Not surprising. It wasn't only the fact that he was naked and sporting what was now a super-impressive hard-on. It was his confidence, the total absence of inhibitions, the grace of his movements. She threw him a towel then turned away. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him pick it up, but instead of wrapping it around himself, he used it to rub his hair dry.
Sinking onto one of the sun loungers, she stared at the view down the mountain to the sea. Zach sat down next to her.
"Right, I'll be on my way," she said.
"Just like that?"
She glanced at his face. His eyes were narrowed, his jaw tight. What did he have to be annoyed about? He wasn't the one who'd been found in a totally compromising position by his colleagues-who were probably going to make her life hell because of it.
She tugged at a strand of hair. "I've got work to do."
"Don't you think we need to talk about what happened?"
"I'm going to have to talk about it enough with Gary and Simon. So if it's okay with you, I think I'll pass thanks."
He reached across and tucked the strand of hair behind her ear, then stroked his knuckles across her cheek. "I don't mean Gary and Simon's interruption. I mean before. We didn't do anything wrong."
Lacing her fingers in her lap, she chewed her lower lip, still sensitive from his kisses. "Yes, we did, or at least I did-it was unprofessional. I'm supposed to be protecting you."
"Actually, you're not. The dogs are here to protect me. If I promise not to kiss them, will you come to bed with me? I'll make sure we're not interrupted."
"Now?" Dani couldn't keep the shock from her voice or the ripple of sensation that ran through her body at the thought.
"No, not now." He gave her a rueful smile. "I think the mood's been ruined. But soon."
"I don't think the mood's ever going to come back." She dropped her head to her hands. "Oh God, I've got to go and see Gary and Simon. The longer I leave it, the more they'll work themselves up."
"What's the big deal? You're not their responsibility." He rested his palm on her shoulder and gave her a little shake. "They're not your boyfriend, or your father or your brother."
She raised her head. "I know that; you know that. Unfortunately, Gary and Simon have not been made aware of it. You don't understand-it's always been like this. It's like there's always been this great, big conspiracy. Ever since I joined up. They all think I need looking after. Up until now, it didn't matter, and I've just pretended I don't notice. It seemed the easier option and it made them feel good."
He studied her for a moment, as if trying to determine what made her tick. "You're a nice person, you know that?"
"No, I'm not."
"So how about going to bed with me?"
God, he was persistent. She felt the first stirrings of anger-a definite improvement. Her eyes narrowed dangerously.
"I suggest you close your eyes and count to twenty," he said with a grin.
"What?"
"You always count when you're angry-you move your lips sometimes when you're doing it."
She kept her eyes wide open, stood up, and stalked off with as much dignity as she could muster. Which wasn't very much.
"What?" she snapped. After all, belligerence was vastly better than embarrassment, which seemed like her only other option right now.
It was like being back at school, and she'd hated school. They were both standing there staring at her, identical looks of recrimination on their faces. Well, not quite identical, since Simon's was tinged with a look of hurt that made her feel really annoyed and vaguely guilty at the same time.
"You had sex with him." Simon almost hissed the words and Gary looked across at him.
"Simon, why don't you go patrol or something. I'll deal with this."
Simon glowered at them both, but then stomped out of the room, leaving Dani facing Gary. She heaved a sigh of relief, then took a deep breath. "Just what exactly is there to deal with?"
"You had sex with him."
Dani let out her breath in annoyance. "So?"
He shoved his hands in his pockets and paced for a minute. Finally he came back to stand in front of her. "He's our employer right now, and you're supposed to be here to protect him."
"No. Actually Angel and Spike are here to protect him." She was quite proud of herself for remembering Zach's earlier argument.
Gary rubbed his forehead and sighed. She got the impression he was no happier with this conversation than she was. Good. "Dani, you don't know what you're doing."
She didn't even try to deny it. "Does it matter?"
"Yes." He raked a hand through his short hair, and she felt just a little bit sorry for him. She was guessing poor Gary hadn't envisioned this situation. "You don't know the score, Dani. This guy changes his women on a daily basis."
"Well, that makes him perfect. The last thing I want is a clingy guy. Anyway, I thought you liked him."
"I do, but I wouldn't want my sister sleeping with him."
The sympathy vanished, and she gritted her teeth. "I'm not your sister."
"No you're not. My sister could look after herself. You " He shook his head. "Hell, before today I've never even seen you look at a man, and now you're all over one."
"All over? Hardly."
Gary raised an incredulous eyebrow. "If that's what you think, you definitely don't know what you're doing."
Dani crossed her arms and tapped her foot. "I'm twenty-seven. Maybe it's about time I found out."
"If that's what you're thinking, why can't you find out with Simon? He'll look after you."
Okay, she was getting seriously pissed off now. "I don't need looking after."
"Maybe, but I've known you a long time. Besides, Jake will kill me if-"
"I'm not Jake's sister, either."
"Okay, Okay." He held up his hands in defeat, then tried a different tack. "You do know that Zach's only using you. He's probably going to put you in one of his books."
"Yeah, I know-the selfless heroine. But it's okay, we've already discussed it. He's going to make me six foot three so no one will recognize me." She sighed. "Look, I know you guys seem to think I need looking after."
"You do?"
"You may think you're being subtle but " She shook her head. "Anyway, I've let it go, but you've got to realize that I'm all grown up. I can fight my own battles."
Gary opened his mouth, ready to continue the argument, and suddenly the fight went out of her. She held up a hand to stall him. After all, what was the point? No sense in arguing when there would be no repeat of this morning's incident. Incident? It didn't seem an adequate word for what had happened.
Maybe, once she had thought it all through, she'd come up with a rational explanation for her reactions. Like total insanity or hormones gone crazy. Yeah, hormones sounded good.
"It's not going to happen again."
Gary cast her a skeptical glance. "It's not?"
"No. I'll make you a deal-if I promise to do my best to avoid Zach, can we forget this ever happened?"
"Deal."
The heat of the day had given way to the balmy warmth of early evening. Zach lay back in the hammock and realized he felt at peace. The smothering sense of restlessness that had plagued him since he'd arrived had abated. He'd curbed his initial urge to go confront Dani-she needed a little space-and spent the afternoon writing. The words had flowed from his fingers.
Now, he stared up at the blue sky and considered his next move.
She'd been so hot and sweet and welcoming once she'd accepted the inevitable. Underneath that prickly exterior lay a sensual woman. It made him curious about why the prickles existed. Why had she grown that protective layer? What was she defending herself from?
Strangely, he needed to know the answers. Though being blown up by a bomb was enough to make anyone a little defensive.
By now, she'd have come to terms with what they'd done and were going to do again in the very near future. They might as well enjoy each other for the duration of their sojourn here. Then he could go back to his real life and so could Dani. A shiver of misgiving ran through him. She couldn't go back in the army, back into danger. Why the hell would she even want to?
Hopefully, Gary hadn't given her a hard time. He would sort out Gary if he had to-get him off her back. Though Gary had her best interests at heart and was genuinely fond of her, he wanted to make sure she was okay.
But hell, Zach wasn't going to hurt her. He might even help her. A little mind-blowing sex might bring her out of her shell. Make her realize there was more to life than the army.
He'd love to show her L.A. and New York.
Wait where the hell did that come from?
His cell phone rang from the house. He'd been ignoring it all day while he wrote. Now, he rolled off the hammock and headed inside. He flicked on the phone and saw it was Jake and, by the looks of his missed calls, it wasn't the first time he'd called.
"Hi," he said. "You calling to say you've found the asshole who sent those threats, and I'm free to go?"
"No."
He waited. "Well? You got me off a perfectly good hammock. Are you going to tell me what for?"
"How are you and Dani getting along?"
Zach strolled over to the doors and glanced out. Who the hell had been talking? Gary, he presumed. "We're getting along okay. Any reason we shouldn't?"