Access Granted (8 page)

Chapter Thirteen

This had to be the worst decision of her life. She shouldn’t have agreed to this lunch date. Zander was already too intimidating when he wasn’t in his own personal space, but now here she was walking around in his house while he cleaned up the dishes from their lunch date. She could feel his appeal surrounding her and it was hard to resist.

Why was she having such a hard time now keeping Zander in the friend’s category? She couldn’t allow herself to get any closer to him; it wouldn’t be good for either one of them. One thing she didn’t want to mess up was their friendship because having him as her friend was way more important than having him as her lover.

Sabrina knew the reason for the change in her feelings concerning Zander, but she wasn’t ready to admit it to herself yet. Instead, she would just keep the truth a secret a little bit longer, if it was at all possible. Between her long work hours and finding a way to deal with Brent since she no longer wanted a relationship with him like she had in the past.

Plus, Avery’s death was still hitting her pretty hard and it didn’t seem like she was ever going to be able to get over him dying on her. She didn’t have any room left in her life for any extra stimulation especially when it came to the overpowering Zander Irizarry.

He was larger than life and he would expect her to give him some if not all of her attention and she wouldn’t be able to do it. Now wasn’t the time for her to start looking at Zander in a new light.

Continuing around the room, Sabrina raised her glass of lemonade and took a long sip soothing her dry throat. On several different occasions since meeting Zander he had invited her to his home for dinner and she turned him down. So, he had moved his dinner invitation up to lunch. If she hadn’t experienced such a stressful morning at work, Sabrina knew she would have never come here with Zander. Something about him made her nervous. Sometimes, it was like she didn’t have control over herself when he found a way to get into her personal space. And damn it, he always seemed to find a reason to get entirely too close for her piece of mind.

His eyes felt like they were peering into the depths of her soul and whatever Zander might be looking for, Sabrina wasn’t too sure if she wanted him to find it or not. Her secrets were hers and hers alone. She didn’t want to share them with him or anyone else.

But sometimes she got the distinct impression that Zander could read her mind; of course, she knew it wasn’t possible yet she could recall a few incidents he seemed to know what she was thinking and commented on it before she had spoken one word to him.

It was truly an eerie thing to experience which was one of the main reasons she found her own ways to keep her distance from Zander whenever it was at all likely.

“You are awful quiet in there,” he called out from the kitchen as she heard the sound of dishes being put away. “What are you thinking about?”

“I have to be honest with you. When you invited me to lunch I didn’t think you would be cooking the meal at your house. Everything was so delicious. I’m very impressed with your skills.”

Sabrina couldn’t confess it to Zander, but she was thrilled at how he kept his flirting to a minimum. Today, being with him was a nice relaxing event with everything going on inside the courtroom. She didn’t want to go back to work on edge.

Somehow, she was finding a way to make her see him as more than her brother’s business partner and friend which actually scared her more than she was willing to admit to herself. The only person she could confide in about her blooming feelings for Zander was dead. Avery would tell her the truth about his feelings without judgment. He wouldn’t give her an answer he thought she wanted , but he would give her an honest answer if she wanted to hear it or not. He knew her better than she knew herself most of the time and he loved the idea of her with Zander. He thought his partner would be the perfect match for her.

“I told you that I wanted to do something special and different for you,” Zander told her from inside of the kitchen.

“Yes, you did but I didn’t think it would be something like this. You are full of surprises. Mr. Irizarry.”

“More than you know,” he tossed back.

Sabrina decided to keep her comment to herself. When Zander lowered his voice and talked to her like he was warm chocolate being poured over her favorite sundae, it had her mind going crazy on so many different levels. He had been her brother’s closet friend. He was the person who came to her when she was packing up Avery’s office and let her cry on his shoulder that day and weeks after until she felt like she had no more tears left.

How could she ever think about crossing that line with Zander? She would find a way to shove her feelings back down. One of them had to keep a level head and if it wasn’t him then it would have to be her.

Pausing in front of a dark blue entertainment stand, Sabrina noticed several pictures hanging on the wall of Zander with his brother Jax and another equally attractive younger man with short black hair. She loved how he had a mischievous look in his dark brown eyes.

It was an expression her brother had owned quite well.  She would bet money that he had left a lot of broken hearts in his past. She wondered who he was because she couldn’t remember Zander ever talking about him.

“What are you doing?” The sudden sound of Zander’s deep rich voice behind Sabrina made her jump.

“God, you scared the hell out of me,” she complained, spinning around to face him. “I was looking at the picture of you with Jax. Who is the other guy?” she asked.

“Why?” Zander questioned.

“He’s very attractive,” she admitted. “I only wanted to know who he was. Is he your brother, too?”

“Stay away from Thorsten,” he warned her in a low voice. “You already have enough men around you trying to take you to bed and I won’t have him be another one of them.”

Reaching for her glass, he took it away from her and sat it down on the table next to them.  “Do you understand me? I won’t think twice about him or any other man over you. You’re mine and it’s going to remain that way.”

Sabrina was completely and totally taken back by the sudden jealousy in Zander’s voice. How dare he order her to stay away from someone that she didn’t even know? The first time she laid eyes on Thorsten was in the photograph.

Was Zander out of his mind?

Instead of getting more angry with him, she decided to take a different approach to see why Zander got so upset all of a sudden over her just commenting on his cousin.

“How can you be so upset over me just looking at the guy?” she inquired. “When am I ever going to get the chance to be alone with him? I have never seen him until now. I never said I wanted to be with him?”

When was Zander going to learn that he couldn’t control what man she did or didn’t hang around? She was young and single. She could be around any man she wanted. He truly didn’t have any say whatsoever in her love life. They weren’t in a relationship with each other besides being friends.

“Don’t think about bringing another man into your life. I won’t let you replace Brent with my cousin.”

Sabrina couldn’t believe that Thorsten was Zander’s cousin. She glanced back over her shoulder at the picture on the wall. She didn’t see any kind of family resemblance at all, but all three men did have this pull about them. It even tugged at her through the picture making her want to shove her fears to the side. Yet, could she allow Zander into her life in the way he wanted?

Whoa! Wait a minute! Why would Zander think she had some sort of romantic interest in his younger cousin? Yes, Thorsten was very good-looking, but he wasn’t blessed with one ounce of the sex appeal Zander owned.

“Zander, I’ve told you more than once Brent and I are only friends. I’ve a lot of fun with him, but nothing will ever happen between us.”

Moving closer, he slid his hand behind her neck pulling her body against his. Her breath hitched in her throat as the heat from Zander’s body wrapped around hers. “Since Brent is out of our life like he should have been all along, you need to leave him there and focus on me. You know you feel this pull between us, too.”

Say yes
, her body screamed.
Do it.

She shook the thought from her head because she had to stay focused with Zander. He knew what he was doing to her and he got a lot of pleasure from teasing her like this. He had a way about him that made her want to confide her deepest fears to him, but she didn’t.

There would have to be a time that she learned to stand on her own two feet. She’d depended on Avery way too much and she couldn’t let that fall onto Zander’s wide shoulders.

“Zander, we can’t do this,” Sabrina moaned as his lips brushed the side of her cheek. “You know that we can’t.”

“I know nothing of the sort,” he told her as his hands ran up and down the length of her back. “We’re both adults. We can do anything that we want and sweetheart I
want
you.”

Slowly, his mouth eased its way towards her lips. Sabrina wanted to fight the kiss or say something that would make him stop. Her heart skipped a beat as Zander’s warm, firm lips were only a breath away from hers. The anticipation was killing her because she wanted it on one hand and didn’t want it on another one.

“I hope you’re ready because this time when I kiss you. I won’t stop until I get my fill,” Zander warned her. His mouth was a second from touching hers when his cell phone went off.

“What in the hell?” he snapped, moving a step back from her.

Sabrina blinked as she tried to clear her head while Zander pulled his phone out of the pocket of his jeans. “Let me answer this and I’ll get back with you,” he said, walking away from her.

She nodded her head as she watched him walk away to take care of his phone call. This would give her the time she needed to get herself under control. Closing her eyes, Sabrina took a breath to clear it of the daze Zander had somehow put her under.

What was she doing? How could she not want Zander one second and then crave everything about him minutes...no seconds later? Something was going on with her and she shouldn’t be around him until she figured out what it was.

Blinking a couple of times, she glanced around the room and spotted her purse lying on the couch. She took a peek at Zander and noted that his back was still to her. Now was her chance to leave because if she didn’t he would find a way to make her stay which would probably end up with another one of his hot kisses.

Another kiss from him wouldn’t be something that she would be able to handle right now. Not with her emotions being all over the place. Sabrina knew she needed time to think. Rushing over to the couch, she snatched her purse and raced towards the front door. Thank God she had insisted on driving her own car instead of riding with Zander or she wouldn’t be able to leave right now because without a doubt Zander would try to stop her from getting out of here.

Hurrying to the front door, Sabrina opened it and went out closing it behind her. Resting her back against it, she sent up a silent prayer of thanks to whoever called Zander. The person gave her the out she didn’t know she had been searching for.

Sabrina moved away from the door and walked over to her car parked in the driveway behind Zander’s massive black truck. She had to get away from his house before he came outside looking for her and coached her back inside for another round of this seductive kisses which she wasn’t ready to fight off again.

Chapter Fourteen

Zander knew the moment Sabrina ran out on him. All of the light and energy left his house with her. Everything he wanted was gone in a matter of minutes because of this phone call.

If Thorsten wasn’t family, he would go to the office and kick his ass for bothering him when he was so close to winning Sabrina over. All he needed was a few more minutes and she would have been his for the taking. What was his cousin up to now?

Thorsten really needed to focus more of his time on finding his mate instead of trying to get his hedge fund more clients. Work wasn’t as important as getting his
Unique
woman claimed and changed before it was too late for him. Time was going by fast and his time would be up and over before he knew it.

“What are you complaining about now?” Walking over to the entertainment stand, Zander picked up Sabrina’s glass and carried it back into the kitchen. He placed it in the sink and rested his back against the counter.

“I need you to come back to the office,” Thorsten told him. “I’ve this important client coming in about investing in my business and in addition, she wanted a high priced security system set up in her home and office.

“I told her all about you and she’s very excited about hearing about the packages you have to offer. Can you be here in thirty minutes to speak with her? I think this will be very beneficial to both of us if everything works out right.”

“Tell me why I should do anything for you?” Zander demanded. “Sabrina left because your phone call interrupted us. Do you know long it has taken me to get her to agree to go on a date with me?”

“It isn’t my fault that your tattoo scared her away. That ink on your arm can be a bit intimidating to some people and maybe Sabrina is one of them. She might not be your mate after all,” Thorsten replied. “However, you’re an Irizarry which means you’re good-looking at hell so I’m sure you can get her to go out with you again. Are you coming back to the office or not?”

Zander wished that Thorsten would take a minute to think about something more than money or the next woman he could flirt with. His mind wasn’t on acquiring a new account right now, but winning over the love of his mate.

“You still haven’t told me why I should to do it,” Zander said. He was tired of always running to Thorsten’s aid. His cousin was over three hundred years old and should be able to stand on his own two feet by now.

“Listen, I was trying to help you land a new client. I know you were looking for someone in the Rapid Springs neighborhood and my clients owns a nice sized property. I told her you would do an excellent security job for her. If everything goes well, she might even brag to her friends about your skills. Is that a good enough reason for you, Zander?” Thorsten asked.

Zander stood up straighter at the mention of the Rapid Springs area. He had been trying to land an account with someone out there for over a year and an half but none had called him.

Thorsten was right and he hadn’t been thinking that but it was true. His client might just be the foot in the door he had been wishing for. He hated to admit it, but his cousin might have just done something good for him and his business.

Wait until he told Jax. His brother wasn’t going to believe it. Thorsten seldom thought of anyone else above himself.

“Alright, give me about forty-five minutes and I’ll be there to meet Ms...”

“Jill Case,” Thorsten filled in for him. “I think the two of you will hit it off perfectly.”

“I’ll see about that after I get there.”

He was thrilled about the possibly of a new account for Access Granted, but Zander hadn’t forgotten about how his mate ran out on him again. He would have to put a stop to her apprehension of him and very soon. He wouldn’t ever be able to confess his secret to her if Sabrina couldn’t handle their alone time together?

However, first things first; he had to go back to the office and see about landing Ms. Case as a client. He wanted his business running so smoothly that he could give all of his attention to winning over Sabrina’s heart.

Sliding the cell phone back into his pocket, Zander left the kitchen feeling pretty well satisfied that he had moved one step forwards with Sabrina despite the fact she had rushed out of his house before he was able to kiss her beautiful mouth again. She did actually accept his invitation to come here. His mate was going to be his before she knew it and he couldn’t wait until that day came.

Patience wasn’t his friend, so he would have to learn how to embrace it more. Nothing was going to stand in his way of making Sabrina his for eternity. Today had its bad points like Sabrina sneaking away while he was on the phone. But the best thing was she let him pull her into his arms without so much as a single struggle on her part.

Now, it didn’t outweigh the powerful kiss they shared in the parking lot of her job. It proved how much they were more than friends. Sabrina might be telling him one lie, but her body was confessing the truth every single time.

She allowed him within touching distance of her. He was a man who loved the truth and he would work hard until Sabrina came to see things his way which was the right decision in his eyes.

Smiling to himself, Zander walked to the front door already thinking about what he was going to do for his second date with Sabrina. Hopefully, it would be a dinner date because he wanted to get the opportunity to pull her soft, tempting body into his arms for a slow dance.

Sabrina
wanted
to be with him. He felt it with everything in his body, but she was scared to let that part of her out. All she had to do was open up to him some more and he would be there for his mate in a blink of an eye.

She had to understand that he wasn’t trying to take anything from her, but bring something ‘amazing’ into her lonely life, if she just gave him an opening.

However, Zander knew he couldn’t move on with Sabrina until he landed this account. After he accomplished this, he promised himself that all of his time wouldn’t be used for anything else but professing Sabrina as the one and only woman he wanted by his side for the rest of his life.