Authors: C.J. Archer

Billionaire Bad Boy (7 page)

"Okay, but you choose."

"What do you usually drink?"

"Wine."

He shook his head. "Nope, too boring."

She groaned. "You sound like Dug-E."

"Don't even say that in jest, Annie. Two
bourbons," he said to the barman.

The bourbons arrived and Annie picked up her glass,
sniffed and screwed up her nose. "That's disgusting."

"You're not supposed to smell it. Drink it."

She took a sip but the reaction was the same.

"Guess bourbon isn't your drink either." Watching
her struggle with the bourbon, Zack began to think nothing would be to her
liking. "Do you drink at all?"

"Of course I do. Every night at home after work,
and sometimes on Saturdays with friends."

"A glass of wine doesn't count."

She scowled.

He ordered a vodka and lemon. She
had
to like
that—all women did.

She sipped. "It tastes like
lemonade. I like it."

"Good. Now, I think you need to learn some bar
etiquette."

"There's etiquette?"

"Of course there's bar etiquette. Starting with
buying rounds for your friends."

"You're only saying that because you've been
paying for all these."

He grinned. "Okay, you got me. But you should
learn some other tricks of the trade." He leaned over and undid the top
button of her white blouse. Her face turned a brilliant rose. "Better."

"Not from where I'm sitting."

"When you're talking to a man, lean forward
seductively so he can see down your shirt."

"If we weren't in public I'd slap you right
now."

"And sit as if you own this place."

She wrinkled her brow. "How do I do that?"

"Straighten you back, survey the room with
disdain and look as casual as possible, no matter how drunk you get."

"Easier said than done." But she tried it
anyway, glancing quickly around the room, then again, slower, with her nose in
the air. A very cute nose, he noticed.

"Not bad. Do you smoke?"

"No. It's a disgusting habit."

"True, but it would help your image. Think about
taking it up in the next few days."

She cocked an eyebrow at him.
Cheeky
, he thought.
He liked that.

"Why are you teaching me all this stuff when
Dug-E's too young to drink in a bar anyway?"

Good point, but he wasn't going to tell her that part
had slipped his mind. He'd got carried away by his task, forgetting their
objective. "Because drinking will give you respectability at parties, and
Dug-E will pick up on that. Besides, the kid can probably drink you under the
table. I could at his age."

She stood suddenly. "I need to go to the
bathroom."

"Already? You've only had one drink and a few
sips of beer and bourbon."

"Hey," she said over her shoulder as she
walked off, "a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do." She flashed a
cheeky grin. Not watching where she was going, she bumped into a chair.

Too bad the man in it splashed his beer all over her
or she might have got out of the situation with her dignity. As it was, Zack
roared with laughter as she attempted to apologize and buy him another beer. In
the end, the man settled for pressing a napkin to her breasts.

Zack halted mid-laugh and stood. Time to intervene.

CHAPTER 6

"Lick, sip, suck."

Zack's words hummed in Annie's brain as she licked the
salt off the fleshy part between her finger and thumb, swallowed the shot of
Tequila and sucked on the lemon wedge he held out for her.

An image of herself sucking his fingers instead made
her giggle.

"What's so funny?" Wow, his voice was so
deep and sultry it rumbled in
her
chest.

"Me. You. Um, this. This Tequila's yummy. I love
it. Especially the sucking part." She winked at him.

His eyes narrowed. "I thought you said you'd had
it before."

"Oh yeah, I did didn't I."

"Annie," he scolded. "Don't lie to me
about this, it's not going to make you cooler. If you're feeling tipsy, I want
to know before we go any further."

"Further?" She waved a hand in front of his
face, just missing his nose. He backed away and caught it, lowering it to a
safer position. "I'm fine. This is nothing. My Dad's clients were always
trying to get me drunk when they came over."

"I can imagine." He stared into her eyes until
she pushed him gently in the shoulder.

"Don't stare."

"I'm checking to see if you're drunk. You're
looking a little—"

"Zack!" The screech turned both their heads
in the direction of the smiling blonde bouncing towards them. "Zack
DiMarco is that you? What are you doing here?"

"Oh, hi Melanie. I'm uh, just having a drink with
a friend."

Friend? She'd reached friend status? The night was
getting better and better. Now, if only the room would stop spinning...

The blonde, Melanie, swooped on Zack and planted a
kiss on his cheek. A long kiss. He pulled away and glanced at Annie.
Hmmm,
interesting
. Was he worried about what she thought? But what he did next
answered that question in the negative. He placed an arm around Melanie's
anorexic waist and pulled her to him. The mounds of her high, round breasts met
him at eye level. He stared at them openly. Melanie giggled.

Annie rolled her eyes but her heart wasn't so cynical
and it took a dive. So that's what he liked in a woman—big breasts and
fluffy white poodle-hair. The tabloids hadn't lied.

She didn't stand a chance.

Not that she wanted to have a chance. He wasn't her
type—he was way too big-headed. And way out of her league.

She tapped her fingers lightly on the bar as she
watched them chat easily. They seemed like old friends, and by the way Melanie
draped herself over him, they'd probably been lovers. Or perhaps she just
wanted to be.

If the situation wasn't already awkward enough, as the
conversation dragged on, it became downright uncomfortable and even Zack seemed
to want Melanie to disappear. He withdrew his arm and his smiles became
strained.

It was time to lighten the moment.

"Um, excuse me, Melanie," Annie began. Zack
turned first, then Melanie somewhat reluctantly when she realized he was no
longer paying any attention. For the first time, the blonde seemed to notice he
had a companion. "Um, can I ask you something? Something personal?"

Melanie perked up. "Ooh, I like these sort of
conversations. What do you want to know, Sweetie?"

Annie tried to keep a straight face. "When you go
swimming, do you float?"

Zack passed a hand across his face and groaned.

"Oh no," Melanie said emphatically, placing
a palm over her bosom, "I never go swimming. It turns my hair green."

"How unfortunate," Annie said.

"It sure is! You're so lucky to have mousy
colored hair."

"Mousy!" What a rude bi—

"Okay," Zack said, rising quickly, "I
think it's time we left, Annie."

She turned and glared at him. "But I was only
just getting started," she said through gritted teeth. "Let's stay
and chat to Melanie for a while. She's so...witty."

"I think you've had enough
wit
for one
night. We've got a long drive to get you home."

She cursed him under her breath but stayed rooted to
her stool. There was no way she would attempt to stand while Melanie was still
around. With the floor still spinning, it would be embarrassing enough to do it
in front of Zack—she didn't need the poodle laughing at her as well.

"It was nice meeting you, Melanie," she said
politely. "I hope we'll see you around somewhere." Like hell.

"Oh, Zacky, that reminds me. Louisa's having a
party on Wednesday night. You're coming aren't you?"

"I don't think so—"

"Oh, but
Zacky
," Annie crooned in
imitation of Melanie. "We simply
must
go to Louisa's party. Just
think what a great opportunity it would be."

"Opportunity?" Zack and Melanie said
together.

Annie winked at him. "Yeah, for that little
project of yours."

"Oh, yeah." He nodded. "Looks
like we'll see you there, Mel."

"Yes," Melanie said sharply. "I'll see
you there. Both of you. How lovely." She glared at Annie through lashes
curled almost to her eyebrows.

Annie made a mental note to look absolutely stunning
the night of the party. Well, as stunning as a B-cup woman can look next to two
hot-air balloons.

Finally Melanie marched off and Annie decided it was
safe to get up. She stood and the floor moved under her. Zack caught her before
she fell.

"Mmm," she murmured as the muscles in his
arms flexed. "Nice."

He let go as if she were poisonous. That stung and she
sighed. He must still be afraid of encouraging her. Well, now that she'd seen
his type first hand, she could see why. Letting people think he was dating a
mousy, dull woman would harm his reputation as LA's wealthy playboy. She
sniggered. She couldn't let
that
happen.

"Can you walk?"

"Of course I can! I'm not drunk."

"And I'm an alien."

"Are you?"

He sighed and his arm snaked around her waist again. She
smiled and snuggled into him. It felt like her feet were gliding across the
floor. She glanced down and noticed that they were—Zack was practically
carrying her.

But looking down was a bad move. Her stomach lurched.

She moaned.

Outside, Zack propped her up against a light pole,
bending her over at the waist. The hand on the back of her neck was cool and
steady.

"Your body's all wrong for drinking," he
said. His voice sounded strangely disembodied.

"My body's fine," she snapped, clutching her
churning stomach.

"I know," he murmured. "That's what
worries me."

Before she could work out what he meant, her stomach
heaved and she threw up at the feet of the man of her dreams.

***

Annie fell asleep in the Ferrari on the drive back to
her place. Zack turned the volume on the CD player down so as not to wake her. Every
time he stopped at a red light, he glanced at her peaceful form. Her head
rested awkwardly on her shoulder, her lips parted slightly and she breathed
evenly. She looked almost angelic. She'd certainly not been an angel when she
threw up all over his shoes.

He cursed himself and thumped his fist against the
steering wheel. He shouldn't have let her drink so much. He hadn't realized
until too late that small women were affected quickly by alcohol. That, coupled
with her lack of drinking experience—which she'd tried to hide—equaled
disaster. A messy one.

Damn. He should've known better.

He felt like a traitor. He was supposed to be looking
after her as well as taking her under his wing. Getting her drunk to the point
of throwing up definitely wasn't on the curriculum.

He parked outside her building and walked around the
hood to open her door. He lifted her out and her head fell against his
shoulder. Her body was light, a perfect fit in his arms, and her hair smelled
of lilies. He could get used to that smell.

She stirred then nestled back into his arms. At one
point he thought he heard her whisper his name and he stood rooted to the spot,
hoping she'd say it again. But she didn't. Maybe she hadn't at all and it was
just wishful thinking on his part.

When he reached her door, he set her on her feet and
propped her against the wall, holding her up with his shoulder as he rifled
through her purse.

"Hey, what are you doing?" she said,
stirring. She shoved his shoulder away. And tipped forward like a felled tree.

Zack caught her. "I'm looking for your
keys."

"Good. We can't stay out here all night. What
would my neighbors think?"

"That you're drunk."

"I'm not." She giggled. "I bet they'd
think we're having sex."

He located the keys and with one arm around Annie,
unlocked the door. A yelp greeted them.

"Oh, Snoopy, hello, Baby." She wiggled her
finger at her dog as he licked her toes. "So are we?" she asked Zack.

"What?"

"Going to have sex?"

"Are you going to fall asleep on me?" he
asked.

She wrinkled her brow. "I can almost guarantee
it."