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In a whirl of high kicks and arm twirls and jiggling breasts, Lana had morphed from shy innocent to sex goddess, and no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t wipe her from his mind.
This teasing was getting out of hand. It had been fun at the start, amusing to get a smile from that prim mouth, a rare fiery flash in those somber hazel eyes. But somewhere along the way the lines had blurred, and what had started out as a bit of harmless fun to get a subdued woman to lighten up had morphed into him wanting her. Seriously wanting her, his thoughts consumed by her, day and night.
That kiss on the beach last night had changed everything.
He’d given in to temptation, unprepared for the ferocity of her response, a response that had kept him up all night wishing he hadn’t let her flee. If her enthusiasm last night hadn’t captivated him enough, her metamorphosis from shy and nervous to bouncy and brilliant in that exercise class had him wondering what else she was hiding beneath her prim and proper facade.
She intrigued him, and despite the importance of keeping his mind on the job this cruise, he had to know more.
What was it about her that had him coiled tighter than an anchor chain?
He rubbed his temples, but it did little to erase the beginnings of a headache building behind his eyes.
Forthright and tetchy Lana was not his type at all, yet she was so delightfully unaffected, with an underlying hint of vulnerability that tugged at his heartstrings no matter how hard he tried to ignore the fact he still had a functioning heart.
But he couldn’t get involved; at least not emotionally. He had his reasons. Besides, how would she feel if she knew he’d conned her?
He didn’t place that ship-to-shore call. He didn’t have to.
One of the perks of being the boss, even if no-one knew it yet.
Being the boss meant he needed to get back to work. He was so close to discovering the leak that was threatening to drown the company. His uncle’s suspicions had been well-founded and the sooner he found the mole who hadn’t disclosed corporate espionage as a skill on their CV, and saved the company a few billion dollars give or take, the easier things would be for his uncle.
He owed Jimmy and like he’d promised Lana, he always paid his debts.
So what would she think of the purely carnal payback system he’d like to instigate with her?
* * *
Lana stood under the shower,cool water sluicing down her body. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back, enjoying the spray peppering her face, though it did little to wash away the memory of that damn kiss.
She was determined to forget it, to relegate it to the back of her mind alongside other recoil moments, like walking in on one of her students with the museum taxidermist in a decidedly unstuffy moment in the archive room, and bawling when she’d got her first promotion.
Truly shuddery, cringe-worthy moments, just like her response to that kiss last night.
Then why couldn’t she wipe the memory however hard she tried?
After turning off the taps and stepping out of the shower, she dried off, then tipped her head forward and tied the towel turban-style around her dripping hair. When she straightened, a few spots danced before her eyes, along with a vision of Zac’s hungry stare as she’d left his office. She could blame the blood rushing to her head as she’d bent over, then draining as she straightened too fast, but she knew the truth.
The guy was unforgettable, every infuriating inch of him.
Not that she’d wanted to provoke him, far from it. He delighted in rattling her, in teasing her, and she’d wanted to fire a barb back. But it hadn’t worked. The desire in his gaze had been real, potent and oh-so-scary for a novice like her.
Old Lana would’ve jumped ship and swum back to shore before he could wink. But she wasn’t the old Lana anymore.
The old Lana wanted a husband, a family, a house in the suburbs to come home to every night after another satisfying day at the museum.
The new Lana still wanted all those things, but for the first time in her life she was experiencing the flicker of excitement that came with self-assurance, the heady rush of having a guy like Zac pay attention to a geek like her.
She’d never had that. Jax had faked a few compliments, fuelled her need to be noticed by a guy, any guy, and reeled her in as part of his plan. He’d used her before saying she was frigid when she couldn’t deliver what he’d wanted. His disdain haunted her to this day.
She knew his accusation was why she didn’t date very often, why she froze when a guy got physically close.
So why had she combusted in Zac’s arms during that kiss?
Subconsciously, she knew. She wanted to feel alive, wanted to tap into the passion simmering deep inside, wanted to be bold and brazen and beautiful rather than a mousy, mundane workaholic.
Zac had a way of looking at her, as if she was the only woman in the world, and when he did, the small, wistful part of her that wanted to be that confident woman dared to hope.
