Actually Love - Jessie & Zach by Melanie Shawn Read Free Book Online

it. In his opinion the only thing worse than dipping your pen in the company ink, was shitting where you eat or in this case live. Zach never slept with his neighbors, much less a roommate.
    Still, if their attraction was the only issue, Zach could pretty easily overlook it. The brownstone was perfect for his needs. Even more perfect now that they would be splitting the rent. There was no way he was going to let her pay more than fifty percent, no matter what bedroom she had.
    Zach had no issue with the fact that Margie thought he and Jessie were a couple. She had jumped to that conclusion all on her own and then Jessie had decided to run with it. He’d basically stood by silently. He would be a good tenant, and going purely off instincts, Jessie would be too. Definitely a lot better than the frat boys or daddy’s girl he’d seen today.
    So the real issue was not that they were going into this under false pretenses. It wasn’t that Jessie’s body made him want to do things that would make grown men blush. The problem was Zach liked her.
    He wanted to get to know her. He was intrigued by her. He was already looking forward to the next time he saw her.
    How in the hell could he live with her and keep his distance?
    “Zach?” Jessie’s sweet voice cut through all of the thoughts that were rioting in his brain.
    Suddenly, he had clarity. He was an up-front guy. If they were going to do this, he wanted their cards on the table. “Are we going to talk about what happened in the basement?”
    “There’s nothing to talk about,” Jessie snapped, her arms crossing in front of her defensively.
    Zach smiled at how damn cute she was when she got all snippy. “So you weren’t about to kiss me before Mabel and Margie interrupted us?”
    Jessie’s mouth fell open with an audible exhale before she shut it. After opening it to speak, she just closed it again. She repeated this several more times without actually saying anything. Then, leaning back against her chair, she spread her fingers out, laying them flat on the table as she took a deep breath.
    Her eyes locked with his, a look of steely determination in them as she said, “What happened in the basement stays in the basement.”
    Zach’s head fell back as he burst out laughing. That was the last thing he’d expected her to say. She was basically admitting that something had happened but in a way that showed she wasn’t taking it too seriously, nor did she want to discuss it further.
    When he stopped laughing, he looked back at her to find her smiling broadly. The sight of her looking happy, relaxed, and open caused a catch in his heart. Damn, this was not good.
    “Look,” she said, leaning her elbows on the table. “Whatever attraction that we may feel for each other is really not an issue for me. Nothing is going to happen between us. I can handle that. Can you?”
    She really was good. He’d met his share of manipulative girls in his life. Zach wouldn’t say that Jessie fit into that category, but she definitely used what she had to her advantage. He just had one more question.
    “What do you do for a living, Jessie?”
    “I’m in PR.”
    That made perfect sense. No wonder she had been able to come up with the story of how they’d met on a dime. She spun things for a living.
    “So… Do. We. Have. A. Deal?” Jessie spoke each word deliberately.
    “Yes. We do, roomie.” Not knowing if this was the best or worst decision of his life, Zach extended his hand. The second he felt her smooth skin touch his, his body tightened with need.
    Holy shit . The scales were definitely leaning towards worst decision.

Chapter Four

    J essie could not process what her eyes were seeing. She moved her mouse and clicked on the icon to at the bottom of the page that read ‘show more results.’ The page populated with more pictures of Zach.
    Zach with models. Zach with actresses. Zach in the boxing ring. Zach in shirtless publicity shots.
    After typing ‘Zach Courtland’