Her Innocence, His Conquest Read online

  Today, though, he was glad he’d stopped by on his way into the office. Damn fool woman was on the verge of heatstroke.

  A distressed damsel…his favorite kind. Women like that appreciated all his assistance and in turn, fell for his charms.

  Zach nearly laughed. He had a feeling Ana didn’t fall as easily as most women, nor would she appreciate his help. No, from what little he’d been around her, he knew she was independent, stubborn and private. That was the type of woman from whom he should duck for cover, but he found himself wanting to dig deeper, to uncover her secrets.

  She had a vulnerability about her, something that reminded him of his baby sister. Both women wanted to be so strong, call all the shots, but they still had a gentleness about them.

  Ana wouldn’t like that he’d zeroed in on that trait so quickly after meeting her, but he understood her kind…. He was a master of hiding feelings himself. Wasn’t he still confused and intrigued by his ex-wife? A woman who slid out of his life as easily as she had slid in and had recently returned wanting him back? How pathetic was that whole situation? She may want him back, but Zach refused to put himself on the line like that again. Sometimes in life second chances were necessary, but his ex-wife would not get another chance to hold his heart. Not after she left town with a guy Zach at one time considered a friend, leaving behind only a pathetic note.

  Turning to much more pleasing matters, Zach didn’t miss the fact that Ana damn near combusted when he’d caressed her flushed cheek. Her moment of silence wasn’t only due to her being overworked and overheated.

  And that was just one more thing about her that intrigued him. He’d worked with women before, but skinny white tanks and well-worn jeans never looked so good on any of them. Maybe it was all that deep crimson hair Ana had piled in a curly mess atop her head. Maybe it was the way she silently challenged him both professionally and personally.

  Yeah, he was in for it. Anastasia was definitely a what-you-see-is-what-you-get girl even though she tried to hide her private and personal life.

  The flashy socialites he was used to were shallow, no digging deep there. And that was the best kind. They always knew the rules up front. He didn’t do relationships, didn’t do marriage. Fun times were all he wanted in his future.

  But something about peeling away Ana’s intriguing layers had him smiling. The passion she no doubt buried deep would be amazing if he could just get to it. She would be another perfect distraction—and there had been plenty of distractions lately—to get his mind off his ex, Melanie.

  Zach pulled into his designated parking slot at The Marcum Agency, noting Cole’s empty spot. Now that his twin brother was engaged to his college sweetheart, Tamera Stevens, Zach was seeing less and less of him.

  Good for them, so long as the lovebirds didn’t try to play matchmaker. Every time someone found love, they assumed every single person in their life was looking, too. Quite the opposite, in fact, for Zach. He wanted to remain single. Actually he loved every minute of being a bachelor—that way he could nurse his heart privately, put it back together piece by shattered piece and never give it out again.

  Zach made his way up to his office, nodding to his assistant, Becky. As usual she was on the phone making appointments, taking new client questions and scheduling meetings with contractors.

  He closed the door to his office, which might not have been the smartest move considering he was now alone with his thoughts and, once again, his thoughts circled back to Miss Clark and her dark red curls. She certainly had the proverbial temper that went along with the hair, but he had a feeling calling her on that stereotypical assessment would be detrimental to their working relationship, not to mention any personal involvement he wished to have.

  Ana’s quick temper and attitude rivaled that of his ex-wife. Perhaps that’s why his mind kept going back to Ana, and why he both had an issue with her and was attracted to her from the get-go.

  Was it her fault she reminded him of the woman who’d left before the ink on their marriage license dried? No, but it was her fault that he couldn’t get her off his mind. If she weren’t so damned intriguing, there wouldn’t be a problem.

  That irked him. What irked him even more was how one person could remind him of both his sister whom he loved with his whole heart and the woman who had shattered him to pieces.

  But Ana had the best reputation in the business and had never had even one complaint about her work ethic or the finished product. Ana’s construction company was one of the top in the nation and he knew he’d made the right choice in accepting her bid—even though this was the biggest project she’d ever tackled, he and Cole had faith she would work that much harder. He knew she’d started her company from scratch and built it up herself, one beam at a time. He couldn’t help but admire that, considering he, Cole and Kayla had built their own firm on nothing but hopes and prayers as well.

  But the woman had his thoughts all jumbled together. He didn’t know if he wanted to pursue her or avoid her like the plague. Oh, well, he had a year or more to figure that out. Not that he’d ever taken that much time getting to know a woman. The chemistry was either there or it wasn’t. In this case, the chemistry was most definitely there.

  Zach sat down at his desk, pulled up the spreadsheet on his computer and checked to see where they were on the schedule.

  If Ana’s crew came even a week late, they would still be ahead of schedule, but he wouldn’t let up. If he slacked now, the whole project could fall behind. On time or early was the only way he would work. Especially with Victor Lawson.

  The man had the capabilities to launch The Marcum Agency and Ana’s company, Clark Construction, into a whole new stratum of clientele. Just another reason to remain close to Ana’s side.

  “Zach.”

  His assistant’s voice cut through his thoughts. He pressed the intercom button. “Yes, Becky?”

  “Miss Clark is on line one.”

  Did the woman have a sixth sense where he was concerned? Here he was thinking about her at the precise time she decided to call and interrupt the beginning of what was sure to have been a wonderful daydream.

  “Put her through.”

  He picked up the receiver, pressed the button. “Anastasia.”

  “Zach, we’ve got trouble.”

  Two

  He sat straight up in his chair. “What is it?”

  “There’s a tropical storm moving toward Miami.”

  “I hadn’t heard about it,” Zach stated, fingers moving swiftly over his keyboard to look at a weather map. “How far out is it?”

  “We’ve got a few days before it reaches us,” she explained. “There’s still a chance it’ll turn or break up, but I wanted your opinion. To be honest, I’m not that experienced in tropical storms seeing as how I’m originally from the Midwest.”

  Zach blew out a breath, not too worried once he saw the green blob on the radar map. “They are pretty common, but we certainly can’t afford to lose time. The good news is we don’t have any actual structure up, so if it does reach land, there should be little damage, if any.”

  “Hopefully this will be the worst of Mother Nature’s fury and any storms will miss us when we actually start on the construction,” Ana added.

  He closed the screen. “We’ll keep an eye on it. For now, though, continue as planned.”

  She hesitated and Zach wasn’t sure if she’d heard him until she said, “Um…sounds good. Thanks.”

  The pause she gave, as well as the shaky response, intrigued him. Gone was the firm, confident Ana. Interesting, he thought. Unchartered territory unsettled the hard-as-steel forewoman.

  He disconnected the call just as his brother strode into his office.

  Zach smiled, leaned back in his seat and crossed his ankle over his knee. “Well, good to see you in the office.”

  Cole’s wide grin obviously couldn’t be contained. “Sorry I’ve left this project in your hands, but Tam needed a break after her father’s passing.” />
  Cole’s wife, Tamera, had lost her father to lung cancer a month ago. Because Cole and Tamera had recently been reunited, they took a much-needed vacation to Aruba after working on the design for the Miami resort.

  “I understand. How’s she doing?”

  On a sigh, Cole eased himself into the leather club chair across from Zach’s desk. “She’s holding up. I honestly think the discovery that her father was behind me breaking off our engagement eleven years ago was almost as much of a blow to her as Walter’s death.”

  Tamera’s late father had nearly altered her and Cole’s future by coming between them when they were college sweethearts. But fate’s gentle hand guided them back together after eleven years of separation. Walter hadn’t wanted Cole to marry his daughter, hadn’t wanted a man who couldn’t financially provide when he was too busy caring for his siblings after his parents’ death.

  Zach knew the two had loved each other and the breakup nearly caused Cole to have a nervous breakdown. But the man had just worked harder as he and Zach finished college and started their own firm.

  Cole had never been the same since calling off the engagement years ago, but now that he had Tamera back in his life, Zach’s twin was in a much better place.

  Okay, so maybe love was meant for some people. But very few.

  “You’re good together,” Zach observed. “She’s strong and you’re there for her. She’ll get through this.”

  Cole nodded and motioned toward the blueprints spread across Zach’s desk. “How’s everything coming at the site?”

  “No glitches yet.” Zach gazed down to the design. “I feel like a kid waiting on Christmas. I just can’t wait to see this completed.”

  “We all feel that way.” Cole lifted a brow. “Want to tell me what’s bothering you?”

  Damn. He hated this whole “twin intuition” thing they had always shared. Some people rolled their eyes or laughed at the idea that twins could actually share a bond that deep, but Cole and Zach knew it was possible.

  “She shouldn’t be so fascinating,” Zach blurted out. “Why does she have to get under my skin? And, more importantly, why do I let her?”

  Cole chuckled. “We’re talking about the forewoman? Anastasia?”

  Zach blew out a breath. “Yeah.”

  “She is attractive,” Cole agreed. “But not your typical choice. What’s got you so riled up all of a sudden?”

  “I can’t put my finger on it.”

  God knew he’d spent countless moments trying to pinpoint exactly what it was about Ana that made her the subject of every blasted thought lately.

  “Perhaps she’s immune to your charms and that’s what’s gotten you so bothered.” Cole smirked at Zach’s scowl. “Just a suggestion. Or maybe you’re drawn because she’s strong-willed. Like Melanie.”

  Cole rarely mentioned Melanie’s name. And even though he wasn’t far from the truth, Zach refused to respond. Silence spoke volumes, though.

  “Seriously.” Cole leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. “Maybe she is the one who will finally push you over that last hurdle to get over your ex-wife. I doubt Ana is like the typical giggly gold diggers you’ve been seeing.”

  True, Ana had been matching Zach instead of allowing him to keep control of their conversations. She’d been an equal. With her take-charge attitude, Ana wasn’t about to let her guard slip, especially where a man was concerned.

  Something about her almost seemed hard in that aspect. Had something happened in her past? Perhaps just working for so many years around manly men had put that hard edge to her personality.

  Who knows? More importantly, why the hell was he spending so much time trying to dissect someone who technically worked for him? All he wanted was a little one-on-one contact.

  “I won’t deny she’s sexy as hell,” Zach told his brother. “But she’s controlling and all business.”

  “And you have a problem with all business, don’t you?”

  “Only when that stiff side comes from a stunning, frustrating female I’m going to be working with for the next year.” Zach stared at his brother across the desk. “I just need to consider Ana one of the guys and forget that she looks like a woman who should be wearing diamonds and dresses instead of a hard hat and a tool belt.”

  Cole leaned forward, his hands flat on the glass-topped desk. “Why forget about it? Why not present an opportunity for her to be that diamonds-and-dress woman? I mean, if you can’t get that image out of your head, maybe there’s a reason.”

  Zach nearly laughed at the thought. “You’re in love and it’s hindering your thought process. Ana would spit in my eye if I suggested I take her out.”

  “Sounds like you’re scared of the possibility.”

  Zach glared. “I’m not scared of anything.”

  “Prove it. Take her to the party Victor is throwing next weekend. Call it business, if that makes you feel better.”

  Zach laughed. “Why the hell are we even talking about this? She’s not my type, so it shouldn’t matter what she looks like in a formal atmosphere. I’m more concerned about what she looks like in a much more intimate setting.”

  Cole eyed him, the smirk still in place. “We’re talking about it because you can’t get her off your mind. If you think you can’t get her to be your date, then don’t worry about it. She’s probably not interested anyway. And we both know that’s exactly what this all boils down to.”

  Not interested? That wasn’t possible. He’d seen the way her pulse kicked up, her breath hitched when he’d rubbed her cheek. No, Ana was most definitely interested.

  So what did he intend to do about it?

  Pathetic. Utterly and completely pathetic.

  Zach found himself, for the second time today, heading toward the mysterious redhead surveying the construction site as she stood between two of her crew members. Two men who towered over her and stood just a bit too close.

  Okay, so jealousy wasn’t pretty. He wasn’t admitting to that severe emotion. But he didn’t like that she considered herself “one of the guys.” She was anything but.

  And so what if Cole’s mocking words fueled his already raging fire? He refused to believe he was here because his twin planted a seed of doubt in his head about being able to get Ana to date him. Why did he care what she thought of him?

  Because for some reason she already showed disdain toward him and he hadn’t done a damn thing to her. Obviously she’d had a bitter experience, probably with some jackass on the job site, and now he’d stepped in, ready to charm her into spending some intimate time together for the next several months of the project. Perfect timing. Was she worth the trouble of proving himself?

  Dammit. He’d never felt the need to prove himself to anyone before.

  “Zach.”

  Breaking through his thoughts, and halting his steps toward Ana, Zach turned his attention from the sexy forewoman’s sweet denim-clad backside. His sister, Kayla, stepped from her pearl-colored four-door sedan looking beautiful as always with her dark hair smoothed back from her delicate face. With her bright pink suit and shiny silver heels, she certainly didn’t belong on the dusty, filthy construction site. Good thing she was more the decorator for their firm. She certainly added beauty to everything around her simply by being there.

  “I just missed you at the office.” Kayla closed the gap between them and smiled. Then she turned her attention over Zach’s shoulder toward Ana. “Hi, we haven’t formally met yet. I’m Kayla Marcum. You must be Anastasia Clark.”

  Zach hadn’t even heard Ana approach. He turned his body so he could see both women.

  “You can call me Ana.”

  The two women smiled at each other and Zach couldn’t help but notice they were both so different, yet equally as striking and vibrant. Even though Kayla was polished to a shine and never anything less than perfect, Ana’s fit body and well-toned arms proved she cared just as much about how she looked and that she was polished herself—in a whole other way. And he cert
ainly didn’t think any “sisterly” thoughts about Miss Clark.

  “What did you need?” Zach asked his sister.

  Off in the distance one of the men whistled, and not a “whistle while you work” kind. This was the stereotypical wolf whistle.

  Zach didn’t turn to see what unprofessional jerk had made the tacky gesture, but he did notice Ana excuse herself and march over to a group of men setting up barriers and preparing the perimeter of the structure for the concrete.

  “Sorry,” Zach said.

  Kayla shrugged. “No need for you to apologize.”

  “I’m apologizing for mankind in general. That’s rude.”

  His baby sister rolled her eyes and smiled. “Like you’ve never whistled at a woman before?”

  “Guilty, but I haven’t for a long time because I realized how disrespectful it was.”

  Kayla peered over Zach’s shoulder. “Looks like Ana has the situation under control.”

  Zach turned, surprised to see Ana off to the side with a young, twentysomething man, her hands on her hips, shoulders back. He couldn’t hear the words, but from the look on the employee’s face, he was not on the receiving end of a pleasant conversation.

  Oh, what Zach wouldn’t give to be able to listen in on that tongue-lashing. Women in power were nothing short of sexy, he thought, so long as he remained in control.

  Zach focused his attention back on Kayla. “What did you need me for?”

  “Oh, I wanted to let you know I had to go out of town for another buying trip. I’m leaving now. The jet is waiting for me.”

  She eyed him with those wide, rich eyes, grinned, and Zach’s stomach clinched in a most uncomfortable knot. She always got that look before she asked an unfavorable favor. He didn’t even want to know what put that evil sparkle in her eye, but he had a feeling he was about to find out.

  “No,” he said before she could even ask whatever question she had swirling around in her pretty little head.

  A smile spread across her face as she cocked her head to the side. “I’ll email you a detailed list of everything you need to know.”