Mike's Adam's Apple jerked furiously like a buoy caught in the middle of the Pacific in a hundred-year storm. "Yeah? How?"
She winked again, not really knowing what to say or do next. How far could she take this flirting thing anyway before it crossed the line and became a sexual overture? Fortunately she didn't have to worry about that because Zack grabbed Mike's collar and shoved him off his stool. "I think you need to go to the bathroom," he growled.
"No I don't." Mike yelped and smiled weakly at Annie. "Maybe I had a few too many beers. Excuse me."
She smiled back, but it didn't last long. It was unfair. Zack didn't want her for himself but he didn't want anyone else to have her either.
***
Zack leaned against the porcelain sink and glared at his old friend. "What are you doing?"
"What?" Mike shrugged, palms up. "I thought you weren't interested in her."
Zack said nothing. Mike was partly right but that didn't matter-he didn't want him anywhere near Annie.
"Okay," Mike said, "I'll go. But, mate, if she's the one, then go for it."
"She's not. We're just...friends."
Mike snorted. "Well, I have to admit, she's not your usual type. That's why I thought there was something between you two. I thought maybe you were ready to settle down."
"No way. Never." Zack looked down at the grimy floor, avoiding his friend's knowing stare.
"Then let that girl go." He slapped Zack on the shoulder. "You're not being fair on her. She's a great girl-"
"I know that."
Mike shook his head. "Yeah, I can see you're really not interested in her." He opened the men's room door. "Maybe I should warn her what a-"
Zack slammed the door shut before Mike could leave. He placed one hand against the door above the Aussie's head and leaned close. "Don't say a word to her. In fact, maybe you should just leave."
Mike and Zack squared off, then Mike backed down with a casual shrug. "Since you're a good mate, I will. And I won't hold this conversation against you since you're in love and too stupid to realize it."
He left. Zack followed with a shake of his head. Love! Mike should know better. He should know that Zack didn't believe in love, not the ever lasting kind. But watching Annie, perched on her stool, beer in hand, he believed in desire.
And he desired to have Annie, very, very much.
***
Annie watched as both men resumed their seats. Mike gulped down the remainder of his beer then stood again. "I'm off."
"Already?"
"Yep, things to do, agents to suck up to, that sort of thing."
She smiled and waited for the kiss on the cheek that was de rigeur in LA. It never came. With a wave and solemn slap on Zack's shoulder, he left.
She tapped her fingers against the bar and glared at Zack. Eventually he glanced her way. "What?" he said.
"Since when do straight men go to the bathroom together?"
He shrugged. "I just wanted a quiet word with him."
"About?"
"Guy stuff."
She snorted. "You told him to stop flirting with me, didn't you?"
He shrugged again. "Mike's a great guy but he doesn't know when to let up."
"So what did he say in his defense?"
"That you encouraged him." Zack toyed with the glass cradled between his big hands and stared down at the liquid sloshing against the sides. "Annie," he said without looking up, "why did you flirt with him?"
"Practice?"
He sighed then shook his head. "Don't get me wrong, Mike's a great guy, but he's not your type."
She bristled. This coming from Zack DiMarco, the man who didn't want to have anything other than sex with her because she wasn't his type. What did he know? On the other hand, maybe he was in the perfect position to know.
"And what is my type?"
He hesitated. "Not him."
She rolled her eyes so far into the back of her head she nearly fell off the stool. She needed time to think. And since she was bursting to go the bathroom, she placed her glass on the bar and hopped off the stool.
She sat for a long time on the toilet with her head in her hands and finally came to a conclusion-she'd ask Zack to take her home. She'd got arrested and practiced her flirting-she'd accomplished enough for the day.
And she didn't want to be around Zack anymore. It was becoming way too painful.
He'd finished his beer by the time she came out of the bathroom, and unashamedly watched her approach through lowered lashes. The firm set of his mouth and penetrating gaze told her something wasn't right. When she got within reach, he grasped her wrist and tugged her gently to him. He touched her cheek with his fingers and kissed her softly but with a hot intensity that turned her stomach to mush.