Read Her Favorite Rival for Free Online

bag and turned to go. At the last minute she remembered the bar tab and turned back.
    “Don’t worry about it. Your treat next time,” Megan said, waving her off.
    It wasn’t until she was exiting Al’s Place and blinking in the bright late-afternoon sunlight that Audrey realized she’d have to make the walk back to the office with Zach at her side.
    If she’d stopped to think for even a second, she would have made some excuse to send him ahead of her—anything to avoid the awkward, loaded silence that descended as they made their way to the traffic lights. She pressed the button and stared across the four lanes of road separating her from her place of work. Never had a few meters of asphalt seemed to stretch so far.
    She sneaked a look at Zach out of the corner of her eye. He was staring straight ahead, his expression still unreadable. She wondered how much of the conversation he’d heard. Obviously, the bit where she’d referenced her very private body parts and his name in the same sentence. But had he heard the bit where Megan had admired his prowess? Or the bit where Audrey had dismissed him as a pretty boy?
    She was still hot from the first wave of embarrassment, but she could feel a second, deeper heat stealing into her cheeks. So much for Al’s being a safe place of refuge. She would never sit with her back to the door again for the rest of her life.
    The light changed and they strode onto the road. Audrey kept sneaking glances at Zach, but he had the best poker face she’d ever come across.
    Finally she broke. “Look, I know it must have sounded pretty bad, but what you heard was totally out of context.”
    They’d reached the center island and Zach stopped, forcing her to stop, too.
    “Maybe I’m a bit thick, but I can’t come up with too many contexts that feature your clitoris and me in the same conversation that aren’t exactly what I’m thinking.”
    Dear God. She couldn’t believe she was standing in the middle of a freeway listening to Zach refer to her lady parts as casually as if he was discussing the weather.
    “We were actually discussing the likelihood of you being promoted,” she said a little desperately.
    He slipped his hands into his trouser pockets and considered her for a moment. “Okay, I’ll bite. What on earth has that got to do with your clitoris?”
    She gritted her teeth. “Could you stop saying that, please?”
    “What? Clitoris?”
    “Yes.”
    A truck blew past, making his jacket flap.
    “Would you prefer me to call it something else? Little man in the boat? Love button?”
    He was enjoying himself, she could tell by the creases around his eyes. And maybe she deserved to suffer a little. If she’d caught him having the same conversation about her with one of their male colleagues, she would be justifiably outraged.
    “I would really, really like you to erase the last five minutes from your memory.”
    He turned and hit the button to trigger the pedestrian lights. When he faced her he shrugged.
    “Okay.”
    She stared at him, but there wasn’t much else she could do or say. He’d caught her having an inappropriate conversation with a friend, and she was going to have to live with the knowledge that Zach now believed she and Megan habitually talked about him in intimate terms in their spare time.
    The light changed and they walked in silence the rest of the way. Zach led the way to the garage before standing back while she inspected the large dent in the side of her little hatchback. She was very aware of him as she ran her hand over the damage.
    “Ugly but drivable,” she said.
    “Yeah. His insurance should cover the repair.”
    She looked at him. Humiliation aside, he’d gone out of his way to find her so she wouldn’t return and find her car all banged up. A pretty nice thing to do.
    And he’d fed her last night.
    “Thanks for coming to get me. I appreciate it.”
    “It was no big deal.” He buttoned his suit jacket. “See you tomorrow.”
    He