The CEO's Accidental Bride

But that only meant he had to be tougher, even more determined to win. His feelings for her were a handicap, and he had to get past them.

“If it was you,” Zach told Dylan in complete honesty, “if someone was after you, I’d lie, cheat and steal to save you.”

Dylan hesitated. “That’s not fair.”

“How is it not fair?”

“You’d lie, cheat and steal at the drop of a hat.”

Zach couldn’t help but grin. It was a joke. Dylan had no basis for the accusation, and they both knew it.

Zach rounded the desk, knowing Dylan was on board. “That’s because I’m a pirate at heart.”

“And I am not.”

Zach clapped Dylan on the shoulder. “But I’m working on you.”

“That’s what scares me.”

“You may be a lot of things,” said Zach, “but scared isn’t one of them.”

Dylan shook his head in both disgust and capitulation. “Give me your damn car keys,” he grumbled. “And you owe me one.”

Zach extracted his spare key from his pocket and handed them to Dylan. “I’ll pay it back anytime you want. We’ll be at Boondocks in an hour. The valet parking is off Forty-fourth.”

Dylan glanced down at the silver key in his palm. “How did it come to this?”

“Lately, I ask myself that every morning.”

Dylan quirked a half smile. “Maybe if you’d get yourself back on the straight and narrow.”

“I am on the straight and narrow. Now get out there and steal for me.”

Dylan on side, Zach cleared his evening’s schedule and exited his office, making his way to the third floor. He had been making a point by putting Kaitlin in such a cramped space. It occurred to him that Dylan might be right. His moral compass could, in fact, be slipping.

He wasn’t particularly proud of this next plan. But he didn’t see any other way to get the information. And the situation was getting critical. Finding Kaitlin a new job wasn’t going as smoothly as he’d expected. There was the real possibility he’d have to implement her renovation plans, and he couldn’t afford to be blindsided by whatever extravagant and ungainly design she’d dreamed up.

He arrived at her office as she was locking the door at the end of the workday. She had both her laptop and a burgundy leather briefcase in her hands.

“You busy for dinner?” he asked without preamble.

She turned in surprise, her gaze darting up and down the hall, obviously worried about who might see them talking.

“Why?” Suspicion was clear in her tone.

“I’m attending a business event,” he offered levelly.

“On your yacht?”

He tried to interpret her expression. Were her words a rebuke or a joke? Was she nervous at the thought of being alone with him again? If so, could it be because she was still attracted to him?

They’d pledged to keep their hands off each other, but she could be wavering. He was definitely wavering. He’d been wavering as soon as the words were out of his mouth.

“At Boondocks,” he answered, shelving his physical desire for the moment. “I thought you might like to meet Ray Lambert.”

Her green eyes widened. Ah, now he had her attention.

Ray Lambert was president of the New York Architectural Association. Zach had done his homework on this. He’d planned an introduction so valuable, it would be impossible for Kaitlin to say no to dinner.

“You’re meeting Ray Lambert?” she asked cautiously.

“For dinner. Him and his wife.”

Now her tone was definitely wary as she tried to gauge his motives. “And you’re willing to take me along?”

Zach gave a careless shrug. “If you don’t want to—”

“No, I want to.” Her brow furrowed. “I’m just trying to figure out your angle.”

He couldn’t help but admire the way her brain was working through this. She was smart. But he was smarter. At least in this instance. With anybody but Ray Lambert, the plan would likely have failed.

“My angle is meeting your conditions for returning my company to me,” Zach told her. It was true. It wasn’t the whole truth, but it was part of the truth. “You want a career in this town, Ray’s a good guy to meet.”

She tilted her head to an unconsciously sexy angle. “No strings attached?”

His gaze automatically dropped to her luscious lips and his primal brain engaged. He didn’t intend to lower his voice to a sexy timbre, nor did he plan to ease his body forward, but it all happened anyway. “What kind of strings did you have in mind?”

“You promised,” she reminded him, looking trapped and worried.

“So did you.”

“I’m not doing anything.”

“I’m not doing anything, either,” he lied. He was thinking plenty, and his body was telegraphing his desire. “Your imagination’s filling in the blanks.”

“You’re looking at me,” she accused.

“You’re looking back,” he countered.

“Zach.”

“Katie.” It was a stupid move, and not at all in keeping with his grand plan for tonight, but he reached forward and brushed his knuckles up against hers. It was a subtle touch, but it had the impact of a lightning bolt.

It obviously hit her, too. And he couldn’t stop the surge of male satisfaction that overtook his body.

Her cheeks flushed, her irises deepened to emeralds. Her voice went sultry. “This isn’t a date.”

“Don’t trust yourself?” he dared.

“I don’t trust you.”

“Smart move,” he conceded, admiring her intelligence all over again as he pulled back from his brinkmanship.

He knew Harper Transportation had to be his primary concern. And he needed to get his hands on her drawings by fair means or foul. His company, his employees, his family legacy, all depended on it.

“Are you trying to make me say no?” she asked him.

“I honestly don’t know what I’m trying to do.” The confession was out of him before he could censor it.

Complicated didn’t begin to describe his feelings for Kaitlin. He desperately wanted to kiss her. He craved the feel of her body against his. Given half a chance, he knew he’d tear off her clothes and make love to her until neither of them could move.

And then the power balance would be completely in her favor, and Harper Transportation wouldn’t stand a chance.

He forced himself to back off farther, putting a buffer of space between them.

“Ray Lambert?” she confirmed, apparently willing to put up with Zach for the introduction.

He gave her a nod. Despite the detour into their inconvenient attraction to one another, his plan had worked. As he’d known it would. The intellectual evaluation of another person’s emotions was an astonishingly effective tool for manipulation. And, apparently, it was a gift he had.

Her expression relaxed ever so slightly, causing a stab of guilt in his gut.

“You know, you’re either nicer than I thought,” she told him, “or more devious than I can understand.”

“I’m much nicer than you think,” Zach lied.

“Can you pick me up at home?”

He knew if he let her go home, she’d ditch the briefcase. That wasn’t part of the plan. So, he made a show of glancing at his watch. “No time for that. We’ll have to leave from here.”

Her hesitation showed in the purse of her lips.

“I can pick you up at the bus stop again,” he offered, knowing that would eliminate one of her hesitations.

It was her turn to glance at her watch. “Five minutes?”

He agreed. Then he watched until she got on the elevator. He wasn’t going to risk her stowing the briefcase back in her office either.

At the opulent Boondocks restaurant, Kaitlin and Zach settled into a curved booth with Ray Lambert and his wife, Susan. The restaurant was on two levels, the upper overlooking the atrium that served as both an entrance and a lounge. Palm trees and exotic plants blooming from both floor and wall pots added to the fresh ambiance that included high ceilings, huge windows overlooking the park and natural wood and rattan screens to provide privacy between the tables.

Kaitlin had used the walk to the bus stop to call Lindsay and regain her equilibrium. Thank goodness some semblance of sanity had kept her from kissing Zach right there in the Harper building hallway.

She’d been inches, mere seconds, from throwing herself in his arms all over again and falling completely under his sensual spell. She was a fool, an undisciplined fool.

In desperation, she’d confessed to Lindsay and begged for a pep talk, needing to put some emotional armor around herself before the dinner started. As usual, Lindsay had shocked her back to reality, then used humor to put her on an even keel.

“Have we by any chance met in the past?” Ray asked Kaitlin as the two shook hands over a table set with silver, crystal and crisp white linen. Zach had slid partway around the booth seat and settled next to Susan, while Ray was directly across from Kaitlin.

“Once,” she answered Ray. “Three years ago, at the NYAA conference. I was one of probably six hundred people who came through the receiving line.”

He smiled at her. “That must have been it. I’m pretty good with faces.”

Lindsay just hoped he wasn’t remembering her ignominious firing from Hutton Quinn. Though, if he was, he didn’t give anything away.