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She’d started this book before Spence arrived, and everything that had happened in the last few days had completely erased her memory of the plot. Or the characters. So she started at the beginning and skimmed through the first part of the book to refresh her memory.
But she stared at the pages, seeing the words but not absorbing them. Why couldn’t she come up with some neutral conversation to share with Spence? Why couldn’t she act like an adult instead of a spurned teen?
Because she’d made the mistake of falling for him. Hard. And instead of sending him away so she could lick her wounds in private, they would be spending every minute together until Ethan was caught.
It was the worst possible scenario for a woman who didn’t get deeply involved with men. Now that she’d developed feelings for Spence, she had no idea how to behave when those feelings couldn’t be acted upon. No idea how to have an adult relationship after they’d spent time together naked.
Fifteen minutes later, the doorman called up. “Delivery’s here, Ms. Melbourne.”
“Send it up, Sam,” she said.
The elevator dinged a couple minutes later, and Zoe stood up to get the food. Spence raised an eyebrow. “I got this,” he said, stepping to the elevator. Blocking her vision. And blocking anyone who might be in that elevator.
“Right,” she muttered, backing away. “Sorry.”
He studied her over his shoulder. “I get that you’re an alpha chick. I really like that about you. But you need to remember that I go first. Except…” He clamped his mouth shut and turned to face the elevator.
She rolled her eyes at his back when the elevator dinged its arrival. Yeah, he’d made that very clear. Unfortunately, she wouldn’t be coming first any time in the future.
The elevator doors slid open and Nico walked in, holding a Madeline’s bag. “Personal delivery service,” Nico said with a grin. “How you doing, Zo?”
“Hanging in there,” she said.
“Hey, Flynn,” Nico said, setting the bag on an end table to give him the one-armed, back slap man-greeting. “How’s it going?”
Spence scowled. “I would have had the guy today if a truck hadn’t pulled out right in front of me, blocking me from grabbing Davies. Other than that, peachy.”
Nico shook his head. “Tough break. But you’ll get him.” He looked over at Zoe. “Try not to worry,” Nico said, nodding at Spence. “You’ve got the best guy at Blackhawk Security right here. Spence will get this guy.”
“I know he will,” Zoe said, glancing at Spence before smiling at Nico.
“I’m still good for this weekend,” Nico said. “Text me the time and place and I’ll meet you there.”
“Yeah?” Spence said. “That’s great. In fact, you could…” He stopped speaking abruptly, but it was easy to fill in the blanks -- and easy to read Spence’s expression. He wished Nico could take over the case for him. Let him run back to Montana and forget all about her.
Nico and Spence talked about logistics for the weekend, then Nico got back into the elevator. “I know Julia is looking forward to having dinner with you at the restaurant again soon,” he said. “Spence and I will get this guy. We’ll all celebrate at Madeline’s,” he said.
“It’s a deal,” Zoe said, straining to smile at Nico. “Give my love to Julia.”
“Will do,” he said, stepping into the elevator. The door closed, and she and Spence were alone again.
* * *
Spence turned around slowly to see Zoe’s head bent over the bag from the restaurant. She set it on the table and fetched plates and silverware without looking at him. Then she grabbed her untouched glass of wine and sat down.
Spence slid into the seat across from her. She didn’t look at him, but her mouth was a thin line. A muscle in her jaw twitched. Damn it! She’d picked up on his bitten-off plea to Nico to take over her protection. He’d hurt her. Badly.
“Zoe. Look at me,” he said.
She took a sip of her wine, set the glass on the table and lifted her head. Stared at him with a flinty look, and he couldn’t read a thing from her expression. That hard, steely glare had probably intimidated most of the men she dealt with. He would not want to sit on the opposite side of the table, negotiating with that Zoe.
“I’m sorry I hurt you, Zoe.”
She shrugged one shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll call Mel in the morning and ask her to send someone else. Then you can go back to Montana.”
“You don’t have to do that,” he said, his heart twisting in his chest.
“I don’t want someone responsible for my safety who doesn’t want to be here. Doesn’t want me as a client.” She held his gaze. “I get that this is uncomfortable. Awkward. But I didn’t realize you wanted to bail on me.”
