He was the biggest fool in the world.
"Annie," he said quietly, when he pulled into a car space outside her building. "We need to talk."
She said nothing as she opened the car door. Zack reached across and pulled it shut again before she could move.
"You're not going anywhere until we sort this out," he growled.
"Sort what out, Zack? That you're an arrogant jerk? Well, I've already sorted that out."
"Stop it, Annie, and listen to me." He caught her shoulders and turned her toward him. Fire burned in her eyes and her brow creased into a deep frown. She was beyond angry. "Please," he added.
CHAPTER 16
She crossed her arms. "I'm listening."
But suddenly he couldn't find the appropriate words to say what he wanted to say. Lord, he'd give anything for a thesaurus right now. "I'm sorry," was all he could manage.
"For what?"
It was a test. But he knew the answer. "For changing you."
She stared at him, her lips slightly parted. From the horrified look on her face he got the feeling he'd said the wrong thing. He just wished he knew what was the right thing to say.
"Changing me!" She shook her head as if to clear it. "Changing me into what?"
He shrugged, swallowed and chose his words very carefully. "Bob wanted to turn you into a wild child. A woman who enjoys life and likes to have fun. I think I did my job too well. I wasn't expecting you to flirt with every man you met."
I wasn't expecting to hate watching it, he wanted to say but didn't. Her mood was too dark to reveal something so intimate. She might pounce on that admission and crush him with it. He wasn't ready for that. Watching her with another man was pain enough for one day—he couldn't cope with an outright rejection on top of that.
"You arrogant jerk! You think you can actually change me! What sort of egotistical man are you? And what sort of pathetic idiot do you think I am? Do you think I'm so weak that I'd actually be influenced permanently by anything that you've supposedly taught me over the last few days? Either you think I'm incredibly shallow or you think you have a power over me. Is that how you see me, Zack, as a blank canvas that you can just paint a personality onto? Turn me into your dream woman? What's the next step? Plastic surgery?"
He stared without blinking at her. Where the hell had that come from? And how the hell had she jumped to those conclusions?
"Now wait a minute," he managed to say before she could use the silence to continue. "I don't think that at all and you know it."
"I don't know it. In fact, I know nothing about you, Zack DiMarco. You're as much a mystery to me as you were when we first met. And that's probably a good thing because I don't think I want to know what makes the real Zack tick."
He felt the screws tightening around his heart, and her fingerprints were all over them. How could she say that after everything they'd been through in the last few days? He thought she'd known him better than any woman. He'd revealed more of himself to her than to anyone.
He swallowed, but the lump in his throat remained.
Annie opened the car door and got out.
He let her go.
***
For almost two days, Annie thought of insults she could fling at Zack's face next time she saw him. Unfortunately flea on a dog's behind was the best she could do. Not even worth e-mailing that one, if she'd known his address. She sighed and slumped forward, resting her head on her forearms. She was out of insults. At least thinking of insults had kept the tears at bay. It was easier to be angry with him than sorry for herself. And she had a lot to be sorry for. She'd thrown away the best sex she'd ever had.
Yep, she was the biggest idiot this side of the sun.
At first she'd been angry with him. Furious actually. Who did he think he was, saying that he'd changed her? It made her feel like she was his puppet, just like all the other women he dated. For a few hours at the party, she had become one of those women, the sort of women she'd helped into taxis after her father's parties. She'd become the type of person she loathed, just to please Zack, a man she had no right to want in her life.
And that annoyed her more than Zack's arrogant comment about changing her. Although that sure had fired her up.
But when she calmed down, she realized he was partially right. At least, it must seem that way from his perspective. She'd pretended to enjoy flirting with Mike at the bar, then with Rick at the party, just to get up Zack's nose. To get him back for his own flirting with Melanie Melons, but also because he'd made it clear that she was just a temporary, sexual liaison that meant nothing. She wanted to show him what he was missing out on.
When in Zack's arms, kissing him, she thought a casual fling was what she wanted too. Wrong. She wanted it all and she wanted it to be permanent. Fool. Zack DiMarco wasn't the settling down kind. He'd made that clear enough.
She sighed. It was time to move on. But this time, as herself. She wasn't going to be the woman Zack had tried to mold her into over the last few days. She wasn't comfortable with that Annie. Last night, she came to the decision to represent the McCallum and Horton Agency as herself in her meeting with Dug-E Dug. To hell with Zack, Bob and the snotty little kid. If McCallum and Horton wasn't good enough to snare him then maybe it was time Bob re-invented the company with some fresh talent. Without her. He may not like it, and her father certainly wouldn't if he were alive, but it was her life. She intended to start living it on her terms.
A polite cough drew Annie out of her thoughts. She looked up into the harried, concerned eyes of Bob.
"Feeling okay?" he asked.
"Sure," she lied. "Just twiddling my thumbs until Dug-E arrives. Have you sent someone to the airport to pick him up?"
"Yes."
"Is the conference room ready?"
"Yes."
"What about a packet of M&M's? He likes those."
"Done."
"Good." She cleared her throat. "And I should tell you, I'm not changing my appearance just because Dug-E expects to see a hip, groovy person. He's getting me, Annie McCallum, and the best service the McCallum and Horton Agency can offer." She crossed her arms for emphasis and waited for Bob to answer.
"Okay by me." He tossed the newspaper he'd been holding onto her desk. "Read this to take your mind off things before he gets here."
He strode away and Annie frowned. That wasn't the response she'd expected. She tapped her fingers on the desk. Maybe Bob was ill. Well, one thing was for sure, if she didn't get Dug-E signed up, they were probably all going to be out of work soon. She didn't mind, but Bob, Lenny and the others would have trouble finding good jobs at their age. She slouched back into her chair and scanned the headlines of the paper without really taking any of it in.