Claimed For The Billionaire's Convenience
‘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 they 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.’
‘Think about it, Holly.’ Jane suddenly turned serious. ‘His interest in you could be really good for business. Did you get a photo with him? I’ve been checking social media but nothing’s come up.’
‘Kendra took one but she must have changed her mind about uploading it.’ Thank God.
‘I can see the headlines now.’ Jane swept her hand from left to right as if to highlight a billboard. ‘“Top Celebrity Divorce Lawyer Falls for Wedding Florist”.’ Her grin widened. ‘You’ll have brides queuing down the footpath once they hear you’ve caught the interest of London’s most eligible playboy.’
Holly rolled her eyes like marbles but her brain was already doing the calculations. How long would a so-called relationship with Zack take to turn her business back around? If spurious gossip had already soured things for her, then why shouldn’t she use more gossip to turn things around?
Because dating Zack Knight would be dangerous.
Capital D Dangerous.
Holly was finishing an arrangement for a new mother in hospital when the bell on the front door tinkled as someone came in. Normally Jane or one of her other assistants handled customers when she was working on an arrangement. But all three girls were currently out of the shop—Jane on a coffee break and Taylor and Leanne both away sick with colds. Holly put the arrangement to one side and came out of the workroom to the shopfront. She saw Zack Knight standing there with a lazy smile and her breath caught.
She stayed behind the shop counter, gripping it with her hands and setting her shoulders. ‘Can I help you?’
‘Did you get my order?’ His deep blue eyes were backlit with amusement. Or was it mockery?
Holly forced herself to hold his gaze. ‘I don’t take orders from customers... I mean, specific orders like the one you sent. If you want my roses or any other flowers, you’ll have to accept they’ll be delivered by my courier.’
‘I’ll pay you double to deliver them in person.’
Had he somehow heard about her financial troubles? Had everyone? She would not fail. She could not fail. Holly fixed him with a steely glare and gripped the counter so hard she thought her knuckles would burst out of her skin. ‘Mr Knight, I might not have quite the disgusting amount of wealth you’ve accumulated, but let me assure you I am not in such dire financial straits that I would ever consent to accepting a bribe from you.’
He stepped closer, so close she could smell the sharp citrus scent of his aftershave and the lighter, more subtle fragrance of cleanly showered man. So close she could feel her resolve downing tools and walking off the job. ‘Forget about the roses. Have dinner with me instead.’ It was a demand, not a request, delivered in a low, deep burr that did strange tickly things to her insides.
Something at the back of her knees fizzed as his lips curved around a smile. She swallowed. Swallowed again. Her heart skipping like it was in a jump rope competition. She was tempted to accept. Tempted because she hadn’t been on a date for so long and she was tired of sitting alone in her flat. Tempted because she wanted to prove she wasn’t the pushover he thought her to be. It would be fun teaching him a lesson. The sort of fun she hadn’t had in a long time. She would have dinner with him and show him he couldn’t win her over with his polished charm. And if anyone saw them out and about, the gossip would bring back the brides to her shop.
Holly released her clawlike grip on the counter and let out a you-win-this-round sigh. ‘All right. I’ll have dinner with you. Tell me where and when and I’ll meet you there.’
His smile never faltered but a glint of cynicism appeared in his gaze. ‘I have a rule when I date a woman. I pick her up and I deliver her safely home.’
Holly pursed her lips, wondering what her landlady Mrs Fry would make of the handsome celebrity divorce lawyer coming to pick her up. ‘I have a rule, as well. Just dinner. Nothing else. Understood?’
‘Just dinner.’ His gaze locked on hers and something tightly knotted in her belly slowly unravelled. ‘I’ll look forward to it.’ He took out his phone, asked for her number and address and typed it into his contacts. He slipped his phone back into his jacket pocket and gave her another bone-melting smile. ‘See you at seven.’
Zack had a couple of mediation meetings to attend and a stack of paperwork so high it rivalled The Shard, the tallest building in London. He sat back in his office chair and tipped his pen back and forth between his fingers, wondering again why Holly had finally agreed to a dinner date. She’d been so adamant about having nothing to do with him. He would like to put it down to his powers of persuasion but he suspected there was some other reason for her capitulation.
She had something to prove, but then so did he.
He wanted her.
He couldn’t remember when he’d ever been so turned on by the prospect of a dinner date, much less anything else that might follow. Holly was frosty and feisty, but he would soon melt through her defences. Miss Frost would be Miss Firebrand by the time he was done. He could see it in her eyes—the flash and spark of desire that made him want her all the more. She was the most captivating challenge he’d encountered in a long time—perhaps ever. When was the last time a woman had stood up to him? It was almost boring these days how easy it had become to select one from the crowd. He found it strangely exhilarating to have to work so hard at changing her mind. Especially when he knew it was herself she was fighting, not him.
His phone rang and when he saw his father’s number come up on the screen, his stomach did its usual clench. His father had never got over Zack’s mother leaving him for another man when Zack was ten years old. Twenty-four years had passed and his dad was still hoping Zack’s mum would come back. He’d had a few relationships since, but they always followed a predictable pattern—the honeymoon phase and then the hell-on-earth phase. His dad was currently in the hell phase, having broken up with his partner a few months ago. His dad didn’t cope well with rejection. It could take months for him to get his life back on track, with a lot of help from Zack. And then it would all start again when his dad got involved with someone else.
Zack had seen it professionally too many times to count. Men or women who couldn’t let go of a love they had lost. And how the old pain of unresolved issues poisoned every other relationship.
It made him all the more determined never to fall in love. He didn’t want to be one of those people, the broken-hearted person who couldn’t function any more without their partner. To this day his dad still struggled to hold down a full-time job after a break-up.
How could loving someone be worth all that suffering?
He tossed his pen onto his desk and picked up the phone. ‘Hi, Dad, how are things?’
‘I’m okay...’ His voice was flat and toneless and Zack wondered if he had been drinking again. Please, God. No.
‘Just wondered what you were doing this evening. Thought we could hang out. Grab a meal, watch a movie or take in a show or something.’
Damn. Zack rubbed a hand down his face. He’d forgotten today was his parents’ wedding anniversary. The first of April was always a bad day for his dad. It wasn’t called April Fool’s Day for nothing. It was marginally better if his dad was in a relationship but his recent break-up had made his dad depressed. Zack usually kept his diary free so he could take him out and distract him but it had slipped his mind for some reason. Should he tell his dad he already had a date?
But how could he?
If he left his dad to his own devices, who knew what might happen? His dad had been sober for months but Zack knew from experience that he was always only one drink away from a binge. Anniversaries, Christmas and birthdays were the days he had to take action to make sure his dad was safe—or at least as safe as he could keep him, especially when his dad was in a single-and-hating-it phase.
‘If you’re too busy...’
‘No. I’ll make it work.’ Zack injected a shot of enthusiasm in his voice. ‘I’ll pick you up at seven.’
He ended the call and pulled up Holly’s number on his phone. He sat staring at it for a long moment. There were few people in his life who knew about his dad’s struggles and he wasn’t about to start sharing now. He’d spent most of his life watching out for his father and he didn’t need anyone to know how hard it could be at times.
It wouldn’t change anything—it never did.
He pressed the call button but it went through to voicemail. He felt a stab of disappointment. He left a brief message and clicked off his phone. Under normal circumstances he would have sent flowers by way of apology, but sending flowers to a florist seemed a bit weird. He ordered some specialist chocolates instead and sent them by courier with instructions to pick up his handwritten note from his office first. He knew Holly had a sweet tooth because he’d seen her at the dessert table at the divorce party. He smiled at the memory of her spooning gooey black forest cheesecake into her kissable mouth.
Yep, Holly Frost was definitely worth the work and the wait.
Holly was in a Love Is in the Care late-afternoon business meeting with Sabrina. They met at least once a week for coffee or dinner or drinks after work when their schedules obliged and caught up on industry gossip and any issues to do with their businesses. If it was a coffee and quick catch-up, they took turns to meet in each other’s work premises and today it was at Sabrina’s studio, a few roads away from Holly’s shop.
‘Has business picked up at all?’ Sabrina asked, passing a slice of carrot cake Holly’s way.
Holly held up her hand. ‘Not for me. I had two helpings of cheesecake at Kendra’s party last night. And no, business hasn’t improved. I had another cancellation yesterday.’
‘Oh, no! Not another one?’
‘I don’t know what’s going on. Normally at this time of year I have a full diary of weddings. Why aren’t I getting business any more? Now I have to resort to doing divorce parties.’
‘So how was your first divorce party?’
‘Interesting.’ Holly eyed the carrot cake. ‘I met Zack Knight. He did Kendra’s divorce for her. She took a photo of Zack and me standing together. I’ve been dreading her uploading it on social media, but so far she hasn’t, which kind of makes me even more nervous. You know Kendra. She fancies herself a matchmaker.’