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  Zack held out his hand. ‘Zack Knight.’

  Holly placed her hand in his and a zap of electric energy shot through her hand and straight to her core, buzzing there like a fizzing sparkler. Seriously, she had to get out more. She was acting like a sex-starved spinster, which she was, but still. His hand was warm and dry and large. His fingers closed around hers with the slightest pressure and she couldn’t stop thinking what it would feel like to have those strong masculine hands sliding over her flesh, over her breasts, over her belly and below...

  ‘Holly Frost.’ She made sure the don’t-mess-with-me tone was back in her voice and yet his smile lifted in a mocking slant, as if he knew how hard it was for her to keep from drooling.

  Zack’s hand released hers first, which annoyed her because it made her look like she hadn’t wanted to let him go, which she hadn’t, but that was beside the point. But then she noticed he opened and closed his fingers a couple of times as if her touch had had the same effect on him. Something passed through his gaze—a flicker of surprise or was it intrigue? Either way, Holly couldn’t tear her eyes away from him. The citrus and wood fragrance of his aftershave flirted with her senses, the fresh sharpness as intoxicating as his presence. The deep blue of his sharply intelligent gaze only intensified his commanding presence. He was wearing a blue suit that made his eyes seem all the more striking, and the white business shirt with its casually open collar exposed the strong, tanned column of his throat.

  ‘Would you like a drink?’ Zack asked.

  Holly didn’t need any more alcohol. She was tipsy from just looking at him. ‘No, thank you. I’ve had my two drinks for the evening.’

  That diamond glint was back in his eyes as if her saying no had secretly delighted him.

  ‘Are you driving?’

  ‘No. I caught a cab.’

  ‘I can’t tempt you to break your two-drinks-only rule?’

  Holly raised her chin and channelled her childhood Sunday school teacher’s prim Temperance Society tone. ‘No, Mr Knight. You cannot tempt me.’

  Zack’s you-just-watch-me smile made something in Holly’s belly flutter like a breeze through the pages of an open book. ‘Are you here with anyone?’

  ‘No. I came alone.’

  ‘Is that usual for you?’ Something about the tone of his voice made her wonder if they were discussing her relationship status or something much more intimate. Thinking about sex while standing in front of a man as arrantly masculine as Zack Knight was like standing in front of flammable fuel with a lit match.

  Dangerous.

  Stupidly, recklessly dangerous.

  Holly could feel her cheeks heating, her body tingling and her resolve limping away. She stretched her mouth into a stiff no-teeth-showing smile. ‘Don’t let me keep you from chatting up the other guests.’

  ‘I’m not interested in the other guests. I’m interested in you.’ His statement was underlined with determination and his gaze as steady as a marksman’s.

  Holly mentally gave her resolve a pep talk but it was like trying to get a lame horse to finish a steeplechase. On crutches. ‘I can’t imagine why you’d be interested in me.’ Damn it. She sounded like she was flirting.

  ‘Zack!’ Kendra Hutchinson came click-clacking towards them in her terrifyingly high heels, her voice so shrill she sounded like a beginner on bagpipes. ‘And yay, you’ve found Holly.’ She beamed at Holly. ‘I told him all about you. I hope you don’t mind.’

  Holly clenched her teeth behind a polite smile. ‘Why should I mind? If Mr Knight is in the market for wedding flowers, then I’m the woman he needs to call.’

  Kendra laughed and shone her orthodontist-perfect smile at Zack. ‘Isn’t she gorgeous? I knew you two would hit it off.’

  ‘Undeniably gorgeous.’ Zack’s gaze met Holly’s, reminding her of a hunter who had just selected his prey.

  ‘Holly hasn’t been on a date in two and a half years,’ Kendra said to Zack. ‘Don’t you find that simply amazing?’

  What Holly found amazing was how she stopped herself from grabbing one of Kendra’s heels, pockmarking her collagen-plumped cheeks with it and taking out a couple of those bright white tooth veneers while she was at it. She might have vented a little ire about men on her Facebook account now and again but she hadn’t said anything about how long she’d been celibate. That was no one’s business. Who had Kendra been talking to? Jane? Or Sabrina, her best friend, who ran the other arm of Holly’s Love Is in the Care business?

  ‘Let’s see if I can get her to change her mind about dating,’ Zack said with another I’ve-got-this-nailed smile.

  Holly inched up her chin and sent him a haughty glare straight out of a Georgette Heyer novel. ‘You’d be wasting your time, Mr Knight.’

  ‘It’s my time to waste,’ he said.

  Kendra took out her phone and held it up to take a picture. ‘Smile, you two.’

  Holly frowned. ‘No. Wait. I don’t want my—’ Too late. The camera phone flashed and clicked. She could see it now. Hundreds, thousands, possibly millions of social media shares with her standing next to Zack Knight with her mouth hanging open as if she were a starstruck teenage fan at a boy band meet-and-greet.

  Kendra checked the photo and smiled like a cat standing beside an empty aviary. She gave Holly and Zack a fingertip wave and turned on her spiky heels to join her other guests.

  Holly turned to glower at Zack. ‘You should’ve stopped her. That will be all over Instagram or Twitter in minutes. She’ll have us flipping engaged before you know it.’

  His shoulder lifted in a nonchalant shrug. ‘Who would believe it? I’m not the long-term commitment type.’

  Holly wondered why he was so against commitment. Was there some reason behind his date-them-and-dump-them lifestyle? A rejection from a woman in his past that had stung a little too much? Was that why he was happy with hook-up sex but not emotional-connection sex?

  Zack took two drinks from a passing waiter and turned back to Holly. ‘Still not willing to be tempted?’

  She took the glass of champagne, trying not to touch his fingers in the process. If nothing else she could throw it in his face if he got too annoying. ‘I’m not the settling-down type either, but I suppose Kendra has already told you that?’

  He took a slow sip of his drink and returned his gaze to hers. ‘She told me you’ve had your heart broken a couple of times.’

  Argh. Why were people still talking about her doomed love life two and a half years on? It was pathetic. And embarrassing. ‘Actually, that’s not quite correct. Bruised is the terminology I would’ve used.’

  ‘Bruises still hurt.’

  ‘Is that the voice of experience or observation?’

  He lifted his glass as if toasting an eternal truth. ‘It’s hard to get to the age of thirty-four without a little collateral damage.’

  What had put that cynical gleam in his dark blue gaze? What had made his mouth smile in that mocking way?

  ‘So why family law? Why not commercial, criminal or conveyance?’

  His gaze remained game shooter steady. ‘Why are you a florist?’

  ‘I love flowers.’

  ‘But why wedding flowers?’

  Holly could feel her cheeks heating up when she thought of how wedding-obsessed she had been in the past. Her bedroom walls hadn’t been plastered with boy band posters but with bridal ones. She hadn’t doodled in class with boys’ names but had drawn wedding bouquets instead. ‘I might not want to get married any more but that doesn’t mean I don’t love weddings. They’re happy occasions where whole families get together to celebrate the commitment of a couple they know and love. I love being a part of that. Helping the bride choose what she wants, finding out her vision for the special day and making sure it happens. I love seeing the church or garden or wherever they’re getting married decked out with my designs. And the
thought of the bride carrying a bouquet I’ve made specially for her is very rewarding, and no, I don’t just mean financially.’ Holly stopped to draw a breath and suddenly realised how much she had told him. And what a good listener he was. ‘But you didn’t answer my question. Why family law?’

  ‘It pays the bills.’

  Holly flicked her gaze over his superb tailoring. ‘Apparently quite handsomely too.’

  Zack’s lazy smile made something in her stomach flip. Damn the man for being so attractive. ‘The golden rule in making a success of your career is never to undersell yourself. If you’re good at what you do, then your fees should reflect that expertise.’

  ‘Isn’t there a fine line between charging a fee for a service and exploiting people during a vulnerable time?’ Holly raised her eyebrows and injected her tone with Sunday school–teacher disapproval.

  He glanced at her mouth, then back to her gaze, his eyes going a deeper shade of blue. Sapphires with a backdrop of steel. ‘I don’t exploit my clients. I give them what they pay for—excellent service.’

  Holly gave him one of her mortuary-slab smiles. ‘If ever I find myself in need of a divorce, then you’re apparently my go-to man.’

  His eyes glinted and her stomach did another jerky somersault. ‘Likewise for wedding flowers.’

  You’re flirting with him.

  No, I’m not.

  Yes, you are. And you’re loving it.

  Holly took a sip of her champagne. ‘Don’t let me keep you.’

  ‘From?’

  She waved a hand at the crowd of guests. ‘Hooking up with someone for a raunchy one-night stand.’

  The glint of amusement was back in his eyes. ‘You don’t approve of raunchy one-night stands, Miss Frost?’

  Holly’s cheeks were getting so hot she was worried all her fresh flower arrangements would wilt. Her fault for mentioning raunchy sex, but still. She had trouble thinking of anything but sex when standing near him. It was like her mind was stuck in a groove like a vinyl record under a turntable needle. Sex. Sex. Sex. She couldn’t look at his mouth without thinking of it clamped to hers. She couldn’t glance at his hands without imagining them touching her body. She couldn’t look at his body without wanting him to pin her to the nearest surface and have his wild and wicked way with her.

  She didn’t understand why she was reacting like this. It was out of character. It was like a fever had taken over her body—a virulent fever that sabotaged her self-control like a lightning strike to a power box. She hadn’t thought about sex for years. She’d been as celibate as a ninety-nine-year-old nun. But one glance at Zack Knight was enough to make her eggs pack their bags and head for the nearest exit.

  Holly forced herself to hold his satirical I’m-going-to-win-this gaze. ‘I’m not sure why I’m the lucky recipient of your peacock-like display of charm. And I apologise if this inflicts any bruises to your undoubtedly robustly healthy ego, but I’m not interested in continuing this discussion. Do I make myself unmistakably clear?’

  He gave a mock shudder. ‘I love it when a woman talks starchy schoolmistress with me.’

  Holly’s mouth twitched and she hated him for making her smile. She refused to be charmed by him. By any man. ‘You’re impossible. I’ve never met a more annoying man.’

  ‘And I’ve never met a more fascinating woman.’

  ‘Because I’m the only woman who’s ever resisted you?’

  ‘So far.’ His smile and his tone had a hint of ruthless hunter meets cornered prey.

  Holly chastised herself for being so transparent. What was she these days? Cling film? ‘I can assure you, Mr Knight, I have zero interest in you physically.’ She tried to keep her gaze away from his mouth. Tried, but failed.

  He gave a deep chuckle and raised his glass to hers. ‘I’ll be seeing you. Ciao.’

  Holly was still thinking of a pithy comeback when he turned and walked away. She stood silently fuming that he’d had the last word. Furious that he’d made her feel things she didn’t want to feel. She felt alive for the first time in two and a half years. She was furious because he had done that to her. Her blood zinged through her veins like it had been injected with a potent drug.

  Holly sucked in a deep breath and marshalled her self-control back on duty. Zack Knight could be as charming and handsome and amusing as he liked—she was not going to break her man drought.

  * * *

  Zack half listened to the conversation going on around him while he watched Holly move about the room. He could tell she was pretending to be captivated by the lively chatter, and every now and again would give a brief smile, but then she’d look vacant.

  He couldn’t remember a time when he’d been more intrigued by a woman. Kendra had warned him about Holly’s self-imposed celibacy. His interest had been piqued because he hadn’t had a woman brush him off since he was a teenager. Her cool reception of him turned him on. Dating had become so predictably boring. He figured it was time to change things up.

  And right now he wanted Miss Holly Frost with her damn-you-to-hell brown eyes. Eyes so rich a brown they reminded him of toffee. Her eyelashes were thick and ink black like miniature fans. He couldn’t stop thinking about her curly, burnished-copper-coloured hair spread over his pillow. Or over his chest. He’d caught a whiff of her fresh flowery scent when he’d stood in front of her and had longed to lean in to breathe in more of her intoxicating fragrance. Her mouth was soft and supple, except when it was flinging quick-witted comebacks at him.

  But those lushly shaped lips never failed to draw his eyes, even when they were as flat and as intractable as a search warrant. He couldn’t stop looking at her mouth, imagining it crushed beneath his own. Her figure was slim with curves in all the right places, and he couldn’t wait to explore those tempting places with his hands, lips and tongue. Her skin was as creamy as a cultured pearl, the only blemish a small dusting of freckles across the bridge of her retroussé nose.

  Zack caught her eye from across the room and her mouth flattened, her chin came up and her eyes flashed like sheet lightning. But then her tongue swept over her mouth, her gaze dipping to his mouth and her slim white throat rose and fell in a swallow.

  Yep. All the signs were there. He’d been in the game long enough to recognise female attraction when he saw it. It wasn’t a matter of blindsided male ego. He could feel the chemistry between them as soon as their hands had touched. The tingling bolt of electricity had jolted him straight to the groin. He could still feel the soft brush of her fingers against his hand. He could still feel the thrum of his blood surging through his veins. Her touch had sent a rocket blast of lust through his flesh that even now rumbled in his body like distant thunder. He’d seen the way she’d kept looking at his mouth, the way her eyes had darkened to pools of simmering desire.

  He was prepared to wait. He knew more than most that some of the best things in life were worth waiting for. Holly’s little cat-and-mouse game was amusing but he knew it wouldn’t be long before she was in his bed.

  And that was exactly where he wanted her.

  CHAPTER TWO

  HOLLY WAS NORMALLY the first of her staff at work in the morning but her elderly landlady, Mrs Fry, delayed her. She’d insisted on telling Holly about the other neighbour on the left, who hadn’t put the rubbish bins the right distance apart for collection. Behind her back, Holly called her Mrs Pry because nothing escaped the old busybody’s attention.

  Holly was only renting the small one-bedroom flat while her new home was being renovated. It was taking longer and costing way more than she’d planned, but she knew it would be worth it in the end. Owning her own home was something she’d longed to do ever since she’d moved to London. All those years of living in bedsits or cramped flats where the walls were as thin as cardboard had made her long for her own place. A place she could decorate to her taste, where she could have a pet—a dog because t
hey were so loving and faithful, unlike men.

  When Holly arrived at work, Jane turned the computer screen so Holly could see the order that had come in first thing. ‘You must have made a good impression on Zack Knight last night. He’s ordered flowers for his legal practice. A regular order too. Two dozen roses, a different colour every week.’

  Holly leaned forward to glance at the order, her heart doing a little skip and trip when she saw his name. She straightened and hoped her cheeks were not glowing as hot as they felt. ‘I don’t want his business. I loathed him on sight. He’s an egotistical jerk who thinks he only has to smile at a woman to get her into bed.’

  Jane’s eyes danced so much they could have won a dancing competition. ‘And that’s not all.’ She pointed to the bottom of the order, where it asked for special delivery instructions. ‘He wants you to deliver them in person.’

  Holly pinched her lips together. ‘I’m not a courier, for pity’s sake. I’m the owner of this business. I haven’t got time to hand deliver roses.’

  ‘His practice is walking distance from here. And if you don’t deliver them, then he says here he’ll come and get them.’ Jane’s smile was sugar sweet. ‘Won’t that be fun?’

  Holly snatched up her apron and tied it around her waist with savage movements. ‘I’m not kowtowing to that man’s outrageous demands.’

  ‘Maybe he likes you. I mean really likes you.’ Jane had gone all dreamy looking. ‘How cool would it be to be wooed and won by a man as gorgeous as him?’

  ‘You’ve been watching way too much TV,’ Holly said. ‘I don’t want to be wooed or won by anyone and particularly not by someone who doesn’t understand the word no.’