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Chapter Seventeen
Groggily, Zoe yawned and opened her laptop. The last two days had been a whirlwind of sightseeing, eating, laughing, and loving. She turned to stare at Dale’s sleeping form on her bed.
He was a wonderful escort, an attentive guide, a supportive friend, and a very innovative lover. She blushed just thinking about the nights they’d shared. He made her feel so special, so coveted, so beautiful that she’d let down her guard and was able to relax with him. And she liked the person she was around him.
With a sigh, she turned back to her computer. But reality was slowly intruding. She had a project to finish, a firm she had to go back to, other people were dependent on her.
And somewhere deep inside her, she had begun to wonder—how long would this fling last? Because it would end at some point. She had nothing to offer him in the long run and she was not the kind of girl men stayed with.
Dale had been quiet during dinner last night and there had been a strange urgency in his lovemaking afterwards. Was he getting bored? Had he decided it was time to move on?
Irritated with herself, she opened the plan of the hotel that Dale’s office had sent her. In between their outings over the past two days, she’d begun working on her proposal and had started on sketches of what she had in mind for the bedrooms. That she had the plan made it so much easier. She’d tell Dale someone from his office had sent her them as soon as he woke up.
With everything that had happened recently, she hadn’t really thought about telling him she had the plans, but now she had to. Why he didn’t want her to have them in the first place, she still found so strange; surely he understood it was a vital part of getting a final proposal in place?
She glanced over at him again only to find him propped up on his elbow, staring at her, the strangest look on his face.
“Dale?” She slowly got up.
“Come here,” he ordered her.
She lifted an eyebrow but obeyed. When she reached his side, he grabbed her hand and pulled her down on him.
“I want you,” he said, raining kisses all over her face. “I sleep and I dream of wanting you, I wake up and I have to have you…” he murmured against her mouth, his eyes hot, his touch impatient.
His lips captured hers and he pulled at her gown until it fell open.
His tongue slipped into her mouth, his hands gathered her close and she forgot to think, to rationalize, to worry. She could only feel.
*
Frowning, Dale walkedaround the bed, looking for his shoes. What exactly was going on here? He felt excited, he couldn’t wait for Zoe to finish in the bathroom so he could see her again, touch her again, be with her again. This after a whole night of being with her. Make that two nights and two days of being with her. Damn it, he wasn’t a bloody schoolboy!
He’d been so distraught when he heard she’d been hurt, there wasn’t time to think. He had let his emotions dictate all his actions—never a good business policy. But now he found himself unable to think of anything else besides Zoe, unable to make any plans that didn’t include her, unable to think of a future without her in it. And, bloody hell, it was freaking him out. Yes, he wanted her in his life, but damn it, she didn’t have to take it over.
He’d not been looking for this kind of complication in his life. There was a new hotel to furnish, another one to plan. He didn’t have time to walk around, smiling like an idiot all the time because he couldn’t stop thinking about a woman.
He bent down, picked up his shoes, and walked to a chair that stood in front of a small table. While he fastened the laces, he saw Zoe’s laptop was open. She’d been working on it earlier; he absently clicked to activate the screen.
His hand froze, his breath left his body when he saw what was lit up on the small screen. It was a plan of the new hotel. The one he’d told her she couldn’t have. He checked the email heading. It was sent from one of the intern’s computers it seemed.
Rage raced through him. Damn it to hell! He should’ve known he couldn’t trust her. She’d asked for the plan behind his back. After he’d specifically told her she could work in his offices on it.
“How come you’re dressed?” he heard her voice from the doorway of the bathroom.
He didn’t turn to look at her.
“I see you got the plan,” he said as calmly as he could.
“Yes, I was just about to tell you. I phoned your office to ask your secretary. She was out, but the person who answered the phone sent it to me. Dale, I can’t work without it, you know that.”
Finally, he turned around to look at her. She was tying the knot on her short, sexy robe. She was without makeup and she looked so young, and all he wanted to do was to get her naked again as quickly as possible. He turned away from her.
“I told you very clearly that if you needed the plans, you’d have to come to our offices.”
“Dale, please listen? I’ve never had to work without a plan of an office building or a hotel before. I need the measurements, the… Damn it, I don’t have to tell you. You know.”
“You went behind my back to an intern—”
