Probably her.
Zach had wadded the newspaper and thrown it in the trash. In his penthouse suite, staring out at the city of Houston, which was littered with the skyscrapers hed built and owned, hed never felt more isolated.
She had a life-perhaps she even loved that famous, egotistical movie star-while he had only his fierce ambition and immense wealth. Hed gone through his contact list on his smart phone, called a beautiful blonde who resembled Summer and asked her out. But that night, after dinner, when shed invited him up to her loft, hed said he had to work. Driving home, feeling empty and more alone than ever, hed burned for Summer.
So, hed seized his opportunity. Hed used her brother to get her here.
Coffee? His attorneys pretty secretary offered from the doorway.
No, Zach thundered without even bothering to ask Summer, for whom he felt irrational fury because she wouldnt stop consuming his thoughts.
He wasnt in the mood for niceties. When the secretary left and Summers long-lashed, legendary violet-blue eyes flicked in alarm, he felt as if shed sucker punched him in the gut. Damn her, for having this much power over him.
His heart hardened against her knockout beauty even as other parts of his body hardened because of it. He wished he could forget the softness of her breast and the firmness of her butt and the sweet taste of her lips. He wished he didnt ache to hold her and touch her again. He wanted to kiss her and force her to forget all about Jones.
How many others had there been in her bed since Zach? Legions, he imagined with a rush of bitterness. A Broadway star with a face and figure like hers, not to mention a budding movie career, could have anybody-directors, producers, actors, fans.
Hell, she had Hugh Jones, didnt she? But was she as responsive when Jones touched her? Had Zach only imagined shed been pushing against Jones, trying to free herself, when that picture had been taken?
None of it mattered. Zach wanted her in his bed with an all-consuming hunger. And he was determined to have her.
As if she read his thoughts, she flushed and glanced down, staring at her white, ice-pick heels rather than at him. Still, her sultry voice made him burn when she whispered, almost shyly, Sorry Im late. Traffic. I had to go by Grams firstto check on Tuck.
Hows he doing? Zach asked, standing up and placing his hand on the back of the chair he intended to offer her.
Hed found Tuck drunk and unconscious on the living-room floor of Zachs new house. The garage doors had been open, and Zachs Lamborghini and second Mercedes had been missing.
Fortunately, Zach had come home unexpectedly and had caught two of Tucks friends, also drunk, ransacking his house, or he might have suffered worse losses. Since then, the automobiles had been found abandoned in New Orleans.
Zach blamed himself, in part, for not having hired an appropriate staff for the house.
Tucks doing okay. Summer answered his question as she stepped farther into the room, her legs as light and graceful as a dancers, her silky white dress flowing against her hips. He remembered how sexy shed looked when shed bent over in her short shorts on her grandmothers porch.
And why shouldnt she be graceful and sexy? She was a performer, a highly paid one. Everything she did was part of a deliberate, well-rehearsed act. Maybe the kiss theyd shared when shed seemed to quiver so breathlessly had been a performance, as well.
She sat down in the chair hed indicated and crossed her legs prettily. He stayed on his feet because staring down at her gave him the advantage.
Even though he knew what she was, and what she was capable of, the years slid away. Again he was sixteen, the bad new homeless kid in school with the sullen, bruised face. Everybody had been scared of him. Summer had been the popular, pampered high-school freshman, a princess whod had every reason to feel superior to him.
People talked in a town the size of Bonne Terre. Everybody knew everybody. Nobody approved of Nick dragging such a rough kid home and foisting him upon the school. Thurman Wallace had even demanded Zach be thrown out.
Only Summer, whod been a precocious thirteen and two years ahead of her age in school, hadnt looked down on Zach. Not even when all the other kids and her step-daddy thought she should. No, even on that first day, when Roger Nelson, a football star, had demanded to know what Zach had done to make a guy hate him so much hed beaten him nearly to death, shed butted in and defended him.
Maybe thats not what happened, shed said. Maybe Zach was in the right, defending himself, and the other guy was in the wrong. We dont know.
So what happened, Torr? Nelson had demanded.
Why should I tell you?
See, hes trash, Pollyanna, Nelson had jeered. Anybody can see that!
Well, then maybe Im blind, because I cant, shed insisted. I see a person who needs a friend.
Not long after that Summer had become his secret best friend.
The memories slipped away, and Zach was heatedly aware of the woman seated before him.
As if she couldnt resist using her power on him, Summer tipped her head his way, sending that thick curtain of blond hair over her shoulders as her blue eyes burned into the center of his soul.
Zach, thanks for getting Tuck medical attention so fast. They said you had specialists flown in from Houston. Her face was soft, beguilingly grateful.
Clenching a fist, he jammed it in a pocket. He wasnt buying into her gratitude. Not when he knew shed do anything to keep her brother from being arrested.
The doctors are personal friends of mine in Houston. It was either fly them here or airlift him to New Orleans. He was out cold. He had a bump the size of a hens egg on his head and a gash that needed stitches, so I wanted to make sure he was just drunk and that there was no serious head injury involved.
Thank you, she said.
I dont see any need for us to make a big deal about something anyone would have done.
You paid for everything, too. We have insurance. If youll invoice me, Ill-
Youll pay me. Fine, he growled.
He was blown away by his feelings. He wanted her so badly he could think of nothing else, and she was coldly talking money.
You said you wanted to see me. Ive talked to Tuck, and he feels terrible about everything that happened. He had no idea those boys were going to steal anything or tear up your house. The last thing he remembers is hearing a noise in the garage and stumbling across the living room to check it out. Then he must have tripped.
Oh, really? What about the money that went missing when he was fired from his last job? Your brothers been running pretty wild all summer. Hes nineteen. Old enough to know what the guys he runs around with are capable of.
He was just showing off. They said theyd never seen a billionaires place. He wanted to impress them.
He shouldnt have invited them over or given them my whiskey.
He shouldnt have invited them over or given them my whiskey.
I agree, and so does henow. He just didnt think.
Your Tucks had too many run-ins with the law for me to buy into his innocence. Hes been indulged in Bonne Terre. Maybe because hes a Wallace.
Thats what this is about, isnt it-his last name? You were hoping something like this would happen. You deliberately hired my trouble-prone brother, set him up, so you could get back at me.
He tensed at her accusation. Since youre so quick to blame others for his actions, Im beginning to see why hes so irresponsible.
Heat flared in her eyes. He noted that she was breathing irregularly, that her breasts were trembling.
You have no right to use him this way. Hes practically an orphan. I was twelve when he was born. He was two when our father ran off, four when Mother married Thurman and he adopted us. If my stepfather was hard on me by pushing me in school, demanding I excel and graduate two years ahead of my class, he constantly browbeat Tuck, calling him a wimp and a sissy whod never amount to anything. I was the favorite. Tuck could never measure up.
After our mother died, he was raised by a stepfather who disliked him and then by aunts who cared more for their own children, and later by his grandmother, whos become too old and lenient. And I admit, I dont come home often enough.
Zach had figured all that out for himself. The kid had no direction. She and Viola were protective of Tuck, but didnt demand enough responsibility from the boy.
And what do you do-you put him in temptations way so you can get at me, she repeated in a shaky tone. Since hes been in trouble before, if you press charges and hes tried and convicted, he could be locked up for a long time. You knew that when you hired him. If this gets out to the media, there will be a frenzy.
Zach paced to the window. If you believe I deliberately used Tuck to hurt you, you wouldnt believe anything I told you to defend myself. So, I wont bother.
Oh, please. You threatened me the last time I saw you. I think youve ordered me here because you intend to make good on that threat!
Yes, he wanted to yell.
I want to sleep with you so badly Id do almost anything to accomplish that!
But then the intensity of her pleading look made him jerk his gaze from hers.
She was afraid of him.
He didnt want her fear. He wanted her warm and passionate and wild, as shed been the first time.
He strode back to the table and picked up the legal documents in which hed accused her younger brother of a felony.
When he saw his grip on the papers made his tendons stand out, Zach knew he was dangerously close to losing control. What was her hold over him?
By all rights he should have the upper hand in this situation. Her brother had brought thugs to his home to rip him off. He had every right to demand justice. But Tuck, whod trusted him, needed help. He needed direction. Zach remembered how he himself had been derailed as a kid due to vengeful adult agendas.
Feeling torn between his ruthless desire and his personal code of ethics, Zach threw the documents onto the table. Then he glared at Summer fiercely, willing revulsion into his gaze.
But she was wide-eyed, vulnerable. Her perfect face was tight-lipped and pale; her shoulders slumped. Shed said she never wanted to see him again, but shed come today. With a career like hers, shed probably been busy as hell, but shed come because she was genuinely worried about her brother and wanted to help him.