by RC Boldt
“How did I not know this?” he asked in wonder.
She shrugged. “Well, it’s not like I broadcast it. None of the guys I’ve ever known thought it was cool, so …” The way he was watching her began to make her nervous. Just when she was about to try and brush the whole thing off, he spoke.
“My grandfather and I started working on restoring this the year my father died.”
Oh. Wow. That wasn’t at all what she’d been expecting him to say. Laney could only watch and listen as he laid a hand on the hood of the car, looking down at it, yet seeming lost in his memory.
“No one expected my father to pass away early like he had. Especially not my mother. She had no idea what to do with a little boy who wanted to play with trucks and climb trees and take surf lessons. She wanted a little girl she could shape and mold into a debutante. That definitely wasn’t me.” He gave a deprecating laugh.
“So, there I was, trying to be brave for my mother who was crying all the time and feeling lost without the one person who always understood me. My grandfather came to the rescue, thank God, and that was the first time he introduced me to her.” Zach gave the car a pat on the hood.
“He said we had a long, tough journey to make this car run again, make it look like the others and that, if we were careful and gave it enough love and tender care, it would be even better than before.
“I didn’t realize it at the time, but he wasn’t just talking about the car. He was talking about me and how I was going to eventually be able to move on after losing my father.” Zach smiled at the memory.
“Your grandfather sounds like an amazing man, Zach,” she remarked softly.
Turning to face her, he nodded. “That he was.” At her questioning glance, he answered, “He passed away last year.”
“I’m sorry.”
He nodded and they were both silent for a moment. Then, he flashed her a smile and winked. “Want to see under the hood?”
Laney smiled wide. “Yes, please.”
For the next few minutes, Zach showed her all the different areas that he and his grandfather had worked on. Watching his face light up, retelling how they’d had to hammer out dents and work on the exhaust system, she felt like she was getting a glimpse of another Zach.
The more Laney learned of him, the more surprise she felt that this was the same man she had worked with—the same man she had detested—for just under a decade.
It was moments like that which made it hard for her to remember why.
* * *
Laney had a thing for classic cars. How did he not know this? And, holy shit, could it get any better?
As he drove them down Fletcher Avenue on their way to the historic downtown Fernandina Beach area, he noticed her caressing the leather seats.
“You keep stroking those seats like that, I’m bound to get jealous.”
Her head jerked up and he saw a blush creep across her cheeks. “Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. I was merely saying it makes me a little jealous, that’s all.” He winked.
“Oh, really?” She arched a brow. “So, I should be sure to do this, then?” Her hand grazed over him and he couldn’t hold back a groan at her touch.
“Laney.”
“Zach,” she mimicked. “What? You don’t like this?” Her eyes were wide with innocence.
Sweet Jesus. Her hand was caressing him through his jeans and damn if his hips didn’t give a little instinctive thrust.
“I like it a little too much. And I’m pretty sure you can tell.” His words were spoken through gritted teeth.
“I like it, too. Like maybe we should stop for a minute,” Laney suggested, her gaze filled with yearning. Inhaling a calming breath before letting it out slowly, Zach grasped her hand in his and brought it to his lips. Placing a kiss on her palm, he laid their hands down in between them.
“Laney, as tempted as I am, I have to say no. Everyone will wonder where we are.” He pulled into a parking space nearby the bar, put it in park, and shut off the engine. Turning to her, he reached out to cup her cheek in his hand.
He watched as she studied him for a moment before turning her head slightly to press a kiss into the palm of his hand at her cheek. His eyes fell closed at that soft kiss and he swore he could feel it all the way to his heart.
“Rain check, it is, then,” came her quiet response.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“SOOOO,” RAINE DREW OUT THE word, leaning toward Laney, “you walked in with Zach tonight, huh?”
Laney shrugged it off like it wasn’t a big deal but, clearly, she needed to work on wiping the smile off her face. Raine and Tate both pointed their index fingers at her face.
“There it is!” Raine exclaimed. “I know that look.” She turned toward her husband who was currently chatting with the guys over at the bar and the two traded a secret smile. It was one that used to make Laney gag or even throw up a little in her mouth. But, now—now—it made her feel almost … envious?
No. That couldn’t be right.
Surveying her friend more closely, she noticed Raine’s long, black waves were a bit more tousled than normal. Not to mention, as she looked over at Mac, his usually neat appearance was slightly mussed and the back, right side of his polo wasn’t quite tucked in entirely.
Now, that kind of stuff—hot sex—she could totally get on board with. But, the whole monogamous relationship thing? Even if she managed to get over the feeling like she would throw up in her mouth at the idea of being in a relationship, it didn’t seem likely it would be with a guy whom she had been at odds with up until recently.
“That’s the look of someone who is enamored,” Raine sang out.
Laney stared at her friend in annoyance. “Seriously? I think I liked you better when your hymen had regenerated and you weren’t on this whole lovey dovey bandwagon. Just because you got lucky on the way here—probably on Betsy, no less, which should be considered a threesome—doesn’t mean it’s going to happen for everyone else,” she said pointedly, mentioning Mac’s Triumph motorcycle he lovingly referred to as Betsy.
Raine pursed her lips and held up a hand, ticking off points. “First of all, Laney, my hymen never regenerated. Second, I’m not on any bandwagon; I just want to see my friends happy.” Then, she finished with a smug smile, “And third, it’s not my fault that Mac insisted we ride Betsy here and I got lucky.”
Tate leaned toward Raine to give her a fist bump. “Ooh, naughty girl!”
“Who’s a naughty girl and where can I find her?” Their heads turned to see Foster slide onto one of the chairs at their table, a wicked grin on his face. “Wait a minute,” he sobered, making a face like he was going to be ill, “if it’s my sister, I don’t want to know.”
Laney pointed at him. “You don’t have any room to talk, Mr. ‘I’ve got different women leaving my house every other morning’.”
“I love women.” Her brother shrugged nonchalantly.
“I’ll drink to that,” Lawson said as he and the others joined them. “Speaking of loving women, Zach, there’s a woman over there with her friends who can’t take her eyes off you.” Lawson tipped his beer in the direction of the far side of the bar.
Zach, sitting across the table from her, regarded his friend carefully and Laney watched as the two men engaged in some unspoken communication within their exchanged glance. “Not really interested,” he told him casually.
She felt herself give an internal sigh of relief. She didn’t want to examine why hearing him say he wasn’t interested in the other woman made her relax. Or why the thought of him hooking up with someone else made her stomach lurch sickly.
Mac leaned around to focus on Zach. “Actually, I think I saw one of your exes. Her name was something like Sarah? Stephanie?” His brow furrowed as he tried to recall the name.
Laney watched as Mac traded a quick glance with Lawson. Lawson’s eyes flitted to her for a millisecond before returning to Mac. Something really fishy was going on, no doubt abou
t it.
“I don’t think I’ve ever dated anyone named Sarah or Stephanie,” Zach answered slowly.
As soon as he had gotten out the last word, an attractive brunette wearing a strapless, blue dress walked up to their table to stand next to Zach.
“Hey, Zach.” She smiled. Inspecting the woman carefully, she noted that she was very pretty with amazingly long legs showcased in a set of cute, silver heels.
“Uh, hi?” Zach’s response came out in more of a question, his uncertainty evident.
The brunette let out a little laugh. “You don’t remember me?” She playfully pouted and Laney was disappointed to see that the woman even managed to pout in a pretty manner. Ugh. Was there no fairness left in the world?
Zach’s face showed a mixture of regret and caution. “I’m sorry, but no.”
Lawson, who had been sitting on one side of Zach, grabbed a chair for her and placed it on Zach’s other side. She thanked him sweetly and sat, leaning a bit too close to Zach for Laney’s liking.
Stop, she reprimanded herself. So what if someone sits close to him. It’s not like we’re dating.
“What are you singing tonight, Laney?” Tate asked, bringing her out of her thoughts. Before she could answer her friend, she felt a pair of large hands land on her shoulders.
“Please tell me you’ll be singing a love song and dedicating it to me, darlin’,” a deep, thick southern drawl called out to her from behind.
Laney felt her lips curl into a smile. Kane. The tall, dark blond Texan had come to work for her brother’s security consulting firm after he had finished his last mission as a Green Beret in the Army. He and Miller had crossed paths on one of their deployments and it was Miller who directed him to Foster once her brother had started up his firm. Kane was a notorious flirt, the smoothest of sweet talkers. And, right now, Kane provided the perfect opportunity to get her mind off the brunette sitting beside Zach.
Tilting her head back to peer into Kane’s aquamarine eyes, she grinned. “Only if you sing one for me, too, gorgeous.”
“Aw, now you’ve got me blushin’.” Kane grinned. Tate got up from the chair beside her, offering it to Kane.
“Why, thank you, sweetness.” He smiled at Tate, who had moved onto another chair beside Raine and Mac. Kane took the chair beside Laney, laid one arm across the back of hers, leaning over to see the karaoke song book in front of her.
“So what are we singing, tonight? Maybe some Tim McGraw and Faith Hill?” he suggested. “Or Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow?”
She snapped her fingers. “Yes! Let’s sing “Picture”!” Laney flipped through the book in search of the information to write down on the sheet to give the karaoke DJ, Dean.
As Laney began to write the song number down on her paper, she felt the weight of someone’s gaze. Raising her eyes, they met Zach’s piercing gaze which flitted over to Kane for a moment before coming back to rest on her. Then, he abruptly turned back to face the brunette who was chatting away, animatedly.
“Honey, I reckon the best way to get him to notice you is to have the attention of a super handsome, extremely hard-bodied guy like myself,” Kane whispered in her ear.
With a laugh, she turned to him. “You think so?”
Nodding, Kane smiled wide. Laney leaned closer to him. “So, whose attention do you think I might want?”
Holding her gaze a moment, Kane’s lips pressed together as if he were holding back a grin. His head cocked to the side. “If I were to take a gander, I’d say it was the young buck over there who couldn’t care less about whatever that lovely brunette is yammering on about.” He leaned closer. “Because he’s trying to figure out what in the Sam hill I’ve got up my sleeve.” Kane’s eyebrows wiggled once before he grinned at her.
Laney playfully shoved his shoulder, which was like hitting a rock wall. Shaking out her hand as if in pain, she scolded him playfully, “Geez, dude. You should lay off the ’roids. I think you bruised me with your muscles.”
He scoffed at her. “Honey, these muscles are one hundred percent real. Nothing but good food and hard work made these bad boys.” Picking up the hand she’d shoved him with, he placed a kiss on top of it. “However, I’m sorry you hurt yourself touching this,” he gestured toward his upper body which was, undeniably ripped, visible even beneath his graphic tee, “hot, hard body,” he finished with a wicked grin.
Rolling her eyes at him, she stood. “Well, Mr. Hard Body, I’m going to turn in this request.” She walked up to place their song request in with the DJ, Dean.
Feeling the weight of Zach’s stare every step of the way.
* * *
Zach felt as if steam were coming out his ears. That guy needed to put some space between himself and Laney. Who the hell was he, anyway? Just as he was about to ask Mac, a soft hand landed on his arm, jerking him out from his thoughts. He turned to see the pretty brunette, Stacey, watching him with a pitying smile.
“You’ve got it pretty bad, huh?”
Zach opened his mouth to give an immediate denial but, after a second thought, closed it abruptly. With a deprecating smile, he shrugged. “That obvious, huh?”
She gave a little laugh and raised up her index finger and thumb barely a centimeter apart. “Just a little.”
“I’m sorry,” he told her apologetically.
“Don’t be.” She leaned in close to whisper conspiratorially, “In the interest of full disclosure, I actually got paid ten bucks to come over and chat up a handsome guy, so I consider my night a success, all the same.” She winked at him playfully.
He felt his jaw drop. “Are you kidding me?” He was going to kill the guys.
Stacey smiled at him gently. “They said they were going to see if it worked.” At his questioning look, she added, “And, I have to say from the looks of it, it did.” Stacey discreetly tipped her head toward the other end of the table.
Following the direction of her gesture, Zach caught Laney watching the exchange between himself and Stacey before her eyes darted away quickly. Ah, so that’s what the guys are up to. Interesting.
“Well, she’s a bit of a tough nut to crack.”
She leaned in toward him, laying a hand on his arm. “Can I just say that talking to you tonight wasn’t exactly a hardship? And if it doesn’t work out between the two of you, I wouldn’t be opposed to doing this again?”
Zach looked into Stacey’s deep, brown eyes with regret. Why couldn’t he have chosen someone sweet like her? Instead of someone who fought him tooth and nail, every step of the way?
Damn, if he knew the answer to that one.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
“I RECKON YOU ARE THE best Cher to my Sonny,” Kane told Laney after they had sung “I Got You Babe” and received quite the applause afterward.
“I do my best.” She gave an exaggerated curtsy.
“And now, we have Zach, one of our favorite performers singing tonight,” announced Dean.
Laney sat and watched as Zach took his place on stage, grasping the microphone. The first few notes of Keith Urban’s “Your Everything” played and Zach’s voice filled the room. The song’s relaxed tempo paired with his melodic voice was seductive and she watched as couples began slow dancing. Laney recalled the first time she had heard Zach sing on one of their karaoke nights, remembered being surprised at just how engaging his voice was.
“May I have this dance, gorgeous?”
She turned to see Kane holding out his hand. Smiling up at him, she placed her hand in his and let him lead her onto the dance floor. As they swayed to the sweet love song, Laney couldn’t help but feel as though Zach were singing to her, as if he were trying to tell her he wanted to be her everything.
“You tend to put quite the damper on a man’s ego with all your lustin’ over another man, you know,” Kane teased.
Laney flashed him an apologetic look.
“What’s a man got to do to get a good girl ’round these parts?” he asked with faux sadness.
“Trust
me on this one, Kane. You’ll meet a girl who is head over heels for you. I’m sure of it.”
“Got yourself any lovely, single friends?”
“Mmm, aside from Tate, no. Sorry.”
“Yeah, I’m not poaching on another man’s woman, least of all my coworker’s woman, so Tate’s a no-go.”
Whoa. Wait a minute …
Laney’s brows arched with interest. “You know something about Miller and Tate?”
“Ah-ah. You’re tryin’ to use your Jedi mind tricks on me. Won’t work,” he said, grinning cheekily. “Plus, it’s just a hunch, really.” He paused. “How about if things don’t work out with surfer boy, there, you keep me in mind?”
She shook her head with a laugh. “Oh, Kane. We’d drive each other crazy and you know it.”
“You’re probably right, honey.” He gave a melodramatic sigh. “But a man can still dream, can’t he?”
“You’re shameless,” she admonished as the song ended and Dean, the DJ, played a slow song after announcing he was taking quick break. Oh, she loved this one; Mariah Carey’s “We Belong Together”.
“May I?”
She and Kane turned to see Zach standing beside them. With a quick nod to Kane, he returned his gaze to Laney, a flare of heat in his eyes.
Just as she opened her mouth to respond, Kane spoke. “She’s all yours, man. Take good care of this beauty.”
With a slap on Zach’s back, he returned to the table. Zach held his hand out for her and when she placed hers into it, she swore she felt something. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but it felt vastly different from when Kane had held her hand in his while they’d danced. Laney could feel the calluses on Zach’s fingertips, the gentle way his fingers grasped hers, how his thumb caressed the top of her hand, and it just felt right.
Laney mentally shook off that thought because that had sounded far too freaking cheesy. Maybe she’d had too much to drink tonight?
Except she’d only had one drink. There went that excuse. Damn it.
“That one of Foster’s guys?” His question drew her from her thoughts.
