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And men thought women were confusing?
“You’re with Martin. Even if you weren’t, I won’t do relationships or anything long-term. There’s nothing between us.”
“I’d say there’s years of tension between us that we need to wade through before we can decide anything,” she told him as anger bubbled within her. How dare he minimize the impact of that kiss? “Hard to ignore a kiss like that.”
“You don’t understand,” he whispered. “You can’t possibly know what I have in me, what I’ve been through. All I could ever give is physical, and you’re better than that.”
Frustration overwhelmed her and she jerked her arm away. “You won’t let anybody in, damn it. Don’t you see that I want to be here for you? That I want more with you than this awkward tension and occasional encounters?”
In an instant, Zach’s hands framed her face, the warmth of those rough palms only adding to her growing arousal. Between the desire and the anger, she was ready to rip her clothes off and throw down the ultimate challenge.
“I’ll never let anyone in,” he growled, holding her firmly in place. “Nobody deserves to be subjected to this darkness. Can’t you see I just want to keep you away from that? That’s what I’ve always wanted.”
The brokenness pouring from him made Sophie wonder what the hell he’d endured that had him hiding behind such a fortress of defenses. She’d heard Chelsea speculate on what they believed Zach had gone through before coming to live with the Monroes, but really nobody had a clue.
“Tell me you don’t want me and I’ll give up right now.”
Okay, she hadn’t meant to let that out, but now that the words were hovering between them in the darkness, Sophie wasn’t sorry.
Slowly, as if he didn’t want to let go, Zach’s hands fell away, leaving her colder now than ever.
His stare turned cold. “I don’t want you.”
No four words had ever, ever hurt so bad. All this time she’d been holding out hope that she would be the one to break through to him, to be the one he lost control with.
“You didn’t kiss me like you don’t want me,” she threw back. “In fact, that kiss felt like a stepping-stone to something more.”
Forget the bulge in his pants that had settled against her stomach . . . no need to state the obvious.
“That kiss wasn’t the start of anything more. It was a kiss, it’s over. I’m sure Martin kisses you.”
Not like that.
“Zach?” Braxton called from the basement.
“In the tunnel,” Zach called back over his shoulder, then looked at her once more. “Everything that just happened here, forget it.”
If she thought for a second that he truly didn’t want her, she would totally back away. But no man would have kissed so passionately, touched so tenderly, and tried to protect her from a past she knew nothing about, if he didn’t care for her.
So if he wanted to use hurtful words to push her away, fine. She’d use hurtful words to pull him in . . . one way or another.
“I think I’ll let you finish this tour alone since you’re so set on living that way.”
She was apparently a glutton for more torture and anguish, because she went up on her toes and laid her lips against his for the briefest of seconds before stepping away.
“Good luck on forgetting that kiss.”
Chapter Six
Zach slammed the door on his fridge and cursed the very moment his control had snapped and he’d kissed the hell out of Sophie.
How was he to have known she would kiss him right back, matching his passion with one all her own? How was he to know she’d taste better than he’d ever imagined . . . and he’d done quite a bit of imagining over the years.
Damn it, he could still taste her. Now what was he supposed to do? She was dating an asshat who didn’t deserve her, but at least that man could offer Sophie a future. He wanted her to be happy, didn’t he? He wanted her to have a perfect life. Zach was about as far from perfect as a man could get.
He was an utter fool to even be thinking of the word “future” where Sophie was concerned. He’d had his chance, he’d blown it, and now he would continue to pay his penance.
Even beyond the unexpected kiss and bold reaction from Sophie, today had been interesting on the house front as well, and they were just getting started. He and Braxton had discussed all the renovations the house would need to get it up to code and all the foundation-type work. Cosmetics would come later, but for now they needed to get all the basics out of the way.
