LITMIR.BIZ

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took a sip of her champagne. “You mean are we seeing each other?”

      “I mean, are you involved with him? Are the two of you sleeping together?”

      Liz stiffened as he had figured she would. He was testing her, he knew. Still for some odd reason, he really wanted to hear the answer.

      “You know, Zach, I don’t think you’ve changed as much as you’d like to believe.”

      In some ways, he supposed it was true. “Maybe not.” He drank some of his Diet Coke. “So you aren’t going to tell me?”

      “My relationship with your brother is none of your business.”

      He looked away, trying not to imagine Liz Conners in Carson’s bed.

      “We’re friends,” she finally conceded. “We barely even know each other.”

      Zach found himself smiling. “No kidding.”

      “Look, Zach. I know you and your brother don’t get along. Maybe paying attention to me is your way of goading him, I don’t know, but—”

      “My interest in you has nothing to do with Carson,” he said, surprised to discover it was true. “I just…I don’t know. I always thought you were different somehow. I guess I wanted to know if you still were.”

      “So am I?”

      From the corner of his eye, he saw his brother and the rest of the men returning to the room. “I don’t know.” He took a long drink of his Diet Coke and set the glass down on the bar. “You’ll enjoy the supper. Carson brings in some of the best chefs in L.A.”

      Turning, he started toward the parlor door. For an instant, he thought Liz Conners watched him as he walked away, but it was probably his imagination.

      

      Elizabeth pulled her gaze from Zach Harcourt’s tall, lean figure as he disappeared out of the room. She could still feel a faint buzz of electricity from their brief encounter. He had a way of getting to her, of challenging her, and at the same time looking at her as if he found her incredibly attractive. It annoyed her. And it intrigued her.

      Zach Harcourt might no longer have a problem with drugs and alcohol, but he was just as irritating, just as overbearing as he’d been as a boy.

      Still, she couldn’t deny she found him attractive. There was something about him, something dark and mysterious that appealed to her in a sexual way. Women always seemed to like bad boys. Apparently, in some primal way, she did, too.

      Carson walked up to her just then and her gaze swung to his. He must have noticed where she had been looking because his mouth seemed a little bit tight.

      “I hope my brother wasn’t bothering you. He can be fairly obnoxious at times.”

      She thought of that day outside Marge’s Café. “I thought he was supposed to be a changed man.”

      “Zach’s a lawyer. What can I say?”

      She laughed at that. Lawyers never seemed to be anyone’s favorite people. She wondered if Zach was a good one. He seemed a little too outspoken, a little too caustic for a job that often required a good deal of finesse.

      “Dinner’s ready,” Caron said. “Why don’t we lead the way into the dining room?”

      “Good idea, I’m starving.” Elizabeth smiled, determined not to spare another thought for Zachary Harcourt.

      An hour later, it still hadn’t worked.

      Seven

      The evening finally came to a close, thank God. Though Elizabeth had mostly enjoyed herself, her role as unofficial hostess had convinced her being a politician’s wife had to be a devil of a job.

      Since Carson had drunk wine with dinner and an after-dinner cordial, once the limo returned its passengers to the airstrip, he had the long black Cadillac drive Elizabeth home. Carson escorted her, walking her up to the door of her apartment. She thought about inviting him in, but the evening had been long and tiring and she didn’t think he was any more interested in continuing the night than she was.

      “Thank you, Carson, for another enjoyable evening.”

      “I’m the one who ought to thank you. You were wonderful, Elizabeth. You put everyone at ease and kept the women entertained while we had our meeting. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

      She figured he had hosted dozens of parties on his own, but it sounded nice when he said it. “I thought everything went very well. I think your guests had a good time, too.”

      He smiled. “I hope so.” Leaning down, he very lightly kissed her. Carson deepened the kiss and Elizabeth kissed him back, sliding her arms around his neck, a little surprised she felt only a mildly pleasant sensation. Carson was a good-looking man. Still, when he let her go and backed away, she wasn’t sorry.

      “I’ll call you,” Carson said.

      Elizabeth just nodded. “Good night.”

      Carson stood on the porch as Elizabeth went inside and closed the door. She thought of his kiss and wondered at her reaction. There was such a thing as chemistry between two people and it didn’t seem to be there with Carson.

      Elizabeth thought of the irritating conversation she’d had with his brother, remembered the way Zach had looked at her—as if the heat in those dark eyes could burn right through her dress—and ignored the fluttery feeling in the pit of her stomach.

      

      Crickets chirped in the warm summer air and stars glittered like miniature diamonds in the black night sky. Zach couldn’t see them in L.A. He supposed there was at least one good thing about the dusty little town of San Pico.

      Making his way up on the porch, Zach used his key to open the door to the sprawling ranch house that belonged to Lisa Doyle. It was built in one of the better sections of town, three bedrooms, brick trim, shake roof, nicely landscaped, with a pool in the backyard. She had weaseled it out of her ex-husband in a nasty divorce settlement. Second time around for Lisa, who always seemed to come out on top when the dust finally settled.

      A good reason to stay single, Zach thought.

      The living room was dark when he walked in, though it wasn’t really that late. She’d be waiting in the bedroom, he knew. She had a sexual appetite far beyond most women, which was something he couldn’t complain about, except that when it came to men she was not all that discriminating. Which didn’t say much for him.

      As he stripped off his sport coat on the way to the bedroom door, it occurred to him that he didn’t really want to be here tonight. The thought had occurred to him last week, as well, but tonight, for some odd reason, the notion rang with a clarity it somehow hadn’t before.

      Still, he had told Lisa he’d be in town and he had no real reason not to join her. Besides, his brief encounter with Liz Conners had left him itching for a hot round of sex and it was certain he wouldn’t be getting it from Liz.

      “I thought you’d never get here,” Lisa said as he stepped through the bedroom door. “I’m horny as hell, lover. I need a good fuck. How about you?”

      She was wearing red thong panties and nothing else and she walked straight up to him. She pulled his head down for a kiss and he kissed her back. Her hand gripped his crotch through his slacks and she rubbed till he got hard.

      Still, he couldn’t seem to really get turned on. He couldn’t seem to get his mind wrapped around the thought of another bout of meaningless sex. He told himself that was exactly the way he liked it—no strings, no involvement.

      But even as she led him over to the bed and stripped off the rest of his clothes, his thoughts strayed back to Liz Conners, how pretty she’d looked tonight, how sexy she was, yet exactly the opposite of Lisa. He shook his head, shoving the image away, and tried to concentrate

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