Читать книгу Temporary Boss...Forever Husband - Stacy Connelly, Stacy Connelly - Страница 10

It’s only one night.

Zach repeated the mantra as he handed the valet the keys to his car. The refrain had been playing through his mind from the moment Daryl insisted Zach take Allison along to the gala at the upscale Scottsdale hotel. Lights glowed from inside and out, illuminating the lobby and the well-dressed men and women making their way through the frosted glass doors.

Just one night. He took a deep breath as he circled to the passenger side of the car and steadfastly ignored his conscience’s biting reminder that he’d used that same justification the night before—a decision that could potentially make tonight and the next few weeks feel like tap dancing through a minefield.

Juggling a fake girlfriend and temporary assistant all wrapped up in one smart, sassy package would be difficult at any time. But to manage it when his total attention should be focused on winning the Collins account and making his case for the upcoming promotion …

He could do it. He had to. Zach refused to let this opportunity slip by. He wasn’t going to spend his life looking back at his failures. He’d learned all he needed to know about could-have-beens from his father.

Nathan Wilder had been a dreamer. But instead of dreaming about a glorious future, his dreams had remained locked in the past. He was the high school golden boy who’d never eclipsed his popularity as the starting quarterback, a grown man whose crowning achievement in life was being named homecoming king his senior year.

Could have ridden that university football scholarship straight to the pros …

Could have made a fortune in endorsements.

And even as a young boy, Zach had understood why those could-have-beens never turned into more than that.

Could have had it all … but then your mother got pregnant with you …

Zach was the reason behind his father’s life of failure. He had known that ugly truth since he was a kid, but he still got a sick feeling in his stomach whenever he thought about it. He’d seen old videotapes of the championship game where his father quarterbacked his team to victory. Nathan Wilder often watched the old games after he’d been drinking. Zach had come to despise football, but he’d seen those taped games as a kid. His father had been a great quarterback.

There was no telling what his father might have accomplished if he hadn’t been burdened with a child he didn’t want and a wife he’d felt obligated to marry.

It was a mistake Zach wouldn’t repeat.

He was going to have his success, and no one, no one would be to blame because he would not fail.

All he had to do was keep his focus on his goal, to keep reaching for what he really wanted—

The passenger door opened, and Zach caught another glimpse of the long legs and smooth skin that had tempted him from the moment Allison opened her front door. Desire hit like a blow beneath the belt, sucking the air from his lungs and sending his blood rushing from his head. He should have been prepared, but he already had the uneasy feeling Allison was one woman who would always catch him off guard.

Her green eyes glowed, the dimple in her cheek on full display, as she held out her hand. “Have I mentioned how much I’m looking forward to this?”

“Several times,” he said dryly even as he steeled himself for the warm, silken feel of her skin against his own as he led the way inside the hotel.

Anyone who thought revenge was best served cold never met a dish like Allison, Zach decided. There was nothing cold about the woman at his side. Her halter-style dress hugged the curves of her breasts and narrow waist before flaring over her hips and cascading in tiers to below her knees. Zach didn’t know enough about women’s fashions to name what the dress was made of, but the material had an iridescent sheen and captured all the warmth of a desert sunset. In one moment, the dress was gold, then orange and pink and red…. And even though it had to be nothing more than a trick of the lobby’s crystal chandeliers, he couldn’t help thinking the shifting, undulating glow came not from the overhead light, but from a fire burning inside the woman herself.

The charity event had brought out the best and the brightest of Scottsdale society, but as they walked into the ballroom, Allison put them all to shame. A flickering flame amid a room full of moths. And even though he knew he was only going to end up burned, the beat of the blood in his veins urged him closer.

“Are we fighting?”

As Allison leaned close, he caught the strawberry scent of her shampoo along with a hint of a sexier perfume, the sweet and spicy combination a perfect blend for the woman herself. With her scent filling his head, it took a moment for the words to gel. “Fighting?”

“I figure we need some kind of cover story for the scowl on your face.”

She smiled at a group of men near the bar as they passed by, and Zach figured his “scowl” just got even darker when he saw the subtle nudges and nods in her direction, the immediate straightening of spines and lift to their shoulders, putting masculine interest on display. Allison didn’t seem to notice how their gazes roamed over her golden skin and slender curves, but Zach turned her toward him, making sure his body blocked their line of sight.

The protective instinct was more familiar than the sting of jealousy, but in the past, Zach had always justified those feelings as an occupational hazard. He sold high-tech security systems, that was his job, but he liked the idea of keeping people safe. With Allison, though, he was going to be the one who needed extra security to keep her from slipping past his defenses with her spirit and sass and an ability to roll with the punches that had already saved him from Riana Collins once.

“We’re not fighting.”

She gave him a patronizing pat on her arm. “It’s all right. We can always kiss and make up later.”

“We’re not fighting,” he stressed as he leaned closer to make his point. And there would be no kissing. Until the Collins deal was sealed, they had to maintain the pretense of dating for Riana’s benefit. But that charade didn’t extend beyond the ballroom, so Zach had no reason to think of the ride home to Allison’s condo, of the walk to her door, of a good-night kiss, or—heaven help him—an invitation inside.

And yet he could see those moments reflected in the darkening of her green eyes, hear the whispered invitation in the sudden catch in her breath, feel the sexual attraction pulsing between them …

But then someone bumped into Zach from behind with a muttered apology, and the moment was broken.