Unbidden, Sadie could feel her backbone stiffening and her expression becoming a blank mask. A lifetime in service had taught her how to deal with difficult people, usually men, and their expressions of displeasure. She instinctively took steps to protect herself, even if walking away from the situation wasn’t an option. Which it usually wasn’t.
Her voice was awfully formal when she spoke. “I’m sorry you feel that way, but I was simply asking about the mill and they offered information. I didn’t dig into anything.”
“I heard you asking questions.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. If he thought she would just take this, he was mistaken. He didn’t know her as well as he thought. “A question. You heard me ask a question about you, and that’s after Earl brought you up.” She cocked her head to the side. “But I do have another question.”
“I’m not telling you anything about myself.” His snarl said she didn’t deserve it.
Which she didn’t. “And thus my question. Why do you care if I ask?”
* * *
Zachary Gatlin hated being caught off guard. He’d spent his military career planning for the unexpected, but that didn’t mean he liked it.
Luckily, Sadie didn’t wait for an answer.
“Look,” she said, “I have to ask questions. How else am I gonna know what to take pictures of? Who to take pictures of? Talking to people is part of that.”
She cocked her jeans-clad hip, the hand she propped there drawing his eye more than he liked. “If that’s a problem, I can do it on my own. After all, you are only supposed to escort me through the mill.”
“No,” he said through clenched teeth. Not just from his anger, either. Being only a foot away from her seemed to be causing his entire body to go haywire. “That’s not what Jacob meant, and you know it.”
“I know nothing of the sort.” Her brows rose. He didn’t remember her being so sassy before. This time she was pushing all his buttons. “I only know that the mill is dangerous right now and they want you with me when I go inside. That’s the only sure thing.”
“It’s my job to make sure everything you go over is safe.” They both knew what his emphasis meant, even if she wanted to pretend otherwise.
“Then I guess you’d better stick a little closer, don’t you think?”
For a split second, that sassy pink mouth and raised brow made Zach drop his protective barriers. Without thought, he stepped in. Her back hit the wall behind her. His hand planted right above her shoulder. There was barely a hand’s breadth between their chests. Their lips were even closer.
Zach’s heart moved into double time. Remain impassive. But he couldn’t when his entire body was straining to press in close and make contact in the most primitive way he knew how. Touch.
Their breath mingled. He allowed one point of contact. Only one, when he wanted so many more. He reached out with his other hand and curled it around her waist, soaking in the warmth of her body beneath the T-shirt she wore.
“Oh, I’m gonna stick pretty damn close, sweetheart,” he said, relishing her eyes going wide with something akin to nerves. “I’ll be keeping an eye on every move you make. Every word you speak. Every picture you take.” No matter how creepy that might be.
He could be dedicated to his job, couldn’t he? “No more snooping behind my back.”
“Roger that,” she whispered.
It was the barest brush of her lip against his that broke the hold she had over his body. That accidental contact shook him to his core—which was the last thing he wanted her to know. So he stepped back. Removed his hand. Controlled his breathing.
And met her gaze. He could have sworn she’d just gotten exactly what she wanted.
Which filled his mind with images of other times she’d gotten what she wanted, only they were much more intimate things, things he didn’t want to remember when he was standing this close to her.
Then she threw him off guard again. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
Zach blinked, not switching gears fast enough. “What?”
“I’m sorry that you’re angry with me.”
He met her eyes, studying their green depths, not sure if he wanted to go back to the time when he’d known her before. But his body spoke before his mind could catch up. “But you’re not sorry you left?”