But today, I had to focus on something other than Zane for a change.
Felicity and I had a huge presentation we were giving to several potential clients. Big, successful potential clients who could bring in some major business for us. We had developed these contacts at a recent trade show and just decided to bring them all in at once for one presentation which was also serving as a business proposal. We had done this type of thing before, many times, but these were some of the biggest names in the area and there was a lot riding on how we did today and what kind of impression we made.
Because of this, we had pulled out all the stops. Today was the first day we would be using a new software that allowed us to offer a virtual portfolio of our work to clients. The software provided a 3D tour of all of our various projects, giving them the best imagery of each location without them actually having to be there. Every house we decorated, every office space we refurbished, it was all available for their viewing pleasure.
We had been integrating it at client meetings over the past few weeks, introducing it little by little and familiarizing ourselves with the program. But today was the first day we would bring all of the applications together to really grab the attention of our audience. It had been an expensive investment but one we knew would pay off in time. It was an innovative program and I had no doubt that it was going to impress potential clients.
But when I walked into the office, Felicity was in an utter panic.
She was pacing the main floor, frantically moving back and forth, taking jerky short steps until she heard the door open and looked up at me with eyes the size of dinner plates.
“It’s not working!” she shrieked, waving her arms wildly up in the air.
I calmly walked toward her with my arms out, attempting to subdue her. “Whoa, whoa. What’s not working?”
“The tour program!” she screamed, the sound sharp in my ears.
My body froze.
“What do you mean it’s not working?” I asked carefully. I could feel my breakfast threatening to rise up my throat.
“I mean the entire 3D tour part of the software isn’t working. The data and all the other information is in there, but the tour application won’t run. I’ve tried everything.”
Her face was red and her hands were shaking. We both knew how important this program was to this presentation, to this big-time potential business. Basically, this technology was our presentation and if it didn’t work, we were screwed.
She followed behind me as I walked back to our conference room where the main presentation was going to take place. I entered the room and saw the laptop she had hooked up to the big flat-screen television hanging on the wall, but the television was just a giant blue screen.
This was not good.
“Did you try just re-starting the program?” I asked.
It was probably a stupid question but neither one of us knew a great deal about technology. We typically knew the basics and were still learning about our new software.
She huffed impatiently. “Yes. I tried that and did all of those other troubleshooting steps the help guide suggests but nothing is working.”
“Did you call the IT guy?”
The company that owned the software outsourced another company for all of their maintenance and other IT work. We’d had to call them a couple of times since the software was installed, but we’d been able to handle everything over the phone in the past.
Felicity started pacing again. “Yes, and nothing he suggested worked either. He said he wasn’t sure what it could be without getting on the actual computer, but that he couldn’t get here until tomorrow because he has a lot of jobs today. I have no clue what to do. What should we do?”
I typed a few commands out on the keyboard but nothing happened. I checked the settings on the computer and did everything else I could think of—I even checked to make sure everything was plugged in properly—but there was no change.
Since Felicity was already freaking out, I was trying to be the calm sister but it was difficult. My mind was spinning like crazy, considering all of the possible scenarios and moving onto the next. There really was no way to have this presentation without the program.
And through my swirling haze of panic, one person came to mind, his name flashing in bright neon lights in my head.
Zane.
He owned a technology company. He dealt with software and databases on a daily basis, right? Would he know how to fix it? I looked down at my watch. The clients would be here in two hours.
I had to at least try.
I walked into the other room, my phone at my ear, as I listened to the dial tone.
“Well, I didn’t expect to hear from you this morning. Miss me, did you?” he asked, his voice soothing some of my nerves.
I wasted no time with pleasantries. “Zane, I need your help.” I quickly explained the situation and basically begged him to come take a look. “I’m on my way,” was his response before he hung up. The fact that he didn’t question anything, that he didn’t even hesitate to come to my aid, sent a lightning bolt of emotion straight to my heart.
But Felicity was still freaking out. I needed to get her out of here for just a little while so I could gather my own wits. Her constant pacing and mumbling to herself was not helping my thought process. I wasn’t really worried about her meeting Zane, but I also didn’t want to deal with one more tension-fueled situation like introducing my sister to the man I was pretty sure I was developing strong feelings for.
I grabbed Felicity by the shoulders and made her look me in the eye. “Hey. Chill, okay? I called someone I think might be able to help and he’s on his way over. You said you were goin’ to buy refreshments to lay out for when they get here, so why don’t you go get all of that now. I’ll handle everything here.”
She was so anxious, she didn’t even think to ask who the man was. She just nodded quickly several times and grabbed her purse. “Okay. Yeah. I’ll do that. Call me if anything changes. I won’t be long.”
When Zane showed up, it felt like I had been rescued. He hadn’t even done anything and I wasn’t sure that he could even help. But just seeing him in that moment when my sanity was hanging on by a thread was, unknowingly, the exact thing I needed.
His presence alone was soothing.
And when he saw me after he walked through the doors, he came straight to me, taking my face in his hands and laying a deep, comforting kiss on my lips.
I was gone.
My knees turned weak and I swear it felt like this man was my Superman, like he was there to save me.
And for the first time in my life, I actually wanted a savior.
When he pulled his mouth away, he grinned down at me like he hadn’t just tilted my world on its axis. “Show me what we’ve got.” He kissed my nose and stepped back so he could follow me back to the conference room.
I don’t even know how I made it through that next hour. My body was a puddle of mush and my heart was pounding out of control. Standing there watching him work furiously on the laptop, squinting at the screen, his dexterous fingers flying over the keys, was the moment I knew.
I was falling for this man.
I had probably already fallen farther than I was willing to admit, but there it was.
There was no doubt that I had already become attached to Zane. I couldn’t stop thinking about him, I was always watching my phone for his calls or texts, and I didn’t feel like I was ever breathing unless he was next to me, holding me.
But this had developed into more than mere attachment. There were emotions in there. When he smiled, when he laughed, when he looked at me like he couldn’t get enough of me. But also when he was serious, when he was sad, when he got a distant look in his eyes that communicated much more than he ever said aloud.
I wanted all of that.
I wanted to be the only one he looked at that way. I wanted to have the right to hold him, comfort him when he needed it. I wanted to be the only person who could k
eep him together, the one he couldn’t live without.
Because that’s how I was feeling about him.
Today was the first time that I’d ever really asked for help from a man. When I’d desperately needed him to fix something. And he’d come willingly, without thought. Like there had been no other option. His behavior suggested that he would always come, like he would do anything for me.
That spoke of more than just attachment from his end, too.
And I was suddenly dying for him to say everything that I had once been afraid of hearing.
The question was, would he?
##
“I told you,” Zane said as we crossed the parking lot, “you didn’t have to do that.”
I waved him off as we left the diner and walked over to our cars. “And I told you that you saved our asses today and we’re both extremely grateful. Buyin’ you dinner was the least I could do.”
He definitely had saved our asses. It had taken him almost an hour but Zane had solved our software issues, and we had been able to continue with the presentation without further complications. He had explained whatever the problem was and how he would send one of his guys to permanently fix the issues, but I hadn’t listened to a word of it. I’d just stared at him with a goofy smile, in awe of his superhero-ness.
He turned to me and leaned against my car. “You didn’t have to do anything to re-pay me, though. I was just glad that I could help.”
I smiled and stepped between his legs, making him spread them further to accommodate me. I was quite conscious of how close our lower bodies were and I was pretty sure he did, too. Then, I felt movement beneath his suit pants.
Yep, he was definitely aware of our proximity.
Zane wrapped his arms around me and pulled me in until our mouths were only inches apart. “So, would you like to accompany me back to my place?”
I laughed and ran my hands down his chest. “How do you make such a formal question sound so dirty?”
“One of my many talents, luv,” he answered before crushing my lips under his in a heated kiss that made every muscle below my belly contract in need. Especially when his tongue licked across the seam of my lips.
Because I knew exactly how talented that tongue was.
“Yes,” I breathed against his mouth and dove back in for another possessive kiss.
That’s what it was, too. Every time he took my mouth, it felt like he was taking possession of my entire being. Like he was making a statement, letting anyone who came too close know that only he was allowed to touch me like that, claim me in such a way.
He began to kiss across my jawline and down my neck. His aftershave overwhelmed my senses and somehow added to my arousal. Probably because that scent was all over me whenever we had sex and remained on my body afterwards. So, now I attributed the smell of Zane’s aftershave to sex.
“Yes what?”
“Yes, I’ll accompany you back to your place.” I could feel his mouth form a smile against my skin. I wanted to smile but the sensations coursing through my body courtesy of his tongue were too distracting to expend the energy needed to smile.
“Mmm…maybe I’ll never let you leave it again,” his deep voice murmured against my collarbone.
I might have panicked at hearing that statement if Zane hadn’t grabbed my hand in the same instant and placed it over his hard shaft, guiding my movements as I began to stroke it through his pants.
“That’s what you do to me,” he said, panting harshly. “All of that’s for you, Bea.”
I hummed and smiled at his lust-fueled state. His head was thrown back, his eyes tightly shut, his hips starting to thrust into my hand. “Well, in that case. Let’s get out of here so I can play with it.”
He growled. “By play with it, I hope you mean take it into your mouth or between your thighs.”
I gave him one particularly long stroke, squeezing a little harder, drawing a hiss of pleasure from his lips. “Guess you’ll have to get me home and out of these clothes to find out.”
I refused to acknowledge the fact that I’d referred to his place as “home.” He didn’t seem too concerned about it in that moment either.
His eyes flew open, unbridled need and untamed passion blazing from them. “I’ll drive.”
Thankfully, Mike was out again when we got to his apartment, allowing us to strip off our clothing in record time. But when we finally stumbled into his bedroom and fell onto the bed, all bare skin and entangled limbs, everything felt different. Good different but somehow more intense.
The moment he entered me, it felt like everything suddenly shifted between us. We couldn’t take our eyes off each other as we moved together and brought ourselves to the peak of desire. All day I felt the changes occurring, but it was as if this physical connection cemented it.
I think it was the moment that we both knew there was no going back.
We knew that this was something more than just a casual hookup that we could easily walk away from in the end.
And after we had both achieved our releases, it was clear that neither one of us wanted to sever that connection. We wrapped each other up in his bed and held on tight, afraid that if we let go, we’d lose the other one forever.
As we were both drifting off, losing consciousness, Zane squeezed me to him and whispered in my ear, “Stay here with me.”
I don’t think either of us knew if he meant just for tonight or always.
Just like neither of us knew what I meant when I responded, “I’m not going anywhere.”
##
Chapter Nine
Zane
Zane: Paintballing this weekend? Turns out I’ve never been.
I sent the text to Bea and tried to shift my attention back to work as I waited for her response. It came less than a minute later. I imagined her sitting at her desk in her office, doing the same thing I was doing. Trying to focus on work. Trying to focus on anything except the person whose name I was staring at on the phone screen, but being unsuccessful.
Bea: First tip. It’s sort of boring with just two people.
I rolled my eyes and laughed.
Zane: No, wise ass. With the football guys. You up for it?
My phone dinged only seconds later, making me laugh even louder.
Bea: I’m there. And since there has to be a loser, I guess you should be there too.
It was almost October and the past month with her felt like I’d been living a different life, in another world. My life had been completely consumed by Bea and I had to admit that I now couldn’t imagine it any other way. We texted every day and when she couldn’t stay over at my place at night—though she’d been doing that fairly frequently—we talked on the phone regularly.
I still hadn’t officially met her sister, but that situation had recently become complicated so I understood why. Their friend Gwen had moved in with them because she had apparently broken up with her fiancé and needed a place to stay. Bea felt that it would just be awkward if I was around all the time with Gwen staying there and going through a major transition. Especially since Bea and Felicity had brought her to their home with a busted up face, as well as a concussion, all thanks to her bastard fiancé.
It was the first and only time I had ever seen Bea cry.
The day after they picked up Gwen and brought her home, Bea had showed up at my place in tears, seeking comfort in my arms. My heart broke as she let out soft sobs, asking if she was a bad friend, how she hadn’t known one of the closest people to her was being hurt like that. I didn’t know if what I said had made her feel any better, but she fell asleep in my arms as I stroked her hair, telling her that everything was going to be okay.
It had been a horrible night for her and although I’d never met Gwen and didn’t know her ex-fiancé, I was completely incensed that a man could do that to a woman, especially one he was supposed to love. It sounded terrible, but I was also grateful for that night. Because something awful had happened in Bea’s life and she had come to m
e, asking me to relieve the pain.
And if I had thought my possessive instincts toward her had been strong before that night, they had only quadrupled after I saw her tear-stained face and felt her hands grasping for me, asking me to take all of the bad away. I had laid there in bed, listening to her breathing as she slept, considering what I would do if it were Bea in Gwen’s position. If I had learned that someone had hurt Bea that way.
The answer had hit me with a powerful certainty.
I would end the son of a bitch.
I would bring unfathomable pain to anyone who ever dared touch her.
I think it was that, more than anything, that had shone a light on my true feelings for Bea. Knowing that I would do anything to protect her, that I could no longer live without her. It had happened before I’d even realized it and despite both of our efforts to keep any deep emotions out of it. It didn’t matter that we had only known each other a couple of months.
I was in love with her.
But I hadn’t told her yet because I had absolutely no idea how she would react.
I knew a relationship hadn’t been what she was looking for when she met me. Hell, it hadn’t been for me either. So, I was afraid that the mere mention of the “L” word might set off a destructive reaction in her comparable to that of a nuclear explosion. The last thing I wanted to do was wreck everything that we had built between us.
Besides, I wasn’t sure if she felt the same for me. And any self-preservation I had left in me prevented me from putting my heart on the chopping block before I was more certain of where Bea wanted this thing between us to go. If my feelings were unrequited, I wasn’t sure I was strong enough to put everything on the line, including my heart, just to have it all trampled on.
I didn’t know if I could handle her rejection.
I still had time, though. I wasn’t leaving until December, so I still had about two months to convince her that she couldn’t live without me either.
But if she did feel the same way and she told me that she wanted to be with me, I wasn’t sure how the whole me moving back to England thing would work. I wouldn’t deal well with a long-distance thing with her. I needed her near me, beside me.
Casual Affair (Timid Souls Book 2) Page 7
