by Nana Malone
“Ms. Welsh,” Xander said as she started to leave. “A moment.”
She walked up to the front of the class as Professor Chase placed his papers in his briefcase. She liked the professor and had enjoyed his classes so far. “Yes?”
“Great job on this week’s assignment,” he said with a smile. “I can see you starting to settle into your own style.”
“Thank you,” she said. “Good teacher I guess.”
He laughed. “Hardly. If you believe Abbie, I’m a heartless prick.” He shrugged. “But I can spot talent.”
She flushed. “Wow. Thank you.”
“It’s not flattery. It’s the truth. I saw your name on the work study roster. And I believe in giving program students access to the best jobs first. I need someone to assist in my new gallery. Would you be interested?”
Holyfuckingshit! She wasn’t proud of the speechless moment, but for more minutes than could probably be considered appropriate, she stared at him. It wasn’t until he snapped his fingers in front of her eyes that she could bring herself to reply. “Yes! Absolutely. I am,” Emma stammered. She needed this more than he knew. “What would it entail?”
“It would be more like an internship. But you’ll learn a lot about the clients they have and it would be good for you to learn the business side of the beauty. I try to make sure all true artists that leave my program can handle their own business affairs should it come to that.”
“Really?” she asked, her heart thudding in her chest. She couldn’t believe this. “Thank you, Xander. I don’t know what to say.”
He reached in his camera case and pulled out a business card, scribbling something on the back of it before handing it to her. “Go and ask for Gareth. Good luck, Emma. I think you’re doing great. And do yourself a favor. Don’t take everything so seriously.”
Emma took the card and held it to her chest, not believing her luck today. “Thank you.” He nodded and she walked out of the classroom, reaching for her phone immediately. Laila wasn’t going to believe this. She was so having a glass of wine tonight to celebrate. Maybe they could even go to another club. Pressing the send button, she held the phone up to her ear, a smile on her face. This was so epic.
“Hello?”
Zach’s voice filled her ear and Emma was startled at first. She pulled the phone away, realizing she had called his number instead, and contemplated hanging up before she decided against it. Because she didn’t want to look like a loser. After all, she hadn’t done anything but think of him since the other night at the coffeehouse. “Hey, Zach.”
“Hey,” he said, clearly surprised as well. “How are you?”
“I’m good. Great I mean,” she answered, her excitement bubbling over. “I have just been offered a job.”
“That’s great, Ems,” he said. “Congrats.”
Awkward. “Thanks,” she said as she strolled outside. “Am I interrupting something?”
“Nope, you can never interrupt me. I’m glad you called.”
“Well I didn’t mean to,” she blurted out, not wanting him to think she was seeking him out. Oh, she was so shit at this.
“Was I a butt dial then?” he asked laughing, his voice low even over the phone. She swallowed hard as a rush of heat filled her body once more, thinking that Zach could be sexy even on the phone. It was ridiculous, really.
“N—no,” she said with a little laugh. “I mean I meant to call my friend Laila about my good news and somehow you got dialed.”
“Well I’m glad you did,” he answered. “And I think we need to celebrate your good news. Let me take you to dinner.”
Emma’s breath caught. Zach wanted to take her to dinner? Seriously? “W—what?” What the hell?
“Dinner,” he repeated. “Unless you have other plans tonight.”
“Um no, I don’t,” she blurted out, not wanting this opportunity to pass by. Dinner with Zach. This is a bad idea. Too bad her libido had already shut down the rational centers of her brain. “I would love to.”
“I’ll pick you up at eight then.”
“See you then,” she said softly before clicking off, a stupid smile spreading on her face. First this job and now dinner with Zach. She couldn’t believe it. What else was going to happen today?
11
Zach
What the hell was he doing? Being a fuck up; that’s what you’re doing.
For once he agreed with the part of his father that still lived in his head. Zach drummed his fingers along his knee nervously as the private car wound its way through Ealing, knowing he should call and beg off, say something came up. Considering what happened the last time they were together … Okay, the last two times.
But he couldn’t live with himself if he stood her up so he was on his way to pick her up, nervous as hell. This wasn’t some ordinary girl that he was taking out. This was Emma. Who you’ve been in love with for years. Who you don’t deserve.
The car slowed in front of her building not far from the university and Zach climbed out, straightening his jacket in the process. He had debated on flowers, finally deciding against it in case they scared her off. That was the last thing he wanted to do. Hell, he hadn’t given as much thought to developing his first club as he had this date tonight. Not that this was a date.
Climbing the steps to her flat, Zach took a deep breath before rapping on the door, finding it opening immediately. “Hey Zach,” Emma said, stepping aside. “Come on in. I’m almost ready.”
Zach stepped inside. Emma rushed in front of him, presumably to the loo before shutting the door. He took in the small changes she’d made, like the new throw pillows she’d added to the sparse furnishings. She’d added color and cheer. The colorful quilt that covered the couch caught his eye. So did the pictures that decorated the shelf behind the small couch. He was pleased to see one of the four of them in a small heart shaped frame, Emma in the front as the boys stood in the back, all grinning at the camera. That was back when life wasn’t complicated and Ben was still alive.
“I’m sorry,” Emma said from behind, causing Zach to turn around. “I really meant to be ready by now.”
Zach took in the soft green dress she was wearing, the way it molded to her in all the right places and swallowed hard. Bloody hell she was beautiful. Her hair was down just the way he liked it and his hands itched to touch it to see if it was as soft as it looked. “What?” she asked, her hands on her hips now.
Zach realized he was staring and shook his head. “You look beautiful.”
She blushed and grabbed her purse, tucking her hair behind her ear. He knew she did that when she was nervous. Thank God, she was nervous because he felt like he was going to pass out at any moment. “Thanks. You look nice too.”
He grinned and motioned for her to lead the way, feeling like he was on fucking cloud nine. Screw what Steven would think. This was between him and Emma at the moment. They walked down the stairs and he helped her into the car. Her fingers brushed his lightly before he shut the door and walked around to the other side. Taking a deep breath, he climbed inside and they were off.
“So,” Emma said a moment later, “where are we going?”
“I’ve made reservations at Galvin at Windows,” Zach replied, thinking of the nice, romantic restaurant he frequented when he wanted a decent meal. “I hope that’s all right.” If not, he would take her wherever the hell she wanted to go.
“It’s fine,” she said softly, giving him a smile. “Thanks for doing this.”
“Hey, we need to celebrate,” Zach answered, putting on a grin to hide his nervousness. “You got a job.”
“I know,” she said dreamily. “It’s like the best job that I could ever find this soon. I can’t even explain how excited I am.”
She didn’t have to; he could see it written all over her face. Zach wondered if he could ever put that look on her face. It was a look that would make any man feel like a damned hero.
They arrived at the restaurant and he helped her out of the
car, tucking her hand in the crook of his arm as they made their way up the stairs and into the lift. He could smell the fruity scent of her shampoo and he wanted to nuzzle into her neck. This was going to be the longest night of his life. Though, how could it not be? He was with her.
“This is really nice,” Emma remarked as they walked out of the lift and were shown to their table, the London skyline visible from the large windows as they were seated. “London is beautiful at night.”
“I love this city. It’s the perfect escape,” Zach admitted, taking in the view himself. He had truly fallen in love with the city and couldn’t imagine living anywhere else now. “How have you liked living here?”
“Oh, it’s great,” Emma said as the maître d’ poured glasses of wine specifically picked out for their meal tonight. Zach had made all the arrangements earlier. “I feel alive here.”
“That is an understatement,” Zach chuckled, thinking of the small town that they were both from as he raised his glass. “To you Emma and your good fortune today.”
“And to a wonderful date,” she answered, clinking her glass against his before taking a sip. Zach grinned, mainly because he felt like everything was going right tonight. When he had made the offer, Zach had half-expected Steven to jump out of some dark corner and start beating his arse for asking out his sister but he hadn’t and though Zach knew Steven would kill him for this, he couldn’t say no. He wanted this, no matter how wrong it was.
“So,” Emma continued, her eyes shining in the soft candlelight, “tell me about your job Zach. I want to know what you do. You’ve never really told me exactly.”
Zach swallowed his mouthful of wine, nearly choking. He couldn’t tell her about the clubs. She would put two and two together and know that he was one of the reasons her brother was dead. After all, it had been his club that the knucklehead had been drinking at the night he died. “I, um, it’s nothing exciting,” he said.
“Come on,” she laughed, settling back in her chair with her wine glass in hand. “Give me something. Let me guess: you are in the SAS.”
Zach laughed. “No, nothing that exciting. I just own a couple of businesses. Nothing more.”
“But what?” she asked, prodding him. “Canned goods? Illegal weapons? Women’s knickers? Even better, sex toys?”
He chuckled then coughed on his wine. “You’re killing me,” he laughed, feeling lighter than he had for years, actually. “Illegal weapons? Really?” He couldn’t bring himself to say sex toys in front of her. Lest he think of all the myriad ways they might be able to use them.
“Well you won’t tell me,” she countered, sipping her wine. “I have to make up things if you don’t tell me.”
“Your mind is warped,” he said with a grin. “No, I’m not dealing in weapons or knickers. Or sex toys. Think of me as an investor. Mostly tech. Then real estate. I borrowed starter cash and worked my arse off.” It wasn’t a total outright lie. His money was sunk in his clubs, which were investments. He just couldn’t tell her that.
“Investments,” she echoed. “Well, that sounds positively boring.”
“I told you,” Zach said as their first course arrived. “Nothing exciting.”
“I still prefer my James Bond secret assassin theory,” Emma muttered, looking down at the massive prawns on her plate. “Wow, did they inject these with steroids?”
Zach nearly choked on his shrimp. “Seriously, woman.”
“All right then,” she grinned, digging into her appetizer. Zach watched her, feeling like a damned lovesick fool.
You are a fool. You can’t hide it forever. She will find out. And when she does, she’ll hate you almost as much as you hate yourself.
He shouldn’t be doing this. She shouldn’t be with him, but it felt so good.
The rest of the dinner was filled with stories from their childhood. Zach couldn’t remember when he’d had more fun. As they walked out to the waiting car, he decided he didn’t want it to end. It would mean he would go to the club by himself and back to his old life, one that wasn’t especially exciting under the surface. “I am stuffed,” she said as he entered the car. “That was an amazing dinner, Zach. Thank you.”
“You are welcome,” he said. “Listen, can we just talk about the other day?”
She glanced over at him, shaking her head. “Nope. Especially not if you’re going to tell me you didn’t mean to and it’s complicated.” She sighed. “I don’t want to think about that right now. I want to dance. Can we go to another club? I’ve heard Club Thames has excellent dancing.”
Zach groaned inwardly, knowing Jason was waiting there for him right now. Fate was screwing him over slowly. “Sure,” he said, his voice thick. “We can go.”
She gave him a smile and he gave the driver directions, settling back on the seat, apprehensive at taking Emma to his club. Though he was a well-known figure in the clubs, no one knew save Jason and Steven that he was the actual owner. Most thought he was just another partygoer, a man who had no life other than the nightlife. He preferred it that way. Instead of him getting mobbed by the media, Jason was the face of all his clubs and Zach paid him well for it.
It allowed him to wander in and out unnoticed for the most part and have his hands in the business when he wanted them to be. Eventually he would turn it all over to Jason, a thought he had been contemplating more and more over the last year. He wanted to travel some, see the world, but there was always another business opportunity he couldn’t turn down.
The car pulled up in front of the club and he helped Emma out, seeing the line outside. Apparently, the club was doing well tonight. “Oh no,” Emma said as she clung to his arm. Zach hadn’t even realized she had taken it again. “That’s going to take ages. Maybe this was a bad idea.”
“You give up too easily,” Zach grinned. Being the owner had its perks after all. Pulling out his wallet, Zach extracted the VIP pass he carried around for nights like this and presented it to the bouncer, who let them pass to the groan of the others outside.
“You must really live the London nightlife,” she said with some awe as they breezed inside.
“I get around,” Zach remarked, catching the eye of Jason who was standing near the bar, attempting to ignore the women who were gathered around him. Jason started toward him, but Zach waved him off. He wasn’t about business tonight. Tonight was about making Emma happy and he would do whatever she wanted to keep that smile on her face.
12
Zach
Jason arched his brow when he saw the two of them but said nothing, diverting his path as they walked up to the bar. “Can I get you anything to drink?” Zach asked as Emma watched the dancers on the floor. He remembered the way she had danced and laughed the other night. She had always been dancing as a kid, pulling him, and her brothers into the fray with those large green eyes of hers.
“Um, no I’m good,” she said. They stood there near the bar, watching the dancing for a few moments as he tried to figure out what he was going to do with Emma. He should have never brought her in here. Too late for regrets now. All he wanted to do was spend time with her. He just hadn’t anticipated the awkwardness.
Zach rolled his shoulders and looked around the club, glad to see that the place was busy tonight at least. Thames was his oldest club, the one he had opened with barely enough funds to get by and a dream. It wasn’t as flashy as Club Trend but still had that going home vibe he felt every time he walked in.
This club reminded him of where he had come from and how opening this one club had also opened a wealth of possibilities that he hadn’t known existed. Each aspect of his businesses were doing so well that he could essentially just walk away and live off the profit. But he couldn’t. What the hell else would he do?
A Rihanna song came over the speakers and Emma grabbed his hand. “Oh, I love this song. Come on, let’s dance.”
He pursed his lips. “Oh, I don’t think so,” Zach answered, panicking as he tried to figure out a good, reasonable excuse that
would keep him off that dance floor. And her out of his arms. It wasn’t that he couldn’t dance.
He could. But being that close to her, having her body press up against his was a recipe for disaster. He’d already been unable to keep his hands off her. And he was pretty sure when her brother said look out for her, he didn’t mean dream up ways to shag her fifty ways from Sunday.
“Oh, come on,” she begged, tugging on his hand. “I want to dance.”
Just then some idiot wanker with messy blond hair approached them. “Hey, if you want to dance I have no problem dancing with you.”
A flicker of fury lit under his skin. “Bugger off, she’s with me.” His protectiveness flared. There was no way he was going to allow this arsehole to dance with her. The tosser held up his hands, clearly taking in the tone of Zach’s voice and not wanting to tangle tonight.
“Sorry, mate. Didn’t know you were together.”
“Sorry,” Emma said, giving the guy an apologetic smile. This was such a bad idea on so many levels. But it was too late now.
Zach took her hand and tugged her to the dance floor. All around, couples pressed their bodies into each other. A few of the couples were swaying, and some were really getting down and dirty to the song. But he blocked all of them out. He wanted to enjoy this.
He drew her close, but not too close, keeping his hands at her waist. He waited until she looped her arms around his neck. “Hang on tight,” he murmured.
She sucked in a quick breath, her body instantly bowing toward him. He ground his teeth at the wave of lust. He was fine; he could do this. He just couldn’t get too close. It would be fine.
But he knew he was kidding himself.
He moved them easily in time to the seductive beat. Emma kept her gaze on his and Zach couldn’t look away. He didn’t dare. All around them, couples pressed so close that they might as well be naked and in bed. Dirty dancing seemed a requisite of the dancehall beat in Rihanna’s song.
Zach kept it as respectable as possible. The problem was the way Emma swayed her hips, the way she rolled them, beckoned his hands lower. As if she wanted his hands all over her.
