Page 35 of In Love and War
“Actually, I think we’re just about ready to head out. I need to add a couple of things ahead of the presentation tomorrow based on our meeting today.” Zac’s entire demeanor reverted back to neutral as soon as we were interrupted, but he kept his gaze on me as he spoke.
I was too frazzled to be impressed at how quickly he recovered. My head was still spinning from anger.
“Fair enough.” David nodded at him before turning to me. “Mills, you want to stay for another drink so we can catch up?”
“Unfortunately, I need her to help me with the revisions,” he answered way too quickly, before I even had the chance to open my mouth, as if he had expected David to ask.
I narrowed my eyes at him, suspecting that he didn’t actually need me for anything and was just trying to get under my skin. But this wasn’t the time or the place for me to argue.
“Sorry, Dave. Big project, demanding boss. You know the drill.” I kept my voice light. “Next time.”
“I do.” He laughed at my little poke, knowing full well how many times he himself had needed me to work late. “How about tomorrow, then? After work?”
“Tomorrow sounds great.” My smile up at him was purposefully extra sweet, just to spite Zac, entirely aware that his eyes hadn’t left my face once since David returned.
We settled the tab, said our goodbyes, and were out of the restaurant not five minutes later.
Refusing to pay any attention to Zac, I kept my head straight and kept walking as fast as my heels would allow until we were inside the hotel lobby, four blocks away.
I hit the elevator button harder than it admittedly deserved and waited, hands in my coat pockets, as Zac came up to stand beside me. He remained silent, but the tension was so loud it drowned everything else out.
I wanted nothing more than to get into my room, take off my dress and heels, get into that bathtub, and wash all of this away.
“Feel free to take the next one up,” I said sarcastically when the metal doors opened. It wasn’t a suggestion.
But, of course, he didn’t listen and followed me inside instead.
Rolling my eyes, I reached for the panel to select my floor. But before my finger could make it to the button, his hand was around my wrist, pulling it down and back toward him.
The contact sent an immediate shot of static through me, spreading goose bumps all over my body.
“We have work to do, remember?” he said as he pressed the button for the twenty-sixth floor.
I didn’t think he’d been serious about working again tonight. But I couldn’t give it much more thought because the only thing I could even come close to concentrating on was the fact that he was still holding on to my wrist.
I wanted to tear my heart out of my chest and stomp on it for reacting the way it did to this tiny bit of contact. Never in my life had I experienced such an intense physical reaction to someone else.
I didn’t know at any given point in time if I wanted to shut him up and strangle him or rip his clothes off and straddle him. And of all the people in the world to feel this way about, it really had to behim.It was overwhelming, and I didn’t know how to handle it.
Again, I genuinely felt like I was losing my mind.
“Stop looking at me like that, Amelia, or I’m going to do something we’ll both regret.” His eyes were completely glued to the tiny screen that showed what floor we’d just passed when he spoke, his voice coming out in a low, tortured growl through his teeth as his grip tightened around my wrist.
Snapping out of it, I jerked back my arm out of his grasp and looked away just as the elevator dinged, announcing our arrival.
He walked out with a small, exasperated huff through his nose.
Tempted to make a run for it, I forced my unwilling legs to follow.
The doors to his suite opened up to reveal a large, open, and tastefully decorated living area, with floor-to-ceiling windows that provided a breathtaking view of the Empire State Building and the rest of the NYC skyline, all lit up against the dark sky.
It was gorgeous.
Zac walked in and took off his blazer, placing it on the white leather couch before turning back to face me.
He nodded toward a light stack of papers on the small four-person dining table to his left. “Some of the revisions we need done are marked in there. I’ve emailed you the rest. We can go over them now.”
I could tell by the way he loosened the neck of his tie and began to roll up his sleeves that he was getting back into work mode.
