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“I didn’t order any pizza.”
He hung up on her and waited by the locked front door. When she saw him through the long window at the side of the door, he thought he caught a flash of a small smile before she replaced it with a scowl.
“Why are you here again? And how did you get my cell number?”
“Cuddles couldn’t stop worrying about you missing meals because of us.” He leaned against the door jamb. “And Agnes checked in a little while ago to make sure we were doing all right. I told her we were, but only because of you. She thought it best if I had your direct line just in case I have another puppy emergency.”
Again, it looked like her lips wanted to curve upward, but from the way she always worked to keep her beautiful face so serious, he knew she was bound and determined to resist him.
Lord knew he’d like to have her bound and begging, instead...
Knowing there was a good chance she’d simply take the pizza from him, then lock him out on the sidewalk, he held Cuddles out so that Atlas could see his new friend from the office. The Great Dane immediately started whining.
“Really, Atlas?” Heather asked in an exasperated voice. “You’re going to pull this now?”
Her dog happily wagged his enormous tail and Zach used the opportunity to put the puppy inside, knowing she wouldn’t leave him out there if she had his dog.
Yup, he now officially loved the annoying little ball of fur, even if she had tried to use his T-shirt to sharpen her tug-of-war skills on the way back from the pizza place.
“I’m guessing you want to share the pizza.” She looked impossibly grumpy at the thought of his joining her for the dinner he’d brought over.
“I’m one of eight. We learned to eat fast as kids or go hungry. If you want some, you’d better start now.”
Her eyes grew big. “Eight? Please tell me you’re the worst of the bunch.”
He grinned. “Easily.”
She was shaking her head at the news of his big family as she headed for a table and chairs off in the corner. As she washed her hands at a nearby sink, she gave him ample time to appreciate the view of her gorgeous legs in her shorts and the way her long hair nearly brushed her hips, even in the ponytail. He couldn’t wait to find out how soft it was when his hands were tangled in it and—
The loud screech of a chair over linoleum yanked him from his hot daydream. Heather’s face looked like thunder as she sat down. “Stop looking at me like that.”
He washed his hands, then sat down across from her. “How am I looking at you?”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t ask me a stupid question when you know exactly what you’re doing.”
This wasn’t usually the way it played out, with both sides flirting while no one said what they really meant. But Zach was perfectly happy to give up the game. Really happy about it, in fact, given that the game had been getting pretty old lately.
He shrugged. “Sorry, but it’s going to be pretty much impossible for me to stop looking at you like that.” He let his eyes move over her face. “You’re gorgeous, you know.”
She looked shocked by his completely honest compliment, and he knew he’d gotten one up on her. Finally. Feeling good about things, he flipped open the large cardboard box, grabbed a piece of pizza, and put it on one of the paper plates he’d picked up at the restaurant. She looked down at the slice, then back up at him.
“You like egg on your pizza?”
“Never order one without it,” he lied.
He put her piece in front of her, then picked one up for himself, taking a large bite of it, egg and all. After her assistant had spilled to him what her favorite toppings were, he had been prepared to suck it up regardless of how bad it tasted, but it was actually pretty good.
“No one likes egg on their pizza but me and people from France. You’re the first.”
“Your first, huh?”
She shook her head and sighed. “I can’t believe I have to spell this out to you, but I obviously do.” She looked around the building as if to make absolutely certain they were the only two people in it before saying, “I’m not going to sleep with you.”
Well, then. Now they were way off the normal track.
“Why not?”
“You really want me to tell you why I find the thought of sleeping with you completely abhorrent?”
Sexy as hell and a good vocabulary. He was going to give Agnes a freebie on her tune-up next time he saw her as thanks for this introduction.
“Sure, lay it on me.” It would help a great deal, actually, if he knew why she was resisting him. Because then he could break down each of her reasons, one by one. He nodded at her pizza. “But eat first. It’s getting cold and I know you’re starved.”
When her stomach grumbled again in agreement, she finally took a bite. He handed her a cold soda to wash it down and as he watched her take a large gulp of the sweet, fizzy drink, Zach wanted her more with every passing second. Gorgeous, smart, and as a bonus, she ate and drank like a woman who enjoyed food, versus the kind of women he normally had sex with, who barely picked at it.
Lord, what he wouldn’t give to feed her pizza in bed, to have her naked and using his stomach as a plate, her tongue licking up the oil from between his abs, and then lower down...
“You’re doing it again,” she said when she caught the way he was looking at her, but her chastisement was milder this time.
He resisted the urge to do a fist pump in the air at finally making some headway. “Already told you, I can’t help myself. You’re too pretty.”
