And then her father, lifting her up so high she could hardly breathe, swinging her around and then down, into his arms...
She’d felt so safe. So loved. So happy.
‘Zoe? Are you okay?’
She blinked and saw Maks sitting forward, frowning. ‘You’ve gone as white as a ghost.’
Zoe swallowed down the memory. It usually only came in dreams that turned into nightmares. ‘I’m fine. I just...’
What had they been talking about?
She forced a smile. ‘I don’t know where I’d like to live... I hadn’t really thought about it. I’m happy where I am.’
Maks was relieved to see some colour come back into Zoe’s cheeks. For a moment he’d been afraid she was about faint. She’d looked stricken.
A light knock came to the door. It was Hamish. ‘Dinner is served when you’re ready.’
Maks watched Zoe stand up, graceful. She walked out ahead of him, following Hamish, and he noted the unconsciously sensual way she moved. A cynical part of his brain kicked into gear. Was it really unconscious? Or was he so jaded that an act of wide-eyed innocence had him hooked like a gasping fish on a line?
Even if it was an act, he told himself, it didn’t negate the fact that he wanted her more with each passing moment. And he was confident that as soon as he’d had her she’d lose her allure and her air of mystery. He didn’t want to explore her mysteries. He just wanted to explore her.
CHAPTER FOUR
ZOE LEANED BACK and wiped her mouth with her napkin. She hadn’t eaten such a delicious meal in a long time. Maks’s personal chef, Angie, had served up a simple roast chicken and in-season vegetables, followed by the lightest, zingiest lemon tart Zoe had ever tasted.
Angie came back in to clear the plate and Zoe looked at her. ‘Seriously, that was sublime. I wish I could cook like that.’
Angie smiled and looked at Maks. ‘I like her—she doesn’t behave as if the staff are invisible.’
Maks sent a glower at Angie, who left the room smiling, totally unperturbed. Witnessing Maks’s easy and egalitarian interaction with his staff made Zoe feel off-centre. Once again, it wasn’t the way she would have expected someone like him to behave.
Maks stood up. ‘Come into the lounge for some coffee?’
Zoe stood up. ‘Sure.’
Dinner had passed easily. Too easily. They’d conversed about topics as diverse as Irish history, politics, and the latest Marvel movie. It turned out they were both Marvel movie buffs.
But there was still an uneasiness she couldn’t shake. She’d trusted a man before—someone she’d known since she was young. And he’d betrayed her heinously and almost violently.
She knew even less about Maks, and yet her instincts were telling her she could trust him. That he wouldn’t harm her. Physically. Dean had hurt her physically—or had tried to. But he hadn’t left any deep emotional wounds. Zoe sensed that Maks posed a wholly different threat.
‘What are you thinking about?’
Zoe turned around from where she’d been looking at the books on Maks’s shelves, with her coffee cup in her hand. He was sitting on the couch again, sipping from his own steaming cup, looking so gorgeous that he took her breath away.
She came over and sat down on a couch opposite, with a small table in between them. She noted how a gleam came into those silver eyes, as if he knew exactly how skittish he made her feel. How achy...how needy. But also how scared.
Maks kept his eyes on her and put down his cup. He stood up and came around the low table, sat down on the couch near he
r.
Zoe’s insides somersaulted. She desperately searched for something to say.
‘What Angie said...about people thinking the staff are invisible...who was she talking about?’
Great—now he’d think she was fishing for information on his girlfriends.
Maks said, ‘I host dinner parties here sometimes.’