His mouth covered hers to cut off the rest of the sentence, her wish immediately his command. If she didn’t want to think about her parents’ screwed-up relationship, then he would do whatever was necessary to keep her mind on other things. Now and throughout dinner, whatever way he could.

Because he was her friend. And that’s what friends did. They looked out for each other.

And yet...even as he slid his hands under her skirt and Heather let out a soft gasp of pleasure as his fingers found her, he could almost hear the rumbles in the distance. Rumbles of something big, heavy, and impossible to avoid as it sped toward him.

He moved his hands to her bottom to lift her up from the floor and she wrapped her legs around him. But even the intense pleasure of having her heat all around him wasn’t enough for him to get some distance from the emotions that were trying to nail him straight in the middle of his chest. Right from the first moment they’d met, he hadn’t been able to keep his mind, hands, or mouth off her.

And his heart was heading the same way, whether he wanted it to or not.

It was pure, practiced instinct for Zach to fight these feelings. To pretend they weren’t true. To tell himself as he undid his pants and was inside of her seconds later, that Heather was the perfect friend to have sex with, and nothing more.

She kissed him with a wildness that told him how much she needed this distraction, this outlet, this chance to let herself be fierce, bold, without risking retribution. He knew she wanted to be taken with that same fierceness, so he didn’t hold back as he slammed against her, pushing her into the wall even as she pushed right back at him with her hips.

He’d never wanted anyone like he wanted her—more every time they came together—and yet even though he could have lost it at any second, he made himself focus on her reactions so that he’d know when she was close.

Tonight wasn’t about his feelings, it wasn’t about his fears for the future that had always been wrapped up in his father’s untimely death. No, tonight wasn’t about him at all.

On the contrary, it was about making sure Heather survived her parents’ visit with minimal damage. And he knew exactly what would keep her on the edge of her seat all night, regardless of whom they were having dinner with.

Heather gasped into his mouth as her inner muscles began to tighten down around him. Lord, it killed him to pull out of her right then...but the knowledge of just how physically painful the next several hours were going to be didn’t stop him from doing it anyway.

He wouldn’t have made the sexual sacrifice for anyone but her.

Her eyes flew open as he gently set her back on her feet and pulled her skirt down before doing up his pants.

“Zach? What are you doing?”

He had a hell of a time keeping his voice steady. “We need to go.”

She was looking at him like he’d lost his mind as he grabbed her purse from the counter, told the dogs not to cause any trouble, and dragged her out to his car. And maybe he had lost it, purposefully stopping just before the big finale like that.

Only, tonight, something bigger was at stake than getting off with a beautiful woman.

Heather’s heart was on the line, and he was going to make damned sure it remained in one piece, no matter what her father tried to pull.

* * *

Heather was going to kill Zach. Her parents had already seen her once today looking like she’d just stepped out of his bed. This was almost worse, this persistent wanting that buzzed through her, making it virtually impossible to not only appreciate the glass of fine red wine from his brother’s winery, but to nurse her frustration at her parents for acting the same way they always did.

She narrowed her eyes across the table as her father stroked her mother’s hand and gazed at her as if he were the luckiest guy in the world. Anyone looking at them would think he was the most devoted husband on the planet.

God, it all was so false. So fake. It made her want to—

“Too bad we didn’t have enough time to finish what we started at your house,” Zach murmured, his breath hitting her on the spot just below her earlobe that instantly melted her every time he came near it.

She couldn’t decide if she wanted to kick him under the table to get him to stop...or if there was some reason she could invent to pull him into a dark hallway and make him finish what they’d started.

Still, even though she was practically jumping out of her skin from wanting him, once she’d calmed down a bit during the short drive to the restaurant, she’d finally figured out what he was doing.

And she couldn’t help but adore him for his brilliant distraction technique.

“So,” her mother said as she beamed at the two of them, “your father and I are dying to know how you met.”

Thank God, that was an easy one. “Zach lost his puppy—”

“—and Heather found it.”

“Aren’t they adorable, the way they finish each other’s sentences. Just like we do, sweetheart,” she said to her husband.

Heather suddenly wanted to puke.

Zach slid his hand up her thigh beneath the tablecloth, to a spot that was much too high for public comfort.

“No,” he said in an easy tone. “We’re nothing like the two of you.” He grinned at Heather. “You hated me on sight. Didn’t you?”

She couldn’t explain why Zach’s honesty made her so happy. Especially when it was guaranteed to upset her parents. But oh, how she loved what he’d said.

No, we’re nothing like the two of you.

She wanted to grab him and kiss him in front of the whole world for that alone.

“It’s true. He was yelling at the puppy, so I tried to take Cuddles away from him.”

“Cuddles?” Her father laughed with faint derision. “That’s some name for a dog.”

Rather than rise to the implied challenge to his masculinity, Zach simply refilled the wine glasses and said, “I still owe your daughter for saving Cuddles.”

Her mother looked confused. “If it all started off so badly, I don’t understand how the two of you started dating, then?”

Heather hated lying. She’d grown up in a liar’s house, after all.

“We’re just friends.” It was the truth, although, unlike the night at his sister’s apartment, she decided to leave off the with benefits part.

“Just friends?” Her mother looked between the two of them. “But today when we dropped by your building—”

Her mother didn’t have to finish her sentence for it to be abundantly clear that she’d assumed since they had been having sex in Heather’s office that they were an item.