“And we’re about to begin Hollywood Wedding.”
“Wonderful.”
“And…” He stopped and looked at her. Her eyes were very bright, and fixed on his with rapt attention that he hoped meant her sarcasm was a lie. “And I find myself in difficulty.”
“There’s that word again. But what has it to do with me?”
Zach felt a muscle twitch in his jaw. She had to know where this was heading. Was she going to make him crawl?
“It has everything to do with you,” he said tightly. “I have a script, a crew, a cast——”
“But?”
“But,” he said grimly, “I don’t have a male lead. Or a location.”
So, that was why he’d asked for this meeting. Eve felt a twinge of disappointment, but that was silly. What more had she expected? As for the information he needed—why keep it from him? She’d be happy enough to see the mighty Zach Landon fail, but that would mean Hollywood Wedding would fail, too. And, no matter what happened, in her heart the film would always be hers.
“Dex Burton,” she said. “He’s right for the part.”
Zach’s expression darkened. “Of course. And the location?”
“In the mountains. There’s this cabin I know—I can get you a map of it, if you like. I spent a weekend there, a long time ago, and——”
A weekend. With who? With a man who’d feasted on that perfect mouth, who’d learned every inch of that beautiful body?
“…finished?”
Zach blinked. “What?”
“I said, are we finished?” She rose from the bench and smiled brightly. “If we are, thank you for breakfast, but I’ve got to get going. I’ve got appointments and interviews lined up all day, and——”
“Eve.” Zach stood up and came around the table toward her. “I want you to come back to Triad.”
For a second, her heart soared, but then reality set in.
“We already tried that. And it was a complete flop.”
“Because we let our relationship get off track, but it won’t happen again. There’s nothing personal in this offer, Eve,” he said, hoping to God it was the truth. “My only interest is in saving Triad, and I need your help to do it.”
“No.”
Zach’s mouth twisted under a cool smile. “Are you saying you can’t work with me in a purely business relationship?”
“I’m saying I’d rather not have any kind of relationship with you.”
“Because you can’t handle it?”
Was he right? No. The very thought was…
“Ridiculous,” she said sharply.
Zach’s eyes darkened. “Is it ridiculous?”
“Stop it,” she said through her teeth. “If you think I’m going to rise to some silly taunt——”
“What are you running from, Eve? Are you afraid you’ll fail at Triad?” That little, infuriating smile played over his lips again. “Or that you’ll end up in my bed?”
Color swept into her cheeks. “Believe me,” she said coldly, “there’s nothing to be afraid of!”
Zach grinned. “Was that a yes?”
Eve looked at his handsome, insolent face and lifted her chin.
“That’s what it was,” she snapped, and almost as soon as the foolish words were out of her mouth, she knew she’d end up regretting them.
CHAPTER SEVEN
IT BEGAN as an armed truce, with both sides civil but cautious.
Zach offered Eve a ride to work, but she declined.
“I’ll meet you at the office,” she said politely.
He nodded, they shook hands, and she turned away and walked to her apartment. Once inside, she leaned back against the door and told herself that the electric charge that had seemed to pass between their clasped hands had been an illusion.
What else could it have been? she thought, frowning.
She gave herself a brisk shake and headed for the bedroom to change her clothes.
* * *
Zach thought about the same thing as he drove to the office. Eve had put her hand in his, and something had flowed between them.
It had probably been static electricity, he thought, frowning as he pulled into the parking lot and got out of the Porsche. After all, static electricity could be generated just walking across a carpet.
But he and Eve had been standing in the middle of the sidewalk.
He gave himself a brisk shake as he unlocked the office door. It was just one of those scientific curiosities, then. Nothing worth thinking about. He had a lot to do this morning. It was still early—neither Emma nor Eve would be in for more than an hour.
Zach tossed his attache case on Emma’s desk, dumped his jacket on the back of her chair and rolled up his shirt sleeves. He walked quickly down the corridor to Eve’s office, opened the door and switched on the light. Frowning with concentration, he looked around the room.
It would work. Yes, it would work fine, he thought, as he began emptying the drawers from Eve’s desk. He paused. Maybe he should have checked with her first…
“Don’t be silly,” he muttered, and went on with what he was doing. “Who’s the boss here, anyway?”
* * *
His work had him so absorbed that he didn’t realize Eve had come into the room until he heard her startled gasp behind him. He straightened, glanced at his watch and turned around.
“You’re early,” he said. “I thought I’d have all this done before you got in.”
Eve was all business, both in demeanor and in looks. Her hair was pulled back, her suit was tailored, her perfume was light and about as sexy as a spring shower.
And yet, her presence seemed to warm the room.
“What is all this?” she said in a baffled voice.
Zach cleared his throat and glanced around him. He wasn’t finished yet, but he was getting close. He had shoved Eve’s desk to the window, her file cabinets to the far wall, next to the new pair he’d ordered. A new desk, complete with telephone and fax machine, faced Eve’s. All that was left was to make some sort of arrangement out of the love seat, coffee table and small bookcase in the near corner.
He smiled, started to dust his hands off on the seat of his pants, thought better of it and reached for a towel he’d liberated from the adjoining bathroom instead.
“Well? What do you think?”
Eve shook her head. “I don’t know what I think, Zach. What’s happened to my office?”
“Our office.” He tossed the towel onto the new desk and smiled at her. “A little cramped, but not bad, huh?”
“You mean…you mean, we’re going to share this room?”
“Well, I don’t see that we have much choice. The only alternative would have been to rent space elsewhere, and then we’d spend all our time either on the phone or the fax machine. Watch it, Eve, will you? There’s a deliveryman just behind you.”
She stepped aside quickly, just in time for a man wheeling a box-laden dolly to come through the door. “Computer,” she read silently, “monitor, printer…”
“You want I should set this up, mister?”
Eve swung around. Zach was scribbling his name on the delivery invoice.
“No, that’s fine.” He smiled as he handed the invoice over. “I can take care of it.”
“Terrific.” The deliveryman handed Zach one piece of paper, pocketed the other, tipped an imaginary hat to Eve and strolled from the room.
“I figured we can both use this computer,” Zach said as he began opening the first box. “I would have bought two, but considering that we’re cramped for space—to say nothing of money——”
“Zach.” Eve licked her lips. “We can’t both work in this one office.”
He straightened up, put his hands on his hips and fixed her with that inflexible stare she was coming to know so well.
“Why not?”
“Well, because—because…”
Because it would be impossible to get any work done, that was why not. How would she sit here all d
ay, every day, watching as the light gilded Zach’s hair with gold, the way it was doing now? What if he made a habit of working with his jacket off and his shirt sleeves rolled up, so that she’d only have to look up from her desk and see the way his shoulders moved beneath his shirt, or the hard musculature in his forearms?
Eve took a steadying breath. “Because it’s too cramped in here,” she said briskly. She turned away from him, walked to her desk and tossed her briefcase on the blotter. “Look, I’d already thought about this. I knew we’d need more office space.”
“And?”
“And it’s not a problem. There’s an old desk in the basement storeroom. I’ll have the porter bring it up.”
“I’ve already got a desk,” Zach said with a little smile. “And everything else I need. Turns out there’s an office equipment rental store just off Wilshire that’s open from six in the morning until——”
“Not for you, Zach. For me. There’s room in the reception area, if we just shift Emma a little toward the door. As soon as she gets here, I’ll——”
“Don’t be silly, Eve. I’ve no intention of displacing you. Besides, Triad’s producer shouldn’t be stuck out in the reception area.”