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"Shower's free!" came the call a few minutes later.
He gave her another couple of minutes to close herself in the bedroom, not sure he'd be able to resist if he saw her swathed in the tempting impermanence of an easily removable towel. When he entered the small, tiled enclosure at last, it was to find it steamy with the lavish scent of some feminine lotion. But the soap, he was glad to see, was nothing too girly. A man had to have standards, he thought, and programmed the shower to freezing. It finally succeeded in cooling down his body.
Annie sat in Zach's car in her parents' drive and twisted her fingers in her lap. "I've never brought a man home," she blurted out. "It didn't seem worth the fuss."
"I'm flattered."
She frowned at him. "Don't tease me now." But she felt her nerves loosen a fraction. "Come on, we might as well get this over with." Opening the door, she stepped out.
They met at the front of the vehicle. "At least it's a nice night," she said.
Zach put an arm around her with the lazy grace of the leopard he was. "I like your dress," he murmured, playing his fingertips over her hip.
"Oh." Her nerves frayed again, for a different reason. She'd chosen the black crossover dress because it would give her mother nothing to complain about. But Zach's words made her realize it might actually qualify as sexy. "You don't think I'm not thin enough for it?"
"I'll tell you tonight . . . after I unwrap you." He made her sound like a present.
She felt her eyes widen, her pulse jump. "Behave."
"Do I still get to unwrap you?"
A moment of silence, the night sky cut with shards of glittering diamond.
"Yes." She wanted to dance with the wildness in him, wanted to feel what it was to be treated like a beautiful, sensual woman. But more, she wanted to lie with this man who'd already made a place for himself in her heart.
She knew she was about to break one of her most fundamental rules in deepening this relationship, in putting her heart on the line, but she also knew that if she didn't love Zach, she'd regret it for the rest of her life. Perhaps, she thought for the first time, perhaps her mother's choices hadn't been as simple as the child in Annie had always believed. Perhaps with that one man who mattered, there was no choice, no protecting yourself against the inevitable end of the dream. "Yes," she said again. "You get to unwrap me."
"Then I'll be on my best behavior." He pressed a kiss to her temple. "Let's go, Angel."
She was already used to the nickname. Strange as it was, it felt as if he'd been calling her that forever . . . as if it was right. Walking up to the door, she held that sense of Tightness to her like a talisman. "Here we go." She pressed the doorbell.
Her mother opened it a couple of seconds later. Dressed in a severe black dress accented with a discreet string of pearls, her dark hair twisted into a sleek knot, Kimberly Kildaire looked what she was—a successful, sophisticated, professional. No one could've guessed at the deep vulnerability that Annie knew lay beneath the polished surface.
"Angelica." Her mother leaned forward to allow Annie to peck her on the cheek.
After drawing back, she said, "Mom, this is Zach Quinn."
Her mother's expression didn't change, but Annie knew that Kimberly would have noted everything about the man by her side, from his black suit, to his sleek silver belt buckle, to his crisp white shirt. Open at the collar, it looked both formal and relaxed. She'd about swallowed her tongue when she'd walked out of the bedroom and seen him waiting for her by the door. Zach wild was enough to blow her mind, but Zach playing at being tame . . . wow.
"Mr. Quinn," her mother now said, holding out her hand—Professor Kild
aire might not think particularly highly of changelings, but no one would ever criticize her manners.
"Mrs. Kildaire."
Releasing his hand, Kimberly stepped back. "Do come in." She led them through the hallway and into the sunken living room off to the right.
There were far more people mingling below than Annie had expected. "I thought this was supposed to be a small dinner?"
Her mother's smile did nothing to warm the cool disapproval in her eyes. "I invited some university people. I thought your . . . friend would feel more comfortable if it wasn't just family."
It was a very subtle insult. Professor Markson was worthy of a family dinner. Zach wasn't. Temper spiked, not so much at the slight against Zach—he was tough enough to take care of himself—but because Annie couldn't believe her mother would try to sabotage her and Zach's relationship with such calculated rudeness.
But before she could say something she might not have been able to take back, Zach squeezed her hip lightly, and said, "I'm honored you went to so much trouble to put me at ease." His voice was smooth whiskey and effortless warmth. "I know how close Annie is to you, so I'm delighted by the welcome."
Annie saw her mother's expression falter for a second, but Kimberly Kildaire was nothing if not quick on her feet. "Of course. Come, I'll introduce you." She led them into the knot of curious people below.
Caroline was the first to come over. Though she told herself not to, Annie found herself tensing up as she waited to see Zach's reaction to her cousin. Caro was one of her favorite people in the world. She was also quite impossibly stunning. Annie had never before been jealous of the way her cousin drew men to her like moths to a flame—no man had ever mattered enough. But Zach did.
