“Yes, Zach. Yes. Make love to me.”
“Oh, yeah. I’m going to make love to you like no one ever has before.”
If only Dusty hadn’t chosen that moment to turn her head. She had wanted his lips on her ear, her neck. So she twisted to the right, her gaze landing on the night table.
The phone sitting there.
The message light was flashing.
The red pulse of it consumed her, took over her heartbeat, her breath, her mind. A buzzing sound, surrounded by white noise, echoed in her head to the beat of the flashing light.
* * *
What had he done wrong?
Zach stalked out to his pickup, bewildered. She had jumped off the bed and zipped up her jeans. Her beautiful breasts, reddened from his kisses and resting on her chest, had jiggled between the two sides of her unbuttoned shirt as she kicked him out. Unceremoniously. Thoroughly. No explanation.
Was it because he had said she’d be a sweet fuck? He had meant it in a loving way. He didn’t consider what he wanted to do with her to be merely fucking. She knew that, didn’t she?
She was so perfect. So beautiful. So tight and wet. He had never wanted anything, anyone, the way he wanted her. And not only because she was attractive. He liked her as a person. He liked that she loved animals. He liked that she was so dedicated to her ranch and to her brother. He liked that she could out eat a lot of men he knew, and that she wasn’t afraid to do it. He liked that she could do complicated calculations in her head. He liked that she was so determined to connect with Diablo. He liked that she was intelligent and brave.
He liked her. He really, really liked her.
He couldn’t remember ever liking a woman this much. It wasn’t…love was it? Nah, couldn’t be. Zach McCray didn’t fall in love.
But he wasn’t about to give up. Dusty O’Donovan would soon find out getting rid of Zach McCray wasn’t so easy. He would get her to open up to him. And he’d get her into bed. One way or another.
He stepped out of his cold shower to Mozart playing on his cell phone. “Yeah?”
“Zach.” The deep voice was so like his own.
Shit. Not Dallas. Not now. The only person he wanted to talk to less was Dallas’s stupid wife.
“What is it?”
“We need to talk.”
“I can’t imagine what about.”
“About your new girlfriend.”
“I’m pretty sure that falls under the heading of ‘none of your damn business,’ Dallas.”
“I’m concerned about you.”
“You stopped being concerned about me the day I started walking.”
“That’s not fair, Zach.”
Zach snorted. “Sure enough is. When you weren’t playing pseudo father, you were ignoring Chad and me. So why should I listen to you now?”
“Because I’m your brother, and I want what’s best for you.”
“And in your opinion that’s not Dusty?”
“Not by a long shot. She’s after your money, Zach.”
“That’s Chelsea talking, not you. Not that I ever gave a damn what she thought, but after her performance last night, I sure as hell ain’t interested in her opinion.”