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He rushed forward towards the voice that had called him. Embarrassed, Zoe pulled at her dress. What was she thinking? Making out with Dale Cavallo of all people, where anyone, her mother included, could see her. She wasn’t thinking, that was the problem. Her brain cells had ceased to function when in his arms.
She’d never kissed someone she barely knew before; she couldn’t believe she’d behaved so… so sluttishly. There was no other word for it. She’d nearly had sex with a man she hardly knew and this out in the open where anyone could have seen them.
“Oh, there you are. Don and Caitlin are leaving, come on, let’s go see them off,” one of his brothers said.
“In a minute,” Dale said.
“Where’s Zoe?” Hannah asked.
“She… um… bathroom, I think,” Dale managed.
And then it was quiet again. Dale walked back to her.
“We have to go,” he said. “Look, I’m sorry, this—”
“Shouldn’t have happened. I cannot agree more,” Zoe said as briskly as she could and stepped around him.
He grabbed her hand. “That’s not what I was going to say—”
“Well, that’s what I’m saying. Besides, you did say you didn’t want this. It was a mistake, a huge one.” She walked away as quickly as she could.
Dale called out her name, but she slipped past several people and took the stairs two at a time, praying he wouldn’t follow her. Her head spun, and she frantically tried to think of a way to get away without seeing Dale again. She couldn’t stay there for another minute.
London. She had to be there in a week’s time. Zoe quickened her steps. This was a great reason not to travel to Cape Town tomorrow with everyone else. She’d planned to fly to London from Cape Town in a week’s time anyway but leaving directly from here made more sense. Her mother wouldn’t find it so strange. Susan was going to be in charge of the business for the duration of Zoe’s stay in London anyway, and an extra week wouldn’t be a problem for her.
All that was important now was to put as much distance between herself and Dale as possible, because she was afraid if she didn’t leave quickly she might just do something extremely foolish. Like knocking on Dale’s door so they could continue what they’d started minutes ago.
Her breathing was still labored. The feelings he had unleashed tonight frightened her. She had never experienced desire that strong and it was freaking her out completely. And this from a man who was so out of her league it was hysterical. What the hell was she thinking?
Dale had a very public reputation of not staying in a relationship for long. In other words, he was exactly the type of man her father was, the reason why she never let herself become too close to any man again.
*
Dazed, bewildered, andstill reeling from the passion that had nearly consumed him minutes ago, Dale stared after Zoe. His body urged him to follow her to her room, lock the door behind them, and finish what they’d started. But the fog of his lust-induced state finally began to clear, and he was able to listen to his more rational side.
What the hell happened? He’d managed to stay away from her all night, although, as his brother had teased, his eyes had probably never left her. Not for a minute. And it would have stayed that way if her mother hadn’t insisted they dance with her daughters. The minute her small hand had touched his, all the reasons he’d told himself to stay away from the woman simply vanished.
And, damn it, he’d been doing so well. But then, this afternoon, she walked down the aisle with her sisters and friend and stole away his breath, his reason, his soul. They all looked stunning, but Zoe was exquisite.
She’d done something with her hair; a long fringe, or whatever it was called, covered her forehead, and the rest was plaited and knotted into a complicated twist just behind one of her ears. The short pearl-grey dresses the bridesmaids wore were made of some or other soft material. His eyes had zoomed in to where Zoe’s dress ended in a wide flare just above her knees, leaving the rest of her long legs bare.
He’d found it difficult to breathe throughout the short ceremony. But he managed to stay away from her by dancing with every other woman there. He’d nearly succeeded in leaving the wedding with his good intentions intact.
But then he danced with her. And he kissed her. She smelled like rain, tasted like no one else he’d kissed before. And now nothing else seemed to make any sense.
