Almost three weeks now. Five days since Jackson sent me that awful threat. My eyes narrow. A woman scorned indeed.
“I have a meeting for my proposal,” I say and make my way into the kitchen. I’m so nervous, all I can think about is eating something chocolatey to calm my nerves.
Lyndsey follows me into the kitchen. She hops onto the barstool overlooking the kitchen at our breakfast bar. “With Mr. Sexy Pants?”
I cringe. “Omigosh. Please, don’t call him that.”
“Fine.” She shrugs coyly. “I take it he didn’t arrange for you to work with his friend instead.”
“It doesn’t sound like it. He told me to meet him at his office, so....”
“So, is this the last night you’re officially a virgin?” Her eyes light up, and she clamps down on her lip playfully.
I’m not entirely sure how to respond to that. She can tell what my plans are just from the fact that I’m wearing a pencil skirt and some makeup?
“I’m just going for a meeting,” I explain.
“Then how come you aren’t wearing underwear?”
My head twists around to see her so fast it’s a wonder I don’t snap my neck. “How the hell do you know that?”
She giggles and throws up two innocent hands in the air. “Experience.”
“I’m not sure what’s going to happen. I just know I can’t keep waiting forever, letting him treat me like I don’t matter.” This either happens now, or it never does. If he isn’t willing to take the risk, then I won’t bother with waiting.
As for Jackson, even if he does have something to base his threats on, I have other plans in mind. If he wants to take the apprenticeship from me using his ruthless attacks, so be it. I won’t need this apprenticeship if all goes well.
And it’s all thanks to Zach.
* * *
“I thought you were getting Derek to replace you,” is the first thing I say when I walk into Zach’s office.
He doesn’t seem prepared for it and pauses mid-air before finally taking his seat. One shoulder lifts upward in an attempt to brush off my words. “Yes, well it turns out he’s busy. So you’re stuck with me for the remaining weeks.”
More like he’s stuck with me from his attitude. I know there is a wild, hot Vesuvius under all that armor of ice and steel. But he’s making it considerably difficult for a woman like me to force it out of him.
He thumbs through my proposal, this time a paper copy with notes I’ve marked with color tabs. It takes him a few minutes, and I let my eyes wander.
It’s been so long since I’ve been this close to him. My body responds immediately, recalling every inch his hands explored. When my gaze falls to his mouth, the whole core of my body clenches with desire. Every place his mouth ever tasted stirs with tiny fissures of electricity. I never cared about this before. I never wanted so badly to make love to anyone. But it’s Zach. And despite how cold he’s been these last few weeks, he’s the only one who makes me feel this way.
“I see Marianne helped you with ideas for funding,” he says, suddenly. “And you have a little more of an idea on how to recruit volunteers.”
I nod, so lost to my thoughts I forgot what he was even doing.
“So wait…” he stops.
He’s finally found it.
“Your proposal is meant to help the practice you want to work for over the course of the apprenticeship, while also addressing needs in social reform. And while granted, this would certainly bring in new clients to the facility and open up the practice to receive special grants, the numbers are outrageous.”
I raise one pointed eyebrow upward. My shoulders join me in my innocent, shrugging forward as if to say “so?” all on their own. “And what is wrong with that?”
“Who do you plan on pitching this to? The practice you’re applying to work with can’t accommodate these numbers. So, is this supposed to be broken up amongst several places? Or is this a projected number?”
“No. It’s a business proposal,” I explain. “For a private business.”
“A private business? So you don’t plan on pursuing the apprenticeship anymore?”