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“You need a car.”
“Or your stubborn streak. Okay? Just take me to the airport. I’ll rent one there,” she said crisply. Everything was spinning out of control and she had to get a grip on her life, find out the truth, and then decide what she was going to do.
He shot her a glance. “You should stay with me.”
“Oh, where it’s safe?” she threw back, unable and unwilling to hide her sarcasm.
“Yes.”
“Forget it.”
He sliced her a look, then drove on, past the turnoff to the airport and headed straight into the heart of the city. He didn’t stop the Jeep until he was in the parking lot of the Hotel Danvers.
So furious she could barely see straight, she said, “I’ll just call a cab,” as he hauled her bag out of the back.
“Fine.”
“Being here is a big waste of time.”
“Whatever you say.” He punched the button for the elevator with his elbow and waited, holding her suitcase in one big hand, the toe of his boot tapping in irritation. The car arrived, he waited for her to step in, and they sped upward to the lobby. At the front desk, he pulled the manager aside. Gray stare drilling into the shorter man’s eyes, he ordered, “Ms. Nash needs a private suite with only one key. No one, save Ms. Nash, is to have access to the room. And that includes any of the staff, or any of my family—is that understood?”
“Absolutely.” The man’s Adam’s apple bobbed.
“And I want round-the-clock security by her door, a man posted—”
“No. Zach, this is ridiculous,” she interjected.
“—twenty-four hours a day. When she’s in the room and when she isn’t, a guard will be there. Got it?”
“Of course, Mr. Danvers.”
“She’ll take phone calls, and guests can wait in the lobby after she screens them, but no one, not even Jason, is to rescind this order. If anyone tries, I want to be notified immediately. I’ll be in my usual rooms. And she doesn’t need to register. She’s my guest.”
“Yes, Mr. Danvers,” the manager said crisply. He slid the key across the desk to Adria and she, grinding her teeth together in frustration, accepted it. For the time being. Just until she could rent a car and relocate.
Zachary wasn’t finished. “I’ll take her bag up myself and as far as you know, the person who’s in the rooms is a VIP and no one, I mean no one, is to know that she’s here.”
Adria started to protest, but held her tongue. Let him do this. It would take only a few more minutes and then she would be totally independent. Or would she? A contrary part of her heart begged to differ as she watched him, all quiet authority and rugged good looks. Telling herself that she could force herself to be immune to him, she followed Zach into the elevator, where his presence all but dominated the little car, and up to the sixth floor to a corner suite with several rooms, fireplace, private veranda, and Jacuzzi. He tossed her bag onto the couch and locked the door behind him. It clicked so loudly she nearly jumped.
“I’d feel better if I stayed with you,” he said, cocking his head at the floral couch where her bag rested.
“I think, under the circumstances, that would be a big mistake,” she said, but already, her pulse was jumping. The thought of being alone with him caused a warm, wanton sensation deep in the pit of her stomach.
“I can’t protect you if I’m not with you,” he said. The distance between them was only a few feet and she could barely stand it.
“And I can’t protect myself if I am with you.” She rested her rear against the ledge of the window. “This has gone too far, Zachary, and I’m not blaming you. It happened between us and it was a mistake…I can see that now, but I don’t know, I’m just not sure that I can trust myself if you’re here with me.” She spoke from the heart and she felt as if she were shredding inside because a part of her longed to be held by him, to kiss him, to feel his hands upon the crook of her waist. She bit her lip before she said something that she shouldn’t.
“This is your call, Adria,” he said, his voice low and soft, almost a caress.
Her heart shattered. She remembered the feel of his hands on her, the taste of his skin, the way he sighed against her ear. “Then it’s the way it has to be.”
Zach’s shoulders stiffened and the brackets around the corners of his mouth grooved deep. “I’m in 714.”
Her throat closed in on itself at the mention of the suite from which London had been stolen all those years ago.
“Call me if you need me.”
I need you. I need you now! Her fingers curled over the window ledge and she held back the urge to run to him.
