Page 39 of Mile High Addiction

The smile disappeared.“Yeah… something like that.Can we change the subject?”Dark grey eyes speared her, one brow raised in a way that said the question mark tagged at the end of the sentence was only a formality.A spurt of anger swirled through her.

“We can, but you need to know upfront.I don’t like secrets.My ex kept a huge secret from me and made me believe we were solid when we weren’t?—”

“I told you he was a fool.”

“Be that as it may, I’d rather not have another bombshell dropped at my feet when I least expect it.If you don’t want me to get to know you better, that’s fine.I like to think my instincts are savvy enough that I’m not sleeping with an axe murderer or a puppy-kicking sadist.But I want some reassurances that nothing we’re doing right now will have any repercussions for my future.”

“I can guarantee you that I’ve never kicked a puppy in my life, and I don’t own an axe, none that I’ve personally wielded anyway.As for the rest, nobody can guarantee that, Peaches.But I can give you certain reassurances.”

“Like what?”she pressed.

“Like exclusivity.And the knowledge that nothing in my past will directly affect you in any harmful way.”

“And indirectly?”

He shrugged.“I try to keep my private life private, but I don’t always succeed.Not with modern technology as pervasive as it is.The media might find out you’re connected to me.Would that bother you?”

“That depends.Do you want me to remain your dirty little secret?”

He took another sip and licked a drop of wine from his lips in a way that made her want to leap over the table and devour every inch of his mouth, then work the rest of his body over well and good until he was as needy as she was.

“Peaches, I want you as dirty as I can get you, soaking wet and often.”

A blush crawled over her face.“That’s not what I meant and you know it.”

He shrugged.“The tabloids make up stories that can sometimes be hurtful.I’ve grown immune to it to some extent, but you need to be prepared.”

“What exactly do I need to be prepared for?”

“They may try and dig into your background, find out who you are, and use that to define your position in my life.”

“So if they find out I’m just an ordinary girl who grew up in Upstate New York, they might conclude I’m some sort of gold digger trying to sink my claws into you?”

“It may not be that bad.It may be that they conclude I’m taken by a completely extraordinary girl whose body makes my head spin and my cock harder than ever.”

Heat engulfed her, but the anxiety rushing through her stomach didn’t go away.“But most likely it’ll be the former.”

He gave a single serious nod, his eyes narrowing on her face.“Can you handle that?”

She licked her lips and tried to shrug it away.“Maybe I won’t need to.I only agreed to go to Marrakech with you.If we end things after that?—”

“We won’t,” he inserted calmly as he topped up her wine.

Her heart did that stupid bouncy thing in her chest that left her breathless.“What makes you so sure?”

“Peaches, you’re wasting time pursuing the wrong line of argument.We won’t be over after Marrakech.Not by a long shot.That I can promise you.I can also guarantee you privacy there.It’s what happens when we get back to the States that you need to worry about.”

She played with the last mouthful of pasta on her plate.“But you live in San Francisco.I live in New York.How’s that going to work?”

“I can work from anywhere in the world.Plus, I have a very large private plane, several cars and an adequately working cellphone.We’ll work it out.”

Her worry didn’t abate.Slowly, she set her fork down.“Zach… This is going too fast.I don’t know if I…”

He got up and came round to where she sat.Sinking down onto his heels, he grabbed her hips and swiveled her chair to face him.

“Do me a favor.Close your eyes and imagine your life a week from now.Then imagine it a month from now,” he instructed softly, but with enough steel to let her know he was serious.Her heart did another of those stupid somersaults.“Do you want me in it?”

She found herself nodding before he’d even finished speaking.“Yes, I do.”

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