by Lori Foster
“Can Wynn and me be excused now?”
Zack said, “May Wynn and I. And yes, you may. Wash your hands first, though.”
Dani ran to the sink, used the three-step stool in front of it, and turned on the water. Over her shoulder, she said to Wynn, “My stuff’s in my room.”
Wynn watched Zack push back his chair. He didn’t quite look at her. “I’ll go carry that box to the backyard for you while Dani shows you her new clothes.” He paused beside Dani, bent and kissed the top of her head. “I’ll be right back, okay?”
She nodded. “Okay.”
He went out the kitchen door and was gone before Wynn could agree or disagree.
When Dani dragged Wynn upstairs, she got a peek at the rest of his house. There wasn’t a speck of dust anywhere. Not that she was looking for dust, but the complete and total lack of it was evident, and impressive.
Everything was neat and orderly, except for Dani’s toys scattered here and there. She noticed two pine chests in the family room, one opened to reveal an assortment of dolls and games inside. The top of a desk was littered with crayons and construction paper and safety scissors.
She passed Zack’s bedroom at the top of the stairs and, hoping Dani wouldn’t notice, she peered in. More polished, heavy pine furniture filled the moderate size room. The bed was made up with a rich, dark-brown down comforter. A slight breeze wafted in through the open window, through which Wynn could just see Zack, in the corner of her yard, the large box hefted onto his shoulder.
They were of a similar height, but the difference in their strength was notable, and arousing. The box had been heavy and cumbersome to her, yet Zack handled it as if it weighed no more than a sack of flour.
She watched him for a long moment before it dawned on her that if she could see him now, he could see her…anytime she was in the yard.
She asked Dani, “Is this where you and your dad were when we first said hello, today?”
“Yeah, ’cept Dad was still in his underwear then ’cuz he’d just woke up.”
“I see.” Boy, did she see. Not wanting to give away her interest by lingering, she allowed Dani to hustle her along to her room. This time the furniture was white, with a pale yellow spread and yellow-striped wallpaper on the bottom half of the wall, topped by a white chair rail. An enormous corkboard hung behind the bed, filled to overflowing with pictures Dani had drawn.
With Dani’s bedroom on the same side of the house as Zack’s, Wynn was tempted to peek out the window again. Instead, she concentrated on the multitude of bags tossed onto Dani’s bed.
When Dani began pulling out the clothes, Wynn couldn’t help but laugh. Other than small detailing here and there, the clothes could have been for a boy. No frills for Dani, evidently. Wynn approved.
She and Dani spent a good fifteen minutes looking at everything, paying special attention to a tiny pair of rugged lace-up brown boots that would look adorable on Dani’s small feet.
Wynn commented on Dani’s obvious artistic talent, after which Dani determined to draw Wynn a picture. Since she didn’t want Wynn to watch, Wynn headed back downstairs. She found Zack in the kitchen, cleaning up the remains of their dinner. She picked up two glasses and carried them to the dishwasher. “I was going to help you with this.”
“No need.” He moved around her to the table and spent an inordinate amount of time crushing the pizza box.
It amused Wynn that he wouldn’t look at her. She leaned back against the sink, her hands propped on the counter at either side of her hips. “It’s the least I could do after imposing on you. Twice.”
Again, he moved around her to the garage door. He put the garbage in a can, secured the lid, and came back in. “You were invited.”
“Grudgingly.”
Zack paused, rubbed the back of his neck, flexed as if trying to rid himself of tension. When he looked at her, his eyes were a very dark blue. “I explained that, Wynn.”
“Indeed you did.” She crossed her ankles and watched his gaze flicker toward her legs and back again. How odd for him to be attracted to her while she was such a wreck. Odd, but exciting. “About the hammock…”
“What about it?”
“If you don’t want it in the trees, I can return it. We’re neighbors and the last thing I want to do is cause any hard feelings. I realize the trees are almost smack-dab on the borderline.”
He shook his head. “It’s not a problem.”
“That’s not the impression I got when I mentioned it.”
Head dropped forward, hands on his hips, he stopped. He stared at his feet for a long moment, then lifted his gaze to her face. “Look—”
The ringing of the phone made him pause. He took two almost angry strides to the phone on the wall and picked it up. “Hello?”
Wynn tried to look like she wasn’t listening, but it was apparent he was speaking with a friend. The infamous husband to a famous novelist? The lady-killer Josh?
A lady-friend of his own?
She didn’t like that idea at all, and went about wiping off the table, closing up the dishwasher. Zack watched her as he spoke casually, saying, “Sure, I could use the company. That’ll work. All right, fifteen minutes.” He hung up.
Dani bounded into the room, a colorful picture held in one hand. “Who was it?”
Zack scooped her up and held her to his chest. “Mick and Josh are coming over. If you want to get your bath a little early, you’ll have time to visit before bed.”
Mick and Josh must be very special to Dani, Wynn assumed, given the way her sweet face lit up.
She leaned around Zack to see the picture. “Is that for me?”
Suddenly looking shy, Dani said, “Yeah,” and held it out. Zack looked at it first and chuckled. Then Wynn had it and she held it out, studying it.
Dani had drawn the two trees in the backyard, Wynn and her hammock. Wynn grinned when she saw that she and the trees were the same lofty height, and her hair was accurately portrayed as a tornado. “It’s beautiful, Dani.” She held the picture to her chest, curiously touched, and smiled. “I love it.”
Dani laid her head on Zack’s chest. “Really?”
With a strange lump in her throat, she nodded. “Really.” Wynn wished she could hold the little girl, too, that she could be the recipient of that adoring hug. She’d never thought much about kids before, but now she did, and an insidious yearning filled her. “May I keep it?” she asked, feeling overly emotional. “I’d like to put it on my refrigerator so everyone who visits me can see it, too.”
This pleased Dani a lot. “Okay.” And with a distinct lack of subtlety, the little girl added, “I could even visit you and see it sometime.”
One look at Zack told Wynn that he didn’t consider it a good idea. Tough, she thought. There was no way she’d hurt Dani’s feelings just because Zack had some strange hang-up about getting friendly with her.
Feeling defiant, she said, “I’d like that a lot.”
And on impulse, she leaned over and kissed Dani’s cheek. Zack reared back, well out of reach, but Wynn still felt the sizzle of being so close to him.
She told Dani goodbye, winked at Zack, and let herself out through the kitchen door.
The sun had almost completely set, leaving long shadows over the lawns. If she hoped to get her hammock up in time to enjoy it tonight, she’d have to get a move on. She went in her house first to retie her hair. It was forever in her face, making her nuts. She found her small box of tools and headed back out.
Fifteen minutes later, when she’d almost finished, she heard the car pull into Zack’s driveway. Curiosity got the better of her, and she peered toward the house. A floodlight mounted over Zack’s garage door lit the area. Wynn saw two men get out, both of them tall and handsome. One had dark coloring, like a fallen angel, and the other was a golden Adonis. Mick and Josh, she decided, and it was easy to figure out which was which.
Sheesh. Living next door to Zack-the-hunk would be hard enough without him having other
impressive hunks over to distract her. She should have been immune to gorgeous men, considering she helped out at Conan’s gym and saw well-built muscular guys every day, often in nothing more than skimpy shorts and athletic shoes. But these three…what a visual variety!
The golden one looked up just as she started to turn away, and he kept looking. Busted! He knew she’d been eyeing him and no doubt knew why. His type—tall, sexy, well-built and handsome to boot—expected female adoration.
His companion turned, too, then propped his hands on his hips and did his own share of staring. Good Lord, her first day in her own house and she kept making a spectacle of herself.
Seeing no hope for it, Wynn summoned up a friendly and hopefully casual wave, which both men returned. The dark one looked merely polite and curious, but the other watched her with interest.
A second later Zack’s door opened and both men got yanked inside.
4
“GET AWAY FROM the damn window,” Zack growled.
Josh, still holding aside the café drape on the small window over the kitchen sink, peered over his shoulder at Zack. “Who is she?”
“Nobody. Just a neighbor.”
“She’s Wynn.” Dani, perched in royal splendor on Mick’s thigh, showed none of her father’s reservation. “She’s our new neighbor.”
Josh lifted a brow. “Is that right?”
“She had breakfast with us.” Dani smiled after that statement.
Mick shared a look with Josh. “Breakfast, huh?”
Zack threw ice into three glasses. “Quit jumping to conclusions. She woke me up this morning, that’s all.”
Josh dropped the curtain and turned. “Long, tall and sexy got you out of bed, and you say that’s all?”
Mick choked on a laugh.
Zack, after casting a quick glance at his daughter, scowled. Luckily Dani was busy singing and drawing Mick a picture, which Mick pretended to attend to when actually Zack knew he was soaking up every word. “It’s not like that!” He caught himself, shocked at his own vehemence, and explained more calmly, “She and her brother were making a racket moving in. When she realized she’d awakened us, she brought over coffee and some muffins.”
“Nice neighbor,” Josh muttered, and turned back to the window.
“She had pizza with us, too, and I drawed her a picture.”
“Drew her a picture,” Zack automatically corrected, and realized his daughter had been all ears after all. When she looked up at him, he thought to add, “A beautiful picture, honey.”
She held up her newest endeavor. “This one is, too.”
Mick leaned back to see it, pretending to dump Dani, which made her squeal. “It’s incredibly beautiful,” he confirmed. He hugged her close and kissed her cheek.
Zack shook his head. His daughter had more than her fair share of male role models. Now she needed a female role model—preferably one who wasn’t loud and pushy and too damn big.
Josh said, “Damn, does she never stop working?”
“Not that I’ve noticed.” Unable to keep himself from it, Zack went to the window and peeked out. “What’s she doing?”
“Hanging a clothesline. Hell, the moon is out. She’s working from the porch light.”
Dani said quite seriously, “You cuss too much. Hell and damn are bad words.”
Wincing, Josh muttered, “Sorry.”
Zack had long ago explained to Dani that while grown men might say certain words now and then, she was still a little girl and was strictly forbidden to do the same. He forgot his daughter’s bossiness as he watched Wynn go about her business. “What in the world is she hanging up?”
Josh narrowed his eyes. “Looks like her laundry. Like—” he smiled “—her underwear.”
Mick came out of his chair in a rush and crowded into the window. Being that he still held Dani, it was a tight fit. He snorted. “You’re both lechers. You should give the woman some privacy.”
None of them moved.
Dani said, “We saw her butt today.”
Both Josh and Mick turned to stare at him. Zack frowned, ready to explain, then he saw Wynn toss a nightgown over the line and clip it into place with a clothespin. It wasn’t a sexy nightgown, but rather what appeared to be yards and yards of material. Course, for a woman her size, it’d take a lot of cloth to cover her.
For some stupid reason that thought made him smile.
Moonlight played over her flyaway hair and the slant of the porch light made exaggerated shadows on her body. Why was she hanging her laundry at night? For that matter, why hadn’t she worn down yet? She’d been working all day, non-stop, and it was too damn distracting. The woman must have inexhaustible energy, and that thought did more than make him smile. It made him wonder how she might put all that energy to use.
Through the open window, they all heard her begin to whistle.
“This is pathetic,” Mick groused. “You’ve got me here playing peeping Tom when I’d really rather be playing cards.”
Josh explained, “That’s because you’re blissfully married and therefore immune to fantasies.”
Zack glared at him. “Don’t tell me you’re interested in her?”
And before Josh could answer, Dani braced herself between Mick and Josh, leaned forward toward the screen, and yelled through the window, “Hello Wynn! We’s peeping Toms!”
They all three ducked so fast, their heads smacked together.
Mick, on the floor with his back against the sink cabinet, flipped Dani upside down while laughing and said, “I ought to hang you by your toes for that!” He tickled her belly and they both laughed.
Josh looked at Zack and said, “Do you think she heard?”
“That one? She hears everything.” Then to his daughter, “Sweetheart, you don’t tell people when you’re looking at them.”
“Why not?”
Josh crept up the edge of the sink and peeked out. With a resigned expression he completely straightened and called out, “It’s a little late to be doing laundry.”
Realizing Wynn must have been looking toward the window, Zack stood, too. He heard her soft laugh, then, “My new washer and dryer won’t arrive for a few more days. I needed clean stuff for tomorrow.”
To Zack’s disgruntlement, Josh smiled, walked to the kitchen door, and continued right on outside and around to Wynn’s house. He should put up a damn privacy fence.
Dani pulled away from Mick and followed. Mick shrugged at Zack, hauled himself to his feet, and followed suit.
Groaning, forced into the situation he’d wanted most to avoid, Zack went along.
When Wynn saw them all approaching, she dropped an item of clothing back into her basket and walked to meet them halfway. Though the night had grown considerably cooler, she was still in the halter and shorts and Zack wanted to strip off his shirt and cover her with it. But it was too late. Josh had already seen her, and was already in charm mode.
Wynn held out her hand when he reached her. “Hello. Wynn Lane.”
Josh took her hand, but not in a handshake. He held her fingers carefully, as if she were fragile. “Josh Marshall,” he murmured, and his tone alone gave away his thoughts on seduction. “Nice to meet you.”
Zack wanted to kick him.
Wynn tried to tug her hand free, but Josh wasn’t being reasonable about it. She snuck a glance at Zack and then back to Josh. “You’re the fireman, right?”
He looked briefly surprised, and Zack explained, “Dani told her all about both of you.”
To Mick she said, “My brother is a big fan of your wife’s work.”
Mick reached out, took Josh’s wrist and pried their hands apart, then indulged his own handshake. At least his was entirely casual and quick. “Mick Dawson. Nice to meet you, Wynn.”
She looked at Zack. “I hope I wasn’t disturbing you again?”
“We were peekin’ at you,” Dani informed her.
Wynn just laughed and petted her hand over Dani’s hair in a show of affection tha
t Zack felt clean down to his gut. “Well,” she said with a wide smile, “I imagine anyone doing laundry by moonlight is sure to draw attention.” And to Zack, “The thing is, I’m still too keyed up from moving in to relax, and I actually brought laundry with me from my apartment, so I figured I might as well get it done. Stuff dried on the line always smells so good, don’t you think?”
Zack thought she smelled good. Working all day had intensified her natural scent, making it more potent, more intoxicating.
He snorted at his own ridiculous fancy and told her, “There’s a Laundromat a couple of miles away, next door to the grocery.”
“You could use our washer and dryer,” Dani offered.
Feeling his smile freeze, Zack said, “Or you could use our washer and dryer.”
Wynn was already shaking her head. “No, I don’t mind using the line.”
Josh stepped in front of Zack. “I’m not that far away. Feel free to use mine until yours arrive.”
Zack considered strangling him. It wasn’t that he cared personally, because he didn’t, but it’d be almost as awkward for Josh to get involved with her as it would be for Zack. Josh wasn’t ready to settle down, and in fact, since Mick’s wedding, he’d been overindulging in a big way. Zack did not want him overindulging with his neighbor.
Mick said, “If you’re about done, we were just getting some drinks. You could join us.”
She took a step back. “Oh no, but thanks anyway.”
“Join us, join us!” Dani sang, bouncing up and down in renewed energy.
“You,” Zack told his daughter, “are about to go to bed.”
Before Dani could summon up a temper about that, Wynn said, “Actually, so am I.”
All three men stared at her.
She cleared her throat. “That is, I need to get showered and…” She looked from one fascinated male gaze to the other and coughed. “I’m a mess. I’ve been working all day.”
In a feminine gesture that took him by surprise, considering he hadn’t seen much in the way of femininity from her, Wynn attempted to smooth her hair.
Josh tipped his head. “You look fine.”
His voice was low and appreciative and again Zack wanted to strangle him.
