Babe! He'd called her Babe! What did that mean? And did it have anything to do with him seeing her naked butt again?
Zack's good humor was infectious and she finally conceded that the ride had given her a real buzz. "Did you see everyone stare at us?" she asked, leading the way inside. "They thought I was so cool."
"Next time, you go on your own. You need more practice before Dug-E arrives but I think you'll do great. And just so you sound like you know what you're talking about, I'll be giving you a pop quiz in a few days."
She groaned. "This is worse than high school."
They stopped at her front door, and she suddenly felt awkward.
"You coming in?" she asked tentatively.
"You inviting me in?"
She paused. "You going to walk in on me naked again?"
"Maybe."
She thumped him lightly in the chest and they both grinned.
Inside, she headed for the fridge while Zack avoided the yapping Snoopy. She produced two beers and handed one to him.
"I think he likes you," she said.
"I think he wants to hump my leg."
"You're lucky. Usually when I bring a man back here he wants to bite their, um, you-know-what off."
Zack placed the beer bottle in front of his groin. "I feel privileged. So what's with the beer?" He pointed to the bottle in her hand. "I thought you only drank wine."
"I'm practicing. Besides, I figured it was a bit wimpy to drink wine after riding a motorbike."
He nodded and maneuvered carefully past Snoopy to sit on her sofa. "Mind if I turn on the TV?" he asked as he turned on the TV.
"Sure, treat this place like your own?"
"There's a game on."
"Even better," she groaned but sat beside him anyway. "Basketball?"
"Baseball."
"Lucky me."
"Don't like baseball?"
"Can't say I've ever sat and watched a whole game. It looks pretty boring."
"Maybe I'll take you one day," he said, settling into the sofa.
"I'll look forward to it." Maybe she actually would. She'd sit through a hundred boring ball sports if Zack took her. "I didn't realize you liked sport."
He frowned at her. "What gave you that idea?"
She shrugged. "I thought you'd be too, ah...busy."
The frown deepened. "Something tells me you were going to say too rich."
"No! No, no, no. And there's no such thing as too rich in LA anyway."
He looked at her for a long time. "Right."
Right? It didn't sound right. He sounded annoyed. What had she said to offend him? "Same as being too famous, or too attractive," she persisted. "Or too weird."
He grunted. "Cocky little thing, aren't you?"
"Takes one to know one."
He grinned slyly and turned back to the TV. Nothing much seemed to be happening in the game but he was glued to the set. Annie sat back in the sofa beside him and watched, trying to work out the appeal of baseball. From what she could see it was a bunch of men dressed in funny pants spitting on the field. It was kind of disgusting really. She sighed. How long did a whole game go for? An hour? Two? All day? She tapped the beer bottle with her fingernails and glanced around the room, looking for something to do.
Zack sighed. "Relax and enjoy the game."
"No offence, but baseball is boring."
"Then just sit and enjoy peace and quiet."
"Huh?"
He shrugged. "Just think your own thoughts for a while. You don't have to be doing something every waking moment. Get some down time."
"Down time? Are you crazy? Who's got time for down time? I've got dishes in the sink, the floor needs sweeping and Snoopy smells." None of which she usually cared about but it was too late to take it back now.
"You definitely need to relax. You're more uptight than I thought."
"Do you deliberately try to annoy me, Zack or does it just come naturally?"
His grin was lopsided. "Sometimes." He deftly dodged her fist. "But this isn't one of them. I thought you had the attitude thing down okay, but now I'm not so sure. From what Bob told me, this Dug-E kid doesn't care about anything."
"When he's not smashing up hotel rooms. So?"
"So you shouldn't too. You need to go with the flow a bit more. Loosen up. Relax."
"Stop telling me to relax. It's driving me nuts."
He threw up his hands. "There you go again." He shook his head and placed his beer on the coffee table. "Turn around and I'll give you a massage," he said, laying his hands on her shoulders. "Maybe that'll help."
She didn't hesitate. It was all part of her training after all, and he was the teacher. A damn good one too. His hands were gentle but firm, relaxing her to melting point.
Minutes slipped by as the slow, sure fingers continued to work on her shoulders, down her arms and back, to her hips, snaking around her waist. His body moved into hers and she leaned into him, pressing herself against the hard muscles of his chest. She heard him catch his breath then let it out roughly as he bent to kiss her neck. A shot of warm tingles swept across her flesh as her body liquefied under his touch.
"That's it," he whispered against her skin, "just relax." He turned her face toward him and kissed her lips. He was soft, warm and oh-so sure.
Annie's first reaction was to kiss him back—he tasted good. Her second, and the one she went with, was to pull away. She retreated to her side of the sofa and Zack, blinking dumbly back at her, eventually did the same.
"This is wrong," she said. But it didn't even cover half of it. It wasn't wrong—it had felt so right—but it wasn't fair. How long could something last between two people so inappropriate for each other? They might want each other sexually but it wouldn't work out. She knew it, and she knew he did too. She'd rather stop now instead of later because somehow she suspected she'd be the injured party if she let the kiss continue and develop into something more. Something that ended in the bedroom. She knew she couldn't handle a one night stand with Zack. She wanted more, but he didn't care enough to give it to her.
Looking at him staring back at her with his gooey chocolate eyes, a pang of regret fluttered in her stomach. Okay, so it was more like a sickening blow than a flutter. Either way, it hurt and she wondered if she'd done the right thing. For the millionth time since meeting Zack DiMarco, she wished she didn't have principles, or hormones.
Zack turned away from her and ruffled his dark hair, sexing it up even more.