Page 55

A dark feeling rushed through his gut.He plucked his reading glasses from his face and tossed them onto the table.
“Who called you unique?”he asked, struggling to keep his voice even.He must have succeeded because she smiled, popped a fry in her mouth and chewed.
“The guest list coordinator at Shades.”
“Right.”
She slowly stopped chewing.“You’re jealous?For fuck’s sake, Zach, he was gay.”He started to relax.“I think.”
His stomach clenched hard.“Christ.If this were the Middle Ages I’d keep you chained in my tower so no other man could see you,” he half joked.
She laughed.The sound filled him with a joy that knocked the breath out of him.“So you think you can tame me?Maybe I’d be the one to keep you chained up.And naked for my use whenever the urge takes me.”
God, why did that idea make him so damned hard?
He shifted to adjust his crotch and laughed under his breath at the futility of trying to control his body around her.“I like the idea of you as a marauding warrior princess.I like the idea of being exclusively yours even better,” he added.
Laughter slowly faded from her eyes.The atmosphere thickened with hope and pain and sex and desperation.
Christ.
She glanced down at the papers spread on the table and cleared her throat.“So Rome gets your approval?”
“Throw in a quick stop to the Amalfi Coast and it’s a go.I have a place there.We can stop in for lunch.”
She nodded and made quick notes, studiously avoiding his eyes.“Okay.Next stop… How about Kenya?Your guests can watch heartless predators rip their prey to shreds.We’ll call it nature at its worst or the circle of life tour or something?”Her voice was dark with anguish.
“Bethany.”
“Sorry, bad joke.”She chewed on her lower lip for several seconds.“I still think Kenya would be awesome.”
“Okay.If you like.”His shoulders moved restlessly.
She started to argue but pressed her lips together and made some more notes.
“Or we can do Thailand instead?”
“The islands or Bangkok?”he asked, hoping she would look at him.
She kept her gaze on her notes.“I’ll work on both.The guests may prefer bright lights to laid back, especially since the tour is abbreviated.”
He thought for a moment.“Source out events for both.We’ll let the guests decide which they prefer.”
“Great.It’s settled then.Are you sure you don’t want me to work on the other trips?”
“I’m sure.It’s already taken care of.”Whether Bethany would like what he had planned for them on those remaining trips was something he didn’t want to think about just yet.
“I’ll liaise with our contacts in Italy to get a few venues sorted out.”She positioned her laptop on her thighs and fired it up.“Kenya and Thailand I’ll have to plan from the ground up.”
He picked up his glass and drained the last mouthful of wine, grimacing at the suddenly sour taste.He knew very well the taste wasn’t the problem.The wine had tasted exquisite only minutes ago, when his blood buzzed with contentment at just being with her and trading jokes.
That his body was psychosomatically reacting to Bethany was no surprise.She was under his skin.In his blood.Embedded in his mind in a way that made him reel inwardly thinking about it.
“Bethany.”He found himself saying her name just to feel that intense connection again.
“Just a second.I’m checking to see if Sheena has sent the list of guests.”
“Bethany,” he murmured again.