[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
been introduced, and I hate them already. I know, I m shallow, but they re all tall and gorgeous
and&
Different. They re a different breed from you and me.
Maybe. Or maybe I m tired and grumpy and covered in sand.
Gary told me what you did today with the little girl. You did good.
It felt good. She stepped onto the terrace. Is it okay if I use the shower here? I m a little& She
ran a hand through her hair; it had the consistency of toffee. Sticky.
Go ahead.
He went back to cleaning his gun, and Dani stepped past him and into the house. Standing under the
cool spray of water, she remembered the first time she had ever seen Zach floating in the pool in all
his naked glory she d never believed that they would ever& What?
She had to stop thinking. It never did any good.
Afterward, she studied her salt-encrusted clothes and shoved them in the hamper, then pulled on
one of the fluffy white robes. She d been dressed like this the first time they d met.
Gary was on the terrace beside Simon when she went out. He nodded to the bottle of beer on the
table. Simon said you looked like you needed it.
Thanks. It s been a long day.
She propped herself on the corner of the sofa, tucked her legs under her, and took a swig of beer.
No doubt, they d be drinking chilled wine up at the house.
Gary pulled a pack of cards out of his pocket. You in?
Why not?
Won t he expect you up there? Gary waved a hand toward the main house.
I don t know. She could have added that she didn t care, but that wouldn t have been true and she
was a crap liar.
Oh well, I guess everyone, even girlfriends, are allowed a night off once in a while. And he dealt
the cards.
&
Zach kept his face expressionless as he allowed the conversation to flow over him. Where the hell
was she?
He d gone up for a shower after he d said his hellos and fully expected to find her hiding away up
there. Instead, his room was empty and he d had to fight the urge to go hunt her down.
In the end, he d decided to give her space. Julian s visit had come at a bad time, just when she d
started to open up to him. But she d appeared so vulnerable on the drive back; he was betting she
hadn t spoken of her little brother in a long time. Now she had. And to him. Perhaps she was coming
to care.
But however much he wanted her chained at his side right now, she probably wasn t up to meeting
a whole load of new people.
There would be time to meet his friends later.
He hoped.
He could picture Dani in L.A. She d cause quite a stir, with her I-don t-give-a-fuck attitude.
So he curbed his impatience, returned to his friends, and tried to give the impression he was
pleased to see them when in fact he wanted to toss them all out into the night and go find Dani.
His housekeeper had left a buffet meal, and they d all eaten his food. Then he d kept the drinks
flowing in the hope that they d all get plastered enough and wouldn t notice when he slipped away.
So, tell me about Dani, Julian said.
No.
Come on, Zach, I ve been talking to you for the last half hour about a multi-million-dollar film
deal, and you haven t taken a word in. I thought I might try changing the subject.
Zach peered at his empty glass, crossed the room, filled it up from the bottle of red on the side,
filled up Julian s without asking, and took a sip.
Dani? Julian prompted.
Who s Dani? Celine asked, coming up to join them.
Zach s new little friend.
Zach almost smiled at the little. She would hate that.
Celine pouted. Well, we ve all been there, darling. Good luck to her.
Zach glanced around the room and realized with a flicker of horror that he had indeed slept with all
three of the women at some point or another. Thankfully, quite a while ago, but all the same what
did that say about him? He was a total whore!
Celine was a blond, Marie a redhead, and Theresa a brunette. All were beautiful. He couldn t help
but wonder if Julian had specifically picked them to give him a choice of colors. Christ, did his friend
really consider him that shallow?
And he didn t want Dani in the same grouping. Dani s different, he said, and then wished he
hadn t, as the whole room focused on his words.
How different?
And who is she? Celine said. Julian told us you were out here with nothing but a couple of burly
bodyguards and needed cheering up.
Actually, Jake called me before his wedding, suggested we might visit.
Trust Jake. He must have called Julian after he d suggested Zach invite people over. Before Jake
had decided he could be trusted with Dani.
Now what? They were all watching him with eager expressions. Dani is one of my bodyguards.
Julian raised an eyebrow. She looked a little& small.
She s a dog-handler. She comes with two extremely large Dobermans.
Really. And& ?
And what?
Come on, Zach. Humor us.
What could he say about Dani? He didn t want to talk about her. He wanted to talk to her. Dani is
a sergeant in the army. She was wounded fighting for her country, and today she put her own life at
risk to save a little girl who was drowning.
They all stared at him as though he d sprouted an extra head.
So I m guessing she s not after a part in your next movie then, Celine drawled.
He grinned. Celine had always been upfront about what she wanted he actually liked her for it.
No, she s not after a part in a movie.
And where is this paragon of virtue?
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]