CHAPTER EIGHT
Z ANE STRAIGHTENED HIS TIE , swept his hand through his hair and stalked out to the waiting car. He’d been irritable all week. The days had dragged as he’d gone straight from home to work and back again, not setting a foot anywhere else so he wouldn’t inadvertently be ‘seen’ with someone. He’d been counting down the hours until he got his driver to take him back to her apartment. Skylar Bennet was still a catastrophe.
‘Take a couple turns around the block,’ he muttered to his driver when he paused outside her apartment building. ‘I’ll message when ready.’
His muscles twitched. He’d run up all seventy-odd stairs in his condo tower earlier today but even that hadn’t been enough to use up his excess energy.
He pushed the button and she buzzed him up. By the time he’d climbed to the second floor she’d opened her door and was visible in the frame. For the first time all week, he stood stock still.
‘Is this on the mark?’ She sounded nervous but looked defiant.
Oh, it was on the mark. Very, very on the mark—if the mark was his libido. The silver slip dress skimmed her slim frame. Her glossy hair fell sleekly to the curve of her bottom. Her skin was radiant and those deep brown eyes of hers were huge. ‘I’ve worn heels so I won’t look stupidly short next to you.’
He liked her height. He remembered pressing her against him in the garden and wrapping her leg around his waist. He wanted that again.
She frowned in the face of his silence. ‘I rented a couple alternatives if it isn’t...’
He struggled to rein in the direction of his thoughts. ‘How very diligent of you, Skylar.’
‘I like to do a good job.’ She straightened.
‘I know you do.’ He stepped past her into her apartment. That she thought of this as a ‘job’ irritated him. ‘We’re going to a film premiere. A thriller, I believe. You can hold my hand in the scary bits if you like.’
He moved deeper into her apartment and discovered it was tiny. Which was a problem. He couldn’t trust himself to touch her—not even offering a socially polite kiss on her cheek. Getting that close to her was impossible—he actually feared he’d lose control and caveman toss her onto her own bed. He’d take her fully clothed first, then he’d rip the beautiful dress from her and have her all over again. Naked. And then again. And yes, he was going out of his mind.
‘There’ll be lots of cameras at a film premiere.’ She closed the door behind him.
‘Yes. We’ll walk the red carpet. Pose in front of the press pen.’
‘Press pen?’ She sounded aghast. ‘You’re kidding.’
He focused on the apartment. The absolute lack of space. There wasn’t even a kitchen. Just a sink and a microwave.
Her low mumble reached him. ‘What’s the worst they’re going to say...’ she muttered. ‘Probably that I’m not pretty enough to be seen with you.’
He turned.
‘And that I’m not from the right sort of society.’ She fiddled with the strap of her purse. ‘Will they pry into my past? How detail oriented are these people?’
Very, unfortunately. He had a lot of money and stupidly that made people interested.
‘You want to back out, Skylar?’ he asked, though he really didn’t want to.
‘Not at all. I can handle this.’ But she didn’t look as certain as she sounded. ‘It’s not like I have a past to be worried about.’
‘If you worry what someone thinks, that gives them power over you. You get distracted wondering about their reactions, which means you can’t make a clean decision on your own. Like your dress tonight. No one else’s opinion should matter. Only yours. If you’re comfortable, if you like the dress—’
‘So not even your opinion matters?’ she interrupted.
‘No. It doesn’t.’
She cared too much. Always had. Seeking approval. He remembered her silence. Her dutiful manner to her father. And he was suddenly reluctant to expose her to that online commentary. The magazine was bad enough, but worse were those trolls who hid behind anonymous screens and keyboards and spouted cruel words for the malevolent fun of it. The thought of them had never bothered him before but now he was concerned for her sake. She was about to lose her privacy—paying a steep price for what? Nothing. Because there was zero chance of him changing his mind on breaking up Helberg. A bitter taste rose in the back of his throat. Guilt . But he couldn’t tell her what had really happened between him and Helberg and the immediate aftermath of that excruciating meeting when he’d been a child. He’d never spoken of it—or of the accident after—with anyone. Not even his mother. He kept that shit well buried where it couldn’t bother him and it would never see the light of day.
But here she was, wondering why he wanted Helberg so much. Acute enough to know there was something more than business about it. And perhaps he could explain just some of it. Because there was that greedy part of him, the part that liked to win. That part didn’t want to quit this game. Not yet. Besides which, he reassured himself, she looked stunning. No online troll could ever say otherwise. ‘Skylar, you could wear anything and—’
‘Please don’t flatter—’
‘I’m not .’ He gritted his teeth to stop himself showing rather than telling her how much of a freaking goddess she was. ‘You’re beautiful. Your dress showcases the fact.’
‘I thought you didn’t like me.’
‘Right. But I still think you’re sexy.’
There were two other dresses hanging from the door that he presumed led to the bathroom. One was midnight blue, the other was short and a bold red. His mouth dried. He wanted to see her in both. Yeah, he’d suddenly turned into some warlord who wanted his woman to try them on and twirl before him. He’d sit on that too-small sofa, legs sprawled apart, hard as a rock, and watch her like some totally erotic movie montage moment. That was definitely the premiere he’d prefer tonight.
‘We should go.’ She snapped her clutch purse. ‘My apartment isn’t really big enough for us both.’
He forced a smile. ‘You don’t want to move somewhere a little bigger?’
‘It’s close to work.’
Which was seemingly her one and only priority. His irritation resurged. ‘And that’s all that matters?’
Why did she still work there like a loyal little angel full of optimism and misplaced hope? Because she liked the people she worked with. That had been the main thing he’d learned from Bernie. Her loyalty to them—the way she went the extra mile. Didn’t say no. Still a pleaser then—to those she felt she owed or something. Irritation rippled. She shouldn’t spend her life repaying debts no one else bothered with. Why waste her time when it was clearly crumbling? She was good. She knew her numbers. Surely she could recognise that it was too late to turn that massive ship around. The iceberg was imminent and Helberg was going to sink.
‘It’s close to some good restaurants too,’ she said.
‘Oh?’ He watched her sceptically. She wouldn’t go to any. He bet she started early at the office and stayed late and probably lived on snacks and cereal.
‘Yes, I have a good relationship with the Thai restaurant one block over. They deliver.’
Deliver. Right.
She tilted her chin at him. ‘It’s close to the park too.’
Yeah, he’d noticed the worn shoes at the front door. ‘You still run?’
She nodded, colour rising in her cheeks. The room went silent. She was remembering that morning. Same as him. He couldn’t ask her about it. Couldn’t think about it.
‘Every day.’ She cleared her throat. ‘And a group run on Saturdays.’
‘Such a strict schedule,’ he teased weakly. ‘No such thing as spontaneity in your life—’
‘That was last week.’
And never to be repeated. Yeah, he got it. He forced himself to look away from her again. It was a petite apartment for a petite person and perfectly set up just for her. Everything was neat and just so. Her bed was on a mezzanine level with the lowest of ceilings so he’d hit his head if he were up there and on top—
He tore his gaze away, not letting himself finish that thought. ‘You’re right, we really should go.’
Unfortunately the drive didn’t take all that long.
‘Right...’ Skylar drew in a steadying breath as they approached the theatre. ‘You need me to smile? Look adoringly at you?’
Her speech had quickened, risen. She was nervous. He hadn’t seen her at parties in all these years. He got that she hadn’t gone out when she was young because of her father, but why hadn’t she since she’d left home? Why still so very alone and seemingly isolated aside from work friends—at least one of whom was almost three times her age?
He didn’t want her ‘performing’ to any script of his. Didn’t want to have any control over what she did...though of course he’d made her come here tonight with him, hadn’t he?
‘You never have to smile,’ he said shortly. ‘Not if you don’t want to. Look as moody as you like. I’m not asking you to fake anything for me. Tonight we’re merely companions.’
But that wasn’t entirely true. They were enemies. With chemistry.
The red carpet walk wasn’t long but it was crowded. In the photo pen ahead the photographers were calling loudly to the film stars.
‘What do you think of the hero?’ He jerked his chin towards the buff guy posing with quite a stunning selection of angular jaw expressions.
‘Gonna ditch me for him if you get the chance?’ He was half curious as to whether the blond Adonis type was for her.
She rose on tiptoe to study the actor for a moment and Zane actually felt a stab of—
‘Maybe...’ She turned and lifted her face to his, batting her lashes coyly.
‘Don’t believe you,’ he whispered in her ear. ‘He’s not arrogant enough for you.’
That dimple appeared and then her giggle sounded. ‘True.’
He couldn’t wipe the smile from his own face. He pulled her close to guide her through the crowd. And then, greedy man that he was, he kept his arm around her, faking nothing.
He had no idea what happened in the movie. He was too distracted thinking about her. Smelling the soft scent of her hair. As the house lights came on in the theatre, he wrapped his arm around her waist again—purely to guide her back through those crowds again.
‘What now?’ she asked quietly. ‘Is there an after party?’
‘Yes. You want to go to it?’
Skylar hesitated, unsure how to answer. She didn’t want this night to end, but she didn’t want to be around all those other people and have everyone watching because she didn’t want their physical contact to be purely performative. ‘Do you?’
‘I’m not saying.’ He shot her a tantalising smile. ‘I dare you to make the decision, Skylar. You don’t need to please me or answer however you think that I want you to. Do what you want.’
Her pulse quickened. He’d dared her again. She was sure it was deliberate. Because that day her father had demanded the opposite over and over again— Don’t you dare ...
What she wanted was to be alone with him. They’d not had enough time alone together . Belatedly she realised that this movie was his version of Bernie. The lack of time together alone was a deliberate choice. This really was only about being seen with the same woman in public. He wouldn’t be with her at all if it weren’t for that stupid bet of his. He’d had his actual ‘one-date wonder’ with her and this was only for show.
‘I was merely being polite,’ she muttered. ‘These dates are your nights and what we do on them is your call.’
He stared down at her and that intensity in his eyes sharpened. She couldn’t move as she replayed her own tragic innuendo again. It’d honestly just slipped out—as if her subconscious determinedly sent him the invitation before she could think. But his wordless response—just that look in his eyes—made her toes curl.
Only he said nothing. He was good at that when he wanted to be. Saying nothing and walking away.
‘I should go home.’ But she ached for an alternative. And then she was mortified to be so bowled over by the charm he turned on anyone at any time.
He pulled his phone from his jacket pocket. ‘I’ll call the car.’
He kept his phone out and scrolled through some messages on the drive. She had little to say anyway, too busy battling her disappointment at his easy acquiescence.
Stupid hormones. They’d been triggered by their one-night stand last week and she needed to turn them back off. Urgently. She thought about the guys at university she’d kissed. The invitations at work that she’d turned down. People had stopped asking. Probably said she was frigid and honestly she was glad. It had made it easier. She’d wanted to focus only on work. And she had. Until now. Anger bubbled inside of her. But it wasn’t just that—hunger clawed. That old drive to be near him . Life was cruel. Why was it that the one guy who turned her on was an irritating playboy who only wanted one woman once?
Finally his driver pulled up outside her apartment and she forced a polite farewell for Zane. ‘Thanks for tonight, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.’
His sardonic smile flashed. ‘Even the press pen?’
‘Oh, no, that was hideous. I probably have my eyes closed in every photo.’
‘You don’t.’ He held up his phone to her.
‘They’re out there already?’ She leaned closer to study the pictures. For a moment she was stunned. Her eyes weren’t closed—she was too busy gazing up at him. It made her wince. This ‘date’ was fake, but her interest in him couldn’t be more obvious. She channelled her embarrassment into annoyance. ‘Don’t you hate this? It’s such an invasion of your privacy.’
‘Generally I don’t bother looking. It’s meaningless. But in this case, it’s how I’m going to win that bet.’
The damned bet. Helberg, the reason for it all. ‘Why do you want Helberg so badly? I don’t believe you’d make such a sacrifice for just any company—’
‘You think my spending time with you is some kind of a sacrifice?’ he interrupted, the pale blue of his eyes suddenly fiery.
She froze, caught in the flames.
‘Did you know you have this cute dimple in your left cheek?’ he said quietly. ‘See it here?’ He pointed to one of the pictures. ‘It doesn’t appear when you smile politely. Only when you giggle. I’m glad I made you giggle then.’
Embarrassed, she lifted her hand to her mouth.
‘And your immediate response is to hide it,’ he scoffed. ‘Why is that?’
But he was the one hiding—completely avoiding answering her question about Helberg. Again. Which was infuriating.
‘While your immediate response when faced with a difficult conversation is to distract your way out of it with flattery and flirtation. Or else you just go silent.’ She glared up at him. ‘You don’t want to tell me the truth.’
He stared at her for a long moment. ‘All right, I’ll tell you about Reed Helberg if you answer my questions.’
‘About what?’
He shook his head. ‘That’s my offer. Take it or leave it.’
‘Everything is a game to you.’
‘Not a game. A deal. In fact, this is a bargain because it’s so easy. It’s merely some answers to some questions—how difficult can that be?’
‘Well, it seems to be very difficult for you.’ She watched him suspiciously. ‘You have to be honest about you and Reed.’
There was the smallest hesitation. ‘Sure, I’ll be honest if you are.’
Oddly enough, she actually enjoyed being brutally honest with him and not bothering with the cautious politeness she always maintained around everyone else. ‘Fine. Tell me what happened with Reed.’ The man had a summer residence not far from the same town as them. A compound that had been in his family for generations. He liked to offer the scholarships to the kids of the local school. ‘He must’ve thought you were amazing. Offered you the scholarship to end all scholarships.’
Zane hesitated again. Shadows flickered in his eyes and his features sharpened. That’s when the penny dropped. He’d been a student at her high school for all his schooling years. She’d assumed it was because of his injuries—he’d needed to remain at home. And then he’d not gone on to university because he’d already made his fortune.
‘Didn’t he offer you one?’ she whispered.
‘Clever, Skylar,’ he muttered steadily. ‘I wasn’t good enough.’
Never could that be true. Never ever. Zane was a genius. And he’d had that shocking injury in the car accident that he’d fought back so strongly from. He’d shown strength and courage as well as intelligence. Whereas she’d worked so awfully hard just to be good enough for consideration.
‘How is that possible?’ she asked.
He chuckled but the bitterness touched her. ‘I guess I wasn’t the right kind of polite, malleable student who he could wheel out in front of guests to make him look good. He was pure egotist.’
Malleable? Well, the last thing Zane was, was malleable. He was his own person. A maverick who seemed to take little seriously—aside from making millions. ‘You were too much of a threat—’
‘My own ego was,’ he said. ‘I made my first million when I was still at school—’
‘But learning from home for half that time—’
‘Right.’ He blinked, disconcerted for a second. ‘Fool that I was, I wanted him to admit he’d been wrong about me. I was young and egotistical enough to feel pleased about the invitation to speak at the gala but Reed couldn’t have been more dismissive. Told me it was easy enough to make money. The real test was whether I’d be able to keep it. That he wasn’t a betting man but he was sure I’d fail.’
She stilled. Reed had rejected him. Repeatedly.
But now Zane smiled in reminiscence. ‘I’d had no idea you were going to be there, but you were that year’s scholar. As beautiful as ever. As well behaved as always. You wouldn’t even look at me.’
She felt her skin heat. Truth was, she’d not been able to meet his eyes initially because she’d not known what to say. The last time she’d seen him had been when her father had physically pulled them apart. She’d been mortified . By her father. By her own silence. But Zane himself had said nothing—he’d just stalked off. And he’d stalked off from the dinner that night too. But he’d muttered as he’d passed her.
‘I believe you called me pathetic,’ she said.
He nodded. ‘It wasn’t polite of me. But you were.’
That stung. ‘For being grateful?’
He drew in a deep breath.
She waited.
‘It was your brain that got your grades,’ he finally said. ‘Your work. You never needed that scholarship.’
He was wrong but she couldn’t tell him about the pressure her father had put on her—that both the school and varsity scholarships had provided something of a necessary escape. She felt too disloyal to her father to even think it, but sometimes she’d been caught between the contrary needs to please him and to have breathing space of her own...
‘I was just someone to take your annoyance out on,’ she muttered.
He shook his head. ‘I was pissed off that night but even more so when I saw you.’ His gaze roved over her face, settling on her eyes. ‘You were the perfect little protégée.’
‘We can’t all make our first million while we’re still in our teens.’ She frowned, turning her thoughts back to what Zane had told her. There had to be something more personal beyond his desire to prove himself to Reed Helberg.
‘Is that it?’ she challenged him. ‘He didn’t like you, so now you want to wreck his legacy?’ It didn’t make sense. Not when Zane himself admitted he didn’t give a damn about what anyone thought. ‘I know you. You’re not that pathetic. What aren’t you telling me?’
His eyes widened. ‘Those are the basic facts. Now it’s my turn for questions.’
She glared at him. He glared right back. Tension pulled the silence to screaming point—until Skylar felt forced to duck his gaze.
‘What do you want to know?’ she growled.
‘Why do you have so little fun?’
Her focus shot right back to his face. ‘Fun?’
‘You’re twenty-six and you were a virgin. What about boyfriends?’
‘Seriously?’ She shot an embarrassed glance towards the driver.
‘He can’t hear—’
‘You can ask me anything and you just want to know about my previous relationships?’
‘So you’ve had them?’ He leaned closer, eyebrows arching. ‘Had they all taken a purity pledge or something?’
‘There’s no “they,”’ she growled. ‘There’s been nothing and no one. Literally nothing.’
‘No relationships at all?’
She shook her head.
He stilled. ‘You don’t go out dancing? Not to bars or parties? You’re not on any dating apps?’
She kept shaking her head.
‘I get that you might not want a relationship, but don’t you want—?’
‘Casual sex?’ she interrupted. ‘No.’
‘Yet that’s what you had with me the other night,’ he muttered. ‘And you enjoyed it.’
‘Yes.’ But she couldn’t have it again. It wasn’t anything like she’d thought it would be. It had been hot and intense and honestly, all the damn stars had burst in the sky. She hated how wonderful it had been.
‘Don’t you want to experience that again? If not with me, then...’ He cleared his throat. ‘Someone else?’
Her blood quickened. That was the problem. Never with someone else. It was only he who made her inner siren emerge. Not that she’d admit that—he’d take too much egotistical pleasure from it. ‘Relationships. Affairs,’ she mumbled. ‘All that stuff...it’s too much effort.’
‘Effort?’ He shot her a startled look. ‘It didn’t take much effort from either of us the other night.’
Right. Again. ‘That was just...’
She tightened her grip on her clutch purse. She didn’t want to analyse this.
His gaze narrowed. ‘You put so much effort into your work, you obviously think that effort is worth it.’
‘Of course.’
‘But you don’t think what happened the other night is worth a little more effort ?’
Sometimes the best defence was offence. ‘I don’t think you’re in any real position to talk to me about making an effort.’
He laughed. ‘Meaning?’
‘You constantly acquire big only to then discard almost everything,’ she said. ‘Isn’t it exhausting?’
‘Are we talking about women here or—’
‘Buying companies.’ After all, that was his real passion. ‘Breaking them up. Selling the best parts off in packages and letting the rest decay. Don’t you ever want to put long-term effort into one of them? You’re all about quick returns and moving on to the next project. Surely there’s no real satisfaction in such fast turnover?’
‘I’m very satisfied with my returns,’ he said smugly. ‘My talent is spotting the acquisition. Helberg is obvious—so obvious that I’ve got serious competition for it. Other acquisitions aren’t always as clear-cut.’
‘You like finding those ones best. Spotting the treasure before others see it. You like getting to them first...’ She inhaled deep, pleased she was back to being annoyed with him. He was so annoyingly confident and capable. He was all cream—rising to the top in everything, all the time.
‘You don’t know me , Skylar.’
‘I know plenty,’ she scoffed. ‘You were literally the poster boy at our old school.’
‘And of course you paid close attention to some poster—to everything you were taught,’ he drawled. ‘Such a good student. You think you see everything? Perception and reality are often two very different things. Won’t you consider that maybe you’re misinformed?’
‘Then educate me,’ she snapped. ‘Properly.’
His pupils flared.
She wanted him to school her. Badly . Being this close to him was torture. But being closer still was as effortless as breathing—was bliss. She ached for that. She stared at his mouth hovering just above hers. Seconds became centuries again and it took her too long to realise that he was speaking. It was the softest, most strained of whispers.
‘I think you’d better go inside, Skylar.’