by Eva Luxe
We picked up the small white potatoes, dripping with the essence of seafood, and swallowed them bite for bite. With each bite I took, I knew I was about to fold. My stomach was expanding and pressing against my lungs. I was so full it became hard to breathe, and after two entire potatoes, I had to sit back and concede defeat.
People patted me on the back, and Zach stood from his chair, his fists in the air as men hollered and cheered around him.
I rolled my eyes as I shook my head. People were congratulating me on staying with him for as long as I did, but I already felt my food coma setting in. My eyes were getting heavy, and my body was relaxing. If Zach had any after-dinner plans, they were going to have to wait.
“That was impressive,” he said.
I opened my eyes and found him staring at me. He didn’t even look phased. He had a smirk on his lips, and his eyes twinkled with energy. He was sitting forward like he didn’t just devour five fucking pounds of food.
I groaned as I slid deeper into my chair.
“I like a woman that isn’t afraid to eat,” Zach said.
“Too bad,” I said. “I’m never eating again.”
His chuckle was music to my ears.
“Looks like you’re getting the next one,” he said.
“Too,” I said. “Looks like I’m paying the next meal, too.”
The waiter appeared at the table and handed Zach a slip of paper. “Here’s your receipt, sir. Thank you for dining with us, and we hope to see you again soon.”
I lifted my head to see Zach signing the paper.
“No,” I moaned. “Wait a second. I told you to give me the check.”
The waiter walked away with the signed receipt Zach handed him, and I couldn’t muster the strength to get out of my chair to chase him down.
“Zach. This dinner was supposed to be my way of repaying you for the tire.”
“Well, since there’s a next date, you can do it then,” he said.
“That food couldn’t have been cheap.”
“Do I look like someone who’s unemployed?” he asked. “I do work, you know.”
“Oh, yeah? And what do you do?”
“I work at the lumber company here in town.”
Confirmation number two.
“Is that part of your body maintenance?” I asked with a grin.
“Nope. I just enjoy the work. It’s quiet, and I can keep to myself.”
“You don’t strike me as someone who wants to keep to himself,” I said.
“People shock you, I guess.”
Everyone had settled back into their seats, and I could tell he was ready to go. He got up and offered me his hand, and I figured it couldn’t hurt anything. It felt nice to slide my hand into the rough and calloused hand of a handsome man, and even though I kept telling myself he might be a criminal, there was just something about him I couldn’t shake. He didn’t act like a typical criminal.
There was nothing salacious or sinister about him. I didn’t feel as if he had any ulterior motives with me. I most certainly didn’t feel threatened when I was around him, and he didn’t act pompous or macho in any respect.
He wasn’t like any of the other criminals or thieves I’d tracked down in my line of work, and my gut was screaming at me again.
“So, since I lost, I believe you get to pick where we go for our next date,” I said.
“Nope. You just have to pay.”
“I don’t think that was the agreement,” I said.
“It is now.”
“You change the rules a lot as you go, don’t you?”
“It’s how I keep things interesting.”
“Uh huh. So, if I said I wanted to get dinner again but we could toss the eating contest, you’d be okay with that?”
“I would,” he said.
“If I told you this place would have to have drinks, you’d be okay with that?”
“Sure.”
“Okay, then. Our next date is dinner somewhere that has drinks. No eating contest, but there is a requirement.”
“And the requirement is?” he asked.
“You have to answer one personal question I ask you, and in return, I’ll do the same.”
I could tell that requirement made him uncomfortable. The twinkle faded from his eye, and his hand tightened around mine. His entire body stiffened as he drew a breath through his nose, and he let it out forcefully before he released his grip on my hand.
“Deal,” he said.
“Give me your number, and I’ll put it in my phone,” I said.
We exchanged numbers as we stood beside my car, the silence comfortable between us. The moonlight was dancing over the city, and I could smell the salt water from the ocean.
I closed my eyes and felt a strong wind whipping around us, almost knocking me off my feet. Zach caught me in a hurry, his arms strong and warm as the wind continued to wrap around our bodies.
“Didn’t realize the oceanside was so windy,” I said breathlessly.
“It can get rough sometimes,” Zach said.
“Thanks. For saving my ass, since that’s apparently all you’re here for.”
“Not all,” he said.
I looked up at him, and the twinkle was back, and it pulled a smile across my cheeks.
“I’ll call you when I’m free,” I said.
“Could I call you before then?” he asked.
“You can try, but I can’t guarantee I’ll answer.”
“Sounds like a challenge,” he said, grinning.
“Looks like I’m not the only competitive one.”
“Not by a longshot,” he said.
I watched him walk back to his bike, and I couldn’t take my eyes of his ass. He was rounded and perfect. Strong and attached to a pair of legs that ran for days. Holy fuck, that was a good-looking man.
I had to steady myself against my car before I opened the door and dropped in.
Here he was out here in the middle of nowhere, with no one to appreciate his hard, toned body—at least not for more than a night, as it seemed he was more of a one night stand kind of guy than someone who liked commitment.
I had to calm myself down before I got back to my hotel room. Mr. Kent was waiting on a phone call from me, and the last thing I needed to sound like was a giggling little schoolgirl.
Chapter 13- Zach
“What the hell’s gotten into you?” Caden asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Zach, come on. Who sucked your dick good last night?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said.
“You’re smiling.”
“Do I not smile?” I asked.
“No, you don’t. Ever. And you’re in a good mood. You came into work humming, asshole. I wanna know who you fucked this weekend.”
“Not that it’s any of your goddamn business, weirdo, but I didn’t sleep with anyone this weekend.”
He narrowed his eyes at me in suspicion. “There was someone. There had to be. You’re the brooding, pessimistic one, and I’m the idealist with dreams in his eyes. You don’t come into work humming. That’s my job.”
“I had a date, but that’s it,” I said.
“I knew it! Okay, Zach. Spill. What’s her name? What did you guys do? And how good is she in bed?”
“Her name’s Paige, we went to dinner at Dick’s, and I didn’t sleep with her. But I wouldn’t mind. She’s fucking gorgeous.”
“You’re smiling and humming, and you didn’t get your dick wet?” he asked.
“Why are you still stuck on the humming? I wasn’t humming.”
“You were definitely humming.”
“Then what was I humming?” I asked.
“I don’t know, but you were. Trust me. You walked past me this morning, and the sound was so weird it took me a second to place it.”
“I was making a weird sound, so you thought it was me humming?” I asked.
“Look, we’re getting off track. What was so special about thi
s girl that you’re smiling even though you didn’t get any?”
“Well, she’s not crazy, for one,” I said.
“Good, good. We like not-crazy.”
“She’s fucking gorgeous. Green eyes. Blonde hair. Curves for days.”
Caden let out a low whistle. “Oh, shit. You need to get on that train soon.”
“No shit. But the date was awesome. She’s from out of town.”
“Ah, so the ‘no-commitment’ thing you’re into is solidified with her. Got it. How’d she like the food?”
“She loved it,” I said, smiling.
“See?! There’s that damn smile again. Okay. What happened on this date?”
“We had a food-eating contest.”
Caden looked at me like I’d lost my fucking mind.
“You did what?” he asked.
“Our waiter was explaining their crab pots, and she thought they all sounded good. So, she ordered all of them.”
His eyes widened. “All of them?”
“Yep,” I said.
“That’s, like, twenty pounds of food,” he said.
“Twelve, but yes. We ended up making a bet for a second date. The person who ate the least amount of food from the pots had to pay.”
“For the second date.”
“Yep. And I won, of course. So, we exchanged numbers, and I’m gonna see her again soon.”
“And she’ll be paying,” he said.
“She will be, but I also let her arrange the second date.”
Caden grinned. “How much food did she eat?”
“She met me bite for bite until we got to the potatoes.”
“That woman scarfed down ten pounds of food?!”
“Four, but yeah, it was goddamn impressive.”
“She sounds like your kind of woman,” he said.
“What does that mean?”
“Zach, it doesn’t take a genius to know you don’t actually enjoy the women you pick up at the bars. I get it. You’ve got needs and so do they. But if you’re this happy after just hanging out with a girl, she sounds like your type. Which is why I’m curious about her, because I don’t know what your type is.”
“I’m not happy,” I said.
“Only you would try to combat that fact.”
I was about to argue with Caden again before his eyes drifted behind me. I followed his gaze and looked out toward the road. There was that damn white car again. At first, I thought I was mistaken. It couldn’t have been the same one from a few days ago. But the dent was there, along with the missing paint and hubcap.
It was the same car stalking our worksite.
“Who the fuck is that?” Caden asked.
“I don’t know, but it looks like a woman’s driving the car,” I said.
“Is there anyone in the backseat?” he asked.
“I don’t know.”
I squinted and walked toward the road so I could get a better look. The car was stopped in the middle of the road, just looking out over the site. It sat there as I got closer, and I could tell there was definitely a woman driving the car. Then my eyes moved to the back, and I thought I saw something.
As I picked up my pace to a jog, the car suddenly took off down the road and vanished.
“Did you see anything?” Caden asked as he came up beside me.
“No. I mean, it is a woman driving the car, and she’s got something in the backseat, but I don’t know what it is.”
“Maybe she’s just checking us out,” he said.
“Only you would think shit like that. Come on. Our lunch break’s almost over.”
The work day flew by, and I was relieved when they let us off early. The lumber company had been working us overtime for the past three weeks because of the uptick in business. I loved my overtime paychecks, but my body was no longer agreeing with the schedule I was running. My legs were sore, my back ached, and my feet were screaming at me by the end of the day.
“Hey, Zach, wanna get a beer tonight?” Caden asked.
I was contemplating the offer just before my phone rang in my pocket.
“Hold on,” I said. “Hello?”
“Hi there. Is this Zach?”
I recognized her voice instantly. “Hello, Paige.”
Caden’s jaw unhinged, and he rushed over to my side.
“Put her on speakerphone,” he said, whispering.
I held him at arm’s length.
“Oh, come on,” he said. “Let me listen.”
“I was calling you to see if you were free tomorrow night,” she said.
“Tomorrow night,” I said as I looked at Caden. “I am, yes. I’m supposed to be off work at six.”
“Would meeting for dinner at seven be too much of a crunch?” she asked.
“Not at all,” I said. “Have you figured out where you want to go to eat?”
“There’s a place I passed earlier today that looked really interesting. It was called Introspect.”
“I’ve never been, but I’ve heard good things about it. If you like a quieter atmosphere, that is.”
“Sometimes quiet is nice,” she said. “Plus, the reviews I looked up said they have an awesome cocktail menu.”
“I wouldn’t know, but I guess we’ll find out tomorrow night. I do have a question, though.”
“What’s up?” she asked.
“Would you let me pick you up this time?”
Silence fell on the other end of the line, and I was worried that I’d overstepped my bounds. I could tell Caden was hanging on to every word of my part of the conversation like the little gossip girl he was. I felt my shoulders tense as the seconds of silence ticked by, and I had to hold my phone out from my ear and look at it just to make sure the call hadn’t dropped.
“Paige?” I asked.
“Yeah, yeah sorry. Um, sure. Will you be picking me up on your bike?”
“Have you never been on a motorcycle before? Because I have a car, but it’s a clunker.”
“A clunker, huh?” she asked. “Well, I wouldn’t want our lives in danger. You know, if the floorboard falls out from underneath us or something. And no, I’ve never been on a motorcycle.”
“Well, I’d be honored to be your first.”
I heard her giggle on the other end of the line, and it made me smile.
“Okay, I’ll send you the address of the hotel I’m at.”
“I know which one you’re at,” I said. “Remember? The purse thing?”
“Well, I kinda thought you might be a stalker, so I checked out and found another hotel.”
“At least you take precautions to be safe. Shoot me the address of where you’re staying now, and I’ll be there tomorrow at seven to pick you up.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” she said.
“So am I.”
I hung up the phone, and Caden started patting my back. He went in for a hug, and I stood there wondering what the fuck had gotten in to him.
“Zach!” he said. “You gotta tell me all about that shit when you’re done tomorrow night.”
“Why the fuck are you so happy about this?” I asked.
“You smiled on the phone conversation. She makes you smile. Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve seen anything make you smile?”
“You make me sound like a depressed asshole.”
“That’s because you are,” he said, grinning. “But not anymore.”
“You’re an idiot. And I’m going home.”
“Wait, you’re not getting a drink with me?” he asked.
“Look, I’ve got plenty of beer at my house, Clingy Betty. Why don’t you come over, and we’ll order something in and have a drink there?”
“Can we order a pizza without vegetables this time?” he asked.
“We’ll get one for each of us so you can be a greasy hog,” I said.
“Good, because I don’t do vegetables.”
“Which is why you’ll die by the time you’re forty.”
“Just because I—”
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Caden’s eyes were behind me again, and I whipped my head around. That fucking white car was back, and this time, I was determined to figure out what the hell was going on. I took off toward it at a full sprint, getting right up to the car just as the female driver sped off.
I was focused on the backseat, trying to figure out what the hell was back there. Did she have signs for a picket? Or a bag of shit to handcuff herself to a tree? Did she have shit for bomb-making materials, like maybe she was going to blow up a tractor just to make a point?
I caught a glimpse of what was in the backseat as the woman sped away, and my heart hammered in my chest.
“Did you catch anything?” Caden asked, panting.
“Yeah,” I said. “I saw what she had in the backseat.”
“Is it anything dangerous? Should we tell the boss man about it?”
“No, nothing dangerous,” I said.
“Then what did she have, dude? I can’t run like you.”
“Because you don’t eat your vegetables,” I said mindlessly.
“Caden. What was in the backseat?”
“A baby,” I said as I turned my head toward him. “There was a baby in the backseat.”
Chapter 14- Paige
I was about to start getting ready for my date when Mr. Kent called me. I had called him after my date with Zach at the seafood restaurant, but I had to leave a message with this secretary. He had been busy with some meeting, and she told me he’d call me back as soon as he could.
Now it was time to talk.
“Mr. Kent, thank you so much for getting in touch with me,” I said.
“Thank you for calling. I’m sorry I was unavailable. So, something tells me you have information for me.”
“I do. I have found the man in question. Zachary Harte lives in Brookings, Oregon and works for the local lumber company.”
“I already knew that, Miss Conwell. Do you have any information for me that I do not already know?”
“Well, you wanted me to call you after every surveillance, so that’s what I’m doing. The past that I can pull up on him is very basic. He keeps to himself and lives in a cabin that’s near the falls.”
“So, he’s isolated?” he asked.
“Yeah, for sure. He went out of his way to live in a secluded area. He doesn’t seem to get out and about much. I’ve seen him at the grocery store and riding around on his motorcycle, but I haven’t seen him interact with anyone other than myself.”
