Billionaire Bad Boy(28)

"You definitely need to relax. You're more uptight than I thought."

"Do you deliberately try to annoy me, Zack or does it just come naturally?"

His grin was lopsided. "Sometimes." He deftly dodged her fist. "But this isn't one of them. I thought you had the attitude thing down okay, but now I'm not so sure. From what Bob told me, this Dug-E kid doesn't care about anything." 

"When he's not smashing up hotel rooms. So?"

"So you shouldn't too. You need to go with the flow a bit more. Loosen up. Relax."

"Stop telling me to relax. It's driving me nuts."

He threw up his hands. "There you go again." He shook his head and placed his beer on the coffee table. "Turn around and I'll give you a massage," he said, laying his hands on her shoulders. "Maybe that'll help."

She didn't hesitate. It was all part of her training after all, and he was the teacher. A damn good one too. His hands were gentle but firm, relaxing her to melting point.

Minutes slipped by as the slow, sure fingers continued to work on her shoulders, down her arms and back, to her hips, snaking around her waist. His body moved into hers and she leaned into him, pressing herself against the hard muscles of his chest. She heard him catch his breath then let it out roughly as he bent to kiss her neck. A shot of warm tingles swept across her flesh as her body liquefied under his touch.

"That's it," he whispered against her skin, "just relax." He turned her face toward him and kissed her lips. He was soft, warm and oh-so sure.

Annie's first reaction was to kiss him back-he tasted good. Her second, and the one she went with, was to pull away. She retreated to her side of the sofa and Zack, blinking dumbly back at her, eventually did the same.

"This is wrong," she said. But it didn't even cover half of it. It wasn't wrong-it had felt so right-but it wasn't fair. How long could something last between two people so inappropriate for each other? They might want each other sexually but it wouldn't work out. She knew it, and she knew he did too. She'd rather stop now instead of later because somehow she suspected she'd be the injured party if she let the kiss continue and develop into something more. Something that ended in the bedroom. She knew she couldn't handle a one night stand with Zack. She wanted more, but he didn't care enough to give it to her.

Looking at him staring back at her with his gooey chocolate eyes, a pang of regret fluttered in her stomach. Okay, so it was more like a sickening blow than a flutter. Either way, it hurt and she wondered if she'd done the right thing. For the millionth time since meeting Zack DiMarco, she wished she didn't have principles, or hormones.

Zack turned away from her and ruffled his dark hair, sexing it up even more.

"What's wrong?" he murmured.

"Nothing."

Without looking in her direction, his lips twisted into a small, sarcastic smile. "Look, I didn't mean anything by that. I was just getting you to relax."

So the kiss was purely mechanical. It was all a part of his grand scheme to turn her into a rebel. Or was it some kind of macho cop-out to save his self-esteem?

She wanted to ask but she could only manage, "Huh?"

He looked at her, his eyes smoldering dangerously behind hooded lids. She braced herself for what was to come. "Chalk the experience up to practice, Annie. You seemed to need it."

"What?" she exploded. "I need practice at kissing now?"

"Yeah." He looked away. "It's all part of being a wild child. Which you're clearly not," he said, his voice low and rough. "And since you'll probably have to kiss this Dug-E guy to convince him..." He trailed off and stood abruptly, his face turned away from her.

She stared at him, open-mouthed and wide-eyed. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "He's eighteen!"

Zack seemed to stiffen, but it might have been her imagination, wanting to get some sort of reaction. She sensed rather than saw evidence of the bubbling heat of anger boiling, barely contained, just below his controlled surface.




 

 

"Right," he said evenly. "He's probably got more experience than you."

Annie had to stand and move around to face him to get a good, satisfying, cracking slap on his cheek.

Zack's only reaction to the slap was a slight, mocking smile.

"Good," he said. "That's exactly what a rebel would do. You're learning." After a hesitation, he added, "Although it's not very becoming on you."

This time he caught her hand inches from his cheek.

"I think I'd better shut up now," he said.

"I think you should've shut up five minutes ago."

"You had your tongue down my throat five minutes ago." He still held her hand, but not tightly. She could've pulled free at any time. "Then all of a sudden you didn't."