by Tina Donahue
“An apartment?” Robbie pressed. “The Phoenix complex on Cottonwood Avenue or the—”
“You guys done for the day?” Zach interrupted.
Robbie and Angel glanced past her. Toni looked over.
A few feet away, Zach regarded the younger men, his expression territorial, befitting a male in his prime.
Robbie and Angel didn’t appear to notice the subtle change in Zach from boss to man. Toni did. The air between them seemed to crackle with promise. Her entire body hummed with desire as his gaze settled on her.
“Just getting ready to clock out,” Robbie said.
Angel leaned closer to her, speaking in a lowered tone. “We can all do something tomorrow.”
He and Robbie made quick work of cleaning up and changing from their overalls into their street clothes.
Raising her hand in farewell to them, Toni lingered by the tool cabinet, taking her time putting things away.
At last the garage was empty except for her and Zach. Toni’s heart beat out of control. Taking a full breath became increasingly difficult. She felt awkward suddenly, not knowing what to say or to do.
Toni knew what she wanted—Zach to touch her, to fuck her hard and long—suspecting he wanted it too. Even so, she needed to be certain not to cross an invisible line between employee and boss, risking her job, which meant letting him make the first move.
He joined her by the cabinet, leaning against it, stretching out his left leg.
Their arms were only a few inches apart. She smelled a hint of coffee on his breath and imagined the heat of his skin. Pleasant sensations rolled through her.
In a softened voice, he asked, “How’d it go today?”
Wanting to tease, unable to stop herself, she said, “Better than you expected?”
He laughed. “You do good work.”
She grinned so hard it hurt her cheeks. His praise meant everything, more than he would ever know. It moved her like a baby’s first smile for its mother. It filled her as no food or drink could. She recalled her father’s approval, still missing it after so many years. Reluctant to allow those sweet memories to bring back all the others, ones she’d buried for too long, she teased, “Yeah, I know.”
Zach’s smile brightened briefly at her sass, then fled with his questioning look. “So what now?” He regarded her grease-and-oil-stained overalls.
Uncertain as to what he meant, not wanting to ruin anything in case she’d read him wrong, she joked, “You pay me for a day’s work? And while you head out, I clean up here and see you in the morning?”
“Where are you planning on staying tonight, Toni?” He looked at her, his expression serious. “Were you thinking of crashing in my office?”
A wave of heat surged to her throat and face at him guessing her thoughts. He had a reasonably comfortable sofa in there that looked as if he’d spent more than a few nights on it. “I won’t take anything,” she promised, her voice laced with embarrassment. “I’m not a thief.”
“No one said you were.” He pushed away from the cabinet and went to the wall switch, flipping the controls for the bay doors. He spoke loud enough so she could hear him over the rattling metal. “Finish up, then come into my office.”
As he moved toward it, Toni’s heart beat painfully in hope and worry. Hope that he’d let her stay in there. Worry that he’d changed his mind about her employment, intending to terminate her because she was still essentially a stranger. “Why?”
He stopped and looked over. The doors reached the floor, thwacking it. “So I can take you home.”
Stupidly, she stared at him. “What?”
He turned to face her. “You don’t have any money to spend on a motel room and you’ve already said you won’t be going back to the shelter. So I’m offering you a place to stay.”
Not understanding, Toni shook her head. “With who?”
His gaze roamed her. “Me.”
Her heart stumbled on several beats at his answer and the renewed intensity in his eyes.
As their silence lengthened, his demeanor shifted back to the forced restraint she’d seen earlier. “Don’t worry,” he said, his voice neutral, subdued. “I know how to handle myself.” He headed for his office again.
Without thinking, she called out, “I know that.” She could see and hear it.
Once more, he stopped and looked over.
“And I’m not worried,” she added.
Without warning, something dark and dangerous flared in his eyes, telling her she should be. He wasn’t a man to be toyed with. If a woman desired him, he’d enjoy her any way he chose, and once he started nothing would stop him. He’d take what he wanted while providing equal pleasure.
Desire weakened Toni’s legs. She leaned against the cabinet, needing it for support.
“Don’t make me wait,” he said, domination and a hint of pleasure in his voice. Not giving her a chance to respond, he went into his office.
Moments later, she heard him tossing clipboards from his desk to the file cabinet next to it.
Gaze turned inward, she tried to picture his place, an apartment surely, just large enough for two. Would he offer her his bedroom or would he tell her to sleep on the sofa? During the night, would he come to her, unable to stay away, his big body trapping hers against the cushions, one hand holding her wrists above her head while his other roamed?
Her lids slid down on a lusty sigh.
She swallowed at the thought of his rigid cock pressed against her mound, showing her his need as he pulled her top away, baring her breast, lowering his mouth to it, pulling the stiffened nipple inside.
Her cunt clenched in arousal, delivering a rush of moisture at the image of his hot, soft lips surrounding her areola while his bristly cheeks scraped the delicate swell of her breast. Of him wanting no woman except her.
Had he ever loved anyone?
Even if he had, Toni sensed he didn’t now. He wouldn’t be bringing her to his home if he had a girlfriend he cared about. He wouldn’t be offering her a place to sleep. He wouldn’t be crossing a fragile line separating employer from employee, man from woman, stranger from lover.
He wouldn’t be telling her not to make him wait with a hint of danger in his eyes.
Zach eased his black Ram through the town’s historic section, picking up speed as he headed toward the newer area.
Unable to think of any small talk, Toni kept waiting for him to say something. He did not, seemingly content to listen to the Garth Brooks song on the radio, or perhaps he was lost in thought, wondering why he’d offered her shelter for the night.
And not in any apartment.
Sucking her lower lip, she watched him pass the few complexes dotting the landscape.
A retirement village came next, followed by a new housing development and a strip mall boasting a convenience store and beauty parlor called Pat’s Place. Beyond it was open country with towering trees crowded together in clumps, their branches thick with leaves that grew all the way to the ground. Behind the foliage were gentle hills tinted a dark rose, their mild contours dotted with thirsty-looking shrubs and patches of cacti.
“You live in a trailer?” she asked.
Zach turned down the radio’s volume and looked over. “Nope.”
She hazarded a guess. “A tent?”
Smiling, he shook his head and pointed. “Up ahead.”
She turned to the front windshield, seeing a series of billboards for animal feed, liquor and real estate for sale, showing a photo of a Victorian two-story. Just past it was a paved road snaking off the main one before disappearing within a group of trees. “You have a log cabin?”
“Not even close.” He slowed his pickup and made a right on the road.
Leaning forward, Toni glanced at the canopy of branches overhanging the drive. It continued up the side of one of those meek hills. The trees thinned out at the top to show an expansive front yard with bright green grass, colorful flower beds and the billboard’s beige-and-white Victorian,
certainly historic and lovingly restored.
White gingerbread graced the overhang of the wide porch and the inverted V of the roof. A beige gas lamp with four white globes stood next to the front steps. At two stories, the place had to have at least three bedrooms.
Toni’s gaze inched up to a room at the top. Through the spotless panes, she saw the edge of lacy white curtains. Brows lifted, she took in the rest of the place, noticing a “for sale” sign hanging from the porch rails to the left. Placed there just in case someone missed the billboard?
“You’re selling your house, huh?” She swung her head from it to him. “This is your house, right?”
Turning off the engine, Zach nodded. “I’ve been trying to get rid of it for nearly a year. In this crappy economy there haven’t been any takers.” He popped his door and came around to her side.
She stopped hauling her saddlebag from the cab’s floor and stared at his hand, offered to help her out. His warm, dry palm and gentle strength made Toni feel fragile and clumsy at the same time.
The moment her feet hit the ground, any other man would have released her hand. Zach did not. Eyes meeting, they stared at each other. With a mind of their own, her fingers curled over his.
She saw the effect on his face, the spark of desire in his eyes. She eased closer.
Out of nowhere, a group of birds flew to her right, squawking, their wings rustling, their noise interrupting the moment.
Zach’s head tilted to their hands, her proximity. Releasing her fingers, he leaned into the cab to collect her jacket and helmet.
Saddened at the loss of his touch, Toni dragged her gaze over his tight ass and powerful thighs, her own tensing with need.
He straightened.
Wearing a mask of nonchalance, completely at odds with her accelerating heart, she asked, “Did you buy this place as an investment?”
He draped her jacket over his arm, propped her helmet beneath it, then inclined his head to the house. “This way.”
Toni followed him into a small foyer that smelled of lemon furniture polish and the lingering scent of bacon, no doubt from his breakfast. She regarded the gleaming hardwood floors and the white wainscoting beneath the pale yellow walls. A pair of antique-looking chairs with needlepoint backs and seats flanked a mahogany accent table. On it stood a brass lamp with a gold-fringed shade. Gracing the walls were landscapes painted in delicate pastels.
Was he divorced? Had his ex-wife decorated this place, then allowed him to keep it as part of the settlement?
Toni turned away from the paintings, noticing Zach had already left the foyer and was now yards away, waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs.
As she passed a doorway to the left, she snuck a look at what appeared to be a formal living room, complete with a stone fireplace and Victorian-style furniture upholstered in rose brocade to match the color of the walls.
She reached him. “This is a really nice place.”
He gave her an amused smile. “Want to buy it?”
“Give me a raise and I’ll consider your offer.”
Brow cocked, he climbed the stairs without comment, leading her down the narrow hall to the first door on the left.
She stopped in the center of the room, her head swinging right, left, her gaze unable to take in everything quickly enough. A brass queen-sized bed dominated the snug space, its crocheted comforter and pillow shams an ecru shade dotted with pink rosettes. Gauzy ivory curtains decorated the tall window. A dressing table with a circular mirror graced the wall to the right. To the left stood a display case with numerous dolls wearing vintage clothes identical to the little girl in that ancient movie Pollyanna.
A flood of memories bore down on Toni, along with longing so fierce it stole her breath. She remembered being a little girl, having a bedroom as feminine and welcoming…as safe as this. She recalled the comfort of her father’s arms surrounding her, telling her she was precious, wanted, welcomed, loved. He’d always be there to protect her.
She could still taste her hopelessness when he’d died.
Zach came up beside her, the wood floor groaning beneath his weight. Quickly, Toni turned her head away, blinking her eyes to clear them.
“Is it all right?” he asked.
Forcing down a swallow, she nodded and pushed all emotion from her voice, all yearning for the past from her heart. “It’s beautiful.” She went to the bed, putting her saddlebag on it, and ran her fingers over a rosette, determined to concentrate on the here and now. “You live here all alone?”
Zach draped her jacket over the brass footboard and put her helmet on the mattress. Backing up, he went to the door. “The bath’s in the hall. Everything you need is in there.”
Not true. She needed a lot of years back, a place to call home and, if she were very lucky, a guy like Zach. Defenseless against her thoughts, Toni turned to him.
His tee fluttered with his deep, full breath, his gaze traveling her features. He seemed to want to ask her something.
Toni ran her thumbnail down her cutoffs, barely able to hide her arousal.
Zach’s attention moved to her hand and legs. “I was going to grill steaks for dinner. That okay with you?”
For the first time in a long time, food wasn’t what she wanted. Toni knew he didn’t crave it either. Even so, it was his home, his call as to what they did. “Sounds good.” She crossed the room to him. “Anything I can do?”
Zach glanced past her at the bed. His expression grew distracted, wanting, his Adam’s apple bobbing with his swallow. He turned his head to look down the hall. “Get settled.” His voice sounded strained. “Freshen up if you want. I’ll see you downstairs.”
Backing into the hall, he left.
With one shoulder against the fridge, Zach tilted his head back and took a long sip of his Coors.
Upstairs, water pounded in the tub with Toni’s shower.
Lowering the bottle from his lips, Zach’s attention drifted to the ceiling. A bead of perspiration rolled from his neck to his chest. He pushed his free hand down his thigh to dry his palm.
Images kept rolling across his brain, provocative, taunting. Toni stripping off her stretchy tank top and bra, her full breasts wiggling prettily as she dropped her garments on the floor. Her slender fingers unbuttoning her cutoffs, the strings dangling over her knees and calves as she pushed them off her, stepping out of them and what he guessed—or hoped—was her thong.
With her pale flesh bared, the only color would be her rosy nipples, the dark thatch of curls between her legs and her polished toenails. He swallowed at his memory of her toe ring.
Did she take it off to bathe?
One of the pipes rattled.
Zach pressed the chilled bottle to his forehead, much as she had done with the water he’d given her this morning.
You live here all alone? she’d asked.
For almost two years. Not that it had been anything close to normal living. More like getting through each day. Working. Sleeping. Eating. And occasionally dating women he liked but could never love.
No one had to tell Zach he feared risking his heart again and because of it he’d held onto this place for too long, as if keeping it would change the past. It couldn’t, of course. No more than he could flap his arms and fly.
And now Toni was here, at least for a brief while.
Where in the fuck did she hail from? Where would she go? As she’d glanced around the bedroom, he’d seen the expression on her face, yearning so intense it stunned him to silence. It was as though she’d never slept in such a nice place, decorated as it was for visitors to a bed-and-breakfast that hadn’t opened. Not with Meg gone.
Upstairs, the water shut off. The pipes banged in momentary protest.
Zach lowered his head, a part of him relieved that Toni would only be here for a month, a part of him already considering how empty the house and his garage would be without her.
A stab of guilt sliced through him, followed by wrenching desire.
&
nbsp; He was losing his mind.
With a prolonged sigh, he ordered himself to shake off his feelings, to get through this night and the next and the next. Finishing his beer, he pushed away from the fridge to prepare their meal.
At the bottom of the stairs, Toni stopped, not knowing where to find Zach. She snuck a peek at the formal dining room, appreciating its quaint beauty, before going down a narrow hall to the surprisingly large kitchen equipped with new copper-colored appliances and wooden cabinets the color of honey.
It was also empty.
Toni put her hand on the stove even though she figured he hadn’t turned it on. The room was too cool. She spotted the microwave on the rust-colored countertop. Had Zach used it to prepare their meal because he couldn’t cook any better than she could?
Head turned to the other side of the room, she suddenly recalled him saying something about grilling steaks. Outside?
Resting her hip against the back door, Toni eased the lacy curtain from the window and saw the pool, brick barbecue…Zach. Reckless need rolled through her, driving away everything else. She seized the opportunity to look at him as much as she wanted, the same as this morning before she’d approached his garage.
Lips tilting up in a pleased smile, she stroked the door’s glass as her gaze travelled his length, his wonderfully tight ass, muscular thighs, his biceps flexing slightly as he shook out charcoal from a large bag. Dark dust puffed from the top as he set it back on the flagstones. A slight breeze lifted the hair dangling over his forehead.
Such a beautiful man. So damn virile he stole Toni’s breath.
In a moment of weakness, she allowed herself to imagine what her future could have been like if Joe hadn’t come into her life. How he’d changed everything, leading her to work on the circuit, the only thing she knew, rather than coming home to a man like Zach every night. She pictured them laughing or bitching about their respective work, showering together, washing off the day’s grime. Lovingly, she’d tend to every inch of his flesh. On her knees, she’d wash his balls and cock, pressing her face into his thick, dark pubic hair, licking the beads of moisture from it and his rigid shaft. After—in bed—they’d enjoy each other’s wet, naked bodies, feasting on them, restoring comfort and peace before their meal.
