Free Born to Be Wild by Donna Kauffman

usually control it better.” He leaned closer. “Something about being around you, I guess.”
    Dara snorted. “Well, you certainly never worked too hard to control yourself when we were kids.”
    Zach laughed. “True, true. But back then I was a jerky kid who had no idea what to do with a girl who intrigued me.”
    “I intrigued you?” She smiled dryly. “You had a funny way of showing it.”
    “Yeah, well, at the time, I don’t think I realized what made me do all those things to you.”
    “And now you do?”
    “From the moment I opened your office door and saw you standing there, I knew exactly what made me do all those stupid things as a boy.”
    Dara feigned shock. “You mean it wasn’t because your parents dropped you on your head as a child?”
    Zach chuckled. “No. At least not that I know of.” After a few seconds during which his body raced well ahead of his thoughts, his smile slowly faded. A moment later, hers did too. “Can I ask you something?”
    She nodded.
    “If you had been on a picnic today, is there someone special you would have gone with?”
    He’d taken her by surprise again. Good.
    “You tried to get me to answer this once before.”
    He shrugged. “Incorrigible. Your word.”
    “No, no one special,” she said quietly. Her smile was shy, and completely captivating.
    He reached over and pushed the tousled hair from her forehead. “I’m not a boy anymore, Dart,” he said. “Istill do some stupid things every once in a while, but I’m fairly certain I can make it through the rest of the afternoon acting like an adult. I can even throw in the picnic. Will you come with me?”
    She didn’t answer right away, and those few uncertain seconds sent another shot of adrenaline through his system. Just being around her, laughing with her, talking with her. Taunting her, teasing her … and Lord knew, kissing her. He never knew what to expect, like an ongoing thrill, a challenge of the sort he’d never confronted before.
    “Okay. And if you want to know the truth, within seconds after I saw you again, there was no doubt in my mind you were an adult.”
    Zach felt his mouth drop open. He slid his hand to the back of her neck and tugged her closer to him. “Yeah. Now, instead of a hormone-confused boy stumbling around after you, you’ve got a completely intrigued adult male on your hands. Any ideas what you want to do with him?”
    He brushed his mouth against hers, waiting for her, knowing she had to be part of the decision. Wanting her fully willing or not at all. And needing her to choose him more than he could have thought possible.
    She looked in his eyes, then lifted her hand to his neck. Her gaze dropped to his mouth the split instant before she closed the remaining distance.
    There were no preliminaries. The kiss began hot and wild and progressed swiftly from there. Her mouth and tongue weren’t shy about finding his. She took what she wanted, and Zach willingly gave it to her. His hands dropped to her shoulders. His tongue moved deep intoher mouth as he slid his palms down across her breasts, groaning as he felt her respond against his fingertips.
    His hands drifted to her waist, and he’d half pulled her across the console separating them and into his lap when she began to pull back.
    “Zach,” she murmured against his mouth. “Zach.”
    He pulled his mouth from hers, then traced kisses across her jaw until his face was tucked into the sweet-smelling crook of her neck. “Yeah?” he said roughly.
    She leaned back until she could look at him, and brushed a tangle of his hair from her face. Zach felt his body twitch in response to the one strand that clung to her lips. Again, the evidence of him on her rode hard against the need for restraint. He reached up and tugged it loose.
    “What are we doing here, Zach?”
    “Is there somewhere you’d rather go?” His smile was lost in the hoarseness of his voice.
    “You know what I mean,” she answered softly. “What’s