“What do you mean by ‘especially after last night’?”
“You probably didn’t notice, but when Ron was walking over to us, he was pissed off. I could see it in his posture and his expression.” He shrugged. “Bodyguards need to be able to read body language. To assess when someone’s a threat and when they’re not.”
Zoe frowned. “And you thought he was a threat last night?”
Spence shook his head slowly. “Not a threat so much as a guy who was pissed off to see the woman he wanted out with another guy. He was angry when he saw us sitting so close together. Angry, I suspect, because first, he wanted to be the one to show you that band and that pub, and second, because he wanted to date you.” He shrugged. “Just a quick impression, but the way he acted just now confirmed what I thought last night.”
“Oh, God.” Zoe shoved her fingers through her hair. Her HR director getting his shorts in a knot because he wanted to date her was the last thing she needed.
“Really bad timing,” Spence said, reading her mind.
“Yeah. I do not have the energy to focus on Ron right now.”
“And you shouldn’t have to,” he said immediately. “You want me to tell him to knock it off? To start acting like a professional, do his job and leave you the hell alone?”
Zoe resisted rolling her eyes. “Oh, that’s a great idea. Pour some gasoline on the fire.”
Spence’s mouth curled into a smile. “Yeah. Didn’t think you’d go for that.”
Zoe bounced her pen on her desk. “Ron apparently thinks he’s got special status at Melbourne Solutions. That he deserves unique privileges because he was one of the first people I hired. That might become a problem,” she said. “And I’m going to have to think about how to solve it.”
“You’re probably right,” Spence said. “But now’s not the time to focus on Ron. You have bigger things to worry about.”
“You’re right. Help me focus on them.”
Spence’s gaze met hers. Neither of them looked away. She knew how she wanted to focus her attention. And it wasn’t on the problem of Ethan. She wanted Spence to take her mind off her problems in another way altogether.
Spence looked away first. “You know that’s off the table, Zoe,” he said, his voice a low rasp in his throat. “We both agreed.”
“Yeah, we did. Now I’m wondering what I was thinking.”
He swiveled his head back to stare at her, and his eyes were blazing. “You were thinking exactly the same thing I was. That it was a bad idea and would only distract us, distract me, from my main job, which is protecting you. So don’t go there, Zoe. I have only so much self-control.”
“You’re right, and I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.” What the hell was wrong with her? She knew what the stakes were. She knew what could happen if Spence didn’t focus on his job. Knew how dangerous their ‘games’ could be.
She also knew exactly what her problem was. She still wanted Spence. Craved him with an intensity, a hunger, that was terrifying. And completely foreign to her.
She didn’t want to examine that craving, that intensity. Didn’t want to face the truth about what she felt for Spence. It was too big. Too real. Too scary.
“Thank you,” he said, his shoulders stiff and his voice clipped. He shoved his papers into a rough pile and slid them into his briefcase. Folded his laptop closed and eased it into the case. “You ready to go home?”
“Yeah,” she said, collecting her own laptop and notes. “I can’t work in here after that scene with Ron.”
Finally Spence smiled. “Yeah. He really messed up the juju in your office.”
Zoe was finally able to take a deep breath. “That he did. Maybe I need to burn some sage.”
“’Burn some sage’? What the hell does that mean?” Spence frowned at her.
“Never mind. It’s a new-age, woo-woo thing.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t do new-age or woo-woo.”
Zoe’s shoulders finally relaxed. “I’d be very disappointed if you did. I could never…” She could never fall for someone who was into woo-woo. Instead of exposing her soft underbelly, she bit her lip and focused on straightening the things left on her desk.
“You’d be disappointed because…?” When she sneaked a look at him, he’d raised one eyebrow as he studied her.
“Nothing. Never mind.” She snatched her purse from the drawer where she stashed it and slung it over her shoulder. Drew a deep, shuddery breath and headed for the door. She needed to get back to her place. It was big enough that she and Spence could spread out. Have some breathing room. If she sat in one relatively small room with him, she would go out of her mind.