Project Director Zane Caldwell has a major problem -- a charming, go-getter hotshot from Chicago named Ford Trionni, recently hired at Widdley Finch Inc., a Connecticut-based marketing research company. The man, whom the secretarial pool nicknamed "The Italian Stallion" based on his stunning good looks and sexual aura, has also gained the reputation of a superstar in the industry due to his innovative analytical techniques. The trouble is, the man wears his accolades like a badge on his lapel, strutting around the office like a peacock.<br><br>Ford's self-centered, lofty attitude drives Zane to utter distraction. Even worse, the man seems to know it, intentionally using his sizzling sex appeal to tie Zane's patience and libido into knots while giving off mixed messages of mutual attraction. But from what Zane can tell, Ford's already involved in an intense relationship with someone else, and the last thing Zane wants is to fall for a guy who not only treats him like a peon instead of an equal, but intends to make him a side dish to his current love affair.<br><br>Yet as he works with Ford on an important account, Zane begins to realize there's more to Ford than the man lets on, and all may not be what it seems. As the heat between them builds into an inferno despite their contrary work relationship, Zane vows to get to the bottom of Ford's confusing behavior once and for all. Is the man playing games with Zane's job and his heart, or is there a chance they might actually discover they're the perfect partners?

And the Survey Says

“Please, Zane, don’t be flip. Although I know you have no reason to think me sincere, I am. And I apologize for the way I’ve been acting, for the way I spoke to you after what happened between us last Friday. You didn’t deserve that. I should have realized…”


“That you were different. I should have given you the benefit of the doubt.”


“Will you please speak plainly? Different than what? Or whom?”


He turned his head to look me in the eye. “Than my previous boyfriend.”


Although I expected Ford would’ve had a string of conquests, especially when his sometimes high-falutin’ attitude bespoke of a fickle mega-stud with endless notches on his bedpost, he had never divulged a single aspect of his past love life to confirm the notion. I had assumed everything about him, and only now did I remember how horribly rotten my assumptions about the man and his private life had proved in the past few weeks.


Chapter 41