Page 106 of An Inconvenient Marriage
It was never supposed to be like this. Feelings weren’t part of our arrangement. But the longer I stared at our reflection, the more I realized when Zach walked away, he’d be taking a huge part of me with him.
I couldn’t dwell on that too long before the elevator doors slid open again. My jaw hit the floor. When Zach pressed the basement button, I fully expected the place to be dark and stuffy.
How wrong I’d been.
It was exactly the opposite. Light, so incredibly light and pleasing to the eye.
At the furthest end to my left stood Zach’s imposing light-wood desk, an executive chair in a rich brown leather neatly tucked behind it with two armchairs in the same color in front of it.
A built-in chrome fireplace—gas lit, probably—took up most of the wall space behind his desk. It wasn’t hard to imagine him sitting there just as big and imposing as the fire burning bright behind him.
In Spain it had been so easy to forget how powerful he was, but in here, no one would ever make that mistake.
Shifting my attention to the right, I noticed the plush couches in the same dark leather, spaced in such a way that relaxed conversations would be easy. At the end was the wall in front of me that held my attention.
Covered in a myriad of screens from floor to ceiling, I realized this was how he monitored what was going on inside his casino. There were views from the top and side of the gambling tables. From both sides of the bar and any other place you’d need to watch over.
My gaze was still flicking from screen to screen when the sound of Zach tapping away on his keyboard caught my attention. I watched the surveillance system for a few moments longer before I lost interest and made my way to Zach’s desk.
Abandoning the surveillance system, I made my way over. My fingers trailed along the smooth surface of the wood as I slowly walked around to where he was sitting. Still typing, he looked up. As always, a shiver ran through my body when those dark eyes followed my every movement.
I suddenly had this wild thought to slip onto his lap and beg him to take me right here. Until I spotted the frame on his desk. It was the only photo in his entire office, so naturally it piqued my interest.
Biting my lip, I pointed at the wooden frame. “May I?”
Zach’s gaze shot to where I was pointing, and his throat immediately bobbed. He stared at the photo for so long, I thought he’d forgotten to answer. I opened my mouth to tell him it was okay if he didn’t want me to see it, but before I could get a word out, he snatched it off the desk and handed it to me.
It was an old worn-out photo of a couple. It wasn’t clear, and I had to bring it closer to my face. And when the image finally came into view, my heart sighed.
The man—an older version of Zach—had his hand on an exquisite woman’s pregnant belly. His lips pressed against her shoulder, and her head was thrown back in laughter. But it was the look on the man’s face that stole my breath. Beaming at the woman in his arms, he stared at her like he was the luckiest man alive.
What must it feel like to have someone look at you like that? To be the reason for their smile, their laughter? This, I realized with a shock, was the way I wanted Zach to look at me. And knowing he never would, hurt my heart.
“Your parents?” Swallowing down my emotions, I turned my attention back to Zach.
He’d abandoned his typing and was leaning back in his chair, once again studying me with an intensity that burned me to my core. Eyes never leaving mine, he nodded once.
Could he see what I was feeling? What I feared? Gosh, it was too much. Focusing on the photo in my hands, I trailed my fingers over the happy couple. “It’s a beautiful photo. You look like him.”
Zach got to his feet and immediately crowded me with his intimidating presence. Covering my hands with his, he twisted the frame to inspect the photo himself. He was so close, my insides turned into a jittery mess.
I couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe.
That, of course, had my mind reeling again. Would it be like this with anyone else, or was Zach the only one who’d yield this power over my body, over my thoughts?
“I guess I kind of do,” Zach’s voice sounded.
And not a moment too soon because clearly my tired brain was running rampant again.
“I’ve never seen it until now.”
I licked my lips. “Your parents seem so happy.”
He hummed and closed his eyes. A small smile touched his lips, and his voice turned wistful. “My parents were very much in love. It was the kind of love people like to write poetry about. They’d stay up late at night and dance in our tiny living room with only the flickering candles giving them light. I used to sneak out of bed and watch them until my eyes burned from being too tired.”
“That’s a beautiful memory, Zach.”
His eyes shot open, and the anger I saw burning in those dark irises chilled me to the bone. Jaw set, nostrils flaring, he took the photo from me and slammed it down on the desk. How the heck the glass didn’t break was nothing short of a miracle.
