In a sea of black, Zoe Robinson stood out in her flowing green dress. She looked like a spring goddess, and when I saw her in a corner of the room, my heart stuttered in an entirely unfamiliar way.

This is foolishness, I scolded myself. But I still found myself threading my way toward her.

“Hello, Zoe.”

She jumped at my greeting, and her drink sloshed in her hand. “Mr. Drake,” she muttered, her cheeks flushed. “You startled me.”

“Call me Ryder.” My lips curved into a smile. “After your speech last week at City Hall, I didn’t expect to see you here today. Somehow, I got the sense that you didn’t like Drake & Partners very much.” A waiter walked by with a tray of champagne, and I flagged him down, grabbing two flutes and handing her one. “Dare I ask what kind of stunt Brad Wexley is planning today?”

She went pink. “I don’t know.” She gulped down a long mouthful of the champagne before looking at me. “I don’t like the Drake Towers project,” she said, her tone straightforward. “But it doesn’t mean that I automatically approve of everything Brad does.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Why don’t you like Drake Towers? I thought the addition of the park and the playground would have satisfied your concerns.”

“Mr. Drake, how naive do you think I am?” Her tone was cynical. “Men like you think that money can buy everything. I’m sure that your lawyers are hard at work right now trying to find a way to get Drake Towers approved by the city without putting in the park.”

“An idealist, I see. You don’t think money can buy everything?”

Her back stiffened. “I know it can’t.”

“And yet,” I pointed out, “you are here with Brad Wexley, arm candy to a very wealthy man.” I ran my gaze over her. “That’s a lovely dress.”

“And your implication is that Brad bought it for me?” She looked disgusted. “You don’t know everything, Mr. Drake, though you clearly like to think you do. Brad’s my friend, nothing more. I don’t suppose you’d understand that. Men like you generally think women are good for one thing only.”

“Men like me…” I took a step closer to her. “You seem to have me typecast.”

“I’m not the only one, am I?” she retorted.

“Touché.” I lifted my glass toward her. “Where is your camera-loving friend? I don’t see him in the room.”

“I have no idea,” she admitted. “I’ve barely seen him all evening.”

“He’s a fool.” I took a sip of the champagne. The room faded to the background, and she stood out with a clarity that almost frightened me. “If I were with such a beautiful woman, I wouldn’t let her out of my sight for a second.”

“I’m not a possession, Mr. Drake.” Her voice was level, with simmering undertones of anger. “In any case, you aren’t with me.”

God, she was beautiful. Her hazel eyes glittered with heat, and her lips were parted. Unable to help myself, I reached out to touch them, to feel her softness against my skin. “Not a possession,” I muttered, my thumb running over her lower lip. “But someone of far greater value than he realizes. Does he make you happy?”

“I already told you,” she breathed. “I’m not with Brad.” She lifted her hand and closed her fingers over my wrist. “What are you doing?”

“Touching you. Should I stop?”

Her eyes were a sea of confusion. She looked the way I felt. I had felt lust for many women, but this? There was a sharpness, an immediacy, a realness that unnerved me. Zoe Robinson was a dangerous woman. Standing next to her, our bodies nearly touching, I could almost forget that Zoe was almost certainly working with Brad Wexley and Bianca Russo to kill the Drake Towers project.

“I don’t know,” she whispered. “Why do I feel like this?”

“Like what?” We were two magnets, being pulled toward each other against our better judgment. I understood her bewilderment; I shared it.

“Like I’ve been waiting for you to kiss me…”

With those softly spoken words, any restraint I’d been clinging onto was swept away. I put an arm around her waist and pulled her toward me, and she uttered a throaty moan and came willingly.

I had been prepared for sparks. I hadn’t been prepared for an inferno. Zoe’s arms reached around to hug me close to her, and her lips parted under mine. Her body pressed into me, and my cock jumped at her nearness, at her touch. She tasted like mint and spring, and when she sighed against my mouth, the soft sound shuddered through my body. Blood pounded in my head, and I forgot where I was. I forgot the room full of people that I’d invited. I forgot Bianca Russo, who had texted me earlier today, telling me she wanted to talk to me.

Holding Zoe Robinson, all I could focus on was the feel of her in my arms and the urgency of my need for more.

Then she pulled away.

“Ryder,” she breathed. She shook her head as if to clear it. “What was that?”

“I don’t know,” I confessed. I was as dazed as she was. “I want you. Will you come to my place later tonight?”

The instant I uttered those words, I wished I could take them back. Because Zoe stiffened and her expression turned unreadable. “I think you just made my point for me, Mr. Drake,” she said after a long pause. Her voice was as cold as ice. “There really is only one thing you are interested in women for.”

Without a backward look, she walked away.