Something about the Boss...

“I’d like to know more about you,” he answered, closing his menu and laying it on the crisp white linen of the tablecloth. “We work together. There’s no reason why we can’t be friends also.”

* * *

Sophie swallowed. There was a determined set to his jaw that she knew from watching him at work meant he wasn’t going to let this go. Why, oh why had she been so careless with her tongue? From the second she’d agreed to this dinner she’d been off balance. Could she be friends with someone like Zach? She very much doubted it; especially considering how unfriendlike she’d felt when he’d ever so slightly touched her while rescuing her dress from the voracious teeth of the zipper.

She’d all but melted at the unintentional caress, and had had to draw on every last ounce of self-control to stifle the gasp that had threatened to expose her reaction to his touch. No, friendly was the last word she’d ever employ to describe how he made her feel.

Could she be friends with him, though? Honestly?

It would be tantamount to torture. But worse, how on earth could she explain that to him? She took a deep breath and let it go slowly before speaking. “I’m pretty boring, really.”

“You think so?” he answered, cocking his head and locking those startlingly green eyes of his onto her like twin lasers.

She squirmed a little in her seat, and immediately regretted the action as she became even more aware of the silky softness of her underthings against her skin and of the way the silk lining of her dress whispered against her body.

“Well, by comparison to you, for example,” she deflected, quite neatly she thought, right up until he let loose with a rich belt of laughter.

“Oh, Sophie, you couldn’t be more wrong. I’ve been told I live to work. There’s not much more boring than that.”

Even though he joked at his own expense, she could see the light of an old hurt lingering in the back of his gaze. Compassion flooded her. A man in his early thirties, in his prime both mentally and physically, living to work? It was sad. Something must have shown on her face, because he sobered and reached across the table to grasp her hand.

“Don’t worry about me,” he said, his voice dropping intimately.

Oh, she wasn’t worried about him, not exactly. Of more immediate concern was the crazy flip-flop her stomach did as his thumb lightly stroked the inside of her palm. She gently pulled her hand away from his, relief and regret fighting for supremacy as he made no move to stop her.

“What makes you think I’m worried?” she asked, a note of defense in her voice.

“You have the most expressive face,” he answered, his eyes not shifting an inch. “It’s easy to see when something’s troubling you.”

As long as that was all he could see, she thought worriedly. What if he could see the longing she felt every time she looked at him? A man like Zach Lassiter was so far out of her league it wasn’t even funny. But a girl could dream, couldn’t she?

“There’s not much that troubles me,” Sophie said, closing her menu and placing it in front of her. She could barely concentrate on the culinary delights the pages offered. It wouldn’t matter what she ordered, it was bound to be delicious.

“But you’re worried about Alex, aren’t you? I can see it on your face every morning when you arrive in the office and he’s not there.”

“Aren’t you?” she countered. “He’s your friend as well as your colleague. Aren’t you worried about where he is, what might have happened to him?”

“Sure I am,” Zach replied. “I feel frustrated I can’t do more. The only thing I know I can do is keep all those plates he had spinning from falling down so that when he comes back everything will still be as it should.”

“Is that why you’re in the office so early each morning and don’t leave until after I do?” Sophie asked without thinking.

He looked startled at her question and his eyes became slightly shuttered before he replied. “Yeah, there’s a lot going on right now.”

“Can I take more of your load off you?” she offered.

“No, of course not. You already are the glue that holds the office together. No one could expect more of you than you already give. In fact, let’s make that the end of the subject of work. We’re here tonight because I wanted to thank you for everything you’ve done, not discuss how you can do more.”

He smiled at that last sentence but Sophie could tell it was a deflection. She’d been wondering what it was that was keeping him in the office for such long hours. He was right, she did keep the office running, and she knew exactly what stage each of Alex’s projects had been at before he’d disappeared. Unless Zach had suddenly become wildly incompetent, he should have been able to handle everything—his own portfolios included—within normal business hours, which made her wonder: What was he really up to?

Four

She reached for her water glass and took a tiny sip, letting the cool water slide down her throat while her mind worked overtime. The mere fact that he hadn’t sent more work her way for all the extra hours he was putting in was a glaring red flag to her. Why hadn’t she seen that earlier?

Her work had always increased incrementally depending on Alex’s output. Zach was doing something he didn’t want her to know about, he had to be. She was almost certain of it. But it was anyone’s guess what, exactly, that was. Could he somehow be involved in Alex’s disappearance? Was he actively hiding his tracks? The questions were never far from the back of her mind, even though she didn’t want to believe Zach was entangled in whatever had led to Alex virtually vanishing off the face of the earth.

There had to be some way she could find out.

“I do appreciate your hard work, Sophie,” he said, dragging her attention back. “And I know you put in some very long hours. Doesn’t your boyfriend object?”

“I don’t have a boyfriend,” she answered, feeling warm color flood her cheeks again.

Silently she cursed her fair complexion. There was only one man she was interested in and he was sitting right opposite her. What would he say, she wondered, if she told him exactly that? She fought back a smile. He’d probably make some excuse to draw the evening to a close early.

“I’m surprised. You’re a very attractive woman,” Zach said seriously, ensnaring her in his gaze like a predatory cat with its prey.

“Thank you,” she said, dipping her head.

“So, no boyfriend, huh? What do you like to do in your spare time if you don’t have a significant other filling it with you?”

“I read a lot, romances mostly and the occasional crime thriller.” She shrugged. “And I keep house, see friends. The usual things.”

“Did you grow up around here?”

She nodded, “Sure did, and I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. Big cities aren’t my thing and I love the lifestyle that Royal has to offer.”

“It’s a different pace here, that’s for sure.”

“What about you?” she asked, happy to turn the tables on him for a change. Even though she was fairly certain of the answer, she couldn’t help probing. “Girlfriend?”

His face closed again, all warmth replaced by a sorrow that flashed briefly across his face. “No girlfriend,” he said emphatically. “Too many other things going on in my life.”

And what would they be? Sophie wondered as the waiter interrupted them to take their orders. After ordering a lamb shank braised in red wine, she wasn’t at all surprised to hear Zach order the eye fillet steak. He looked like a man who liked his red meat.

“Lamb?” he said to her after the waiter had taken their orders and moved away from the table. “You come to what is essentially the best steak house in Texas and you order lamb?”

Sophie shrugged. “It’s what appealed to me at the time. At least I ordered a domestic wine, not some fancy imported beer. And here I thought you were proudly American all the way?”

“Fair point.” Zach nodded slowly, then smiled as said fancy imported beer was put in front of him and her Californian white zinfandel placed before her.

She watched as he took a long pull of the chilled lager, her eyes mesmerized by the muscles working in his throat and then by the smile of satisfaction on his beautiful features as he put the glass back down in front of him. Oh, how she wished that she could be the reason behind a smile like that from him one day. The second the thought formed, she beat it to the back of her mind again. That way could only lead to trouble.

“Now that makes a hard day at the office worthwhile,” he said with a soul-deep gratification that brought another smile to her face.

“Simple pleasures, huh?”

He looked at her as if to check if she was still teasing him after the imported beer comment, then gave another nod of acknowledgment. “Yeah, when it comes down to it, it’s the simple things that matter the most. Don’t you agree?”

“Totally. For me it’s home and family. One day I hope to have both.”