They dined and danced together well into the night. Regan was thrilled to have the man she loved enjoying the company of her family. He fit. He wasn’t supposed to, but he did.
When Carlos bought him a drink and Arianna danced with him and laughed as he dipped her, her nerves unraveled. They had accepted him.
Zach pulled Regan from the table by her hand. “C’mon. You owe me a spin on the dance floor before they close.”
“I’m tired. I don’t want to dance.”
“Your father is out there spinning your mother in circles. I can’t be shown up like this,” he said, tugging again, and she laughed.
Regan’s parents danced as though they were forty years younger. It was a sight she would never tire of.
Zach led her next to them, and her father gave a nod. “Ready? Trade!” her father called out as each of them spun his partner off and collected the one that danced toward him.
“Well, Zachary, you sure do know your dancing,” Emily said on a laugh as Zach dipped her and pulled her back into his arms.
“Like I told your daughter, I was forced into it.”
“I doubt that.” She laughed again. “Men say that, but then when it comes time for them to show off on a dance floor, they are glad they know what they are doing.”
He removed his hand from around her waist and rested it over his heart with a nod. “My secret is no longer safe.”
Alan spun Regan away from her mother and Zach, and spun her until she was dizzy and began to protest.
He slowed down. “That’s for all the times you stepped on my feet.”
“You told me to step on your feet.” She laughed as he spun her again.
“I like him.”
Regan tripped on his foot and had to work to regain her balance. “What?”
“I like this new man of yours. He wants to take care of you. I can tell.”
“I think you’re right, Daddy. He’s not like the other one.”
“This I already know.” When he spoke from the heart, his German accent came through strong. “You never brought the other one around. You let him hide you away.”
Her movements became jerky, and it was hard to focus as she tried to keep her composure. “You’re right. I was wrong to do that. I’m sorry I hurt you and Mama by staying away.”
The music stopped, and the musicians began to put their instruments away. The dancers cleared the floor—all but Regan and her father.
“You are a smart girl. You did what was right.” He patted her cheek. “Don’t ever think I’m disappointed in you or that your mama is either. We love you.” He looked up and over at his wife and Zach watching them. “You take care of him too.”
Zach pushed the button for the elevator as Regan’s family gathered around. An awkward silence followed them. Their rooms were scattered throughout the hotel. Carlos and Curtis got off the elevator on the tenth floor, kissing their mother good night as the doors opened.
Zach stood to one side of her parents and Regan on the other as they rode to the fifteenth floor. The heat in the small elevator felt as though it was climbing when Zach noticed both Emily’s and Alan’s eyes on him. He shifted his gaze to the escalating numbers over the door, and the elevator finally came to a stop.
“Good night, Mama.” She kissed her mother as the elevator door opened. “Good night, Papa. I love you both.”
Zach shook her father’s hand and did not let the gentle squeeze of a warning go unnoticed. When the elevator door closed, he fell against the wall with a huff.
“What’s wrong?” Regan made her move toward him.
“How old is your father?”
“He’s seventy-six. Why?”
“He’s very old-fashioned.”
Regan wrapped her arms around his waist and placed a kiss against his throat. “Yes he is. Why do you say that?”
“He’s not very keen on us sleeping together.”
“What did he say?” She stepped back and looked up at him. Her face had grown concerned.
“Not one word. But the looks. The body language. The handshake.” He cleared his throat. “I’m not kidding, Regan, I think I’ll go down and see if they have another room available. If not, I’ll just bunk with Curtis and Carlos.”
“You’ll do no such thing.” She laughed as she took his hand and pulled him out of the elevator as the doors opened. “You’ll sleep in my room, in my bed. And by God you’ll make love to me tonight.”
“If you insist.” He smiled broadly as he adjusted his suit jacket and brushed his hands down his sleeves.
“Oh, tonight I’m the boss.” She winked at him as she slid the key card into the door.
Regan opened the door and quickly found herself pressed up against the back of it, Zach’s hands roaming over her. His mouth covered hers. His teeth nipped her lips. The dress she wore melted to a puddle on the floor.
She slid her fingers through his hair and down to the tie around his neck. Giving it a tug, she pulled at it until it lost its form and fell to the floor with her dress. The buttons on his custom-made shirt flew open when she pulled at them hurriedly, exposing his hard, sculpted chest beneath her fingers. The scent of his musky cologne washed over her and aroused every sensual nerve in her body.
Their bodies, tangled together, slid down the door to the floor. He ripped her panties from her hips, and her bare skin rubbed against the harsh carpet beneath her. They both fought the belt that cinched his slacks. Finally, he was free of them and he kicked them away.
Zach positioned himself between her legs as she wrapped them tightly around his waist, and he plunged into her, filling her completely.
Regan met him thrust for thrust as her fingers dug into his back, urging him to take her over the slippery edge of control. Her body grew damp beneath his as his teeth trailed down her jaw to her neck and ended with a bite above her collarbone, sending a shock that pulled every muscle in her body.
She breathed his name as she crossed the border from clear sight to that hazy cloud of ecstasy. His body shook against hers before he fell atop her. His weight limp on hers as they both fought for air.
“I don’t know why my father wouldn’t approve of us sleeping in the same room.” The statement was light with laughter as she gasped for breath.
“If he knew what I did to his little girl…” He trailed off and kissed her before rolling to the floor beside her.
“He’d probably kill you. But only after Carlos and Curtis beat you up.”
“Oh, yes. The wrath of the older brothers.” He propped himself up on his elbow and looked down on her. He traced her collarbone with his finger. “Perhaps I can bribe them.”
“Hum, now there’s an option.” She took a deep breath, trying to slow her heart rate back to normal.
“Tell me, Ms. Keller, what do your brothers like?” He ran the pendant around her neck back and forth on the chain.
“Carlos would be easy. He’s very open to matters of money.” She smiled as he nodded. “He could easily be bought off with a car. Nothing cheap either. Something expensive and fast.”
“Got it. A Ferrari would do the trick.”
“Uh-huh.” She nodded. “And red wouldn’t hurt.”
“I’m a man. I totally understand that need.”
“Now, Dr. Curtis would be a bit more difficult. He works so hard he hardly has time to enjoy the pleasantries of material things. What the doctor needs is a woman.”
“Easily done.”
“Oh, no. His tastes are specific.” She smiled again. “He prefers blondes. He feels their tempers are more controlled. He likes them as tall as he is, so that means over six feet tall. They must have a college education and understand how important his job is.”
“Doesn’t seem like he’s asking for much.”
“Oh, I’m not done.” She rolled closer to him and skimmed her finger over his jaw. “She must love children and want eight of them.”
“Eight?”
“Yes, no less. She must make rhubarb
pie, and she must—and this is the most important—” She raised her eyebrows to emphasize. “She must speak Spanish, Italian, French, and I think he said Chinese, but that one might be negotiable.”
With a burst of laugher, he rolled to his back, grasping her hand to his chest. “I’m so sorry, Regan. I thought this would work. Your father will have to kill me.”
“I thought the mighty Zachary Benson could do anything.”
“Dr. Curtis may have just proven me wrong.”
“That’s too bad. I was really beginning to like you.” She traced the line of his muscles down his chest with her finger.
Zach grabbed her hand and rolled back to meet her eyes. “Like me? Oh, Regan, I so hoped you’d be falling in love with me by now.”
“Zach…” Her eyes dropped from his stare.
“Don’t use the excuse you’ve done this before.” He lifted her chin with his finger until she shifted her eyes back to his. “You fell in love with the wrong man. So he happened to be your boss, and so do I. That’s only coincidence. I’m not him,” he said with a shake of his head and anger brewing in his eyes.
“No you’re not.”
“Then tell me. Tell me you love me.”
“Zach…”
“I see it in your eyes, Regan. You love me. I know it’s true.”
She sat up, gathered her dress from the floor, and held it to her chest.
Zach sat up next to her and touched her bare shoulder. “Please, Regan. If you don’t love me, tell me that.” His hand was warm and gentle as he rubbed his thumb over her sensitive skin.
“I can’t.”
He stood and pulled her to her feet. “I’ll settle for that.”
Suddenly she was no longer worried that he’d break her heart. Her fear had changed course. Now she was afraid that she would break his.
Chapter nine
Zach was pleased with the state of business as the year inched from spring into summer. Every building site was a bustle of workers doing as much work as they could from sunup to sundown. Completion dates neared. New sites were acquired. New investors were found.
The Nashville project was ahead of schedule, even with the changes that Zach had made. He’d sent John Forrester to Kansas City to get the site up to speed, which he had done skillfully.
“I’m sending John to Memphis at the end of the week,” he told Regan. “I want you to go with him because you were there for the meeting with Byers. We should have been there three weeks ago.” He didn’t like not keeping his word. He had threatened Roger Byers that he’d be back in a week and he’d let his schedule slip. It wasn’t something he’d say aloud, but his diligence to business hadn’t been as important since he’d fallen head over heels in love. Every task was harder to accomplish knowing Regan was right outside his office door. “I need to get to L.A. by the end of the week and see to it that the loose ends are being tied up so we can get that project rolling. If we can finish up Nashville, Memphis, and Kansas City enough to do interior work during the winter, it would be a good time to get L.A. underway.”
He watched as Regan took down every word in her notepad. He leaned his arms on the pile of papers on his desk and inched closer to her. “Once I return from L.A., I’ll need you to set up accommodations at the Ritz Carlton in New York City. First-class airline tickets for two. My mother enjoys the opera, but see what your sister can do to get her tickets to her show.” Regan’s glance finally shifted up to him. “It’s their fortieth wedding anniversary,” he explained.
A warm smile lit her face. “I’ll get those arrangements taken care of,” she said, sitting up straighter and looking across at him. “Is there anything else, Mr. Benson?”
“Yes.” He stood and walked around the desk. He took her hands in his and pulled her to her feet.
She looked very much like the day he’d met her. The day she’d fallen from heaven and landed on his lap. All tucked up in her professionalism, she was damn sexy. She'd pulled back her hair, exposing her soft neck. He caressed her cheek, gliding his thumb over her cheekbone.
She lifted her hand to pull his from her. “Zach…”
“I’m the boss.” He took her mouth with his, driving her into a deep kiss that left her swaying against him.
“We had an agreement,” she reminded him as she lifted her hand to his chest to push him away.
“Yes, but we didn’t sign a contract. I only work with contracts.”
She bit down on her lip. “Yes. And the only way I’ll get fired is if I lose you a contract.” Her eyes hazed with something dark, but it wasn’t pleasure or seduction. A tautness around her mouth told him it was anger.
“Where did you hear that?”
“Mary Ellen on my first day. She said you were a softy, but if someone lost you a contract, you’d fire them on the spot.”
He pulled her closer to him, willing the haze in her eyes to turn smoky with lust. “We’d better not sign a contract about kissing at work, then. I’ll have to fire myself for breaking it. I can’t keep myself from you. I love you.”
She stiffened and stepped back from him. But he moved closer. “While my parents are in New York, you and I are going to spend the weekend at their house. Let’s see if you really like Tennessee sprawling land.”
She took a breath, but a knock at the door stopped her. For that he was grateful. He didn’t want excuses, he wanted her.
They had just enough time to step back from each other and look professional before Kirk Peterson pushed open the door and walked in uninvited. “We’ve got troubles in Memphis.”
He held a report in his hands. For the first time in months, he bypassed his normal sleaziness and looked past Regan to Zach.
The Memphis project had been red flagged and could be shut down if inspectors returned and didn’t see changes ASAP. There had never been a Benson, Benson, and Hart project shut down. He sure as hell wasn’t going to let Roger Byers bring down his record.
He’d have to get John Forrester on the project sooner than he’d though. He’d go himself if he didn’t have to focus on the project in Los Angeles. It was worth too much money to let it slip through his fingers. But his current builds were in need of his attention too.
Teleconferences were scheduled with the foreman of each build. Zachary usually ran a tight organization, and he was going to make sure it stayed that way. Somewhere he’d let his watchful eye close and he couldn’t afford to do it again.
Regan had been an invaluable asset in the twenty-four hours since Kirk Peterson had delivered the report to him. She’d arranged his flights, made sure he’d eaten, brought him a clean shirt before his meeting with John, and fielded phone calls from his mother and Simone when his nerves and his time were stretched to the limit.
Exhausted, Zach leaned against the doorjamb of his office, watching Regan as she gathered her things to leave for the day. He’d spent the afternoon with John going over the Memphis project. He wasn’t sure if it was a good sign that his mind kept wandering back to thoughts of making love with her while he was making plans for John to fire Roger Byers and take over the build.
He wished to God that he didn’t have to be on a flight for L.A. in just a few hours.
Regan swung her bag over her shoulder and turned off the monitor on her computer. Whatever she was thinking of put an alluring curve in her lips.
“You have the sexiest smile,” he said.
She turned with her hand to her chest, then caught her breath and stomped her foot. “I thought Mary Ellen said you weren’t to sneak up on us.”
“I never listen.”
“I thought you were still meeting with John.”
“He left while you were away from your desk.” He looked around the office and noticed they were alone, so he clasped her hand and led her through the door, then shut it behind them. “Come here for a moment.”
Quickly he gathered her in his arms before she could realize what he had in mind and push him away. His mouth found hers, and it was soft and warm. He d
rank her in before pulling back.
“I hate having to go to L.A.” He brushed her jaw with a kiss as she tipped her head back. “I might not be able to survive without my”—he nipped at her lower lip and enjoyed the shiver he produced in her—“wonderful assistant.”
“Well, Mr. Benson, not everyone can have such a wonderful assistant as you have. You really should give her a raise since she’s so good for you.”
His fingers were in her hair, sending a tingle down his spine. “You really think she’s worth it?”
“She’d do anything for you.” The words were breathless as they escaped her mouth.
He held her tight, knowing she’d want to break free after such an admisison. “Would she tell me she loves me?”
She looked down. “Zach…”
“Mr. Benson,” he joked, taking her mouth again. “I guess I’ll get a bite to eat at the airport before I go. I’d much rather ravage you on your kitchen table again, though,” he offered with his brow pressed to hers.
“The kids are there.”
“Well then, I guess I’ll just go to L.A.” He kissed her again, lingering, absorbing her into memory. “I wish I could take you with me. You’ll go the next time, that’s for damn sure.” He stroked his thumb down her jaw. “Can I give you a ride home?”
“I have my car.”
Trying not to feel like he’d been turned down, he gave her a light hug. “Let me walk you down.”
When Regan arrived home, there were three slices of pizza in the fridge with a note that said We love you, Aunt Regan. They had gone to a movie. She had the evening and the house to herself—and no Zach.
Maybe it was for the best.
She ran a bath and dined on her pizza and wine, neck deep in bubbles. Candles flickered all around her, giving the room a golden glow. Bach played on the CD player, and the smell of lavender filled the room. It was exactly what she needed.
When she laid her head back into the water, she thought of Zach. He was in the airplane on his way to L.A. Her heart trembled when she thought of him being so far away. Could she already miss him so much? Yes.
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