The Sparkling One

Page 21

“You do beautiful work,” he said, his voice not giving away his feelings. But then she already knew what was on his mind.
“I’m not doing a good job of convincing you to see my side of things,” he told her.
“Not for lack of trying. You’ve threatened me, tried reason and seduction. What’s next? Money?”
He set the lace back in the box. “Katie, it was one kiss. If I’d been trying to seduce you, things wouldn’t have stopped there.”
She snapped the case shut. Talk about arrogant. “You’re assuming a lot.”
His dark eyes locked on hers. “I know.”
Heat boiled between them. Katie didn’t want to be the one to blink first, but she could feel herself slipping under his spell. Better to retreat and live to fight another day than give in with a pitiful “Take me, I’m yours.”
“So why can’t you consider the possibility of being wrong about David and Mia?” she asked in a feeble attempt to crank down the temperature in the room.
“Because I’m not. The only thing I feel more strongly about than keeping David from marrying Mia in July is keeping him from running off with her. He’s stubborn enough to do it. I’m still building my case. When I have it together, I’ll take it to him.”
“I know you love your son. But Mia is so sure about David, and she rarely makes a bad decision. Can’t you trust her?”
“No.”
Not a surprise. Maybe a nice change of subject was due. “I spoke with my mom this morning. Everyone in the family is really impressed with how you’re handling Brenna’s divorce.”
“Just doing my job,” he said with a shrug.
“They’re also furious with Jeff. I can’t believe he had the balls to come after the winery. I’m half expecting Grandma Tessa to put some ancient Italian curse on him.”
Zach chuckled. “Interesting plan. I prefer to take the legal approach, making him bleed every month as he writes Brenna a big, fat check.”
“Is this where I hum the Jaws theme?”
“If it makes you happy.”
She glanced at him. “So me thinking you’re a shark doesn’t bother you?”
“I am what I am. What I think isn’t going to change your opinion.”
“True, but my grandmothers adore you.”
“They’re fine women with excellent taste.”
“What about the cheek pinching?”
He winced. “That’s not my favorite trait.”
“I’m used to the family, but I would guess you find us all a little overwhelming.” She put the lace flower back in the box. “The last dress I worked on was Brenna’s. Well, Brenna’s and Francesca’s. They had a double wedding. Francesca’s husband died a few years later, which left Brenna as the only married sister. Grandpa Lorenzo was constantly on her to have children. And now she’s getting a divorce.” She sipped her coffee.
“There are worse things,” Zach pointed out.
“Not in our family. She’s feeling a lot of guilt about all this.”
“The divorce isn’t her fault. Jeff is the one who left. From what I can tell, Brenna was willing to tough it out, even if things weren’t perfect at home.”
That surprised her. “She admitted there was a problem?”
“No, but she didn’t have to. Happy marriages don’t end in divorce.”
“I suppose, but whatever the problem was, we never knew. Everyone liked Jeff, which made his leaving such a shock.” She sighed. “Poor Brenna. She’d dealing with her own pain and knowing that this is the first Marcelli divorce ever.”
“She’ll recover.”
“I guess people don’t have a choice. It must be really hard on the kids. Didn’t you mention that your parents were divorced? Or is that too personal to ask?”
Zach leaned back in his chair. “Katie, a few days ago I had my tongue in your mouth. It’s not too personal.”
She swallowed. She’d been doing so well, feeling normal around Zach, and with one sentence he’d made her aware of him again.
“My parents split up,” he said. “Like most couples, they were in trouble years before that. I guess I was ten when I figured out something was wrong. I saw my dad kissing a woman who wasn’t my mother. When I mentioned it to him, he said it was time I learned the facts of life and proceeded to tell me that every man who knew what was good for him kept a little something on the side.”
Katie felt her mouth drop open. She closed it quickly, but knew she looked as surprised as she felt. “He said that?”
Zach nodded. “He thought he was hip. I told him he was a bastard. He only laughed. By the time I was twelve, he started introducing me to his flavor of the month. He never kept them around long, but there was always one waiting in the wings.”
She shivered. “Did your mother know?”
“I never said anything. I was a kid and scared. She probably figured it out on her own.” He hesitated. “Not that it mattered. My dad came from money and she didn’t, so he had the power.”
She heard the bitterness in his voice.
Zach picked up his coffee, but didn’t drink. “He never worked a day in his life. Maybe that was the problem—too much time on his hands. I guess the cheating was the price my mother had to pay for the good life. But eventually the price got too high. They split when I was fourteen.”
“Who did you live with?”
“My mother. After my father left, his money disappeared, too. She went to work, first one job, then two. She wouldn’t touch the trust fund my father set up for me. She kept saying that was for my future. Ironically, despite his millions, my father never paid child support and my mother wouldn’t take him to court to make him. So we went from rich to poor in short order.”
“Why wouldn’t she want him to pay child support? That was for you.”
“I don’t know. Pride? Shame? She was a hell of a woman—always there for me. Once I had David, she was a rock. She died my first year of law school.” He paused, then glanced around the kitchen. “I wish she could have lived long enough to see all of this, and so I could have made her life easier.”
“I’m sorry,” Katie whispered, not sure what else to say. His childhood was light-years from her own. “Is your dad still alive?”
“No. He died a few years back. Turns out he left David a nice trust fund and the rest of the money to me.” He laughed, but the sound had no humor. “Isn’t that a bitch? Every stinking penny to me. But in the end I walked away from it. The old man put too many strings on his dollars, and I didn’t need them that badly. So they went to some charity and I’m finally free of him.”
Ever the man in charge, no hint of pain flickered in his eyes. She wondered if it was still there, or if he’d made peace with the past. Whatever doubts she may have had about Zach changing his mind about Mia and David getting married had just been squashed. No wonder he didn’t think relationships worked.
He shrugged. “Okay, that’s my sorry past. Let’s talk about something cheerful. How about your dating history?”
She smiled. “Why is that a cheerful subject?”
“You being happily married would put a real crimp in my plans to seduce you.”
Katie was glad she wasn’t drinking. Had she been, she might have spit. “Okay, then. Thanks for making that clear.”
“You’re welcome. So tell me about all the Mr. Wrongs and how much more interesting I am than them.”
“There’s that ego again. I should have brought more food.”
“You’re stalling.”
“I have nothing to say. My dating history is pretty much like everyone else’s. I’ve dated men who are afraid of commitment, or men who want to commit for the wrong reason. Even some who should have been committed.”
“That sounds interesting.”
“Less so than you might think.” She considered her dating past. “There were guys who could drive me crazy in three minutes and guys who just weren’t as interested in me as I was in them.” She leaned forward and rested her forearms on the table. “In all of that I never found the one who was…”
“Perfect?” he offered.
“I wasn’t looking for perfect. Just a couple of bells.”
He frowned. “What?”
“You know. Hearing bells or music or something. A cosmic sign that I’d found the right guy.”
“You’re way too romantic.”
“I want what most women want.”
“A free ride and a pool boy for sex?”
She shook her head. “That’s cynical even for you.”
“Okay. You’re right. Not all women are on the take.”
“On behalf of my gender, allow me to be flattered.”
She rose and crossed to the sink, where she rinsed her mug. When she turned, Zach was standing right behind her. His dark gaze settled on her face.
“I never thought that about you,” he told her. “I mean that, Katie. You’re a class act.”
“Thanks.”
He was standing close. Too close.
He reached up and touched her cheek. Instantly heat spiraled through her, making it difficult to remember her plan not to react to him again. Somehow the importance of it all escaped her.
“What are you thinking?” he asked, his voice low and seductive.
“I, um, I’m not really thinking anything.”
Which was true. She was using the moment to get lost in his blue eyes. They were the perfect color, she thought. She also liked the stubble darkening his jaw and the way he—
His mouth brushed against hers. All her senses went on instant alert. The sensible part of her knew this was a really big mistake. Kissing the last time could almost be considered an accident. But if they did it again, it might have significance…although she couldn’t say exactly what that significance would be. And before she could figure it out, his tongue brushed against her bottom lip and she no longer cared.
He felt too good, she thought, surrendering to the moment. Her arms came up and rested on his shoulders as she took a step forward. Their bodies pressed together. He was hard to her soft—thick muscles and angles, unyielding where they touched. She liked that. She liked the scent of him, too. That heady masculine combination of skin and some unique elixir that was the essence of Zach himself.
He cupped her face, then slid his fingers into her hair. When he nipped her bottom lip, she gasped slightly, parting for him, wanting him to move inside of her. Her heartbeat quickened in anticipation. Heat flared between her thighs, and her breasts swelled. Every erogenous zone she owned prepared to party.
Their tongues touched in introduction, then circled each other. She dropped her hands to his back, where she could feel his muscles tensing. Was it suddenly hot in here, or was it her? She felt as if parts of her were on fire.
Zach must have read her mind because he tugged on the lapels of her suit jacket. She moved her arms to her side so he could push the garment over her shoulders. It slid soundlessly to the floor.
Her turtleneck suddenly seemed to be an unreasonable constriction. What had she been thinking? Wouldn’t a silky camisole have been better? Something with thin fabric, lots of lace, and a style that exposed plenty of flesh. Or better yet a—
Her mind experienced thought gridlock when Zach put his hands on her waist and began moving them higher. As there weren’t a lot of choices in the destination department, she had a good idea where he was headed. She also knew what was going to happen when he got there.
If his hot kissing was anything to go by, he would touch her with a combination of gentleness and experience that would rob her of several important abilities. So if she was going to stop things, this would be the moment. Right now. Right this second.