My face went scarlet. "Zane, zip it! You get more shameless every day!"
He rubbed his nose, looking a little embarrassed for once. "...I mostly just missed you."
Like always, he trailed me around all afternoon—food, shops, whatever I wanted. Whatever I said, the answer was yes. After dark, I walked him to his hotel. I tapped my key card and turned to leave.
Zane caught my hand. "Zo. You haven't done the inspection yet."
Full puppy-dog, begging-for-a-gold-star face. How was I supposed to say no to that? I pulled my hand free and crossed my arms, looking him over.
"Big talk. Fine. Shirt off."
Zane shrugged off his jacket in one motion, hair sticking up in spots, absolutely static-disaster. Chest rising and falling a little too fast, he asked: "Zo, feel. Tell me that's not what you were picturing?"
He took my hand and slid it under his t-shirt. Warm skin. Clean, stacked ridges of muscle. My face ignited. I snatched my hand back, heart slamming—but my mouth, as always, was made of steel.
"It'll do. Barely."
I clasped my hands behind my back and rubbed my fingertips together, because I could not forget how that felt.
Zane blinked at me, all innocent confusion. "What's wrong? Not big enough? I knew it—I've been doing legs lately, I've been slacking on chest—"
My eyes drifted downward as he talked. Down toward his legs. To the...
I wrenched my face away and clapped a hand over his still-muttering mouth. "Okay! That's enough!"
The half of his face still visible above my hand—long lashes fluttering, clear eyes blinking at me—did it again. There went my heart. Since when was he this dangerous with his mouth covered? Was it the mouth-covering? It was definitely the mouth-covering.
I pulled my hand back, and he caught my wrist and pressed it against the door, leaning in.
"I've been working so hard to become the kind of guy you like. Can I have my reward?"
"What... what kind of reward?"
Zane bent closer. His breath grazed my cheek. "I want... to kiss you."
I froze. Forgot to say no. The next second, his mouth was on mine.
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