Memo: Marry Me? by Jennie Adams Read Free Book Online Page A

look she was receiving now.
    She cast about for some excuse for her mumbling, for some distraction from her awareness of him. Their arrival at the exclusive harbour-side address saved her.
    The Opera House shimmered in the distance. Cars crawled like busy, multi-coloured ants across the harbour bridge. Boats of all shapes and sizes dotted the water.
    It was beautiful, sultry, a living, breathing part of the city that couldn’t help but entice. At another time, her surroundings would have worked wonders on her mood. ‘We’re here. And right on time to see your
client
— Mr Goodman. For the
business discussions
he scheduled.’
    Oh, she had worked hard to make sure she retained this name and the business-meeting ruse that went with it!
    Zach wondered why Lily’s voice had been breathless, and sounded patently relieved. Not to mention her emphasising half her words as though she believed he had suddenly lost most of his comprehension skills. ‘It’s a coincidence that Vince chose this venue. I’m a part owner,’ Zach replied.
    Was she relieved because they could finally quit the confines of the rear seat of the taxi? Because they wouldn’t have to be in such close proximity any longer? Was she as sensually charged with awareness of him as he was of her at this moment?
    So much for her idea that they could bury their attraction to each other.
    Lily nodded with what seemed to be unnecessary enthusiasm. ‘Yes, your moth — that is,
Mr Goodman
mentioned you were a part owner in the restaurant.’
    ‘The owner had allowed the place to lose its verve. He didn’t want to sell out, so I bought a share, helped him improve the appeal to the public.’ He didn’t care about that, only wanted to thread his fingers into her upswept hair, to touch her scalp and feel it tighten beneath his hands.
    She wasn’t right for him. More to the point, he could never be right for her. The woman had a cat and some sort of egg-producing fowl, for heaven’s sake. Five years ago, he hadn’t even been able to meet Lara’s demands. And his ex-fiancée’s idea of home-making had been to take a page from
Homes of the Rich and Beautiful
and have a team of decorators apply it to her apartment.
    Zach paid the driver, and helped Lily out of the taxi. Got distracted by a glimpse of long leg beneath the shimmering dress.
    ‘You look sensational tonight.’ He growled the words from deep within. ‘You might as well know, I want to examine every part of you. At my leisure, and preferably in private.’
    ‘It’s — you can’t simply up and say — ’ She sputtered to a stop, but twin flags of colour flared in her cheeks and her eyes glittered.
    ‘Then I’ll just look.’ He did exactly that, taking his time to examine every inch of her. The dress was a shimmering blend of autumn shades that shaped to her torso and hips, and flared just enough from knee to ankle to make movement possible, with a slit that ended mid-thigh.
    High in front, a small V-dip in the back, it was perfectly respectable and rather old-worldly. But it caressed her in ways that made his hands itch to do likewise.
    ‘Dressed as you are, and with your hair piled up so that your neck seems smooth and endless, is it any surprise that I want to draw you back into the cab and kiss you until we both run out of breath?’
    ‘You have a b-business meeting,’ she stammered, and clutched her evening bag in both hands as though to shield herself from him.
    Or maybe to stop those hands from doing something they shouldn’t — like reaching out to him? Their gazes clashed, and he saw the trammelled awareness in her eyes, and wanted to tell her to let it go free, to let it lead her…to him.
    It was madness. But maybe it would happen, be unleashed, before either of them would be able to move beyond it.
    For surely, if they gave in to this mutual interest, the results would be less than he imagined. It couldn’t possibly be all that his body and his senses told him he could find with