Double Dare (34 page)

When she looked at Zac and her eyes met his, her voice faltered again.

He made a remark about the figures she had quoted, encouraging her to continue. Her fingers flickered into her hair then she snatched up her pen, pointing to the place on her notes where she should be. He'd been doing things like that all along, she realized, subtly commenting. Teasing her. Testing her. She began to speak, then the pen trembled. She dropped it from her hand and her fingers went to her temple. Leaving her and asking her to meet him in Paris had been the final test. Or was this the final test? Why was he testing her at all? To find out how desperately she wanted him? Her heart pounded in her ears. Bits of their conversations from the past ten days sped through her mind. Her own words had ceased to form, then she realized Zac was speaking.

He was covering her silence for her. She looked up.

He was aiming his comments at Tom. "I certainly have no complaints about the work you've done for us, particularly the remarkably informed and well-judged decisions that have been taken in the past ten days."

Tom gave a smug smile. "Abigail has demonstrated that she has the ability to carry this account forward." He gave her a wink and a smile, both of which annoyed her. "She's a top notch Investment Advisor and your account would enjoy continuing growth under her guidance."

Zac nodded, returning his attention on her, his gaze drifting over her. "It would, I agree. I've been well aware of her skills and her potential, from the evidence that has been coming through to our offices."

Her face heated.
When did this meeting turn into being about me
?

"Ms. Douglas is very thorough," Zac continued. "Gifted." His eyes grew darker. He was obviously thinking of something other than work.

She wanted to slap him.

He must have sensed her change of mood, because he took on a more serious expression. "Your judgments have been excellent and we benefited greatly from your management. It was also apparent that you might have been under a lot of pressure, assuming sole control at such short notice from your boss?"

Not surprisingly, Tom frowned at that remark.

What was his point, she wondered. He certainly seemed to be leading this somewhere, but she couldn't figure out where. And she couldn't avoid his direct question.

"I haven't had any real problems...although I have had a few unexpected issues to deal with." She sent him a stern look. She was trying to indicate her annoyance with him, but it didn't come out that way. The remark only served to remind them both of their week burning up the sheets.

His expression warmed and his mouth curled imperceptibly. Then Penny shuffled in her chair, harrumphing loudly, and both Zac and Abby turned toward her, drawn by the noise.

Penny glared at Abby with a gray-eyed warning, a tense, tight-lipped mouth.

Oh my, she thinks I'm referring to her and Ed
. Abby felt a laugh coming on and turned away, trying to quell it.

Mercifully, Zac began to speak, once again directing his words at Tom. "However, despite the excellent work that has been done with the Foundation's investments by Ms. Douglas, I'm not planning to renew the contract with your company."

An awkward silence followed.

"Might I ask why?" Tom asked, cautiously.

"Of course. My Mother was forced to take early retirement due to poor health. The Ashburn Foundation was her company. She wanted to pass it to me at a time when I was busy with other commitments. We needed someone to monitor the investments in the interim." He looked at Abby, letting her know this was for her benefit.

She stared at him in amazement, trying to take everything in and slot it into place.

"I want to take the portfolio back at this point, an option my Mother had written into the contract...with your agreement." He paused and glanced at Abby again. "I would, however, like to offer Ms. Douglas the opportunity to continue sole responsibility for the investments that she has managed so well, but under the auspices of our own organization. I would like her to return with the portfolio to our company...to become part of our team."

He stared at Abby openly, all his cards on the table.

Her heart fluttered to a stop. She felt weak. She remembered him pouring her champagne, the day after she had traded the domain company shares in, the same day she'd proposed the property bid. He'd been celebrating with her then and having a quiet joke about it, without her knowing.

Her stomach churned, she felt shaky. Everything was so focused on her that she thought she was going to crack and run from the room. She thought her heart had stopped beating, aware that everyone in the room had fallen quiet, but unable to break eye contact with Zac.

He smiled at her, making an intimate connection.

Penny let out an exasperated groan.

Ed's pen fell to the table.

"Oh really, this is absurd business practice," Penny muttered, and shuffled her papers. She was sending daggers out with her angry gray eyes, jealous to the end.

Zac's eyes twinkled. He leaned back in his chair and let his hand slide to the place on his arm where Abby knew his tattoo was. A rush of feelings took her. They were the yin and yang now, this was the bed of thorns. She smiled down at the table. She breathed.

Tom blustered into the silence, his hands flickering nervously. "Your behavior is highly inappropriate, Mr. Bordino. I can't believe you have suggested such a thing." His eyes were darting about as he tried to think of the right thing to say. His expression was the most unsettled Abby had ever seen him. It made her wonder what her own expression was showing. "This is hardly the time or the place to poach my staff!"

Zac smiled. "I could have put this suggestion to Ms. Douglas under other circumstances." He paused a second to allow her to absorb his message. "But I thought it appropriate to mention it to her now, when she has completed her current phase of work on the account, and has all the options around her." He made a sweeping gesture, around the table, then he turned back to Tom.

"I would also like to suggest that as Ms. Douglas has managed the investments so well, that she is allowed to continue sole control. By that I mean that if she decides to take the opportunity I am offering her, that you should allow the Ashburn foundation to remain in her control here, while she works her notice. That is, if you insist on her working notice? If she decides to leave I would prefer her to be able to leave immediately."

Tom stared at him, completely unnerved at his client's impudence, a red flush rising over his face. "You've got a bloody cheek."

Someone laughed. It was Caroline. Everyone looked at her. She subdued her expression and cleared her throat. "From a legal point of view it's unheard of but rather refreshing that Mr. Bordino is so open with his intentions," she said. "After all, we have 'the best interests of the client's account at heart.'" She was quoting the company doctrine and ridiculing it. She looked at Zac admiringly then she flashed Abby a smile.

Abby wondered if she had guessed that they were already involved. She began to feel more controlled and realized it was now up to her to move things along. "I think we should concentrate on the subject of the meeting: the review of the account as it has been handled over the past weeks."

"Here, here," Tom said, still frowning heavily, his ice cool facade completely shattered.

She looked at Zac.

His eyes were at her throat and she realized her fingers were sliding on the necklace he had given her. She paused.

"As you wish." He looked up with a light smile, one of enquiry. He had that invitation in his eyes that made her respond without logical thought. Her body wanted to talk to his, without words. She couldn't suppress a smile.

She glanced around the table again. Caroline was watching her with open amusement. Tom was sitting back in his chair, drumming his fingers on the table, a frustrated look on his face. Ed was looking at her with a confused frown. It occurred to her then that she knew Ed so well, yet she felt so far away from him. She really didn't know Zac at all, but felt so close to him. Her glance fell to Penny. She looked extremely annoyed. The green-eyed monster was eating her up from the inside. It made Abby want to laugh out loud.

She'd begun to feel empowered. There was much to be said, but for now she was back in control and ready to move on. The first thing that needed to be done was to clear the decks of clutter. She began to speak, rearranging herself in her chair to resume control of the meeting.

"As we've reached the past couple of weeks in my summary, I think it would be fair to let Ed and Penny leave now. They weren't involved in the recent investment decisions and I'm quite sure they have plenty to occupy themselves with, elsewhere."

Caroline's hand flew to her mouth to contain the giggle that emerged.

"Right, I've had quite enough of this farce," Penny announced, and stood up with a loud casting-back of her chair, wrestling her papers off the table as if it had been her decision to leave. She stomped across the room, but turned back at the door. "Eddy!" she said, in a commanding voice.

He'd sat unmoving, seemingly in shock at the outcome of the meeting, but at Penny's command he shuffled to his feet. He still had a confused expression on his face and he mumbled some polite comment as he left. He didn't look at Abby again.

"Where were we?" She flicked through the pages of her report.

"Page five, second paragraph," Zac said quietly.

She looked up at him. He was so gorgeous. She wanted to climb across the table and straddle his hips. A voice in her mind whispered:
Take the dream
. Was it his voice, or her own?

"Thank you," she replied, and her gaze lingered on him before returning to the pages. She saw that the next item for discussion was the property investment she had made. "Were you happy with the Irish investment?" she asked, reducing the summary to an informal discussion immediately.

"Absolutely. In the light of current vacation trends the sort of retreat you have suggested is a sound proposition. I look forward to seeing the results."

She smiled to herself. Of course, he would have known that this was the place she had in mind for them when it had landed in his mailbox. She began to realize how perfect it was, and that he had always known that. He had known that they were going to meet, even if she hadn't gone to the Cabaret production. Fate had planned it that way, just as he had suggested to her. His circle and hers had always been destined to meet, and to merge.

"I am not so sure," Tom said, annoyance at the turn of events making him stroppy. "People like to get away to the sun for a break." He was getting ready for a squabble.

"You can't get a sun tan on the moon," Zac retorted, "but I wouldn't mind a holiday there,"

It occurred to Abby then how amusing Ed's description of Zac as 'Eccentric' was, and she gave a quiet laugh that drew his eye.

"Anyway," Zac added, "the trend is increasingly away from package holidays to more varied, short weekend breaks." His words cut Tom off, before he really began. "This sort of investment will function all year round, snow filled beaches, as well as lazy summers."

He was looking into her eyes.

She let him in.

He lingered there.

"In a word?" he said, quietly.

"Heavenly," she murmured.

Tom mumbled something incoherent and gave up the fight.

Zac turned back to him. "If you aren't interested in the finite details of this particular aspect of the investment portfolio, perhaps you wish to pursue something else?" He was shedding the others, taking up where she had left off.

She moved on his words immediately. "Yes. Perhaps we should go over the more detailed analysis of restoration proposals, and so on." She looked at him. "In my office?"

He nodded and stood up immediately, closing the meeting with his movement.

Caroline leaned back in her chair, one arm draped over the back. She winked at Abby, who smiled her appreciation and wondered again how much she had guessed. Tom was mumbling again as he got up and stomped out of the room. Zac stood and held the door open, watching Abby as she lifted her papers and walked over to join him.

"Would you like to follow me?" Abby said, as she led him from the room.

"With pleasure," Zac replied, and bowed his head close to her as she passed. He followed her down the corridor. When they got closer to her office, she could see that the door stood open and it was empty of other people, thank god. She glanced back at him and paused at the doorway, waiting until he'd stopped beside her.