HIGHER (The Indigo Lounge Series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

the note. That changes nothing.”
    A hard smile curved his lips. “I
didn’t expect it to. I just wanted you to know how I was feeling.”
    “Why? So I can feel sorry for
you? You’re thinking about me. Big deal. I thought about you too. I thought about
how I never want to see you again. I made that very clear in Morocco.”
    His jaw tightened and he folded
strong, muscled arms across his chest. She tried very hard not to stare at the silky
dark hairs that coated those arms. To remember how much she’d loved to run her
hand up and down the bunched strength of it. How they felt banded around her
waist as he pounded into her.
    “Baby, you don’t mean that,” he
said quietly. “I refuse to accept that you mean that.”
    “I know you make your own rules.
Ones that don’t apply to us lesser mortals. But please do me the courtesy of at
least pretending to think that I know my own mind, Zach.”
    He regarded her for several
seconds before he tapped on the front window. It wound down smoothly to reveal
Philip, Zach’s driver, bodyguard and Bethany imagined, all round Mr Fix-It.
Philip looked her way and nodded his greeting. Then he picked up a Styrofoam
tray containing two large coffees and a bag with a familiar bakery logo on it.
    “What’s that?”
    “Breakfast. I missed you leaving
for your run when I popped round the block to get it earlier. I got you a
fresher cup a few minutes ago. Invite me up, Bethany.”
    Her gaze snapped back to him.
“Hell no!” Her voice emerged screechier than she’d intended. Simply because the
effect of seeing Zach again had hammered home the fact that she was still on
precariously shaky ground where her feelings for him were concerned. Inviting
him up to her apartment was inviting trouble and temptation to feast on her
already ravaged heart.
    “Fine. Have dinner with me
tonight.”
    “I have other plans.”
    His jaw clenched and he walked
slowly to where she’d stumbled into immobility five minutes ago. When they were
inches apart, he stopped. “Plans. Who with?” he grated, his tone icy and
commanding.
    “None of your business,” she
replied, struggling not to inhale his hauntingly familiar scent like a
bloodhound on a juicy trail. Her gaze reached the pulse throbbing in his neck
and warmth shamelessly flooded her mouth.
    “Tell me who you’re going out
with, Bethany.”
    She raised her head and glared at
him. “Go away, Zach.”
    “Christ,” he muttered. “How did I
not know you were this stubborn?”
    “Because as much as you like to
think otherwise, you don’t know everything about me.”
    His face hardened. “I know you’re
not stupid enough to go out with another guy when you still belong to me.” Her
gasp got lost in the morning air because he was still speaking. “No matter how
much you think you hate me right now, you’re still mine and I’m not letting you
go. I never will. I’m telling you that right now so we’re both clear on the
matter and there’s no room for misinterpretation. Nod if you understand what
I’m saying to you.”
    Her head moved before she gave it
permission to and Bethany exhaled roughly, ready to kick her own ass for that
weak slip.
    “I guess that will have to be
enough for now,” he rasped. He continued to stare down at her for a full
minute, his eyes raking over her face and her body with a hunger that threatened
to flatten her where she stood.
    Finally, he held out the bakery
bag to her. The scent of sugared pastry rose to tease her nostrils. She was
fast reaching her breaking point. Seeing him again felt like being plugged into
an electric socket with the voltage racing higher by the second. She risked a
full-body electrocution if she didn’t retreat fast.
    “If I take this will you go
away?” she ventured bravely.
    His eyes narrowed further. “I’m
hanging on by a fucking thread here, baby, so don’t push me. Take the food,” he
instructed.
    She took the bag and the coffee
cup he held out to her. With both hands