Double Dare

"Baby please," Nathan pleaded with Suzanne. "Listen to me. I'll leave the job, even though Zac's been my best friend." His voice went low then wavered high. "He saved my life for god sakes!"

"I didn't know that," Suzanne murmured, glancing back at him.

Neither did I. Abby's curiosity was up and racing too, but this wasn't the time to hear the story.

Seeing that he'd caught her attention, Nathan reached out for Suzanne. "I'll do anything you want." He touched her shoulder.

Suzanne shrugged him off, but still cocked her head to listen.

"Please understand that I care about you, I didn't mean to do any harm. I was just supposed to find out if..." He glanced at Abby, as if he'd noticed her presence for the first time. "Abby." He turned to her, cleared his throat, attempted to smooth his hair down and stepped forward.

For one dreadful moment she thought he was going to ask her for Suzanne's hand in marriage.

"Abby, please forgive me, and Zac, he was confused by your motives and he..." He glanced at Suzanne as if he thought she was about to make a run for it and he'd have to chase after her again. "He just wanted to know...dammit, he wanted to know what the hell you were up to!" He looked at her, a man driven by his emotions, eyebrows raised, wild-eyed, hair standing up at cross purposes.

Abby sat back in her chair and put her face in her hands. It started small then got bigger, until her whole body shuddered with laughter, release hitting her hard. Tears ran from her eyes and she wiped them away, mindful of her mascara. When she finally got a grip, the pair of them were staring at her in concern, clearly not sure if she was laughing or crying.

"Right, I feel a whole heap better for that."

Nathan glanced at Suzanne, who shrugged.

Abby stood up. "Sorry about that, this is all a bit surreal. And I'm sorry you two have been caught up in it. Please, Suzanne, don't blame Nathan. Nathan, please don't leave your job. This confusion was mostly my fault for lying about my job. I'm not happy with how Zac has handled this, not at all, but I'll deal with him. Now, if you don't mind, I have a meeting to attend." She gathered the documents that she'd not yet looked over and staggered to the door.

"Oh Nathan, I can't believe you came after me," she heard Suzanne whisper as she passed the pair of them.

"Just as well I recognized the boardroom from the other night, I nearly ended up in there," came his reply, with laughter.

Abby didn't even want to think about what that meant. She shut the door behind her, leaving them to each other. The corridor was mercifully silent. She took several long slow and deep breaths. There was only one thing to do—there was only ever one thing for a woman like her to do—and that was to go ahead with the meeting as planned and face any unexpected problems as they came up, which she was sure they would.

"Be professional," she whispered to herself. Breathing evenly, she walked along the corridor. She wanted to show them that she could do this. She wanted to show the lot of them. No matter how many damn obstacles they cared to throw in her path.

When she reached the door she paused again, but she knew what she needed to do to get through it. This mattered. This was her telling moment.

I dare you, Abby. I double dare you.

Chapter Fifteen

Abby turned the door handle and entered the room, adopting as calm an expression as she could muster.

Everyone was present and already seated, except for Zac, who was standing by the window, looking down at the street with a frown. He turned her way as if he had sensed her enter, his attention immediately focused on her.

Outwardly, he assumed a relaxed pose, one hand in the pocket of his trousers, the other holding a copy of the agenda and accompanying documents that she had prepared for the meeting. His face, however, told a different story. He was watching her as if he could read her every thought. She had never seen him so focused, so razor sharp.

She became aware of a voice speaking. Tom was doing a lead in for her. Zac put his papers down on the table, walked over to her and pulled out her chair.

"Allow me, Ms. Douglas."

"Thank you." She gave him a wry smile, taking the seat.

Zac sat down opposite her. She tried to control her erratic breathing while Tom completed his standard introductory speech.

Zac listened, but his gaze sidled over to her. His hooded lids gave him the perfect cover for subtle spying. A smile crept up on her as the thought occurred, a smile which he caught and returned. His face was so familiar. She saw him smiling at her that way in Paris, and remembered the concern in his eyes when he'd asked her to trust him, minutes ago. A shard of hurtful pain lodged in her chest. Confusion hit her hard. Her heartbeat grew erratic.

But Tom was done.

She sat upright in her seat and went into autopilot. She could hear the tremor in her own voice. She cleared her throat and began again, focusing entirely on the paperwork in front of her, in order to avoid the unsettling man who watched her so closely. Her secret lover.

Concentrate.