Born to Be Wild (7 page)

“What we just did was a lot of things, Dart. But it wasn’t funny.”

The intensity in his voice, in his eyes, made Dara look away again. She watched the steam on the windows evaporate, wishing her mind would clear as quickly.

“Dara?”

His voice was gentler now, yet that only emphasized the vulnerability and fear she thought she’d heard just seconds ago. No, she must have been mistaken. Zach Brogan, scared of a little kiss? Not in this lifetime.

It was wishful thinking on her part because she was feeling all those things and didn’t want to be alone. Worst of all was the idea that it had been just a little kiss to him. She’d kissed and been kissed by other men since Daniel. Some of them had been passionate. But this.…

He made her feel wild and reckless, when she was no longer either of those things. No longer drawn to those traits in others. It evoked images in her mind of him jerking her clothes off, his mouth and hands on the rest of her body, of how it would feel when his bare skin touched hers for the first time.

No. It was no little kiss.

Praying her thoughts were not being broadcast through her eyes, she took a shallow breath and lifted her gaze to his. “What?”

“Is dinner still out of the question?”

She felt a small tug near her heart and smiled. “I really should get back to work.” Was it her imagination, or was there a flash of relief in his eyes? That stung more than she cared to admit.

She shifted in her seat, taking the steering wheel with
one hand and putting the other on the gear shift. “Just give me a call, or have Beaudine call, and set up appointment when you get the rest of the trip planned.”

Another endless second elapsed, but she refused to look at him again. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw his hand lift, then drop back in his lap. Good, she didn’t want him to touch her now. Did she?

“I have a trip to bid on and another one scheduled to leave this week. I’m not heading it, so I should have the rest of this together no later than the middle of next week.”

She merely nodded in response.

After another pause, he said, “Dara?”

Please don’t make me look at you again
, she thought desperately.
Just leave and let me regroup here
. Even as she thought it, she turned to face him. “Yes?”

“Thanks for the ride,” he said sincerely.

Everything would be okay, she assured herself. This had just been one of those weird moments they’d both quickly forget. She didn’t really want Zach.

He’ll go back to teasing me and flirting with me as he does with all the women he comes into contact with. And I’ll go back to—I’ll just—

Zach got out of the car and shut the door then leaned down, and rapped his knuckles once on the closed window. She looked over automatically in time to see him wink before he sauntered across the parking lot.

The rest of her breath departed on a loud sigh.
Yes, he’ll go on teasing me and flirting with me
, she thought again as she watched him disappear behind another row of cars.

“And I’ll keep being more turned on than I’ve ever
been in my entire life,” she finished out loud. She could really hate him for that. “I’m an idiot,” she muttered. Kiss or no kiss, she really didn’t want to go back to work, and kiss or no kiss, she really wanted to spend more time with Zach Brogan. A whole lot more time. Maybe masochist was a better description.

She jerked the car into reverse and peeled out of the lot. The longer she was around him, the harder she knew it would become to remember all the reasons she had for not getting involved with a wild man again. That type simply didn’t appeal to her anymore. Not really.

Slow and steady. Stable. Those were the kind of men she chose to date now. A man who’d grown up and learned to take responsibility for his life and for the lives of those he loved. A man more committed to home, hearth, and a nice nine-to-five job, than to looking for the next high, the next joyride. That only led to foolish risk. To tragedy. To pain. Especially for the ones left behind.

And Zach was far from slow and steady. His motto was live for the moment. He’d seen her as an unattached, consenting adult. Someone to play with for a while.

But a man like Zach wasn’t cut out for the long term or stability, much less taking any sort of responsibility for those he cared about or those who cared for him.

And if she let herself get involved with him, in any way, no matter what rationale she used to protect herself, Dara knew that when the fall came, she would be the one not wearing a parachute.

Saturday was the sort of bright sunny day that made staying inside feel like a criminal offense. Dara shifted her attention away from her window and back to her desk. Her paper-strewn, folder-filled desk. She sighed, and pushed her chair back. She loved her job. It fulfilled her professional needs and her personal ones. But today her stable, steady life felt a whole lot more like dull and boring. Maybe a cola would help her focus on the reports she had to fill out.

“That and not wondering every other second what Zach is doing with a perfect summer day like this,” she muttered. She stopped several feet from the door. “Oh, the hell with this.”

She spun back to her desk, stacked the most urgent third of the pile into a canvas tote, then grabbed her purse and marched out of her office before common sense reemerged.

Guilt began to creep in as she neared the front door, making her glance around, despite the fact that she knew she was the only one there that day. The feeling vanished the second she pushed through the door. The warm breeze brushed her skin, and the blinding sun made her shade her eyes as she locked the heavy plate glass doors.

“I’ll work tonight,” she promised herself, her mind already sailing away on thoughts of what she would do first. The day seemed full of endless possibilities.

Music suddenly blasted through the air, making her jump. She barely held on to her tote bag. The tune was instantly recognizable, and she couldn’t stop the grin that stole over her face as Roy Orbison belted out, “Oh, Pretty Woman.”

She scanned the lot, instinctively looking for the
black pickup, but except for her car, the area in front of the building was empty. Dara swallowed the pang of disappointment, then laughed ruefully at her fickle nature. Hadn’t she spent a good part of every hour since she’d left him convincing herself to get him out of her life as soon as possible?

The music was most likely coming from the gym located in the row of industrial buildings directly behind the foundation. She shrugged and strolled to her car, feeling alive and more than a bit wicked for ditching work. Her hips naturally began to sway in a sort of exaggerated walk to the beat of the still-blaring music. And so what, there was no one around to see.

She tossed the canvas bag onto the passenger seat, started the engine, then lowered the windows and climbed back out to let some of the heat dissipate. She was lip-synching along with Roy, drumming on the roof of her car and swinging her hips when her car phone rang. She jumped guiltily and cast an automatic glance across the empty lot.

Another self-deprecating laugh escaped her as she sat gingerly on the edge of the still-hot leather seat and reached for the phone. Before she could say hello, a deep male voice rumbled in her ear.

“Julia Roberts, eat your heart out.” Husky laughter followed her sudden intake of breath. “Playing hooky, Dart?”

“Zach?” She swung around, scanning the lot again, but still didn’t see his truck. He had to be nearby. The music—

Dear Lord, he’d seen her strutting her stuff across the lot! Surprisingly, the idea that he’d watched her
wasn’t as embarrassing as it was … stimulating. She didn’t welcome that bit of news.

“Third pillar to your right, Dara.”

Zach moved out from behind the large round brick column and leaned back against it, cellular phone propped between his ear and his shoulder. He wore a black baseball cap backward, a sleeveless white gym shirt, and black gym shorts that displayed a pair of tanned, well-muscled thighs. For some reason, her gaze strayed to his crossed ankles with sloppy socks and loosely laced black leather high-tops.

She stifled an unexpected giggle. Either it was hotter in the car than she’d thought, or she’d definitely been cooped up for too long if she was being turned on by a pair of oversize beat-up sneakers.

The heat in her cheeks began a swift downward rush, and she lifted her gaze back to his face only to find that sin-sexy smile. There was something about staring at him from the confines of her car that felt strangely … safe. Her reaction to the wink he sent her way, however, didn’t come within spitting distance of safe.

“It’s Saturday,” she answered his question finally, speaking into the phone. “I don’t think you can legally play hooky during non-business hours.”

Zach pushed away from the pillar and strolled toward her car, the phone still at his ear. “And here I thought you didn’t have any non-business hours.”

“I just came in to get a few things that I need to review over the—” She broke off. “Why am I defending myself to you? You wouldn’t know a business hour if you tripped over one, so who are you to go—”

“Don’t go fire breathing again, Dart, it’s too hot for
that already.” He’d leaned down and propped his elbows on her open passenger door window, still talking into the phone—which somehow seemed endearing rather than silly.

Then he opened the passenger door, tossed her tote to the backseat, and got in. He threw his baseball hat on the dash, then hung up her phone. “And don’t tell me you haven’t been here all day. I’ve been calling your house since seven o’clock this morning.”

“You’ve been calling? At my home?”

“Of course at your home. Which is where, silly me, I thought you’d be on a Saturday.”

“You called at seven on a Saturday? You could have woken me up!”

“I won’t say the thought didn’t cross my mind, say, a dozen times or so.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “Accompanied by some pretty vivid mental images, too, I must say.”

“No, you mustn’t say,” she shot back hastily. This was already getting out of hand. And did he have to fill up her car with his tanned muscles and windblown hair and … and white teeth?

“Why were you calling me?” she asked. “You wouldn’t by any chance be backing out and letting me know about the decision as soon as possible, would you?”

His wounded expression was entirely too convincing, and for a split second she actually wished she hadn’t sounded so excited by the prospect of his quitting. Of course, if he had even an inkling about how easily he did excite her.…

“Actually, no,” he said. “And before you ask, I got your home number from Dane.”

“Such an accommodating brother.” Dara made a mental note to spray paint her twin’s private number on the next overpass she came to. “What was so urgent you had to talk to me on a weekend?”

“You said to call when I had the trip finished. When I couldn’t get you at home, I figured you were at work. I tried that, but—”

“The switchboard is shut down during the off-hours.”

“Which I learned after listening to the recording. So I started dialing your car phone as I headed this way, figuring I’d either get you here or catch you in your car somewhere.”

“I won’t even ask how you got this number. When I see Dane—”

“Can’t collar him with that one. I memorized it from our ride the other day.”

“Oh.” Why did she feel sort of flattered by that tidbit of information? Dangerous thoughts, Dara. “What if I hadn’t been working?” she asked, wanting—needing—to knock him down a peg. “I might have been out with someone else. I mean, it is a nice day. I could have been on a picnic.”

“You could have been. But you weren’t. You were working.”

“And now I’m not,” she said evenly. “So tell me why you’re here, so I can enjoy the rest of my day off.”

His expression made it clear he didn’t think she had the first clue about enjoying herself. “Actually, I was hoping I could convince you to put in a few more hours. Only I promise it’ll be a whole lot more fun, and you won’t have to be indoors.”

“Bottom line, Zach. What do you want with me?” she asked.

The humid air suddenly seemed too thick for breathing. Zach’s expression went from teasing to predatory in a heartbeat.

“Dangerous question, Dart. Sure you want to know?”

Dara nodded.

His gaze locked on hers. “I think that what I want from you would take hours, maybe even weeks, to discuss.” Then he laughed quietly and shook his head. “For today, I’d just like to request the pleasure of your company—in a professional capacity—to look over the area I’ve designated for the trip.”

Hours, weeks … Dara’s imagination ran wild with images of what Zach would do with her for hours, weeks … Beads of perspiration trickled down her neck. It took a moment to remember his actual proposition.

“I … uh, you want to show me the area you’ve chosen? Is it a very long drive?”

“We’re not going to drive.”

Confused, she said, “Then you have a map or something?”

“It’s sort of a surprise.”

“A surprise?”

“Yeah, you know, that’s when something happens that isn’t expected or planned.”