"Yes, we met a few months ago at a party at Jennifer Holland's,” she said easily. “You were there ... I'm Ashlyn Hartford."
The information had come from his wife, and it slid right off Ashlyn's tongue.
"That's right. I do remember you,” he lied. He moved closer. “You look just as lovely tonight as you did then."
Ashlyn smiled. “Why thank you. What brings you here this evening?"
The small talk started, and Derek introduced her to his two companions. But before she could get him alone, another man approached him. Then, after making apologies, he was led away.
"Perhaps we'll talk again later,” he called as he left—and she held his gaze to let him know she wasn't averse to that.
Ashlyn sighed inwardly. She had nothing to talk to these two gentlemen about, so she stood there smiling as they networked.
Suddenly, someone took hold of her arm from behind her. “Blondie?"
She turned and looked into the melting chocolate eyes of Connor Montgomery, aka Zach.
Chapter Three
Ashlyn stared wide-eyed at him, and he laughed.
"I can't believe it!” He grinned at her. “I had no way to track you down after the other night. I went back to Doc McCue's, but the bartender said he'd never seen you before."
Her mouth had fallen open, and she snapped it closed. “Uh ... Zach!” Shit, shit, shit! Now what was she supposed to do? She struggled to maintain a calm façade and took a deep breath.
"Hey, I know you changed your mind about having me back to your place. I don't blame you. A girl has to be careful these days. But you could have at least given me your phone number. I wanted to see you again,” he playfully reproached her.
Ashlyn's mind worked frantically. The champagne glass was slick and icy in her fingers. Okay, Derek was nowhere in sight right now. She could flirt a little with Zach to keep him from getting suspicious, and then make an excuse to leave. Hopefully she could still finagle some time alone with Derek to see if he took the bait.
Zach smiled, his hand still resting lightly on her bare arm. She was acutely aware of the soft warmth of his fingers.
She smiled back at him. “What are you doing here?"
"Business,” he answered. “Schmoozing with some venture capitalists.” He shrugged. “Too bad this is all they have to drink.” He lifted his champagne flute and winked at her. “I could use a beer. Probably you, too.” He grinned.
"Uh ... sure,” she agreed. She tipped the last of her champagne into her mouth, the bubbles burning her tongue and throat.
"What about you?” he asked. “What are you doing here?"
Her eyes lowered. “My parents are friends of the Josephs."
He nodded, seeming to have recognized the name of the party hosts. “Ah. But this doesn't seem like the kind of party a college student would go to."
"Oh, well,” she laughed. “My parents couldn't make it, but they thought someone should put in an appearance."
He smiled with sympathy. “Not my kind of thing either. I'd rather be drinking beer and playing pool. But this party seems a lot better now you're here."
She smiled at him, but her eyes roamed the room.
"Uh ... are you here with someone?"
"Oh, no,” she said. “I came alone."
He relaxed. “Me too. Come on, let's find you another drink.” He lightly took her arm and led her through the crowd. They got to the bar, and he handed her another flute of golden champagne.
"Let's go over there and talk.” He nodded to a small alcove in the room and led her in that direction.
She sipped her drink and smiled up at Zach. Damn, he was gorgeous. That smile! It was so boyish, so sexy. In all the many, many times she had done this, never had she been so attracted to a mark.
His dark blonde hair was cut short, a bit longer on top and tousled attractively. For a blonde guy, he had deeply tanned skin and surprisingly dark eyebrows above intense chocolate eyes. His mouth was beautiful, with well-shaped lips she knew only too well were made for kissing. Just the thought of kissing him made her surge with moisture, made her knees go wobbly.
But the way he looked at her really melted her. Intelligence and humor shone in his eyes, his smile was charming and easy, and all the restrained energy in his big, male body was such a turn-on. She sighed inwardly. Why did such a cute guy have to be a married, cheating rat bastard?
Had his wife confronted him with what she knew? Had she kicked him out? Some women, despite evidence of their husband's infidelity, or potential infidelity, hung on to their marriages. Maybe they tried to work it out, or maybe they were just desperate and in denial, but Ashlyn swore she would never put up with that kind of treatment. She'd seen the hurt and pain cheating caused and wouldn't allow it to happen to her.
That's why she wasn't looking for any kind of relationship in the near future.
But Zach didn't look like a guy whose marriage had just disintegrated, however happy or unhappy it might have been. He looked genuinely happy to see her, interested ... attracted. Damn.
"You look so different tonight.” His eyes moved warmly over her. “Very sophisticated."
"Thank you,” she replied, and then asked flirtatiously, “Which look do you prefer?"
He grinned and studied her more intently, sending delicious chills over her body. “I have a feeling the other night was closer to the real Ashlyn than this,” he said thoughtfully. “Although you are incredibly gorgeous tonight, I kind of like beer-drinking, pool-playing Ashlyn. But then, that's just me."
She smiled. He was actually right. Although she'd never acquired a taste for beer, hanging out with the guys and playing pool was one of her favorite things to do. It had come in very handy the other night.
"What about your date the other night? Did you find out why she stood you up?” Ashlyn asked.
"No, no! I was waiting for my brother. Not a date."
"Oh."
He frowned. “Is that why you took off? Did you think I was seeing someone else?"
"I wondered."
He shook his head. “No way. I would never do that."
Yeah, right. Scum. Too bad he was sooooo hot. She was getting warm just standing near him.
"So tonight, I'm getting your last name and phone number,” he said, smiling winningly at her.
"Okay,” she agreed. “So how is the beer business going?"
"I've had better weeks,” he admitted. “We're in the middle of trying to finance an expansion so we can increase production. Demand has grown so much we can't keep up with the facility we have. So we've been busy doing research for a business plan to present to the bank, or other investors. And we've had a few internal problems lately. I won't bore you with the details."
"That's okay.” To her own surprise, she was genuinely interested in listening to him talk about his business. “Tell me more."
"Well ... we got an offer from one of the big breweries—Steinbrau. A really sweet deal,” he said with fervor. “But after we thought and talked about it, we just couldn't sell out to Big Beer."
"Big Beer?"
"Yeah, that's what we call the big three breweries...” He named them. “Together they have about ninety percent of the beer market in America. The stuff they mass produce is barely beer...” He stopped and grinned. “You've probably heard the saying ... their beer is like making love in a canoe.” He lifted a brow, waited.
She shook her head, couldn't help but smile. “How is their beer like making love in a canoe?"
"It's too damn close to water."
She burst out laughing and couldn't stop herself from putting her hand on his arm and leaning into him as her body softened with mirth. Their eyes met as they laughed together.