If You Were Mine (22 page)

Heather quickly headed away from the stage and had to push

through the crowded lobby. There were too many people

jammed into the smal space for her to see any part of the car,

but one man was almost a head taler than the rest.

Zach.

Shock had her stopping dead in the center of the lobby.

The Lamborghini had to be his.

Her heart thudded to a halt in her chest as she realized she

couldn’t let him give it away, even if it meant the shelter would

have almost an entire extra year of operating expenses taken

care of with the money that car would bring in. Not if he was

giving it away for al the wrong reasons...and not if the donation

meant he’d now expect things from her that she simply couldn’t

give him.

He already had her body, for as long as he wanted it.

But her ultimate trust—and the secret, waled-off parts of

her heart—would always be off limits.

She had to push through the people to reach him. “Zach!”

she caled, needing to get his attention to tel him it was too

much, but before she could, the auctioneer’s voice could be

heard over the crowd.

“The ten minutes are nearly up. Bidding wil begin right

away.”

The excited group rushed back into the balroom, leaving

only Heather and Zach standing alone outside. His eyes roved

over her face, her hair, her dress, her legs.

over her face, her hair, her dress, her legs.

“You’re just as beautiful as I knew you’d be.”

She felt herself flush with pleasure at his compliment, even

as she said, “You shouldn’t have done this, Zach.” Flustered, she

blurted, “Why did you do it?”

“I had to.”

“Did you—” She couldn’t believe she was actualy going to

say this. “Did you do it for me?”

His eyes were dark as they held hers. “Yes.”

Her breath caught in her throat. “Giving away an expensive

car won’t change anything between us. You know that, right?”

“If I thought I could buy you, I would have done it that first

day I met you. Don’t insult us both.” The bite of his words

softened as he added, “You were very convincing up on that

stage, Heather.”

She flushed, biting back the apology on her tongue.

Instead, she said, “It’s too much, Zach. Especialy since you

didn’t exactly take much time to think over the donation.”

“No,” he told her in as serious a voice as she’d ever heard

from him, “auctioning off one of my cars isn’t nearly enough. Just

thinking about what might have happened to Cuddles if she’d

ended up in the wrong hands makes me sick.”

“Stil,” she insisted, “you could have given away something

else, like free car service for a year at your garage. I’m afraid

you’re going to regret giving away something so precious.”

“It’s just a car, Heather. A hunk of metal that’s put together

to drive fast. I would never give away anything truly precious.”

His eyes darkened even further with heat and a flash of emotion

His eyes darkened even further with heat and a flash of emotion

that hit her just behind her breastbone. “You must know by now

that I’m far too selfish for that.”

He always did that to her, made it hard for her to find her

breath at the same time that she couldn’t help but give in to a

smile. “You are pretty selfish,” she agreed.

“Greedy, too,” he said as he finaly moved close enough to

pul her into his arms.

If she’d managed to forget how good his goodbye kiss had

been that morning, the kiss he gave her in front of the Fairmont

was the perfect reminder.

Of course, she hadn’t forgotten a thing about that earlier

kiss. And she wouldn’t be forgetting anything about this one,

either.

When he finaly let her go, she was glad his arms were

around her to hold her up on shaky legs.

“Besides,” he murmured against her earlobe, “getting to see

you in that dress—and knowing I’m going to strip it off you later

—is worth every penny.”

Heather liked him so much more than she should. He made

it so hard not to. If he’d given away the car because he wanted

people to be impressed with him, if he’d done it to try to buy a

part of her heart, she could have written him off as just another

rich blowhard with more money than sense.

But he’d clearly done it simply because he believed it was

the right thing to do.

And this time she was the one kissing him before grinning

And this time she was the one kissing him before grinning

and saying, “I would have let you take off my dress for free.”

“Time for bed.”

Heather looked up from where she was placing empty wine

glasses in their plastic cases to find Zach standing in front of her.

“But there’s stil so much to do.”

“The catering staff can take care of the rest of it.” He took

her hands in his and puled her to her feet.

The heat in his eyes immediately drew her in and she knew

there was no more fighting the inevitable. She wanted to sleep

with Zach again, of course, but she was worried that she was

going to forget to keep it just sex, even more than she had

forgotten the night before. After his selflessness tonight, she was

very much afraid that her heart was going to do something stupid

in response.

She was surprised when he led her to the bank of elevators

with his large hand on the smal of her back. She was tal enough

that she rarely felt smal around a man, but between his height

and broad shoulders—and his air of confident masculinity—

she’d always felt incredibly feminine around Zach.

“Where is Cuddles tonight?”

“Hanging with Atlas at your assistant’s house. She’d

already mentioned that she was going to be watching Atlas and

said she was happy to have them both.”

said she was happy to have them both.”

Heather turned to him in surprise just as the elevator door

opened. “Have women always been unable to resist giving you

whatever you want?”

His pretended to leer at her. “Whatever I want, huh?”

She roled her eyes. “I was talking about other women, not

myself. I can resist you just fine,” she lied with a flourish.

His grin told her he knew otherwise as he slid his key card

in for the penthouse suite.

“You booked the penthouse for tonight?” On top of giving

away a shockingly expensive car just hours ago? “Have you

completely lost your mind?”

“Most women not only give me whatever I want, but they

also know my net worth within five minutes of meeting me.” He

slid the fingers of one hand into her hair and tugged her closer

before saying, “You’re the first one who doesn’t care about my

money.”

He was right, she didn’t. And maybe if she weren’t so

tired, she would have moderated her thoughts a little better

before blurting, “You’re hardly ever serious. How can you run a

business that big without working al the time like everyone

else?”

True to form, he didn’t look upset about what she’d just

said, or how she’d said it. “Like I said before, they’re just cars.

And trust me, Heather,” he said in that low voice that always

sent shivers running up and down her spine, “whenever I decide

to focus on something I want, I always get it.”

She believed him, especialy when he pressed her back

She believed him, especialy when he pressed her back

against the wal of the elevator. His mouth was sinfuly delicious

against hers as his stubble rasped against her cheeks and chin.

She immediately wound her arms around his neck to pul him

closer as their kiss deepened.

“Is there a Stop button in this thing?” she found herself

asking against his lips, even though she’d never done something

crazy like have sex in an elevator. Then again, she would never

have felt safe enough to do that with anyone but Zach.

But before either of them could find it, they reached the top

of the building and the doors slid open. Together, they moved

out of the elevator, not separating or stopping their kiss. Feeling

bold, she grabbed the room key from him, pressed it against the

card reader beside the double doors, and used his tie to drag

him inside.

Last night he’d run the show.

Tonight, she wanted her turn at being in charge.

The last thing she expected to see was a massage table set

up in the middle of the expensive-looking carpet. “Do we have

the wrong room?”

“Nope,” he said with a soft kiss to her lips. “You’ve been

working so hard al day. I don’t want you to be sore tomorrow.”

She couldn’t believe he’d arranged a masseuse for her.

Or that he was planning to make her wait to have him.

“You don’t play fair, do you?”

“You wouldn’t want me to,” he said against the curve of

her neck, where he’d started nibbling on her skin.

And he was right, she thought, even though her entire body

And he was right, she thought, even though her entire body

buzzed with arousal, with the desperate need to have him inside

of her
right now.
Every other man that had come before Zach

now seemed boring. Unimaginative. She couldn’t remember a

single reason she would want to be with anyone else.

He gave her one of those evil grins she was beginning to

dread...and wish for at the exact same time. “Before I cal in the

masseuse, I’d better get you undressed.”

He turned her around, found the zipper at the back of her

dress, and drew it down. The dark blue fabric fluttered away

from her body and al it took was one soft tug for it to slide

down her shoulders, over her arms, past her hips and to the

floor. Turning her around with his large hands on her waist, he

took a step back to look at her in her bra, panties, thigh-high

stockings, and heels.

“You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

She hated to break the spel, but she didn’t want there to

be any lies between them. Especialy when he didn’t need to say

things like that to get her into bed with him.

“I’m not.” She fought the urge to try to cover her arms, and

the old scars, by hiding them behind her back.

“You are.”

He said the words with such intensity, that even though she

couldn’t possibly see how it was true, she had no choice but to

believe he meant it.

And then, he was reaching for her hands. But instead of

threading his fingers through hers, his thumbs caressed her old

threading his fingers through hers, his thumbs caressed her old

scars, one by one as he moved his hands further up from her

wrists, over her forearms, to the soft underside of her elbows.

It was too much for her, the way he seemed to adore even

her imperfections, and she made a sound of protest. “Zach, I—”

He kissed her before she could say anything else, but he

didn’t stop touching her, didn’t stop exploring her battered skin

with his fingertips. She’d been right about a mechanic’s hands,

about how talented they could be. He was turning her to putty

again, but she didn’t want to just sit back and feel.

She wanted to be right there with him, an equal in passion,

a partner in desire. And she didn’t think she could stand for him

to be that gentle, that sweet, another second longer without her

heart faling.

Sliding quickly from his grasp, she undid the clasp on her

bra. As the straps fel from her shoulders, and her bra began the

slow slide from her breasts, she loved the hunger in Zach’s eyes.

And loved even more that it seemed the most obvious thing

in the world to drop slowly to her knees in front of him.

* * *

had her massage. He’d witnessed firsthand tonight how hard

she’d worked for the fundraiser, and even though he’d wanted

her every single second since she’d left his arms that morning,

he’d been trying to wait to take her again until she was relaxed

and ready for him.

and ready for him.

He should have realized his plans were shot to hel when

she yanked him inside the suite by his tie. But he was so used to

doing things his way, it stil hadn’t occurred to him that Heather

might not let him get away with that tonight...or that she’d

actualy drop to her knees and lick her lips in pure sensual need

as she unzipped him.

He had to slide his hands into her hair as her tongue found

him first and then she—

Jesus, her mouth.

A few minutes later, Zach somehow managed to pul back

and lift her into his arms. But as he moved toward the bedroom

and kicked open the door, he had to lean over her to take one