‘Well, as I didn’t get a chance to shower at the studio, I’ll take one now. I spent so much of the day being thrown in the lake, I fear I’ve got trench foot. Let me know if you need my muscle.’
He expected a comment along the lines of her being able to handle a bunch of teenagers, but instead he received a distracted nod of her head.
Fifteen minutes later he bumped into her on the landing as he was doing up his shirt.
Had he deliberately decided to walk out of his room before getting fully dressed? Quite possibly. His days with her were numbered – might actually be over already – and he was prepared to use all the ammunition he had to convince her what they had was worth exploring.
‘How’s Debs?’
‘All good. I heard Anna’s mum in the background.’
When her eyes didn’t stray above his neck, he felt a dart of satisfaction. ‘Should I do my shirt up?’ he inquired mildly. ‘You seem a little distracted.’
‘Oh no, it’s fine.’ She took a step back, her gaze bouncing guiltily away. ‘I told you before, I’m immune to all that now.’
‘You are?’ Her expression told him something else. ‘What if I do this?’ He reached for her hand and placed it on his naked chest, experiencing a scorching wave of heat where her fingers touched his skin.
‘Still immune.’ But her breath came out in short, choppy breaths, and her cheeks were flushed.
Slowly he moved her hand to cover his heart. ‘Feel my heartbeat?’ It was racing, thumping madly against his ribcage. ‘That’s how immune I am to you.’
He heard her sharp intake of breath and watched as she swallowed convulsively before finally raising her eyes to his. And snatching her hand away. ‘We need to talk.’
Frustrated, he began to do up his shirt in stiff, jerky movements. ‘Fine.’
‘Please, don’t be like that.’ When she met his gaze, he was shocked to see the plea in her dark eyes. ‘You know what you do to me, but that isn’t important right now.’ She drew her shoulders back. ‘I need to tell you about the meeting with Mark and Jerry.’
Well, that successfully put a pin in his seduction hopes, and in his ardour. He wasn’t sure which he dreaded more; being told the two men thought he was still at risk, meaning he’d keep Kat as a bodyguard.
Or being told he was no longer in danger and could go home.
Chapter 22
Kat was glad when Zac buttoned up his shirt. It was hard enough to tell him Vision Films no longer wanted to protect him, but she did. To do that when it was so blatantly obvious she couldn’t take her eyes off him? That would raise more questions than she was ready to answer.
She waited until he’d sat down on the armchair, one leg neatly crossed over the other, hands resting loosely in his lap.
‘Jerry believes you are no longer in danger, so he’s terminated the contract with UK Security. Well, technically he’s suspended it, pending any further information that might come to light, but it amounts to the same thing, I guess.’
His jaw tightened a fraction, but other than that, his expression remained frustratingly enigmatic. ‘I’m free to go home then?’
‘Yes.’ Holy cow, where had these nerves come from? Her belly was alive with them, wriggling around her insides. ‘But I don’t think you should.’
His eyes snapped to hers. ‘Why?’
‘Because I don’t believe the woman who’s been stalking you is the same person who tried to shoot you.’ She paused, taking care over her next words. ‘I’ve asked you before, and now I’m asking again. Can you think of anyone who might want you dead?’
Her heart sank as he fidgeted on the sofa, his eyes avoiding hers. ‘You think I’m that obnoxious?’
‘I guess even at your most irritating, I wouldn’t call you that. Annoying though? That I could go with.’
He arched a brow. ‘Am I supposed to be grateful for that assessment?’
‘Grateful, no, but you are supposed to think very carefully about my question. You see, there are things I know you keep private, things you refuse to tell me, that might be relevant.’
‘As has already been pointed out, there are things I don’t know about you, too.’ Her gave her his trademark crooked smile. ‘Ms Parker, is this your way of saying you’re worried about me?’
Don’t fall into his trap. ‘I wouldn’t be much of a bodyguard if I wasn’t. Having spent the last month trying to protect you, I don’t want all that hard work going to waste in one unplanned, careless moment.’
He shifted, sitting a little straighter. ‘I’m torn between fear that you really think I’m in danger, and delight that you like me enough to worry about me.’ He met her gaze. ‘But if it takes me being a target to keep you close, then I’ll happily accept it.’
‘Jesus, Zac.’ She leapt to her feet, the image tearing her up. ‘Don’t say things like that.’
‘Don’t say that I want to keep you close?’
His soft words caused a further squirming sensation in her stomach. ‘I meant the target bit.’
He nodded, glancing down at his hands before looking back up at her. ‘So it’s okay to admit that, aside from the danger part, I’m very, very happy to hear you say you don’t want me to leave?’
It had all been leading up to this moment, she realised. A month of attraction, of sexual tension, of near kisses, and two actual, humdingers of a kiss. She couldn’t continue to put her head in the sand, to hide away from it. ‘Yes, it’s okay to admit that,’ she whispered, half afraid, half thrilled by where this might take them.
Slowly he unfurled his long body from the sofa and stepped towards her, his eyes never leaving hers. ‘Is it also okay to admit that I want you, Kat Parker?’ His hand came up to clasp her face. ‘And that once won’t be nearly enough. In fact, I’m very afraid I’ll find you utterly addictive.’
The warmth from his hand, combined with the intense heat from his gaze, made it hard to think. ‘It’s sounds like you’re saying I’m a bad habit.’
His answering laugh was low and seductive. ‘Nothing about you could be bad.’ With a quiet intensity that made her skin prick, his eyes roamed her face before landing on her mouth. Then he bent and kissed her, very gently, on the lips. ‘You realise you’re not technically my bodyguard anymore, don’t you?’
The husk in his voice made her knees buckle. ‘Yes.’
‘So the only thing stopping us now, is you.’
Her pulse rocketed, and as her legs began to shake she wondered if she was really ready for this. Really ready to make herself vulnerable again. Because no matter how much she might kid herself this would just be sex, sleeping with this man could never be ‘just’ anything.
‘Kat?’ His lips teased hers again, their touch like a drug, melting her from the inside, blurring her thoughts. ‘Are you going to stop this?’
She should, it had disaster written all over it. Kat Parker and the hot film star from the privileged background. It didn’t make any sort of sense. Yet how could she possibly care about that, when her hormones were dancing and all these delicious feelings were coursing through her. ‘No.’ It was barely a whisper, so she cleared her throat and repeated it more firmly. ‘No, I’m not going to stop it.’