Above and Beyond (Twist of Fate 4)

I laughed even though it made my head hurt even more. "Yes, you do," I agreed. "I'm sure my fathers will appreciate you staying under budget."

I made a move to get out of bed, but before I could shift my legs, Zach grabbed my arm and pressed me back against the headboard. His eyes glittered with anger. "For the last time, I'm here for a job. And that job is not you. If I hear you talk about your fathers or yourself like that again—”

"You'll what?" I snapped, my patience with the whole situation coming to an end.

I expected him to threaten me and steeled myself for it. But when the threat came, I was in no way prepared for it. Because Zach chose to lean in until he was practically in my face. I could see every one of the little flecks in his beautiful eyes. With the headboard at my back, I had absolutely no place to go. I wasn't sure that I would've gone anywhere, though, if given the option.

"Don't push this," he growled.

It was the absolute wrong thing to say to me. Zach had no clue that in the years since I’d left home, I'd become an adrenaline junkie. I thrived on danger and challenge, and Zach was both and more. I wanted desperately to know what would happen if I pushed him over the edge. Would it finally get a rise out of him? Not the kind that had happened by accident when he’d had a PTSD episode, but the kind where he let loose the tight hold he had on his self-control.

"Or what? You'll spank me?" I paused for effect and then said, "Careful, I might enjoy being bent over your knee."

If I hadn't been looking into Zach's eyes when I'd spoken, I would've missed it. The emotion was that fleeting. It was pure hunger and raw need. I hadn't been serious about the spanking comment, but just seeing Zach's reaction was like having a lightbulb go on in my head.

First off, there was no denying what that look meant. He did want me. Even if he liked me just fine, he couldn't deny what his body wanted.

Second, it meant Zach was into men. I'd thought that he'd sent me certain looks as I'd gotten older, but they'd always been so fleeting that I hadn't been sure. After the disastrous Christmas Eve where I'd laid my heart on the line for him, he'd made a comment about me not being his type, so I’d just assumed it had been his way of telling me he wasn't gay or bi.

Third, it was confirmation that I'd been approaching this thing with Zach all wrong. I'd been pursuing him relentlessly, but it hadn't ever occurred to me that maybe he'd want to do the pursuing. But I knew that wasn't quite enough. If I wanted a shot with Zach, I'd have to give him that little extra push. And if I did happen to get him past whatever line he’d drawn in the sand for himself, I had to accept that it would quite likely be another Davis Teasley kind of relationship.

Was I really willing to give up so much of myself again? Even if it would be for the one man I'd spent years pining over? Maybe that was exactly why I needed to do this. Maybe it was the only way to move on and find a nice guy who would treat me the way I needed to be treated, the way I deserved to be treated. If I got Zach out of my system, maybe I could finally let someone else in.

Warning bells went off in my head that I was playing with fire, but I didn't care. Even if all I managed to do was send Zach a message that I was no longer the kid he’d left behind, it would be well worth it. I'd already learned that there were more frogs out there than princes. The hopelessly lovesick teenager in me would always see Zach as a prince. Maybe if I did this, my heart would finally understand that he really was nothing more than a frog.

I swore I heard Zach growl beneath his breath, and I was admittedly disappointed when he pushed back from me. He still had his hand on my arm, but his grip had loosened. I knew I'd won this round, though I hadn't really wanted to. Oddly enough, now that I'd thought about being bent over the man's knee and having his big hand coming down on my bare ass, I couldn't not think about it.

It was time to poke the bear a bit. I battled back the unsteady feeling in my belly and took another sip of the water, making sure to run my wet tongue over my lips. It was all I could do not to do a victory dance when Zach's eyes dropped to my mouth. He slowly pulled his hand away from my arm and put as much distance between us as he could without actually getting off the bed.