The Seduction

“No, why bother? With the tires, with me? Why the sudden interest?” I ask the question again.

“You really don’t know?” Zach asks, bringing me back to my original question. Why is he so interested in me?

I shake my head.

“From the minute I saw you, you affected me. In here.” He points to his chest. “Inside. You’re fucking gorgeous, for one thing, you have a smile for everyone no matter how tired you are when you work, and I wanted to get to know you better.”

“But you stayed away.”

“Because you deserve better than me,” he says, his tone deadly serious. “I’m not a nice guy.”

“You could have fooled me.”

“You bring out the best in me.” He grins, but I sense a glimmer of truth in his words.

Zach Anders is not what he seems. On the outside, he’s a big, hulking hot guy. When he wants to be nice and take care of me, he’s shown me in less than twenty-four hours, he can. And will. But I saw the dark side of him unleashed last night. There were other ways to have handled my attacker, but once Zach had gotten started, a switch had flipped, and there’d been no turning it off.

I glance at his hand for the first time. His knuckles are red, bruised, and raw. A reminder of the darkness I’d been pretending didn’t exist.

I glance at him and see he’s waiting for a reply. I don’t have one ready. “What do I owe you for the tires?” I ask instead.

Because if I know one thing, it’s that my car’s tires are expensive. I can’t cover them with what I earn in a week at The Tavern. Which means I’m back to asking Sean for a favor — this time, money. Clearly, keeping the car wasn’t such a bright idea. If I wanted independence, I was going to have to get rid of the luxuries my parents still provided.

“You don’t owe me a thing. I wanted to help and I did.”

I run my tongue along my lips. A mistake, I realize immediately, as Zach’s gaze zeroes in on the action.

“I’ll pay you back,” I say.

His eyes narrow. “You can try.”

I’m not in the mood for an argument. These last few minutes, added to last night’s events, drained me. I wipe my mouth with the napkin. “I think I’ll take that ride to my car.” I want to go home and catch a nap in my own bed, assuming the roommate from hell isn’t around. Then I’ll head to the library.

“Sure thing.” He signals for a check.

I try to pay, and he shuts me down flat. “What kind of guy lets a woman he invites to breakfast pay her own way?”

“Thank you.” Even as I speak, I wonder. Is he being nice because he genuinely likes me and wants to get to know me better? Or does he want something more? Clearly, he wants me. He wants sex. And when I look at him, so do I. He’s hot, he’s been great to me, and he’s hot. Yes, it’s worth mentioning twice.

But to men, sex is easy. To women, at least to me anyway, sex comes with a price tag. It affects my emotions. I have to have feelings for someone I sleep with, and asshole ex was my first. Clearly, he betrayed me in ways I still haven’t come to terms with. Because I’m looking at Zach and wondering if he, too, has an ulterior motive.

It doesn’t help that Sean’s words ring in my ears. Men don’t do surprise favors like that for women if they don’t want something in return. And as decent as he is to me, Sean Ferro isn’t always a nice guy to the outside world. He knows what he’s talking about.

Zach Anders is still an unknown. If he wants me, he’s going to have to work to get me. I won’t let a man fool me again.

Chapter Three

Zach

I’m a first-class bastard, and she’s too sweet, too nice to get involved with an SOB like me. To my credit, I almost changed my mind. More than once.

First I watched him. And I waited. I knew my time would come, and it did. The day he walked Chloe out to her shiny BMW and gave her a long hug before seeing her safely into her car, I knew I’d hit pay dirt.

Didn’t take me long to run her plates and discover her parents live next door to his mother. She obviously knew him for years. Some more digging and I know she’s got as messed up a family as he does. Nobody really has her back. That would work to my advantage. Then I discover the sex tape. Fucking perfect. She has a weakness I can exploit.

I know she won’t want another rich guy in her life, and luckily, despite my wealth, I don’t show it. So she has no idea I can compete with the likes of Sean Ferro any day.

I knew I’d have to seduce whoever my target would be, resigned myself to it, but I didn’t expect her. Didn’t expect to be so attracted to her I wanted her more with every breath. Long blonde hair and large blue eyes that take in everything all at once. Cute, upturned nose and a curvy, sexy body combined with an innocent lack of awareness of her effect on men. She’s the whole package.