Lone Star Lovers. Jessica Lemmon

a feeling this wouldn’t be the last time he did something he didn’t want to do for Chase’s career.

      “It’s a relatively small amount of money to ensure her silence,” Pen continued. “The world knows you were married, but I wouldn’t put it past her to make up a few unbecoming stories and share them on social media. I’ve seen exes go public with false facts before.” Her eyebrows lifted in determination.

      “And if she goes against the agreement?” Chase asked, stepping into their tight circle.

      “She’ll have to pay Zach ten times the amount we’re paying for her silence.”

      Chase and Zach exchanged glances.

      “Short of that,” Pen said, folding her arms to mirror Chase. “Zach could get ahold of a time machine and steer clear of the Chapel of Love last New Year’s Eve.”

      “I don’t like it,” Zach told both of them.

      “You don’t have to like it. You just have to do it.” Pen’s voice was tender, reminding him of the gentle way she moaned when he was in bed with her three days ago. When he’d struck the pretend fiancée agreement with her, he’d hoped they’d share a bed more often than once a week. She’d been doing a good job of avoiding him on that front.

      “Zach.” Chase’s voice crashed into Zach’s fantasy about the blonde in front of him.

      “Fine,” he said between his teeth. “Now get out.”

      Chase let the command roll off him. “I have a lunch with important people. Penelope. Thank you.”

      “Anytime, Mr. Mayor.” When he was gone, the door shut behind him, Zach breached the few inches separating him and Pen, tugged her by the nape of the neck and kissed her mouth. She hummed, her eyelids drooping in satisfaction.

      “Where have you been hiding?” He thumbed her bottom lip when she pulled back too soon.

      “I’ve been working. On your problems and a few others.”

      “None are my sister’s I take it?”

      “No.” She shouldered her purse and tucked away her cell phone. “None are Stefanie’s. She’s been on her best behavior.”

      “Have dinner with me,” he said as she pivoted on one high, high heel.

      Pen peeked over her shoulder and Zach allowed his gaze to trickle down her fitted white jacket and short white skirt. Her platinum-blond hair was in a ponytail at the back of her head, the smooth length of it brushing her shoulder when she turned her head.

      “I’m... I have to check my schedule.”

      “You have to make an appearance with me. Especially if we’re going to approach Yvonne with a deal.” Yvonne believed Zach and Pen were engaged. Everyone who’d attended his brother’s party believed they were engaged.

      “Okay. Dinner.”

      He pulled his shoulders back, proud to get a yes out of the evasive woman in front of him. His eyes dipped to the cleavage dividing the neckline of a sapphire blue shirt.

      “And after dinner, you can come home with me.”

      She opened her mouth, maybe to protest, but smiled in spite of herself. He tucked two fingers into her shirt and pulled her closer, brushing her perky breasts.

      “I’ll make you breakfast in the morning,” he told her. “And afterward, I’ll make you something to eat.”

      She rolled her eyes but a soft chuckle escaped her. It was a yes if he’d ever heard one.

      “I’ll pick you up at your place at seven.”

      “I have to work late.”

      Zach was already back at his desk. “No. You don’t. Seven o’clock.”

      He punched a button and summoned Sam. “Make reservations at One Eighty for myself and Ms. Brand for seven this evening.”

      “One Eighty?” Pen’s brow rose. Was she impressed? He hoped so.

      “Have you been?”

      “Once. With a client who shall remain nameless.”

      “A male client?” he asked before he could stop himself.

      Her Cheshire cat smile held. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

      “Seven,” he reiterated.

      “Seven.” She walked out of his office and Zach watched her go, looking forward to viewing her over candlelight the next time they saw each other. His phone beeped and Sam announced that the investor had called back.

      Zach picked up the phone, but by the time he lifted his head, Pen was gone, his office door whispering shut.

       Six

      One Eighty was named for its half-circle shape. The restaurant hovered over Dallas, on the eighty-eighth floor of one of the city’s most shimmering skyscrapers.

      Outside the smudgeless windows, deep blue skies were losing their light and the moon was making its nightly appearance.

      Pen had stopped working at five, unusual for her, but then so were billionaire dinner dates that were personal rather than solely business.

      “How are your prawns?” Zach, fork and knife in hand, leaned over his steak dinner to ask.

      “Delightful. How is your strip?”

      “Fantastic.”

      They shared a grin over the low candlelight, and a ping of awareness that started in Pen’s stomach radiated out until it created a bubble around her and Zach.

      Along with that ping of awareness came a lower, subtler thrum of warning.

      She liked him. A lot.

      Their chemistry was off the charts in bed, but also out of it.

      She could’ve easily dismissed him as a playboy—a charmer who knew what to say to get a woman out of her clothes. Admittedly, Zach had done just that. But along with getting her out of her clothes, he’d also made a point to keep her in his life.

      After what went down with her ex-boyfriend, Cliff, in Chicago—where she’d quite literally been bamboozled by a smooth-talking charmer—she should be wary of Zach.

      But she wasn’t wary.

      Maybe it was because she’d gotten to know his brother, the mayor, and Stefanie, his sister. Maybe it was because of the way Zach had asked her to dinner when he full well could have invited her to his place.

      She’d have said yes either way.

      Did he know that?

      She sliced into her shrimp dinner—buttery, garlicky, lemony heaven. “I contacted Yvonne today and let her know you were willing to talk about—”

      “Penelope.”

      Fork hovering over her plate, she hazarded a glance at her date. Zach didn’t look perturbed as much as patient.

      “Sorry,” she said. “I want to get this over with.”

      His eyes narrowed, eyelashes a shade darker than his hair obliterating his gorgeous green stare. “With Yvonne, yes. You and I? Not so much.”

      When she’d called him a caveman at the mayor’s party, she hadn’t been far off the mark. But she saw no reason to argue the point. The fact was she would wrap up the issue with Zach’s ex-wife and then they’d have no reason to see each other. She’d make her services available for Chase or for their party-loving sister, but Pen and Zach had an expiration date.

      So why are you here?

      Excellent question.

      “Did