Temporary Boss...Forever Husband

by Stacy Connelly

  “Allison, it’s okay. You don’t have to apologize. It’s just—it’s not a sales pitch,” he repeated. “I’ve never told anyone that story, certainly not a client. I’m selling a product that I think is the best on the market. That’s why people should buy it, not because I’ve figured out a way to exploit my own past. I wouldn’t do that, wouldn’t cross the line between my personal life and professional life that way.”

  Zach’s eyebrows drew together, as if he couldn’t figure out why he’d crossed that same line to tell her the story. He dropped his gaze to the plate in front of him and dug in like there’d be no food tomorrow, and Allison did the same.

  But the question played through her thoughts for the rest of the evening.

  This was not a date. Zach repeated the reminder as he drove Allison back to her car. He would drop her off, make sure her car started, wave goodbye, and tell her he’d see her in the morning.

  At work.

  This was not a date, so he had no reason to think about walking Allison to her car or kissing her good-night…even if he had spent far too much time gazing across the table at her, drawn by the way the candlelight made the blond highlights in her hair shimmer, the hint of gold in her green eyes, and the solitary dimple that flashed when she smiled.

  She shifted, crossing her legs, and drawing his attention to the toned calves revealed by her knee-length skirt. Somehow, despite the fact that the passenger seat certainly hadn’t moved, she seemed closer. The subtle scent of her perfume teased his senses, and when he reached for the gearshift, Allison’s bare knee was mere inches away. He wouldn’t even have to stretch to run his hand along her thigh.

  Zach shifted into fourth gear with far more force than necessary, and the engine roared in response, giving voice to the sudden surge of testosterone in his body. He sensed Allison staring at him and muttered, “Sorry. Gears stuck.”

  He refused to glance her way as she offered a noncommittal sound that could have meant she bought the excuse or, just as easily, could have been her way of calling him a total liar. Mentally shaking his head at the unaccustomed display of nerves, Zach couldn’t figure out what was wrong with him. He was acting like a kid out on his first date. Which was ridiculous since he was no kid.

  And this wasn’t a date!

  Turning into the parking lot a few minutes later with a feeling of relief, Zach gazed at the Knox building. The backlit logo glowed against the glass and chrome wall, and if ever he had needed a sign to remind himself of his goals, it was now. Work came first. With the Collins presentation and the promotion on the horizon, a reminder shouldn’t have been necessary. That he needed one, well that—that was all Allison’s fault.

  He drove into the parking garage and pulled into the spot beside her car. Drop her off, say good-night, and see her at work the next morning. That was all he needed to do to get back on an even keel and off the seesaw of unacceptable emotions. Ignoring the voice that warned it might not be so easy, Zach shifted to face Allison. He kept one wrist draped over the steering wheel and the engine running, sure signs that he wouldn’t be getting out, wouldn’t be walking the ten steps to see her to her car. All he had to do was say—

  “Thanks again for your help with the furniture guy. I’ll see you tomorrow morning!” Allison’s bright and shiny farewell could have been stolen directly from the script he’d written in his mind, and she hopped out of the car before he could think twice about what had happened.

  Unfortunately, he cut the engine and jumped out to follow her before he had time to think about what the hell he was doing. “Allison.”

  “Yeah?” she glanced back over her shoulder as if surprised he hadn’t let her get away clean, and by now, his brain had caught up with his body and was reminding him this was a very bad idea.

  But Zach couldn’t help rounding the front of the car and walking over to her side. He reached down to open the car door she’d already unlocked by remote. The small key chain alarm reminded him of their earlier conversation, and he grasped hold of it like a lifeline, uncertain what else he might have said, might have done…

  “Don’t think I’ve forgotten about the security system.”

  “I know you haven’t, and I’ve been seriously considering it. Not for myself—” she held up a hand in protest “—but for my sister. I don’t like that she’s all alone.”

  “You mean Bethany?”

  “She’s the only sister I have.”

  “But she’s—” Zach cut himself off, realizing he was encroaching on some highly personal territory.

  “She’s what?”

  “Pregnant,” he blurted out.

  “Yes, she is,” Allison said with a sigh. “Her husband moved out a few months ago.”

  He hadn’t asked, Zach consoled himself. Allison offered up the information. He wasn’t breaking his rules, crossing any boundaries.

  But as he’d already suspected, Allison wasn’t a woman to put much stock in rules or boundaries, and the information kept spilling out. “They always seemed so happy, you know, the perfect couple.”

  A wistful note whispered alongside her words, a longing for what her sister had once had—a happy marriage, one-half of a perfect couple—and Zach’s gut clenched.

  “It was such a shock when they separated, especially since it was right after Bethany got pregnant. And she’s been so closemouthed about the whole thing. She won’t even tell me what happened.”

  Allison swung her hands out from her side, an empty, frustrated gesture. He would have thought the sisters the type to share everything, so no wonder Bethany’s silence bothered Allison.

  She’s lonely, he realized suddenly. For all her ties to her family, Allison was lonely. If only she’d apply herself to her career, she could—

  Work sixty hours a week, spend as little time at home as possible so she wouldn’t notice how empty it is, how quiet…the way you do?

  The thought hit out of nowhere, a blow he hadn’t seen coming, and he couldn’t find the momentum to fight it off. He didn’t know what stunned him more, the idea that he was lonely or that he and Allison had something in common.

  “I’m sure things will work out.” The meaningless platitude was the best he could offer, but even in the parking lot’s dim light, he saw the disappointment in Allison’s eyes, as if she’d been hoping for something more.

  She would soon figure out when it came to personal insight, he was not the man for the job.

  “Right,” she said with a forced smile. “Hopefully, Bethany and Gage will get back together before the baby’s born.”

  Zach’s hand tightened on the edge of the door. “Yeah, well, it might be best if he doesn’t come back.”

  A frown wrinkling her forehead, Allison stared up at him. “How can you say that?”

  “Look, if the guy’s not committed to his family, they’re better off without him. Otherwise, that kid’s gonna grow up hearing nothing but how he’s a burden, an anchor holding his dad back from the success he could have had. No way is that kind of a childhood best for the kid.”

  Allison studied him closely. “Is that what happened to you, Zach? Is that how your dad made you feel?”

  Realizing the load of emotional garbage he’d dumped at her feet, he took a step back as if a few inches of space might shield him from the awareness—the pity—in her green gaze. Inches wouldn’t do. Light-years wouldn’t be enough, Zach thought. He didn’t know why he kept telling her secrets he never shared; why he kept crossing lines he never crossed…

  “Zach, wait!” Allison’s heels struck the concrete seconds before her hand closed around his arm.

  At the touch of her hand, Zach felt his control snap. Like some tiny thread was all that held him in check instead of a lifetime of lessons and rules. But once it was gone, it was gone and there was no holding back.

  Standing in the soft glow from the security lights, her hair gleaming like gold, her eyes wide with concern, Zach didn’t know what was worse, the compassion he read in her expression
or the sudden desire he knew was written in his.

  All he knew was that if he was going to break the rules, they might as well be ones worth breaking. Sliding his hand beneath her hair, he caught the nape of her neck and pulled her into a kiss.

  Allison had known she’d pushed Zach too far, forced him to reveal something so personal about his childhood. Those brief sentences about his father had given away more than he wanted her to know, his own admissions catching him off guard and knocking him out of balance. She’d expected him to give her the silent treatment, remind her that nothing mattered but work, or possibly even ask for a replacement to help with the Collins proposal.

  She never expected the kiss. As startled as she was, there was still a moment when Zach’s gaze met hers. A split second when she could have turned aside or pulled away. And he would have let her go. Allison knew it as fact, as undeniable as the inky darkness of his hair or the startling blue of his eyes. But she didn’t turn aside or pull away. And as his mouth claimed hers, she didn’t care that the kiss was about Zach regaining control of the situation and taking back whatever ground he thought he’d lost in letting her see that heartbreaking glimpse into his childhood.

  Because when he kissed her, there was nothing controlled about it and there was nothing he could take that Allison wouldn’t freely give…

  She clung to his shoulders as she lost herself in his kiss. Each pass of his lips over hers stoked an answering desire inside Allison. She parted her lips, welcoming his tongue, the intimate contact fueling the flames as she caught a hint of the chocolate mints they’d shared before leaving the restaurant. The combination had always been one of her favorites, but now, with the added taste of Zach’s kiss, Allison knew she’d never enjoy them the same way again. Because she’d likely never enjoy them this way again.

  Her conscience tried to butt in and remind her where they were, who they were, but Allison blocked the voice out, teasing Zach’s tongue with her own until his husky groan was all she heard. His hands slid from her shoulders and down her back, his fingers pressing into her hips and pulling her closer. Her breasts met his chest and the strength of his thigh pressed between hers, but the contact was nowhere near enough. Too many clothes, too many barriers. But her body didn’t care; her heart pounded wildly and threatened to jump from her chest, desperate to join with his.

  When he lifted his head, she fought back a disappointed moan and reluctantly opened her eyes. At first, Zach’s face filled her vision, her senses, her world. She blinked. Once. Twice. Each time, her focus widened, and she gradually became aware of her surroundings.

  The Knox parking garage—again.

  One of these days, we’ve got to get a room.

  Zach jerked back so abruptly, for a moment Allison feared she’d said the words out loud. She was pretty sure she hadn’t voiced the thought; just as well since she could already see it wasn’t one Zach shared. At least not once he stopped feeling and started thinking.

  “Allison—”

  “Don’t,” she said, interrupting whatever “business first” speech he planned to give. Her breathing was still ragged, her pulse still pounded, and even filled with regret, the deep murmur of his voice almost sent her back into his arms. But already the shields were coming down, the walls going up, as the businessman persona hid the real man she was only starting to get to know. And that loss left Allison feeling so much more bereft than his physical withdrawal had.

  She crossed her arms over her stomach as if that futile action might keep the emptiness at bay. “I already know everything you’re going to say.”

  Zach stared at her before running a frustrated hand through his hair and muttering, “I’m glad one of us does.”

  The knowledge that the kiss affected him as much as it had her didn’t help Allison’s skin to cool any, but she pushed forward anyway. “We work together, and you don’t mix business and pleasure. Even if you did, business always comes first. You have too much at stake with the Collins proposal to take your eye off the ball for even a second, so you certainly don’t have time to start something with me.”

  The words were Zach’s, but the fire behind them definitely belonged to Allison, even though she’d tried her best to smother it and deliver the words with the same cool indifference he’d once used. Tried…and failed miserably.

  “You’re right,” he said, agreeing to her disappointment with everything she said, but then he stepped closer, close enough for her to see the still-burning desire his distance and her words hadn’t extinguished, “and yet you couldn’t be more wrong.”

  Chapter Seven

  The next morning brought a perfect spring day with clear blue skies overhead. Not a single cloud marred the Collins Jewelers groundbreaking. The slightly muddy patch of dirt didn’t look like much now, but poster boards showed drawings of what the impressive slate and glass fronted building would look like.

  “Thank you all for coming today,” James Collins said as he posed for cameras in a gray designer suit with an official shovel and hard hat that were only for show. “This is an exciting moment and a new chapter for Collins Jewelers.”

  Leaning close, Zach murmured, “Looks like Knox is the only security company here.”

  The warmth of his breath chased goose bumps across Allison’s skin. The words were strictly business, like everything else they’d talked about since last night’s kiss, but her body didn’t care. They might have stopped short of intimate touches and arousing caresses, but like a movie scene on pause, she felt caught in that moment, in the promise of more, more, more… All it would take was a single touch, and she’d be right back in the fevered pitch where Zach had left her twice now. How many times did the red-hot promise of a look, a touch, a kiss have to turn into ice-cold business before she stopped allowing Zach to push her buttons?

  It wasn’t fair, she thought, stealing glances at him from the corner of her eye. The morning sun gleamed in his dark hair. A cool breeze molded his white dress shirt to his chest and abs while flipping his tie this way and that like a woman’s playful fingers. He had his hands in his pockets, pulling the black trousers tight against his thighs.

  If he wasn’t so gorgeous—but that wasn’t the problem. At least, not entirely. She’d worked around enough good-looking men since coming home to know more than simple proximity to a hot guy was at work here.

  Work. Here. Trying to focus on Zach’s words instead of the havoc he’d created inside her, Allison murmured, “That’s a good sign.”

  The morning had gone off without a hitch, but she was still suspicious of Riana Collins’s invitation. The other woman wanted Allison at this ceremony, and she doubted she’d appreciate the reasons why. So far, Riana was simply enjoying the spotlight at her father’s side, but Allison doubted the gold cuff and diamond watch were all she had up her black cashmere sleeves.

  As James took a moment to acknowledge the longtime employees he’d brought from other stores to head up this new venture, Zach reached into his pocket for his phone. He glanced at the screen before looking over at James who was still surrounded by media and his own employees. Still, Allison was a little surprised when he didn’t tuck the phone away and let the call go to voice mail.

  She was even more surprised when she heard the warmth in his voice. “Hey, Sylvie. How are you?” He barely got out the greeting before a burst of sound came from the other end of the line. Allison couldn’t hear the words, but she picked up on the urgency in the tone and read the worried frown on Zach’s handsome face.

  “I’ll take care of it. Don’t worry.” His reassurances must have worked—and why not? The low murmur of his voice could have talked Allison’s weakening resistance into almost anything. He listened for another moment before laughing. “I’m going to hold you to that, Syl.”

  After saying goodbye, Zach immediately began dialing. He spoke with customer service, making it clear he expected a tech to show up at Sylvie’s within the hour. Pocketing the phone, he said, “Sorry about that.”

&
nbsp; “Important client?” Allison asked casually even as she imagined another woman like Riana—bold, beautiful and connected—who had him on speed dial.

  Zach shot her an amused look, telling Allison her question might have been a little too obvious. “Sylvie is an eighty-year-old grandmother who lives in Sun City. She was one of my first sales at Knox, way before I moved into corporate sales. Her family wanted her to have the alarm for their own peace of mind, but the technology is a little beyond her. She’s had some electrical work done and turning off the power has reset the system to the default setting. She needs help getting her own preferences reprogrammed.”

  “So she called you?”

  Six years after he made the sale.

  “It’s no big deal,” he insisted gruffly, but it was a big deal to Allison.

  Who would have thought he’d still take an interest in a client so many years later? Or that he’d be so endearingly embarrassed by it? He’d done the same thing last night, hiding his efforts to help rather than broadcasting them the way most guys would. “I’m sure Sylvie’s family thinks it is.”

  “First rule in business. Keep the client happy.”

  And that was easy. Cut-and-dried. Black and white. But keeping people happy, making his father proud—that had been impossible.

  “Oh, Zach.” Allison heard the tenderness and warmth in the soft murmur of his name, but she couldn’t help it. Sunlight was seeping through the cracks in her defenses, softening her heart like chocolate left on the windowsill.

  “Okay, stop.” He pinned her with a look that should have instantly turned her heart back into a rock-solid, frostbitten lump but didn’t. Behind the abrupt command, Allison could see Zach building his own defenses back up as quickly as hers were coming down. “Don’t make me out to be something I’m not.”

  “I’m not. I won’t,” she promised, but only because she didn’t have to. She wanted Zach exactly as he was—flaws and all—even though she knew how dangerous that wanting could be. How open and vulnerable it would leave her…