Zach turned around and nodded. “Of course. Take the guest room. It’s all yours.”
Jonathan nodded and the sound of the wheels of his suitcase filled the empty air as he dragged it across the floor and over to the guest room. Once the door was closed, Zach walked into his bedroom and closed his door too.
Twenty minutes later, both men emerged showered and dressed in tailored suits. Zach nodded to Jonathan who did the same.
“We clean up pretty good,” Zach said.
Jonathan chuckled. “The women of Atlanta won’t know what hit them.”
Zach smiled despite the fact that it felt as if there were a vice around his heart, squeezing. He didn’t want the women of Atlanta. He wanted one woman, and she seemed very determined that she didn’t want him. Or that they were somehow bad for each other.
Whichever it was, she’d already doomed whatever relationship they could possibly attempt to grow. Why couldn’this stupid head just grasp that and move on? Why was he so stuck on Danielle?
“Whoa, man. I think you might need this break more than me,” Jonathan said as he clapped Zach on the shoulder and pushed him toward the door.
Zach didn’t fight as he was ushered out of his apartment and down to the foyer where Paul was standing, waiting for them. After they climbed into the back of Zach’s car, Paul pulled out onto the road.
Zach settled back in his seat and let out his breath.
This was good. Getting out and moving on was good. It’s what he needed to do if he was going to survive. He’d already tried, twice, to reach Danielle and she pushed him away both times.
He needed to get her rejection through his thick skull. If not, he’d be this emotional wreck forever and that was not how he wanted to live. Forgetting Danielle needed to happen, and it needed to happen now.
Chapter Fourteen
Danielle sighed as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. The gold, sequined dress shimmered in her pathetic bedroom lighting. Which meant when she arrived at the actual dinner tonight, the dress would be shining brighter that the sun.
Maybe this was too much.
“Don’t even think about it,” Sunny said as she walked into the bedroom with a pair of stiletto heels in hand.
“It’s too much, Sun. I can’t wear this. I’m just a reporter.” She blew out her breath, causing a raspberry sound to emerge from her lip. “This is a party for the football players and their dates. I am neither.”
“Because you refused the football player,” Sunny mumbled as she set the heels down next to Danielle and then turned and dive-bombed Danielle’s bed.
Danielle shook her head. “Please don’t start.”
Sunny shifted until she was at the head of the bed and resting on Danielle’s mound of pillows. “It’s true. That guy has it bad for you and I can’t quite figure out why you don’t feel the same. Any girl would be excited to have his attention no matter what happened in the past.”
Danielle sighed and moved until she was staring at herself in the mirror again. She adjusted her curls that hung down past her shoulders. The dress she was wearing had thin spaghetti straps, which was why she chose to wear her hair down. The whole illusion that the dress just might be held up by nothing excited her.
Well, the thought of someone else enjoying that fact was what excited her. But she wasn’t going to admit who that was. Even though Zach’s face and voice was glued into her mind. There was very little she could do to remove it.
And when Joy arrived at her apartment with a key he’d asked to be given to her…that just cinched the deal.
Zach Stedman was a part of her, even though she was trying to fight that fact.
“This is ridiculous. I should just call in sick. I shouldn’t go.” She reached over to grab her phone but Sunny must have been expecting that. Just as her fingers grazed the glass, the phone disappeared.
“You’re going, Danielle. You need this. One way or the other, you need some closure.” Sunny’s voice was commanding as she walked over to the small, black velvet purse and slipped Danielle’s phone into it.
Danielle chewed her lip as she glared at her friend. How did Sunny get so demanding?
Then she blew out the air in her lungs and nodded. “Fine. I’m going as a reporter. I’m not going to get any enjoyment out of this and as soon as it is over, I’m out of there. Understand?”
Sunny got a sly smile on her lips as she nodded.
“And stop smiling at me like that. Zach and I are over. There’s nothing there. Nothing can happen.”
