Chapter 6

A voice, cool and masculine, sounded from the darkness. "Going someplace?"

I stifled a gasp. It was nearly three in the morning, and I'd finally hoofed it out to the rusty heap that passed for my car.

I whirled toward the sound and spotted him a few feet away, watching me from the shadows.

It was Zane Bennington, wearing the same clothes as before. But where I felt wrinkled and worn out, he looked just as glorious as he had three hours earlier – the last time he'd caught me by surprise.

Like everything else tonight, it simply wasn't fair. I gave him an annoyed look. "Yes, in fact. I'm going home."

"Don't tell me you forgot."

"Forgot what?"

"You know what."

I did know, but I refused to give him the satisfaction. Instead, I gave him a loose shrug and utter silence.

Take that, you jerk.

The sidewalk was wide and lined with trees. Probably, it was designed so that rich, happy couples could walk hand-in-hand and admire all of the estates that lined the super-exclusive gated neighborhood.

Unfortunately, I was in no mood to appreciate any of it. I wasn't rich. I wasn't happy. And I certainly wasn't part of a couple. Even my last date had been months ago, because seriously, who had the time?

Not me.

Not lately, anyway.

Into my silence, Zane said, "We had a deal."

"What deal?"

"You. Not leaving 'til I say so."

I lifted my chin. "It's only a deal if both people agree. And besides, you weren't around."

It was true. For once, timing had been on my side – or so I'd thought. When my shift had finally ended, Zane had been nowhere in sight. At the time, it seemed like a lucky break. I should've known better.

The street was very quiet, with no traffic and only the faint sound of wind rustling the trees. As I watched, Zane moved closer until we were sharing the same stretch of sidewalk.

He said, "I'm around now."

I felt myself swallow. Yes. He was. And he was even more imposing then I remembered. I took an involuntary step backward and almost tripped on the curb. I caught myself just in time, but only by grabbing the nearest thing within reach, which happened to be my side-view mirror. Of course, it came loose and crashed onto the pavement, where it shattered into like five pieces.

I stared down at the destruction. Damn it. How much would that cost? I looked back to Zane. "That was your fault."

If the accusation bothered him, he didn't show it. "Was it?"

"You know it was."

I waited him for him to argue. But he didn't. Instead, he gave my rust-bucket a perfunctory glance and said, "Your car sucks."

Yeah, it did. But did he really need to rub it in? Under my breath, I muttered, "Not as much as you."

His eyebrows lifted. "You don't care about your job much, do you?"

Well, this was just great. I made a sound of disbelief. "What is that? Another threat?" I threw up my hands. "You know what? Fine. Tell my employer. I don't care."

He studied my face for a long moment. "You're lying."

He was right. I was.

I did care. But there was no way I'd ever admit it now, not when it was too late to take it back. So instead, I doubled down. "It doesn't even matter," I told him. "I’m off the clock, so I can say whatever I want."

Technically, this was only half true. Yes, I was off the clock, but insulting the customer was – How shall I put it? – strongly discouraged.

He made a forwarding motion with his hand. "All right. Go ahead."

I gave him a perplexed look. "Go ahead and what?"

"Say it."

"Say what?"

"Whatever you want."

It was an obvious trap, and I refused to throw myself into it. "Oh sure," I said. "Like I'd fall for that trick."

"It's no trick," he said. "I wanna know what you think."

I almost laughed in his face. "No, you don't."

"Try me."

I was dead on my feet and beyond ready to leave. In a moment of utter insanity, I heard myself say, "All right. I think you're an asshole."

Startled by my own stupidity, I clamped my lips shut and waited for the fireworks. But none came.

Instead, he gave a slow nod. "And?"

"And what?"

"What else?"

I hesitated for only a split second before saying, "And a jerk."

"And?"

During the last three hours, the night had grown even colder. I wore no coat, and the icy breeze should've had me shivering. Funny, I had been shivering until he'd shown up.

But now, under the weight of his gaze, I felt myself growing warm, and not only in my extremities. If I were being totally honest, an embarrassing amount of heat was settling somewhere just south of my stomach.

How humiliating.

But in my own defense, there was something about him that was drawing me in. It wasn't his money, and it wasn't his looks. And – this was a biggie – Lord knows, it couldn't be his personality, because let's face it, he was the biggest prick I'd ever had the misfortune of meeting.

And yet, there was something.

Suddenly, I was almost afraid – and not because it was the middle of the night or because it was just the two of us, standing alone in the near darkness.

It was because, for the first time, I detected the faint hint of laugh lines around his eyes and dwelled on the sweet fullness of his lips. My heart gave a traitorous flutter. Oh yeah. There was definitely something about his mouth. It didn't look like it was made for frowning. It looked like it was made for kissing – I swallowed – kissing me?

I blinked. What the hell?

I felt my gaze narrow. If this was some sort of game, I didn't want to play it. For one thing, I didn't have the time. And for another, he had to know exactly what he was doing to me – what he'd do to almost any girl with a pulse.

He might be a prick, but he wasn't stupid.

So, what was this, anyway?

The silence stretched out between us, crackling as our gazes locked and held.

I couldn’t read his expression, and maybe that was a good thing. For some reason, I thought of him with Tiffany – a.k.a. the future Mrs. State Senator.

They'd been caught in the coat room with her dress hiked high, and his hands heading for ground zero. I hadn't seen their encounter, but I'd heard plenty from my fellow catering assistants as well as from all those party guests who didn't mind gossiping in front of the help.

The help.

That was me.

And Zane was… well, trouble, that's what.

I mumbled, "I've gotta go." And yet, I made no move.

He said, "I've got a question."

"What?"

"Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"Tell anyone what?"

He flicked his head toward his estate. "What you heard."

Obviously, he meant the ugliness I'd overheard from inside the van. No doubt, it would've made for a good story, and yet, I hadn't told a soul.

But that was no big mystery. I said, "I don't gossip."

"Why not?"

I stared at him. What kind of question was that? It was like asking why I didn't eat soup with a fork. I wasn't an idiot. No, I used a spoon for the same reason I resisted the urge to blab about things I'd overheard by mistake.

Who needs a mess, right?

When I made no response, he frowned. "And why'd you walk out alone?"

I glanced around. "You mean out here? To my car?"

He gave my car a dismissive glance. "If that's what you're calling that thing."

Well, that was charming.

I gave him an annoyed look. "Oh, so now you're insulting me?"

It shouldn't have been a surprise. He insulted everyone – or so I'd heard.

"I wasn't insulting you," he said. "I was insulting your car." He spared it another glance before saying, "Don't tell me you like that thing."

I felt my jaw clench. "Hey, that 'thing' got me here just fine, so maybe you should show it some respect."

Why on Earth was I sticking up for my car? I absolutely hated it, probably even more than he did, because I was the one stuck driving it. The car wasn't just ugly. It was practically useless. The heat was iffy, the upholstery was ripped, and its gas mileage seriously sucked.

Still, the car wasn't his to insult.

And why was I still here?

His frown deepened. "You make a habit of this?"

I wasn't quite sure what he meant. "A habit of what?"

"Being careless."

My jaw dropped. "You're one to talk."

After all, I wasn't the one who knocked over the serving station.

His gaze shifted, as if taking in our surroundings. "And where's your partner?"

"What partner? You mean Naomi? She's driving the van back."

"And the others?"

"You mean the other catering assistants?" I gave a bitter laugh. "They left an hour ago."

"And you didn't?"

"No, because I got stuck trying to clean that stupid rug, not that it did any good."

To add insult to injury, it wasn't even my idea. Naomi and I had been all packed up and ready to leave when Ms. Hedgwick marched up to tell us that we couldn’t go anywhere until we'd cleaned up all of our mess, including the rug.

It was so unfair. I mean, it's not like we toppled the table.

Again, I felt my gaze narrow. In fact, the table had been toppled by Zane, who apparently, wasn't done making my night miserable.

His cool voice interrupted my thoughts. "Fuck the rug."

And there it was – another dose of déjà vu. It was just like his comment about the crab cakes, but only worse, because it was three hours later, and I felt so damned grubby.

I gave him my snottiest smile. "I can't, because I'm too tired from 'fucking' the crab cakes."

My words hung in the air, and I felt color rush to my cheeks. I didn't seriously just say that. Fuck the crab cakes? That sounded weird and stupid, and yes, obscene in a truly disgusting way.

Plus, now that I thought about it, he hadn't said "Fuck the crab cakes." He'd said, "Fuck the candles."

Totally different.

Worst of all, I swear, I saw amusement flicker in his eyes until it was replaced by something else.

Sadness?

No. Contempt. Or something just as bad.

Either way, I'd had enough. I said, "What do you want, anyway?"

As an answer, he held out his hand, palm up. "Your phone."

"What?" I gave him a perplexed look. "Why?"

"I'm gonna key in my number."

Okay, now I was really confused. "And why would you do that?"

"So you can call me when you're fired."

My stomach clenched. "What?"

"When you're fired," he said, "call me."

I was glaring at him now. "I'm not gonna be fired." I swallowed. Was I?

"Or, if you want," he added, "you can key it in yourself."

Key what in? His phone number? This had to be a joke. I gave him a stiff smile. "Gee, thanks."

"You're welcome."

I made a scoffing sound. "I didn't mean it."

"Good."

I studied his face. What kind of response was that? Looking at him, I had no clue, and I was in no mood to try to figure it out.

With a sigh of irritation, I turned away and yanked my keys out of my purse. With nervous fingers, I fumbled for the one that would unlock my car door.

The car was so old, it didn't even have keyless entry, and my hands shook when I tried to insert the key into the lock.

It wasn't even because of the cold. It was because of him – the prick standing just a few feet away. With my back turned, I couldn't see him, but I could feel his eyes on my back, watching and mocking as I yanked open my car door and hesitated as I remembered the side-view mirror.

Reluctantly, I looked down. And there it was – or what was left of it. I tried to think. Would it be cheaper to have it repaired, or to just get a new one?

The thought of scooping it up was beyond humiliating. And yet, I'd feel like a slug if I just left it lying in the gutter like a discarded condom.

Heat flooded my face. A condom? Where on Earth had that thought come from?

Trying not to dwell on it, I crouched down and plucked the mirror pieces off the pavement, and then tossed them onto the passenger's side floor. Afterward, I slid into the driver's seat and yanked the car door shut behind me.

My car started on the first try – thank God. Still, I wasn't taking any chances. As fast as I could, I shifted into gear and slammed my foot on the gas. My car lurched forward with an embarrassing amount of clunking and rattling.

But at least I was on my way.

Against my better judgment, I snuck a quick glance in the rear-view mirror. Zane Bennington was still standing there, looking like every girl's impossible dream.

But so what? Dreamy or not, he was living proof of everything that was so unfair in this world. The guy had it all, and what was he doing with it?

Tormenting me of all people.

And thanks to him, I now had something else to worry about. Was I going to lose my job?

No. I wasn't. I returned my attention to the road and kept it there. As far as the job thing, he was just toying with me.

He had to be.

Right?