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He walked over and took the basket she'd picked up from the small table in one corner. "What's this?"
"I packed a couple of things for the picnic, and some snacks for the ride."
He peeked in. "Chocolate cake?"
"Chocolate mud cake," she said, with an adorable note of pride that made him want to claim his forfeit then and there. "I made it last night, gave it time to settle."
"You'll be Sascha's new best friend." Leaning in, he brushed his lips over her ear. "And yes, Teach, I like teasing you."
Annie still hadn't gotten over the sensation of his lips on her skin as Zach pulled away from her ground-floor apartment and out into the street. Open sexual heat laced his teasing, but she wasn't sure quite how far he'd take it. If he pushed, would she surrender?
The temptation was blindingly strong. Not only was he beautiful in the most masculine way, she flat out liked him. Being with Zach, if only for a night, would be, she already knew, a delight. He wouldn't be the least bit selfish, she thought. His partner's pleasure would matter to him. And, given his nature, he wasn't likely to want any kind of a commitment.
It was perfect.
Yet Annie found herself hesitating. Already, she reacted to him more deeply than she had to any other man her entire life. What would it do to her to sleep with him, to know him that intimately . . . then watch him walk away? Her mind flicked to a slide show of images. They were all of one woman. A woman with years of disappointment in her eyes.
"Look."
She jerked up at the sound of his voice. "What?"
"There." He pointed out the windshield.
Her eyes widened at the parade of old-fashioned automobiles on the other side of the road, all huge bodies and gleaming paint. They were so old they had no hover capacity, but there was something very sexy about them. "They look amazing. I wonder where they're going?"
"I read something about a vintage-car show about a twenty-minute drive from here. We could swing by after the picnic today."
Despite her fear at how quickly he'd gotten under her skin, she couldn't help but be delighted that he wanted to spend more time with her. Hard on its heels came disappointment. "I have to be back by six," she said. "Family dinner."
Zach shot her a quick glance. "You don't sound too enthusiastic."
She understood the surprise in his voice. All the DarkRiver cats she knew had one thing in common—family was the bedrock of their world. And Pack was one big extended family as far as they were concerned—she'd had senior pack members turn up to parent-teacher conferences more than once when the parent was ill or unavoidably delayed. "My mom keeps trying to set me up with men."
Zach's expression changed and, for the first time, she saw the ruthless soldier in him. "What kind of men?"
"Academics." She shrugged. "Mom and Dad are both professors at Berkeley—math and physics respectively."
"Are academics your type?"
"No."
He glanced at her again, and those eyes had gone leopard on her. "Are you sure?"
"Quite." She found herself refusing to be intimidated by the sense of incipient danger in the air. If she gave an inch, Zach would take a mile. And while she might not be a dominant female, it was important that he respect her. She frowned. Of course it was important, but that thought, it had been so vivid, so strong, so visceral—as if her mind knew something it wasn't yet ready to share.
Then Zach spoke again, breaking her train of thought. "So you'll be skipping the dinner." It was an order plain and simple.
Annie opened her mouth. What came out was, "No, I'll take you."
Chapter 5
Zach's grin was openly pleased. "What's the blind date going to say?"
She couldn't believe she'd just done that, ordered him to do something. More, she couldn't believe he'd agreed. "Probably, 'Thank God.' "
"Huh?"
"My cousin Caroline works at the university, too. The men come in expecting a statuesque, intellectual, blond beauty and get me."
