Casual Affair

When she looked down at the screen, she understood why his jaw had noticeably clenched when he gave her the phone.

Billie: Ramon’s. Meet you there tomorrow at 7.

She cringed at how the message probably looked to Zane. Little did he know that Billie was one of her contacts who had managed to procure one of the items on her list for her secret project.

And little did Zane know that Billie was a woman.

The two women had been friends for years, so they’d decided to have dinner while Billie was in town. Not that Bea could tell Zane any of this. Was she even obligated to? She didn’t exactly know where their relationship stood.

Mentally shaking herself, she pushed that to the back of her mind and focused on the issue at hand.

She wasn’t sure how she made it through the next hour. But standing there watching him furiously work on the laptop, squinting at the screen, his dexterous fingers flying over the keys, that was the moment she knew.

She was falling for him.

Hard.

How far along she was in that descent, she couldn’t say. All she knew was that whatever she felt for Zane was real, and it was way more than just lust.

He’d said she didn’t trust others, didn’t ask for help. But when she needed it, she had gone to him for help. Because she trusted him, really trusted him. That wasn’t lost on her, and probably not on him, either. He had been there for her, willingly, without a second thought. As though there had been no other option for him.

She couldn’t help but wonder if he felt the same things she did. The urgent need to know began to eat at her, making her want to pull her hair out. She was desperate to hear what he was feeling about her.

To assure herself that she wasn’t the only crazy one in the room.

Chapter Seventeen

“I told you,” Zane said to Bea as they crossed the parking lot of the diner, “you didn’t have to do that.”

Not that he would ever complain about spending more time with her.

She waved him off as they walked over to his car. “And I told you that you saved our asses today, big time, and we’re both extremely grateful. Buying you dinner was the least I could do.”

It was a start. But he could think of more things she could do for him. More things he wanted her to do.

It had taken him almost an hour, but he’d been able to solve the issue with their software so they could give their presentation. He could have completed the task even faster had he not worried over the text message he’d briefly seen on her phone. He didn’t know who Billie was, but he sure as hell wanted to know why he was meeting Bea at a classy Italian restaurant tomorrow night.

Zane had eventually been able to convince himself that it was some type of business meeting. Probably with a client. He couldn’t fathom any other alternative, so he did his best to wipe the entire incident from his mind.

Because he didn’t want anything to tarnish his memory of that afternoon.

He loved that she had come to him for help; there was no denying that. But the best part had been afterward. When she had looked at him like he was her hero. She’d had this goofy smile on her face, making him feel ten feet tall.

He had been hard ever since that adoring smile, so hard he was sure his balls had turned black-and-blue.

He leaned against his car, loving how her eyes followed his movements. “Thanks, but not necessary. I’m just glad I could help.”

“But if I know you,” she said pointedly, though her lips curved up, “you’d use my debt to your own advantage at a time most convenient for you.” She poked him on the chest. “This way, I don’t feel like I owe you.”

He scratched his chin to hide his expression. “Fair point. But I don’t know if dinner qualifies us as being equal. That was a pretty challenging problem. It might take a bit more than a meal to completely cover your debt.”

“Someone’s being greedy.”

He spread his legs when she stepped between them, and pulled her into his embrace. His dick stirred against her thigh, appreciating the new position.

She noticed and her lips quirked. “Very greedy.”

He groaned at the way she pushed her hips into his, deliberately torturing him. “Look who’s talking.”

She giggled and rubbed her breasts against his chest. “So, what did you have in mind, then? To cover my debt?”