by J. S. Scott
When they’d arrived in the beautiful ballroom, she had to admit that she’d been intimidated by the blatant wealth all around her, but she’d had Zane there to remind her all of them might be rich, but they were still human, just like anyone else. It had made her relax a little, but everything around her was so perfect and such a stark contrast to her old life that she couldn’t help but feel nervous.
Trying to make herself taller by standing on her tiptoes, she scanned the elegant, crowded ballroom for her handsome date. It was pretty difficult to recognize him easily since every man was here in a tuxedo, including Zane.
God, he’d been breathtaking when he’d wandered into the kitchen earlier in the day, perfectly groomed and impeccably put together in his black tux. His face was freshly shaven, his hair still damp from the shower, but he’d looked delicious. Ellie had wondered for a moment if she needed to wipe the drool from her mouth.
She had just finished chugging down her second glass of champagne when she spotted Zane. He was talking to some curvaceous redhead, and he looked uncomfortable. Not that anyone else would notice, but Ellie could see the subtle signs.
Wriggling her way through the crowd, she made her way across the room, hesitating because she didn’t want to interrupt him. But when she saw the redheaded female put her finger on Zane’s face, tracing the line of his rugged jaw, Ellie saw red, and she was certain he wasn’t discussing business.
He’s my date, dammit. I feel like Cinderella, and I’m not missing my time at the ball.
Dodging all of the handsomely dressed couples as she steadily made her way to Zane, it wasn’t difficult to discern that he wasn’t responding at all to the pushy redhead’s advances.
Ellie smiled as he grasped the woman’s wrist and pulled it from his jaw, his expression stoic as he spoke to her.
Stopping abruptly as she neared the couple, Ellie was momentarily surprised to see that the woman was young, and drop-dead gorgeous.
And Zane was obviously completely and totally…uninterested.
Striding forward, she took her place next to Zane and put her arm on his muscular bicep. “I’m so sorry,” she told him with a bright smile that she hoped didn’t look as fake as it felt. “The restrooms were busy.”
She’d felt him tense beneath her fingers for a brief moment before he realized who was touching him, and then he relaxed as he finally turned his head to look at her. “You’re worth the wait,” Zane answered smoothly, wrapping a strong arm around her waist.
“Who is this?” the woman who had been fondling Zane asked haughtily.
“My date,” Zane answered simply, not even bothering to introduce the two of them.
Ellie spoke up and extended her hand to the gorgeous woman in front of her, refusing to let the female know that she was intimidated. But honestly, she was a little daunted by the flame-haired beauty. “I’m Ellie Winters,” she introduced herself simply.
Ignoring Ellie’s outstretched hand, the woman glared up at Zane. “You didn’t tell me you had a girlfriend,” she hissed.
He shrugged and reached for Ellie’s outstretched hand and entwined her fingers with his and brought them to his side. “Why would I?” he answered dismissively.
Ellie suddenly saw the woman’s expression change from seductive to pouty anger. “I’ve been trying to get your attention for almost a year, and you pick somebody like her over me?”
The muscle in Zane’s jaw began to twitch, a subtle sign that he was pissed. Ellie had become a master at reading Zane’s body language over the last few months since he didn’t always express what was on his mind. He might get irritated, but he never lost complete control.
He took a deep breath before he spoke. “I had hoped you’d get the message that I wasn’t interested, Elena. Or maybe it’s the fact that you’re fucking your boss and he appears to care about you that turned me off. Frankly, though, the reasons are irrelevant. You just don’t do it for me.”
Ellie couldn’t help it. She gaped at Zane for an instant before she schooled her expression back to normal. Zane’s comment had been spoken in a glacial tone she’d never heard before. As usual, he was blunt, never bothering to explain more than he felt he needed to, but she’d never heard him quite so cold.
Elena? A beautiful name and gorgeous woman who obviously had the heart of a reptile.
The tension in the air was electric as Elena slowly assessed Ellie carefully, and obviously found her lacking. “Do you really think you can compete with me?” Elena huffed.
Ellie forced herself to give the woman a brief, dismissive glance before answering, “There’s no competition necessary,” she said in a falsely pleasant tone. “I already won.” She put a gentle hand on Zane’s jaw, and then planted a gentle kiss to the side of his mouth.
Caught off-guard when Zane turned the soft embrace into a possessive kiss, Ellie quickly gripped his shoulders to keep from stumbling in her heels.
Right there, in the middle of a fancy fundraising ball, Zane Colter claimed her, his kiss long and lingering, leaving no doubt that Ellie was exactly what he wanted.
For a moment, her eyes fluttered closed and she let herself drown in the sensual feel of his lips sliding over hers with a pulse of possessive, sultry energy she’d never experienced before.
It wasn’t long, and it wasn’t entirely sexual, even though it was meant to arouse.
The embrace was more like a covetous demand, and Ellie’s heart was skittering, even as he slowly released her mouth.
His gaze clashed with hers, his gray eyes tumultuous and greedy. Her body responded, a deep-seated need for Zane to touch her so acute that she could barely suck in a deep breath.
Finally, Ellie pulled her gaze away, no longer able to see what she knew was reflected in her own hungry stare. “She’s gone,” she murmured as she stepped back from him.
“I don’t care,” Zane answered huskily. “Dance with me,” he ordered, grasping her hand again and tugging her toward the ballroom floor.
He sheltered her as he plowed his larger body through the crowd, making her a path so she didn’t have to dodge around people to follow him. She was breathless by the time she tripped onto the dance floor, tumbling straight into Zane’s arms.
“I’m not a very good dancer,” she confessed.
“I am. Just follow me,” Zane replied as his arms tightened around her and he began moving expertly to the slow melody the orchestra was playing. “Relax,” he urged, rubbing one hand gently down her back.
As she began to match his movements automatically, Ellie felt her body melt against him, and she gently laid her head against his shoulder. It became obvious very quickly that he could competently move around the other dancers. “How is it that you dance so well?”
“I’m a Colter. My mom has been involved in charity events as long as I can remember. She taught every one of us when we were young. Most of us try to be at her events out of respect for what she does.” He paused for a moment before he added, “Except for her billionaire auctions. Almost all of us managed to bail out of that one.”
Ellie laughed softly, loving the feel of his deep voice vibrating against her. “She auctions billionaires?” She had to have misunderstood.
“Yes. If she thinks it will help get her causes out to the general public.”
“Tell me.” Ellie was curious and wanted to hear the whole story of Aileen’s event.
Zane relented, his tone disgusted. “One year, she decided to put billionaires from around the country on the auction block. One night only. One date only. It raised a fortune and got a lot of attention, so now she’s trying to do it again.”
“Did any of the Colter brothers attend?” Ellie questioned, noticing he hadn’t said all of them had gotten out of the event.
“Only Tate. He was still single at the time. The poor bastard. Luckily, he ended up with a winning female who was around eight
y years old and just really wanted to talk about her grandkids all night. But he would have been okay with anybody. That’s Tate. You know he was always able to charm any female, even in high school.”
Zane’s voice was thoughtful, so Ellie asked, “Do you think you couldn’t have done just as well?” Women were obviously falling all over Zane, albeit not for the right reasons. But somehow she had a suspicion that he didn’t feel like he measured up to his brothers.
“I’m a nerd scientist, Ellie. I’m just…different. You know I don’t do small talk well, and all of my siblings can charm the hell out of anybody at any kind of party or event. Chloe might not like going to them, but she can play the perfect hostess when she has to.”
Leaning back, Ellie looked at the accepting look on Zane’s face, and it made her heart swell. “You don’t have to be anybody else,” she said fiercely. “You’re not that nerdy kid anymore, not that there was ever anything wrong with that. You’ve grown up and matured into the hottest guy I’ve ever seen. So what if you don’t want to talk about the weather unless it’s out of the ordinary? Small talk is boring, and you have more important things to discuss.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You think I’m hot?”
Zane was teasing, but Ellie was fairly certain there was still a small doubt in his mind about his personal value when compared to his brothers.
Ellie tightened her arms around his neck, the effects of the champagne she’d guzzled making her feel a little bit less inhibited. “I find intelligent men incredibly sexy. You have gorgeous eyes, a hot body, and a mind I admire. You’re tenacious, and you’re the only person who was still searching for me when everybody else thought I was dead. You’re my hero. I would say that puts you pretty high on the fuckable scale for reasons that have nothing to do with your money.”
He pressed his mouth against her ear. “I’m not your hero. I’m just a man.”
Ellie shivered as his warm breath wafted across her ear, his husky voice making her core clench so hard she missed a step. Zane guided her to a quick recovery before she answered, “An amazing man.”
“I don’t want you to want me just because I saved your life,” he rasped.
Surprised, she replied adamantly. “I don’t. I never did. I’ve always cared about you, way before you saved my life.”
The song ended just as she finished her sentence, and Zane dipped her backward, supporting her upper body with his arm as she stretched. Instantly, he pulled her back up again and she slammed up against his rock-hard body.
“You’re not wearing a bra,” he said irritably.
“How do you know that?” she asked, her words muffled against his chest.
In fact, she wasn’t wearing much in the way of undergarments at all. The dress had long, off-the-shoulder sleeves, something she hadn’t thought about when she’d purchased her ensemble. By the time she discovered she didn’t have the appropriate undergarments for the dress, she’d just went without. The material was heavy enough not to show anything, and she wasn’t exactly heavily endowed.
“Your nipples are hard. I could tell when the fabric stretched,” Zane grumbled.
Everyone was applauding the orchestra and Ellie joined in as she replied, “Then maybe you shouldn’t have held me so close and put your sexy mouth against my ear.” She turned to leave the dance floor.
Zane caught her arm before she went very far. “Did dancing turn you on?”
Ellie swiped one more glass of champagne from a waiter who was patrolling the edge of the dance floor and took a large sip before she looked up at him. “Not dancing. Dancing with you turned me on.”
Wordlessly, he took her hand and moved through the bulk of the people until they reached an unused table. He helped her take a seat before he insisted, “Stay here. I’m going to the bar. I think I need a drink.”
“They have champagne everywhere,” Ellie reminded him.
“I need something stronger than that.” He put a hand in one of the pockets of his tuxedo pants, his eyes trailing down the front of her dress. “No dancing with anybody else but me. Do I want to know exactly what you’re wearing beneath that dress?”
Ellie downed the rest of her champagne and smiled at him sweetly as she crooked her finger to make him come closer. Giving her a suspicious look, he bent down so she could whisper in his ear. “I’ve never worn a dress like this, but I didn’t want panty lines, so I bought the cutest little black thong with a tiny pink bow, and matching thigh-high stockings. That’s it. I feel almost…naked.”
Ellie’s heart started to pound against her chest wall as Zane turned his head and their gazes clashed and held, his face so close to hers that she wanted to reach out and grasp his hair, make him kiss her until she couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe.
His eyes were dangerous, a gray so dark and turbulent they reminded her of an incoming thunderstorm. “Jesus Christ, Ellie! Are you trying to be a cock-tease, or are you just being honest?” he whispered hoarsely.
She leaned in closer. “Maybe a little bit of both,” she confessed. “I don’t flirt. Not usually.” She had a feeling the champagne was letting her say exactly what she wanted. When it came to alcohol, she was a lightweight since she rarely even had a small glass of wine.
He put a hand behind her neck, and the intimate, possessive touch made her shiver.
“Don’t do it with anyone else but me,” Zane demanded, and then placed a rough kiss on her lips before he straightened. “I’ll be right back.” It sounded more like a warning than a comment.
She watched as Zane strode across the room to the bar, sighing at the tantalizingly sexy male gait of a predator that he used to move from one place to another. Her eyes stayed fixed on his wide shoulders until he finally disappeared into the sea of other dark tuxedos near the bar.
“Ah, here’s somebody I haven’t met. And you’re with Zane. Hello, mystery woman.”
A dark-blond male seated himself across from her. His lips were smiling, but for some reason the jovial expression didn’t quite reach his dark eyes. “Hello,” she answered automatically. “I’m Ellie Winters.”
The man reached his hand across the table. “Sean Rycroft,” he offered as he shook her hand. “I’m the director of research at Colter Laboratories. Zane’s my boss. Well, I suppose he’s actually everybody’s boss, technically.”
“I thought Zane was the director.”
Sean laughed. “Hell, no. He’s the CEO of the entire global company. He has several directors at all his facilities.”
Ellie paused, realizing how little she knew about Zane’s industry. “He has labs all over the world?”
Sean nodded. “Pretty much. But most of them are manufacturing facilities to produce the items he’s already developed. The main research lab is here in Denver.” He paused for a moment before asking, “How long have you two been involved? Zane hasn’t said a word. Elena just told me that he had a date.”
The redhead? Why had she been talking to this man?
“You know Elena?” Ellie asked cautiously.
“Pretty well, actually. She’s my assistant.”
So he’s the boss Elena was screwing, but now she was looking for an even bigger fish to catch: the owner of the entire company.
Ellie felt sorry for the man sitting across from her. He was probably ten years older than Zane, but he was no troll. He was charming, even if his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes; he looked good in a tux, and he seemed nice enough. But how could he not know that his viper assistant and girlfriend was searching for more money than Sean apparently made? And Ellie was pretty certain that Zane was paying his directors plenty.
Smiling at him politely, she revealed, “I’m actually Zane’s assistant, too. We’ve known each other for years.”
Sean gave her another one of his distant, polite smiles. “Is that right? Fantastic. So you aren’t seriously involved? No wonder she�
��s hitting on Zane.”
Ellie gaped at Sean, startled by his bluntness. “But aren’t you and Elena—”
“She refuses to make a commitment. I think she’s still looking for someone better.” His voice contained a touch of sadness and bitterness.
Ellie suppressed a shudder of revulsion. Obviously the redheaded snake was using Sean until she found a guy with even more money. The thought was repulsive to her, especially since Sean appeared to care about her.
She accepted another glass of champagne from a passing waiter before she answered. “I guess I don’t understand not making a commitment to somebody you’re regularly sleeping with.” She spoke the comment aloud before she realized she’d done it. Not only did she not understand Elena, but she couldn’t contemplate why Sean put up with a woman who gave him so much pain.
Sean shrugged. “Some women are unforgettable. But she wants the high life, and someday I’ll get it for her. Right now, at least she’s still with me.”
“What are you doing, Rycroft?” Zane’s angry voice answered from behind Sean.
Sean stood. “Zane,” he acknowledged with a nod. “I was just chatting with your new assistant.”
“Leave,” Zane uttered abruptly. “And don’t ever think about spending one second of time alone with Ellie or you’ll regret it.”
Sean held up his hands innocently. “I thought she was your new assistant.”
Zane set his drink on the table, reached out his hand and grasped the lapel of Sean’s tuxedo. “Go,” he said in a graveled tone. “Right. Fucking. Now.” Zane let go and literally pushed Sean away from the table.
Stunned, Ellie stared at the two men as they faced off, Zane’s expression so intensely fierce that he looked ready for anything.
She held her breath until Sean finally backed up, turned around and walked away without another word. Able to finally release the air from her lungs, she looked up at Zane, and the look he was giving her was almost frightening.