of electricity zipped through her body, and her lips parted…
Oh God, was this what heaven felt like? Their mouths were a perfect fit, too much adrenaline was making her dizzy, and what she’d feared might happen was indeed happening, because now she’d started, there was no way in the world she could stop. But somehow it no longer seemed to matter, because Zack didn’t appear to want it to end either. He’d evidently decided not to put up a fight and was going along with the game instead. His left hand was in her hair, his right hand in the small of her back, and their bodies were pressed together… oh wow, this was everything she’d dreamed of happening and more… except they were still standing in the middle of the dance floor.
‘OK, we’re on show.’ Tearing himself away, practically causing her to let out a whimper of desolation, Zack seized her hand and propelled her towards the exit. Were people looking at them? Yes they were. Was she managing to walk more or less normally? Well, kind of. Was Mya there? Yes, she was, on the far edge of the dance floor, watching them with a glimmer of disappointment…
Once they were outside he led her round to the back of the house until they were out of sight of everyone. And then they were kissing again… it was like a drug they couldn’t get enough of and Ellie was so on fire with longing for more she couldn’t even begin to imagine what it meant.
Except, unbelievably, Zack appeared to be feeling it as intensely as she was. His breathing was uneven, his hands were cupping her face—oh heavens, he was a sensational kisser—and it was carrying on and on, even though there were no longer any suspicious ex-girlfriends around to see them.
Which might mean…
No, she couldn’t let herself think it.
Zack drew back at last and surveyed her. It was dark, but not so dark she couldn’t see his face.
‘Well?’ he said. ‘How was that?’
Talk about a loaded question. Was she panting? ‘It was… good.’
‘I suppose that’s better than bad.’
She could barely swallow. ‘I don’t know what to say.’
‘Why not?’ There was a glint in his eye, a definite hint of a smile. ‘You started it.’
‘I wasn’t expecting you to join in.’
‘Was it just for Mya’s benefit?’
‘Slightly. She wasn’t the whole reason.’ OK, just plunge in. ‘I wanted to do it.’ Ellie paused, still struggling to catch her breath. Impulsively, she said, ‘Am I going to get sacked now, for impertinence and sexual harassment?’
His hands were on her shoulders; his thumbs gently grazed her neck, causing shivers of longing to ripple through her body.
‘You have no idea.’ Zack shook his head. ‘No idea how long I’ve wanted this to happen.’
Was he serious? ‘You haven’t.’
‘Oh yes, I have.’
‘Really? You can’t have been.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because you just wouldn’t have! You wanted a PA who wasn’t going to get all doofy over you. A proper professional working partnership. No shenanigans.’
‘True, that is what I wanted.’ Zack conceded this point. ‘Until you came along and completely got to me.’ He paused. ‘Doofy?’
‘It just came out. Sometimes only a made-up word will do.’
Her brain had been attacked by egg beaters; it was a wonder she could speak at all. She clung to him in disbelief. ‘Did I really? Get to you?’
‘Oh yes. And that was before you ever saw me. The time you met Tony for lunch at the Ivy, remember?’ Zack’s dark eyes glittered in the dim light. ‘You passed me in the street in your pink coat and I just felt something here.’ He pressed his hand to his chest. ‘Nothing else like it has ever happened to me before. But that day it did.’
Ellie was trembling. ‘You never said. You never gave any kind of hint.’
‘You weren’t ready.’ He touched her face. ‘Not for anyone. Which was fine, I was prepared to wait. Then the Todd thing happened. And that took some coming to terms with, I can tell you. Then you and Todd broke up—’
‘But I was too ashamed to tell you. I felt so stupid and hopeless, such a failure.’
‘And then along came Joe.’ One eyebrow lifted. ‘I couldn’t believe I’d missed my chance again.’
The trembling was stepping up a gear. The backs of her knees had gone all juddery and out of control. That these words could be coming out of Zack’s mouth seemed too extraordinary to contemplate.
‘And all this time I’ve been desperately trying to hide how I was