ride. The thought of getting onto the back of a live animal with Zack watching was too frightening. Imagine all the things that could go wrong! The horse could bolt and she'd fall off. She could step in horse poop. She could slip on horse poop and end up on her ass, or on her back with it in her hair.
She rifled through the clothes-mountain. What do I have that's poop-proof? She paused, then searched again. What do I have that's dork proof?
Nothing. Everything in her closet screamed 'conservative'. She settled on a pair of navy Capri pants and a white T-shirt, then checked herself out in the mirror. She looked great—for a day of sailing.
The doorbell chimed. She glanced at the clothes strewn around her room and sighed. No time to change or tidy up. She made a mental note not to ask Zack back inside after the ride, in case he wanted to make wild passionate love to her in the bedroom. There was a perfectly good sofa in the lounge.
Yeah, right. Like he'd want to see her naked.
She hurried to open the door just as the bell rang a second time.
"What took you so long?" Zack asked when she opened the door. He wore black jeans and a heavy, black leather jacket over a black T-shirt. He also wore a cheeky grin and two adorable dimples. At least he was over his little spat from the previous night. He was more fickle than...well, than her with PMT. "Couldn't decide what to wear, huh?" He was a mind reader too.
She grabbed her purse and shuffled out the door but he blocked her path.
"You're not going anywhere dressed like that." He pushed past her. "Let's see what else you've got."
"But, but...wait!"
He didn't stop and she had to run to catch up to him. Too late. He'd already reached her bedroom door and opened it.
"You really aren't very decisive are you? Or neat."
