his attention like this. She’d hoped mention of her scars, of the fact that she wasn’t perfect, might act as a deterrent. Remind him that she only intrigued him. Nothing more.
‘Perfection is overrated. Believe me. I’m far more interested in beautiful flaws. Everyone is flawed, Zoe, but most just hide it underneath a pseudo-perfect exterior.’
Zoe’s breath hitched. She really hadn’t expected to hear him say something like that. His words resonated deep inside her, where she held exactly the same sentiments.
Before she could respond, Maks was reaching for her hand and holding it up. Electricity short-circuited her brain.
He was frowning. ‘Your finger—is it okay?’
She looked at her hand stupidly and saw the plaster over her injured finger. She wasn’t sure if it was throbbing now because of him or because it hurt. She couldn’t pull her hand back.
‘It’s fine. It wasn’t a deep cut.’
‘Still, it was my fault you hurt yourself.’
Zoe forced herself to move her hand away. ‘Honestly, it’s fine.’
She took another sip of champagne, hoping it might calm the hectic beat of her pulse. She would never have expected someone like Maks Marchetti to prove to be so...perceptive. And the fact that he’d kept her camera and returned it kept emotion bubbling far too near the surface.
She needed to take a breath. Get her bearings before she lost all sense of reality. Before he could speak again or, worse, touch her and scramble her brain.
‘Would you excuse me for a minute?’ she asked.
Maks said, ‘Of course.’
He motioned to one of the staff, who came over and showed Zoe where the restrooms were. She went inside and leant against the closed door for a moment, wondering if it would ever be possible to be in this man’s company and not feel dizzy.
She chastised herself as she pushed away from the door. She wouldn’t be seeing him again. Stupid even to go there.
She went over to the sink and ran the cold tap, putting her wrists underneath the water and then splashing some on her face. She stood up and looked at herself critically. Her face was flushed, her eyes far too wide and awed-looking. Her hair was down and tousled—and not in a good way.
Her leather jacket looked worn, and her shirt still showed a damp stain from the spilled wine. Zoe groaned. She most definitely was not sophisticated—or beautiful. Especially not when compared to the women she’d been serving wine to at the event. The man needed his eyes checked. Perhaps he only found her interesting because she was so different to everyone else in his milieu? He was just jaded.
She battled against the fizz in her blood that spoke of too many dangerous things—excitement chief among them.
She couldn’t indulge this heady moment any longer.
Maks watched Zoe return to the table. The lines of her body were tense and her eyes were avoiding his. He knew instinctively even before she opened her mouth what she was going to say.
She stopped at the other side of the table and finally looked at him. ‘This has been lovely. Thank you for the drink, but I really should be going now. I have to work in the morning and I don’t live near here.’
Maks had to curb every urge he had to persuade her to stay. Not something he was used to having to do. She reminded him of a fawn, ready to bolt. She was resisting this...this thing between them, and he was more intrigued than ever.
He said, with a carelessness he didn’t feel, ‘Sure, no problem. I’ll give you a lift home.’
Her eyes grew wide. ‘Really, there’s no need, I’m all the way over in East London. It’ll be far quicker on the Tube.’
Maks looked at his watch. It was after eleven p.m. ‘And more dangerous,’ he said. ‘I insist. The roads will be quiet now. It won’t take any longer.’
She looked as if she was inclined to argue, but eventually said, ‘Okay—if you’re sure it’s not out of your way.’
It was. Massively. But for the first time in a long time Maks felt energised, and there was no way he was letting this woman slip through his fingers again.
‘It’s not a problem.’
He stood up and led the way out. The hostess behaved with utter discretion and showed no hint of surprise even though they’d only arrived a short while before.
Back in the car, Zoe gave him directions and Maks drove away from the Bond Street area. He could see her hands clasping her bag again out of the