Breathless, she stepped back—and bumped into Charles, who was following her out. His arm came round her waist to steady her.
Zac’s hand caught her arm. ‘Steady, cara.’ He smiled, drawing her to his side. ‘You might give the man the wrong impression.’ And, glancing at an astonished-looking Charles, he continued, ‘You must be Sally’s boss—Charles. Sally has told me so much about you. Nice to meet you.’ He held out his free hand.
Sally looked from one to the other in shocked disbelief as Charles automatically shook Zac’s hand, his glance taking in the possessive arm now draped around her shoulders before he looked at her with a puzzled expression on his face.
‘You are all right, Sally? You know this man?’
But before she could open her mouth Zac cut in.
‘Oh, yes—she knows me intimately. Don’t you, sweetheart?’
She blushed scarlet and wanted to kick him. Instead she turned to Charles. ‘Zac Delucca, a recent acquaintance of mine,’ she offered reluctantly.
‘You English are so reserved. Acquaintance, indeed.’ Zac, every inch the dominant male, gave her a blatantly sexy look before turning to Charles and adding, ‘In my country we would say lover.’
‘Here we would not be so blunt,’ Charles responded, holding Zac’s arrogant gaze. ‘And it is really no concern of mine except that Sally is a valued member of my team and a dear friend. You’d better take care of her.’ He glanced back at Sally and smiled. ‘I hope your mother is okay, and I’ll see you on Monday. Goodbye.’ And with a nod of his head to Zac, he left.
Sally watched him go, and then she saw the big black limousine parked on the road directly outside the exit. It simply added to the anger she was feeling. Furious, she shook Zac’s arm off her shoulders.
‘What on earth are you playing at? You promised no one would know about us, and you turn up here like I don’t know what.’
‘Like an animal staking out his territory?’ he offered helpfully, and laughed at her look of horror. ‘What do you expect, Sally?’ He took her elbow and urged her down the steps to the waiting limousine. The chauffeur held open the door and she got in. Zac slid in beside her and, grasping her chin, turned her head to face him.
‘I only agreed to your parents being kept in ignorance of our relationship,’ he said. ‘While I guard my privacy, I refuse to treat our relationship as a sordid secret. As for your boss—I know he wants you, and I am a possessive man. I keep what is mine. I was simply warning him off. The straightforward approach is usually the best, I find. You should take it as a compliment,’ he declared outrageously, and shot her a wicked teasing smile.
‘You are unbelievable,’ she murmured, shaking her head as the chauffeur manoeuvred the car through the rush-hour traffic.
‘So I have been told,’ he muttered, his attention distracted by the ringing of his phone.
She glanced at him, but he had taken the phone from his jacket pocket and his dark eyes were narrowed in concentration—but not on her.
‘If you don’t mind, I have a few calls to make—some business to settle.’ And, not waiting for her answer, he began talking in rapidfire Italian to whoever was on the other end.
Zac made her head spin. She didn’t understand a word he was saying, but his deep, melodious voice sounded even more seductive in his own language. Seated next to him, with the all-male scent of him teasing her nostrils, and her lips still tingling from his kiss, she was in danger of him taking her over completely. Possessive, he had said—which she supposed was a compliment in a way. At least he had not added for as long as it lasts.
The car stopped and she looked around. ‘We are in an underground car park!’ she exclaimed as the chauffeur opened the door and she stepped out.
‘Brilliant observation, cara,’ Zac remarked with a smile, suddenly appearing at her side and taking her hand in his. ‘I promised to show you my apartment, remember?’
Sally caught the salacious, knowing male grin on the chauffeur’s face as he stepped back. Zac might as well have said come up and see my etchings, she thought, totally embarrassed.
But fifteen minutes later, her embarrassment forgotten, she stood in the middle of a huge bedroom, one of three he had shown her in the penthouse, and stared in amazement at a double bed the size of small state.
A brown leather headboard ran along the top and curved a few feet around either side to incorporate what passed as bedside tables, she supposed. But they were nothing like anything she had ever seen before. A bewildering array of steel buttons and switches were inset into the leather, along with screens and flashing lights. It looked like the flight deck of a jumbo jet.
From what she had seen, the whole apartment was on a massive scale. The kitchen had looked like something out of space: high-tech and unfathomable to Sally’s stunned gaze. The living area was all steel, glass and black leather, and the dining room looked out over a long terrace with a fantastic view down the Thames to the Houses of Parliament and beyond.
Suddenly two hands curved around her waist from behind and pulled her back against a hard male body, and she couldn’t help drawing in a sharp breath.
‘So what do you think of the place?’ Zac asked, nuzzling her neck, his warm breath caressing her ear.
Pride said she should at least try to resist Zac, but he pulled her tighter and the rock-hard pressure of his erection against her bottom sent her pulse-rate into overdrive.
‘It is very modern—the ultimate bachelor pad,’ she managed to answer, and then Zac ran his tongue up the side of her neck and traced the whorls of her ear. It was impossible for Sally to hide the way her body was suddenly trembling and she gave up trying.
His hands stroked up to cup her breasts, his thumbs gently rubbing the tender tips through the soft cotton of the top she was wearing.
‘Do you like it?’ he asked, his lips warm against her throat, and she wasn’t sure if he meant the apartment or what he was doing to her.