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“The big deal is that you were acting odd.”
“I wasn’t.” Or at least she’d been trying not to. The man made her nervous with his sharp mind and flagrant sex appeal.
“And you lied.”
Lies of omission and of intent. Even so, she refused to apologize or to defend herself. Instead she let her stony expression speak for her.
When the silence stretched, Ryan continued. “You told Tonya you were crashing with a friend.”
“Given everything that’s happened to me in the last year, forgive me if I didn’t feel much like bringing up all my dirty laundry.”
“Did you really think anyone would care about your divorce?”
“In my experience, people are quick to judge. All I wanted to do was to help out someone I admired. Now you have to go and ruin that.”
Bold words. She might have to follow through and quit the campaign to demonstrate her proclaimed level of outrage wasn’t false. How was she supposed to mess up Susannah’s campaign if that happened? Of course, there was always the possibility that Lyle Abernathy would succeed where Zoe failed and she could ride off into the sunset without the campaign’s blood on her hands.
“Is that why you invited me to dinner?” she asked, feeling deflated. “So you could check me out?”
“No, I invited you out because I was attracted to you.”
Pleasure short-circuited the steady rhythm of her breath. But she wondered if he still felt the same now that he’d seen her stripped of her makeup and the tough-girl clothes.
“I’m not your type,” she said, returning to the same argument she’d used in the restaurant parking lot.
“How can you be so sure?” he asked, his eyes narrowing as he studied her.
“We might never have crossed paths at any of Charleston’s social functions,” she said, on safer ground now that they were talking about him, “but I’ve seen you out and about. Not to mention all the gossip surrounding the romantic intrigues of one of the city’s most eligible bachelors.” She gave him a cool smile. “I seem to recall you tend to favor leggy brunettes with blue eyes.”
She had no idea if that was true, but enjoyed a stab of satisfaction when his brow wrinkled in surprise.
“I don’t know if that’s fully accurate.” But obviously it was accurate enough.
To emphasize her point, Zoe ran her fingers through her short, spiky hair in a mocking salute. “I am neither brunette nor leggy. And my eyes are not blue.”
“No, they are not. They remind me of autumn leaves.”
To her dismay, he took a leisurely step in her direction, lowered his lashes and looked her over with predatory intent. Her pulse kicked into high gear when his gaze lingered on her lips and she had a hard time resisting the urge to nibble the lower one. The air in the room seemed suddenly supercharged with erotic energy and Zoe’s nipples tightened in anticipation.
“I’m not interested in getting involved with you,” she said, throwing up a warning hand even as she sensed that nothing she could do or say would stop the inevitability of their sexual chemistry.
“Then why did you agree to have dinner with me?”
Losing the battle against his magnetism, she replied, “My budget for dining out is extremely tight.”
“Is that why you’re living here?” Without taking his eyes from her, Ryan gestured with his head, indicating her cot.
She was abruptly bombarded by an image of them together on the narrow bed, his mouth on hers, his hands diving beneath her clothes, setting fire to her skin. As her blood pounded in her ears, she almost didn’t hear Ryan’s next question.
“Because you’re out of money?”
“Not that it’s any of your business,” she began, irritated with herself for letting him get to her. “But between my extensive and contentious divorce and opening the boutique, I’m broke.”
“You said you worked here,” he reminded her. “But you actually own it?”
She nodded.
“That’s why you spoke so passionately about the store during dinner.”
