Page 21 of Dark Memories
He paced the hallway outside the guest room, waiting for her to appear so they could go see Mario Russo about his son. Scratch that. Who was he kidding? He was outside her door because he needed to see her, to make sure she was okay.
In so many ways Delaney was one of the strongest women he’d ever known, but deny it all she wanted, she had her soft spots. He doubted there were many who knew her who understood that, but he did. She was alone in the world. Her sister was gone, her stepfather—a man she’d once believed would always be there for her—had walked away without a backward glance. Her mother had fled with Delaney’s brother, leaving her daughter behind to mourn Abbie alone.
Zach knew Delaney, understood her, and loved her, even if she didn’t want him to anymore. Too bad for her. He was sticking around. The door opened, and she stepped out, stumbling when she saw him.
“I’ve got you,” he said, putting his hands on her waist, catching her.I’ll always catch you.
She looked down at his hands, then lifted her gaze to his, those brown eyes he knew so well darkening, and damn him, he had to kiss her. He lowered his mouth, stopping an inch from hers.
“Tell me no, Delaney, and I won’t do this.” She stayed silent. “So be it.”
At the first touch of his mouth on hers the years without her faded away, and he was back where he belonged. With her. Always with her. The soft sigh that escaped her told him everything he needed to know. She would fight it, of that he was sure, but her feelings for him were still there. He could build on that, and he would.
He knew better than to let his hands roam, and as much as he wanted to learn her body again, he kept them on her waist. But his mouth wasn’t so obedient, and he gave it free rein to taste her, to remind her how it had been between them. Breaking the kiss before she decided to knee him in his balls, he touched his forehead to hers.
“That was everything I remembered and more.” He took her hand. “Let’s go find my daughter,” he said, cutting off any admonishments that they couldn’t do that again. He glanced at her, saw her dazed expression, and decided it was a look he liked on her.
* * *
Zach disconnected his call with Mario Russo. “He said we can come over now.”
“Great,” she said to the car’s window.
She hadn’t spared him a glance since he’d kissed her, and he knew her mind was a tumbling mess of questions. If she tried to deny she’d wanted his mouth on hers or that she’d enjoyed it, he would call her out for being a bold-faced liar. But she was the most honest person he knew, even with herself, and his guess was she was not happy that she’d wanted him to kiss her, and worse, that the fire burning between them was still a raging inferno. That would definitely throw her off-balance.
“Delaney.”
“What?”
He waited, refusing to say more until she looked at him. It took her a good minute to capitulate, and when she did, her eyes flashed with irritation like a blinking road sign warning of danger ahead. He swallowed his smile, knowing she’d slap him silly if he even hinted that the fire in her eyes was seriously turning him on.
“It was just a kiss. Something I plan to do again.” He winked. “Just thought you should know that.”
“It’s not going—”
“But first we have to find my daughter,” he said before she could make a statement that would be hard for her to take back. “That’s our only job, the only thing that needs to be on our minds until she’s safely home. While you were in the shower, Leo called. He’s with Cinda now. She’s been shopping in New York for the past few days, so we can strike her off my list.”
“How does he know for sure?”
“Because she’s spent the past two hours showing him all herfabulousnew purchases. And because he picked her up at the Denver airport this morning and drove her to Aspen. He’s busy right now massaging her aching muscles. Shopping’s hard business, you know.”
She rolled her eyes. “That’s one less person to watch, and honestly, as much as I don’t like the woman, I’m glad Kali’s mother wouldn’t do such a thing.”
“Tell me about it.” If Cinda had taken their daughter as some kind of joke, he would have made sure she never saw Kali again. He was glad it wouldn’t come down to that.
Mario had agreed to meet them at Bello’s, a restaurant near his home, and Zach wasn’t surprised when they entered the Italian eatery that they were taken to a private room. Mario owned half of Bello’s.
“Mario, it’s good to see you again,” he said, shaking hands with the black-haired man.
“The pleasure is all mine, Zachary.” His glance slid to Delaney, and his eyes narrowed. “And who is this you bring to me with a gun hidden under her jacket? One hopes she is a policewoman and not an assassin.”
Zach laughed. “There’s still no pulling anything over on you, I see.” He glanced at Delaney to see an amused smile on her face. “This is Delaney Harrison. She’s a detective, so you get to live for another day. Delaney, Mario Russo.”
“Mr. Russo, it’s nice to meet you. Zach speaks highly of you.”
Mario gave a slight bow. “I’m honored then.” He gestured to a table set with glasses of ice water, a bottle of wine, an antipasto platter, and crusty Italian bread.
“Thank you.” Zach pulled out a chair for Delaney. Once they were all seated, he waited for Mario to pour them each a glass of wine. Although he knew that since she was on duty, Delaney would only take a few sips of the wine, he was happy to see that she didn’t insult the man by refusing his hospitality.
