Zane caught her arm before she went very far. "Did dancing turn you on?"
Ellie swiped one more glass of champagne from a waiter who was patrolling the edge of the dance floor and took a large sip before she looked up at him. "Not dancing. Dancing with you turned me on."
Wordlessly, he took her hand and moved through the bulk of the people until they reached an unused table. He helped her take a seat before he insisted, "Stay here. I'm going to the bar. I think I need a drink."
"They have champagne everywhere," Ellie reminded him.
"I need something stronger than that." He put a hand in one of the pockets of his tuxedo pants, his eyes trailing down the front of her dress. "No dancing with anybody else but me. Do I want to know exactly what you're wearing beneath that dress?"
Ellie downed the rest of her champagne and smiled at him sweetly as she crooked her finger to make him come closer. Giving her a suspicious look, he bent down so she could whisper in his ear. "I've never worn a dress like this, but I didn't want panty lines, so I bought the cutest little black thong with a tiny pink bow, and matching thigh-high stockings. That's it. I feel almost … naked."
Ellie's heart started to pound against her chest wall as Zane turned his head and their gazes clashed and held, his face so close to hers that she wanted to reach out and grasp his hair, make him kiss her until she couldn't think, couldn't breathe.
His eyes were dangerous, a gray so dark and turbulent they reminded her of an incoming thunderstorm. "Jesus Christ, Ellie! Are you trying to be a cock-tease, or are you just being honest?" he whispered hoarsely.
She leaned in closer. "Maybe a little bit of both," she confessed. "I don't flirt. Not usually." She had a feeling the champagne was letting her say exactly what she wanted. When it came to alcohol, she was a lightweight since she rarely even had a small glass of wine.
He put a hand behind her neck, and the intimate, possessive touch made her shiver.
"Don't do it with anyone else but me," Zane demanded, and then placed a rough kiss on her lips before he straightened. "I'll be right back." It sounded more like a warning than a comment.
She watched as Zane strode across the room to the bar, sighing at the tantalizingly sexy male gait of a predator that he used to move from one place to another. Her eyes stayed fixed on his wide shoulders until he finally disappeared into the sea of other dark tuxedos near the bar.
"Ah, here's somebody I haven't met. And you're with Zane. Hello, mystery woman."
A dark-blond male seated himself across from her. His lips were smiling, but for some reason the jovial expression didn't quite reach his dark eyes. "Hello," she answered automatically. "I'm Ellie Winters."
The man reached his hand across the table. "Sean Rycroft," he offered as he shook her hand. "I'm the director of research at Colter Laboratories. Zane's my boss. Well, I suppose he's actually everybody's boss, technically."
"I thought Zane was the director."
Sean laughed. "Hell, no. He's the CEO of the entire global company. He has several directors at all his facilities."
Ellie paused, realizing how little she knew about Zane's industry. "He has labs all over the world?"
Sean nodded. "Pretty much. But most of them are manufacturing facilities to produce the items he's already developed. The main research lab is here in Denver." He paused for a moment before asking, "How long have you two been involved? Zane hasn't said a word. Elena just told me that he had a date."
The redhead? Why had she been talking to this man?
"You know Elena?" Ellie asked cautiously.
"Pretty well, actually. She's my assistant."
So he's the boss Elena was screwing, but now she was looking for an even bigger fish to catch: the owner of the entire company.
Ellie felt sorry for the man sitting across from her. He was probably ten years older than Zane, but he was no troll. He was charming, even if his smile didn't quite reach his eyes; he looked good in a tux, and he seemed nice enough. But how could he not know that his viper assistant and girlfriend was searching for more money than Sean apparently made? And Ellie was pretty certain that Zane was paying his directors plenty.
Smiling at him politely, she revealed, "I'm actually Zane's assistant, too. We've known each other for years."
Sean gave her another one of his distant, polite smiles. "Is that right? Fantastic. So you aren't seriously involved? No wonder she's hitting on Zane."
Ellie gaped at Sean, startled by his bluntness. "But aren't you and Elena-"
"She refuses to make a commitment. I think she's still looking for someone better." His voice contained a touch of sadness and bitterness.
Ellie suppressed a shudder of revulsion. Obviously the redheaded snake was using Sean until she found a guy with even more money. The thought was repulsive to her, especially since Sean appeared to care about her.
She accepted another glass of champagne from a passing waiter before she answered. "I guess I don't understand not making a commitment to somebody you're regularly sleeping with." She spoke the comment aloud before she realized she'd done it. Not only did she not understand Elena, but she couldn't contemplate why Sean put up with a woman who gave him so much pain.
Sean shrugged. "Some women are unforgettable. But she wants the high life, and someday I'll get it for her. Right now, at least she's still with me."
"What are you doing, Rycroft?" Zane's angry voice answered from behind Sean.
Sean stood. "Zane," he acknowledged with a nod. "I was just chatting with your new assistant."
"Leave," Zane uttered abruptly. "And don't ever think about spending one second of time alone with Ellie or you'll regret it."
Sean held up his hands innocently. "I thought she was your new assistant."
Zane set his drink on the table, reached out his hand and grasped the lapel of Sean's tuxedo. "Go," he said in a graveled tone. "Right. Fucking. Now." Zane let go and literally pushed Sean away from the table.
Stunned, Ellie stared at the two men as they faced off, Zane's expression so intensely fierce that he looked ready for anything.
She held her breath until Sean finally backed up, turned around and walked away without another word. Able to finally release the air from her lungs, she looked up at Zane, and the look he was giving her was almost frightening.
Had she embarrassed him somehow? Ellie had no idea what the etiquette was for a party like this.
She took a sip of champagne and a deep breath before she gave Zane a questioning look, ready for whatever he had to say.
Zane wasn't sure what the hell was wrong with him.
One smile. One sweet turn of Ellie's lips in the direction of another guy had been enough to make him completely fucked up.
He sat down and threw back his scotch in one gulp, knowing he was probably scaring the hell out of Ellie. He glanced at her, able to see the confusion on her face.
Pull it together, man. Just because Ellie smiled at another guy is no reason to lose it.
Zane clenched his fists beneath the table, trying to make some sense out of the illogical. Most of the time, he got along fine with Sean. Yeah, he thought he was a fool for messing with a cat like Elena, but that was his business. His director had to know what he was getting himself into. Eventually, he'd need to explain himself to Sean, but he was more worried about Ellie right now.
"Sean does his job, but I don't know him all that well personally. His drama with Elena occasionally gets out of hand, and he's used a few of the female employees to try to make Elena jealous," Zane explained with what he thought was a pretty lame excuse.
"I wasn't encouraging him," she answered calmly. "Is he dangerous?"
Yeah. The conversation had been innocent enough. It had been the only thing that had kept him sane.
Zane shook his head. "I don't know his personal life well enough to know how he treats a woman. I've never had a reason to get into his business. He hasn't been with Colter all that long. All I really know is that he's crazy about Elena, but she's always looking for something better. I have no idea why he puts up with her."
"Zane, I know you want to protect me, but someday I'm going to have to go back into the real world. Someday soon," she told him quietly, her beautiful blue eyes staring him down.
Nope. He didn't like that thought at all. Not after all she'd been through. "You are in the real world."
She shook her head. "I've always been alone, solved my own problems."
"Why does it have to be that way again? Why do you have to be alone now when you really need support?" Not that Zane wanted to be just her friend, and it was getting harder and harder each day not to want to be more. Literally harder.