7

Rochelle’s entire body trembled with outrage. How dare Zach accuse her of having faked everything that had passed between them last night? Every moment had been real—far too real. Nothing had been pretense, neither the raw passion that she’d felt with him, nor the sober awakening this morning when she’d regretted not giving him her phone number. Because she had wanted to see him again.

But not under these circumstances. Because now they stood on opposing sides. And she knew exactly what that meant: she couldn’t get involved with Zach. If she did, she would jeopardize the entire investigation. In addition, her own job would be at risk. If her boss found out that she and Zach had been intimate, he’d suspend her immediately. Without pay! And she couldn’t afford that.

No matter how much she hated being caught in a situation like this, she had to make the best of it. And to do that, she needed Zach’s cooperation.

She took a steadying breath that she hoped would help her calm down, but instead she inhaled Zach’s aftershave, which made mincemeat of her efforts. The scent reminded her all too vividly of the night before and sent heat waves through her body.

Damn it! How could a woman think clearly with a man as tempting as Zach so close to her? He’d jumped up, too, and they were facing each other now with only the coffee table between them.

“Zach,” she started slowly, “it’s a shame that you got the wrong impression about last night. I was a civilian. I had no idea who you were. If you don’t want to believe me, then that’s your problem. But I haven’t done anything wrong.” She nervously flattened the wrinkles in her skirt. “So, if we could please talk about business—”

“Give me a reason to believe you,” he interrupted.

There were all kinds of reasons why he should believe her. She’d surrendered to him the previous night, without reservations, without holding back. She had trusted him with her body. But she didn’t think she wanted to point this out to him right now. Neither Zach nor she needed to be reminded how passionate their lovemaking had been. To be reminded of it made the entire situation uncomfortable enough, to talk about it would make it unbearable.

So she decided to appeal to his good sense. “Please think about it: I wouldn’t gain anything if I sed—” Seduced you, she’d wanted to say, but that word was too intimate. “I mean, if I started something with you either before or during the investigation. It would only question the validity of my work. And if you were honest with yourself, you’d see that, too.”

She looked into his eyes. Was she getting through to him?

She held his gaze, but couldn’t interpret his facial expression. Zach was so very different from the night before. Nothing of the witty and charming man, whom she’d met in the bar, was left. He seemed unapproachable. And cold. This realization nearly choked the air from her lungs.

“Okay, so let’s say it was a coincidence and you didn’t know who I was… How do you expect this… thing to continue?”

“This thing? Well, the investigation will go ahead as planned—”

“I’m not talking about the investigation.”

She swallowed hard in order to push down the lump that had risen in her throat. “B-but…”

Her palms were sweaty and she wanted to rub them on her skirt, but she stopped herself, knowing such a gesture would reveal her nervousness. And that would put her in a weak position. “You and I… it was just a night.” She cleared her throat in order to lend more strength to her voice. “That was clear from the start. It was anonymous. And it would have remained that way had…”

“But it didn’t. And that changes everything.”

Was she detecting a look of satisfaction on Zach’s face?

“But it doesn’t have to. We just have to pretend that nothing happened.” Because if her colleagues, who were due here any moment, found out what had happened between her and Zach, her gig was up.

“We don’t have to pretend anything,” he claimed.

“But my colleagues are coming—” She stopped herself, but couldn’t take back the words. She’d just given him a front to attack.

Zach tilted his head to the side and studied her for a long moment. Then a smile played around his lips and instinctively, she relaxed. Finally he understood and would give in so that this entire situation wouldn’t get any more embarrassing than it already was.

“Your colleagues?” he asked politely. “Why didn’t you say so earlier?”