And yeah, he was counting.
His hands twisted in the duvet. He hated that she’d been used like that. That people had stepped over her, that he hadn’t been there to help. He wanted to show her that not everyone was like them. That he...that he what? That he could offer her something else? Something more?
He swallowed deeply. What could he offer her?
She paused and seemed to close down a little even now when they were in bed together. She started to wrap her hair round her finger.
He reached out and unwound the curl, held her fingers in his. Took the chance to look deep into her eyes and found some small element of trust there, despite what she said. But heck, she was fighting it. ‘Stop chewing your hair, Daniella.’
‘I’ll do what I damn well like,’ she fired at him, but let her fingers drop. ‘I was pretty pathetic back then. The kind of person I have little time for now. I had no ambition, no skills except in how to party hard, and how to fall even harder. And boy, did I fall.’
‘The photo.’ He thought about his life and how ordered he’d made it. He’d had a plan from an early age of escaping the disapproval of his parents, of being single-minded and determined. The only thing he’d ever wanted was to be a doctor and he’d made that happen’albeit at a heavy cost. But Dani had done the opposite to him; there’d been no plan at all. Just chaos.
She nodded. ‘That stupid Lady Godiva moment was the best wake-up call I ever had. Although I didn’t think so at the time. I was crushed. Mortified. My father threw money at the problem to make it go away. I promised him a month at the Inner Sanctum in return for bail. Funny thing was, I really was exhausted’I was tired of living like that. Tired of everything.’
Zac nodded. He’d seen the photo’and despite the naked image of her beautiful body, he’d recognised the vacant expression, the blank eyes, the total lack of emotion.
And yet, she’d dragged herself into a profession, learnt useful skills and faced the world again. Stepping onto that red carpet in front of those cameras had taken far more courage than he would ever have.
Sitting here swamped by the king-size duvet she looked so small, but inside her there was a nugget of strength so pure and proud it shone.
Her eyes widened as she fixed a smile. ‘And that’s where the story ends for tonight. They all lived happily ever after. Time for sleep.’
‘Like I’ll manage to get any with you here.’
‘Don’t, Zac. Please.’
The warning was valid. Each conversation was a step closer to intimacy that neither of them could risk.
He tried hard to banish the raging erotic thoughts zooming round his brain. It would be so easy to kiss her, too easy. Her mouth was just inches away, those soft supple lips within reach. But that would lead to other things’perhaps’would certainly lead to her edging closer into his heart. And he couldn’t take that, couldn’t get ensnared in a web of promises he couldn’t keep. Dani deserved better; she deserved someone who would be there for her, to cherish her. He couldn’t start something that could only end in disaster.
Which, considering he was under a duvet with her, half naked, was a joke.
He was already in way too deep.
CHAPTER SEVEN
D AYLIGHT FILTERED THROUGH a chink in the thick fern-green curtains, Dani squinted and shifted. Her left leg had gone numb, her neck felt acutely displaced and something heavy lay across her chest. She sniffed and got the divine scent of Zac. Heat prickled through her. No. So inappropriate. But lovely.
Reason began to seep into her groggy brain. Her leg had no feeling because his leg was squashing it. Her nose was filled with his smell because her nostril was flat up against the dip in his neck. Somehow she’d fallen asleep at one end of the chaise, but woken at the other. Entwined, not just in his arms, but his legs too. She glanced over to the bed. How much had Jaxon seen, or read into this? For that
His hands twisted in the duvet. He hated that she’d been used like that. That people had stepped over her, that he hadn’t been there to help. He wanted to show her that not everyone was like them. That he...that he what? That he could offer her something else? Something more?
He swallowed deeply. What could he offer her?
She paused and seemed to close down a little even now when they were in bed together. She started to wrap her hair round her finger.
He reached out and unwound the curl, held her fingers in his. Took the chance to look deep into her eyes and found some small element of trust there, despite what she said. But heck, she was fighting it. ‘Stop chewing your hair, Daniella.’
‘I’ll do what I damn well like,’ she fired at him, but let her fingers drop. ‘I was pretty pathetic back then. The kind of person I have little time for now. I had no ambition, no skills except in how to party hard, and how to fall even harder. And boy, did I fall.’
‘The photo.’ He thought about his life and how ordered he’d made it. He’d had a plan from an early age of escaping the disapproval of his parents, of being single-minded and determined. The only thing he’d ever wanted was to be a doctor and he’d made that happen’albeit at a heavy cost. But Dani had done the opposite to him; there’d been no plan at all. Just chaos.
She nodded. ‘That stupid Lady Godiva moment was the best wake-up call I ever had. Although I didn’t think so at the time. I was crushed. Mortified. My father threw money at the problem to make it go away. I promised him a month at the Inner Sanctum in return for bail. Funny thing was, I really was exhausted’I was tired of living like that. Tired of everything.’
Zac nodded. He’d seen the photo’and despite the naked image of her beautiful body, he’d recognised the vacant expression, the blank eyes, the total lack of emotion.
And yet, she’d dragged herself into a profession, learnt useful skills and faced the world again. Stepping onto that red carpet in front of those cameras had taken far more courage than he would ever have.
Sitting here swamped by the king-size duvet she looked so small, but inside her there was a nugget of strength so pure and proud it shone.
Her eyes widened as she fixed a smile. ‘And that’s where the story ends for tonight. They all lived happily ever after. Time for sleep.’
‘Like I’ll manage to get any with you here.’
‘Don’t, Zac. Please.’
The warning was valid. Each conversation was a step closer to intimacy that neither of them could risk.
He tried hard to banish the raging erotic thoughts zooming round his brain. It would be so easy to kiss her, too easy. Her mouth was just inches away, those soft supple lips within reach. But that would lead to other things’perhaps’would certainly lead to her edging closer into his heart. And he couldn’t take that, couldn’t get ensnared in a web of promises he couldn’t keep. Dani deserved better; she deserved someone who would be there for her, to cherish her. He couldn’t start something that could only end in disaster.
Which, considering he was under a duvet with her, half naked, was a joke.
He was already in way too deep.
CHAPTER SEVEN
D AYLIGHT FILTERED THROUGH a chink in the thick fern-green curtains, Dani squinted and shifted. Her left leg had gone numb, her neck felt acutely displaced and something heavy lay across her chest. She sniffed and got the divine scent of Zac. Heat prickled through her. No. So inappropriate. But lovely.
Reason began to seep into her groggy brain. Her leg had no feeling because his leg was squashing it. Her nose was filled with his smell because her nostril was flat up against the dip in his neck. Somehow she’d fallen asleep at one end of the chaise, but woken at the other. Entwined, not just in his arms, but his legs too. She glanced over to the bed. How much had Jaxon seen, or read into this? For that
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