To seduce me? he finished.
His silky whisper and the intense fire in his black eyes rubbed her nerves raw.
It wasnt like that and you know it. II couldnt help it if Thurman hated you for what I did.
Lets not kid ourselves. You did what you did. I dont give a damn anymore about why you did it.
Shame and some darker emotion she didnt want him to sense scorched her cheeks as she turned away from the coldness in his face. If I could have undone what I did or said, or what I caused people to believe about you, I would have.
Hollow wordssince you could have stepped up and cleared my name at any point. You didnt. Like a fool, I waited for you to do just that. I was young. I believed in you back then. His mouth tightened into a hard, forbidding line. But, no, you ran off to New Orleans where you probably seduced somebody else.
There was never anyone but you She swallowed tightly. I-I tried to apologizeand explain. You refused to take my calls. I even went to Houston looking for you after your uncle took you away, but you wouldnt see me.
By then I knew what a talented manipulator you were.
At his dark, unforgiving scowl, she sucked in a tortured breath. If you hate me so much, why wont you just go?
I dont hate you. Frankly, I dont consider you worth the waste of any more emotion. What Im doing here isnt about you. Ive made a name for myself in other places. When Nick called me a few months ago, I realized Id never let go of what happened here and neither have the people of this town or the media. Maybe Ive decided its time I changed a few peoples minds.
Your stepfather used to be the biggest man in these parts. Not anymore. I intend to be bigger than he ever was. I intend to make him pay for what he did-to kill him with kindness, bestowed upon his town.
I want you to leave Gram and Tuck alone. Im buying this property from her because I wont have you cheating her to get back at me.
Youd better not make accusations like that in public.
And youd better stop trying to make me look bad to my grandmother, whos started nagging me about not coming home often enough!
Havent you been neglecting her?
Well, if I dont come home, its because of you. I-I cant forgetwhen Im home, she finished raggedly.
Dark hurt flashed in his eyes but was gone so fast she was sure shed only imagined it.
When he stomped toward the front door, she blocked his way. At her nearness, his hard body tensed. When their gazes locked, a muscle in his jawline jerked savagely. His breathing had roughened.
He wasnt nearly as indifferent as hed said.
Nor was she.
Move aside, he muttered.
Hurt, she lashed out. No-this is my grandmothers house. I wont allow you to use her to get at me. So-leave.
Like hell!
When she stood her ground, his hands closed over her forearms. But as he tried to edge her aside, she stomped down on his foot with her heel.
Cursing, he tightened his grip and crushed her against his muscular length.
Despite the unwanted shiver of excitement his touch caused, her tone was mild. Would you please let me go?
A dozen warring emotions played across his dark face as she struggled to free herself.
I dont think I will.
Locking her slim, wriggling body to his made their embrace even more alarmingly intimate.
Youre trembling, he said. Why? Are you acting now? Or do you feel what I He broke off with a look of self-contempt.
Damn you for this, he muttered. Youre not the only one who cant forget.
Even if she hadnt felt his powerful arousal against her pelvis, his blazing eyes betrayed his potent male need. Then his gaze hardened with determination, and she watched breathlessly as he lowered his mouth to hers.
I shouldnt do this, he whispered fiercely, bending her backward, molding her even more tightly to the hard contours of his body. God help me, I know what you are, what you did.
You did things, too Hed hurt her terribly. Yet she wanted him, ached for him.
I cant stop myself, he muttered. But then I never could where you were concerned.
No sooner did his warm mouth close over hers than she turned to flame. If hed flung her onto the chaise longue and followed her down, she would have forgotten the hurt that had turned her heart to stone for fifteen years. She would have ripped his jeans apart at the waist, sliding her hands inside.
She wanted to touch him, kiss him everywhere, wind her legs and arms around him and surrender completely-even though she knew his need was based on the desire to punish while hers was due to temporary insanity.
On a sigh, her arms circled his tanned neck, and she clung, welding herself to his lean frame in a way that told him all that she felt. She was a woman now, a woman whose needs had been too long denied. When he shuddered violently, she gasped his name.
Zach Im sorry, she murmured as warm tears leaked from her eyes and trickled down her cheek. She feathered gentle fingertips through his thick, inky hair. I wronged you, and Im so sorry. For years Ive wanted to make it up to you. She hesitated. But You hurt me, too.
For fifteen years, shed been dead in the arms of every other man whod held her.
She hadnt felt this alive since shed last been in Zachs embrace.
His hand closed over her breast, stroking a nipple until it hardened. The other hand had moved down to cup her hip.
His hand closed over her breast, stroking a nipple until it hardened. The other hand had moved down to cup her hip.
Next he undid the buttons of her blouse so that it parted for his exploration. For one glorious moment she was her younger self and wildly in love with him again. Back then she had trusted him completely. Shed given him everything of herself. With a sigh, she leaned into him as he stroked her, and her response sent him over some edge.
He rasped in a breath. Then, in the next shuddering instant, he ended their kiss, tearing his lips free, leaving her desolate, abandoned.
Loosening his grip, he let her go and staggered free of her as if hed been burned. He raked a large, shaking hand through his hair and swore violently, staring anywhere but at her.
Damn you, he muttered, inhaling deeply. I see why you do so well on Broadway. Youre like a tigress in heat. Is that why Hugh Jones took up with you so fast?
Summer was about to confess she felt nothing when Hugh kissed her-nothing-but Zach spoke first.
Brilliant performance, he said. You deserve an Oscar.
So do you, she whispered in breathless agony as she dried her cheeks with the back of her hand. She couldnt let him know that for a few magical seconds shed actually cared.
Id better go before I do something incredibly stupid, he said.
Like what? she murmured, feeling dazed from his mesmerizing kiss and savage embrace.
Like take you back to my house to do whatever the hell I want to do with youfor as long as I want.
Oh?
Dont look at me like that! I know what you are. Damn you for making me want the impossible, he muttered.
She clenched her fists, not any happier than he was to realize that she wanted the impossible, too.
He didnt like her. With good reason. Their past was too painful to revisit. What burned inside her, and in him, was lust-visceral and destructive.
Gram opened the front door. Her violet, silver-lashed eyes wide, she peered out at them with excessive interest, causing Summer, whose blouse was still unbuttoned, to blush with shame even as she quickly pulled the edges back together. The last thing she wanted to do was get Grams hopes up about a romantic reunion with Zach.
Oh, my go-o-o-d-ness. Gram worked hard to hide her pleasure at the sight of Zachs blazing eyes and her granddaughters scarlet face and state of dishabille. Im so sorry. In a softer voice directed toward Summer, she said, And I thought you told me you wanted nothing more to do with him. There was that sly note of satisfaction in her tone again.
I dont, Summer cried, but the door had already closed behind her triumphant grandmother. Why didnt you tell me he was coming over? she called after Gram. Then Summer turned and said to Zach, Why did I even ask, when I specifically ordered her not to mention you?
Zachs eyes went flat and cold. As far as Im concerned, this never happened. But-if you see me again-youd better run. You and I have more unfinished business than I realized. Dont give me any more reasons to come after you and finish what you started.
Suspecting he must want revenge, she swallowed. Dont threaten me.
Its not a threat. Its a promise, a warning. If youre smart, youll stay away from me.
As if to emphasize his words, he strode over to her. Reaching up his hand, he ran a calloused fingertip along her damp cheek, causing her to shiver involuntarily.
I want you in my bed. I want you to pay for what you did. In every way that I demand.
Startled, because the image he painted-of lying under him on a soft bed-aroused her to such a shocking degree, she jumped back. Out of his sensually lethal reach, her voice was firm. I wont be seeing you again.
Good. Tell your grandmother Ill call her after you leave town.
His gorgeous mouth curled. Looking every bit as furious and ashamed as Summer was beginning to feel, Zach turned on his heel and strode down the gravel drive, leaving her to wonder how she could have stood there like a besotted idiot and let him touch her again after sharing such an embarrassing kiss.
None of this happened, Summer whispered consolingly to herself when she finally heard the roar of his car. Too aware of gravel spinning viciously, she sank down onto the steps and hugged her knees tightly.
She felt cold and hot at the same time.
It was all a horrible mistake. Zach didnt like that it had happened any more than she did.
She was glad he felt that way.
She was glad!
Somehow she had to make Gram and Tuck understand that Zach was dangerous, that hed threatened her.
Tuck, whod gotten in trouble too many times to count, could not continue to work for Zach, who would use whatever her brother did to his own advantage.
Squaring her shoulders, Summer got to her feet and picked up the remaining pages of her script. Then she ran into the house and up the stairs where she took a long, cold shower and brushed her teeth.