by Thea Devine
“Do you love advertising?”
She settled back down beside him and gave the question serious thought. “Yes,” she said finally. “Most of the time. I don’t even mind the pressure so much. I mean, there really wouldn’t be pressure if I didn’t—” She shook her head. “I’m not going to ruin my last two days by worrying about work.”
Zach smiled. “Good girl.” He toyed with her nipple, helping her to strengthen her resolve. Work was creeping further and further away from her mind. “I have a feeling your creativity will enjoy a resurgence after this trip.”
“My, my but you think quite highly of yourself.”
He chuckled. “That I do, but I can’t take all the credit.”
Laughing, she took a nip at his nipple, keeping the brown nub between her teeth even when he yelped.
“You wanna play dirty?” he asked, trailing his hand from her breast to the elastic of her panties.
She released him, soothing the nipple with a quick flick of her tongue. “We’re supposed to be going to sleep.”
“We will.” He slid his hand between her thighs and touched her right where she wanted it most. “In a minute.”
FOUR HOURS behind schedule, they reached their stashed kayak. Zach had planned on them getting in six hours of paddling before they set up camp for the night. That wasn’t going to be easy to do before dark. Totally his fault. They’d gotten too little sleep for the past two nights and then hiked at half-speed because they were tired.
“Have you ever gotten back here and the kayak was gone?” Jordan asked, her head tipped back so she could see him under the rim of her baseball cap.
“Now, you see, only someone from the city would think of something like that.”
“Well?” Her skin had turned a golden brown in the past five days, and as pretty as she was before, she was really something now.
“Once.”
“No joke?” She hadn’t stood back and let him move the kayak, but instead, hoisted her end into the water.
“We don’t run into too many people around here. Some local kids we know were playing a prank. They left the kayak on the bank about a quarter of a mile down-river.”
She laughed. “Bummer, since you didn’t know that.”
“That’s when the satellite phone comes in handy. It didn’t actually happen to me but to one of the college kids who works as a summer guide. I heard he got even.”
Jordan looked at him strangely for a moment, and then smiled and slid her pack off her back.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Don’t give me that.” He stowed both their packs under the tarp.
She shrugged. “This is kind of a Peter Pan job, isn’t it?”
“You calling me a bum?”
“I didn’t say that was bad.” She giggled when he caught her wrist and reeled her toward him for a quick kiss. “If you don’t wanna grow up—”
“Hey, I grew up. But then I found out it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.”
“I know what you mean.” She sighed, her eyes drifting closed, and it made his heart swell to see her look so contented. “College and grad school were tough but, in retrospect, a lot less complicated.”
“Amen.”
“I think you might have the right idea, Zach Wilde.”
He slid his hands down her back, cupped her bottom and lowered his head to kiss her. Maybe this was the time to tell her about his other life. “We could always use another guide.”
She stiffened and drew back before their lips met. “Right.” She blinked. “You were kidding.”
“No.”
Her eyelashes fluttered, and she looked away, her expression that of a woman who, after the first date, was trying to decide how to let the guy down easy. “I have a life in L.A.”
“From everything you’ve told me, you have a job in L.A. Not the same thing.”
She took both his hands in hers, a kind of sad desperation in her eyes. “I have a plane to catch in thirty-six hours. Let’s make the most of the time we have left.”
“You’re right.” He forced a smile. No use telling her the full truth about himself. Tomorrow would be goodbye.
10
AS SOON AS they’d paddled around the bend, Jordan saw the dock where The Great Beyond kept their kayaks. Through the trees she caught a glimpse of the log cabin that served as the office. A lump lodged in her throat. How had the week gone by so quickly?
She had the sudden crazy urge to keep paddling. Go right past base camp. See what was on the other side. She had another day left of vacation that she’d planned on splitting between her couch and the pool in front of her condo. Her laptop and notebooks were sitting on the coffee table waiting for her. Her plane left in three hours, but surely she could book another flight.
“What do—?”
“We have—”
They both spoke at the same time. Ironic, since the past half hour had been spent in silence, listening only to the caw of overhead birds and the splash of the paddles dipping into the water.
“Go ahead,” she said, it occurring to her that he hadn’t said a word about her staying longer. Maybe he had another client to meet this afternoon. Maybe he had the good sense to get that it was over. Nice while it had lasted, but no use prolonging the inevitable. She was definitely not going to be their new guide, and him, well, his life was obviously here. Still, there were those long, cold winters…He had to spend them somewhere.
“Ladies first.”
“I’ll give you a pass,” she said and realized how much she hoped he’d ask her to stay. In fact, it was more than hope. Her palms had gotten so clammy it was hard to grip the paddle. Were his feelings the same as hers? He was a good listener, and the possessive way he touched her…
“I was just going to say that after you get changed I’ll take you to the airport. Maybe we’ll have time for a bite to eat.”
“Oh.”
With his paddle, he splashed her arm. “In a real restaurant.”
The cold water startled her and she jumped. “You wanna start a water fight?”
“Let’s be adult about this.”
“You started it.”
Zach’s throaty chuckle filled her with a bittersweet longing. This really was it. The end of the road for them. And it wasn’t going to be easy. Two days ago she hadn’t known how she’d feel about this moment. She did now. It hurt. It hurt like hell.
She couldn’t remember when it had been so easy to talk to a man. Not just a man, but anyone. Her mother was totally clueless when it came to anything outside of the newest home-decorating trends, and Sonya, well, for being a successful contract attorney, if it wasn’t about her job, she couldn’t think about anything much past finding a husband.
Jordan waited until they got to the dock and he’d jumped out of the kayak so that she could see his face. “Zach? Do you ever get to L.A?”
He secured the line from the kayak to a post. “Sometimes,” he said slowly. “Mostly in the winter.” He extended a hand to help her out.
Ah. Winter. It was a start…
The early-afternoon sun shone directly in her eyes as she stepped from the kayak. She squinted behind her sunglasses but couldn’t clearly see his face. But that his hand lingered around hers, even when he could have safely released her, gave her hope. The decision suddenly seemed easy. She couldn’t just get on a plane and not tell him how she felt. Well, at least found out how he felt about her. They could meet up for long weekends. See what happened from there. Her heart started to pound.
“Zach, I have something I want to ask you, but you don’t have to answer right now,” she said, and when wariness crept across his face, she hurried on before she lost her nerve. “I have this industry awards dinner I have to go to next month. It’s not a big deal, well, it is, sort of. One of those annual things, kind of foo-foo, you know, eight-course dinner, champagne, black-tie—”
“Look, Jordan, I—”
“No, wait, please. I wouldn
’t expect you to pay for your plane fare or fork out for the tuxedo. I’ll take care of all of that since I’m the one asking. And you could stay with me for the weekend.” She sucked in a breath. “Only if you want to, of course.”
The pained look on his face made her heart sink. “You don’t have to buy my plane ticket or my clothes.”
“Oh, I didn’t mean to insult you. Please don’t take what I said the wrong way.”
“Jordan, we really need—”
“Zach!” The voice came from the direction of the office.
They turned to see a short, muscular, college-age man trotting toward them. Following behind him a few yards was one of the athletic-looking blond women Jordan had seen the first day.
“You have a call. In the office,” the younger man said, and when Zach started to wave him off impatiently, the man added, “It’s from San Francisco, and they said it’s important.”
Zach’s entire expression changed from annoyance at the interruption to vigilance. He passed a hand over his face and exhaled sharply. “I have to take this call,” he said, holding her gaze but already backing away from her. “Go ahead and grab your shower and your things out of the locker. We’ll still get something to eat and then head to the airport. We’ll talk then,” he added, but low enough only for her to hear.
“No problem. Go.”
He left their packs and the kayak where it was, but sent a look at the other two that had them taking over where he’d left off.
“I’m Brady,” the guide said, “and this is Stacy. She’ll take your pack to the locker room.”
“I can get it,” Jordan said, feeling more buff than she had six days ago. Besides, she needed to work out some frustration. What rotten timing. The uneasy look on Zach’s face when she’d offered to pay his plane fare still smarted.
“I’m going that way,” the blonde said, lifting the pack with one hand and smiling, showing brilliantly white teeth against her tan face. She glanced at Brady. “Am I doing the airport run, or are you?”
“Zach’s taking me,” Jordan blurted.
The two exchanged glances, and Brady said, “Sometimes these calls take a while, and you don’t want to be late.”
Leaving without seeing him was non-negotiable, the mere thought unfathomable. Heck, she hadn’t even planned on going to the awards banquet this year. What she had to do was quit tap dancing and spit out that she wanted to see him again. “I’ll wait.”
“Seriously, those calls from The American Sportsman can take an hour or more.”
“Stacy.” Brady gave her a warning look.
“Oops.” Stacy grinned. “Come on.” She started toward the locker room. “If he’s still on the phone after you’ve showered and changed, we’ll figure out who’s taking you.”
Jordan kept pace with the much taller woman, curious as all get out. The American Sportsman was a huge sporting-goods chain. There had to be over two hundred stores. “What’s going on with The American Sportsman?”
Stacy sighed. “He really doesn’t like us talking about it.”
“Zach?” Was he making a deal with them? Had to be. Why hadn’t he mentioned it? “I’m not going to say anything.”
“Well, I’m such a big mouth. Although I don’t know what the huge deal is.” Stacy glanced over her shoulder, but they were out of Brady’s earshot. “Zach owns The American Sportsman.”
Jordan stopped. “That can’t be.”
Stacy shrugged. “He does.”
“But what is he doing here?” Pieces of their conversations over the past week flashed in her head. He had a business degree. He’d talked about growing up and it not being all it was cracked up to be…None of it made sense. The American Sportsman was a large company. Zach couldn’t run a company like that from here. Why…how could he…
“He’s only here about two and a half months of the year. Says he has to get away from it all.” Stacy shrugged. “Don’t say anything, okay? I mean, he wouldn’t fire me or anything. He’s really a great guy, but—hey, are you okay?”
No, she wasn’t okay. She’d told him so much about herself. About her insecurities, about her father…about everything. He’d obviously shared very little. “Are you sure about this?”
“Yeah, I mean everyone who works here knows, but he acts like the rest of us so it’s no big deal.” Stacy slowed down, her worried gaze going from Jordan to the direction of the office and back to Jordan. “I’m so screwed, aren’t I?”
“Why?” Jordan asked sweetly, her temper simmering. Hurt gripped her heart like a vice. Humiliation cut deep. She’d offered to buy him a plane ticket. He probably owned his own plane. “You didn’t do anything wrong. You didn’t spend six days lying through your teeth.”
Stacy’s concerned gaze went back toward the office. “Zach? He’s not like that. He’s really a—”
“I know.” Jordan sneered. “A great guy.”
She picked up the pace, suddenly anxious to get her things and get on that plane. There had to be a taxi, or someone else going to the airport in the next few minutes. She didn’t even care if she showered. Her thoughts raced, trying to recall if The American Sportsman had ever been a client. She was pretty sure her agency had done work for them. Not her personally, but still…
What a fool she’d been. Baring her soul. Laying her emotions out like a bear rug. Shooting her mouth off the way she had, believing Zach hadn’t understood what she was saying. The worst of it was the deceit. He could’ve told her about himself at any time. What else had he held back?
Mortified, she broke into a run. God, she wanted to scream. Mostly, she just wanted out of here. Find a nice dark corner to curl up in and have a good cry. And never see Zach Wilde again.
ZACH SWIVELED AROUND in his leather chair, tugged his red silk tie loose and stared out his office window at the San Francisco skyline. He hated days when he had to wear a suit. That didn’t happen often but still too much for his taste. Hard to believe that for nine years he’d worn one nearly every day. And then at thirty-six, Jake, his best friend and business partner had done the unthinkable. He’d suffered a heart attack and died, leaving his high-school sweetheart and their two kids behind. Stuff like that just wasn’t supposed to happen.
Zach sighed and checked his watch. His dinner meeting wasn’t for another two hours which meant a late night again. That was the trouble with being away from the office for two months. As soon as he got back he was bombarded with appointments and dinners and…
Whose fault was that? He’d had some nerve lecturing Jordan. His gaze went to the darkening sky. The moon was nearly full. Just like that night they’d made love under the stars. Was she looking out her window in L.A. and thinking the same thing?
Right. The woman despised him. He didn’t blame her. He looked at his day planner. It had been a month since he’d seen her. She hadn’t even waited for him to get off the phone so he could explain. Not that he condemned her.
But the truth was he’d never kept his life a secret. When he was in Idaho he simply wanted to be one of the worker bees. Go back to his roots. Still, he should’ve been the one to tell Jordan about how he spent the other ten months of his life. But he’d been selfish and hypocritical because he’d wanted her to be completely open with him. And now he couldn’t stop thinking about her.
Ironic that he’d blown it by taking the call regarding the new lighter-weight backpack they were test-marketing. If Zach had been truly practicing what he’d preached to Jordan about letting go and making her own choices, he’d have never taken the call. He would’ve let his perfectly capable R&D vice president handle the study.
When he’d first made the decision to pull back from the rigors of running the company, he’d been ruthless about protecting his time in Idaho. He was slipping.
The intercom on his phone buzzed and he quickly pressed the button to stop the annoying noise. It was his secretary.
“I thought you went home,” he said, glancing at his watch.
“I’m on my
way out. But I wanted to remind you about your breakfast meeting tomorrow. Nine-thirty at the St. Francis. That should take a couple of hours, and then Mr. Yamamoto in Tokyo has asked for a conference call at—”
His fingers went to the knot at his tie. Odd. It felt tight but he’d already loosened it. “Emily. Emily,” he repeated when his secretary kept going. “Tell Yamamoto it’ll have to be another day.” Zach’s gaze was on his day planner already turned to tomorrow’s appointments. He’d have to make breakfast because other people were attending and it would be rude not to show up. Everything else could wait. “I’m going to L.A. tomorrow afternoon.”
“Oh. That’s not on the calendar.”
“I know.”
Emily hesitated. “You’re taking the plane I presume.” The woman had been with him for ten years, and bless her, she’d never once questioned him. “I’ll make sure it’s ready by one.”
JORDAN SAT BACK in her chair and stared at the new Breezy campaign slogan on the wall across from her desk. Surrounding it were pictures of bald eagles soaring over tree-covered mountains, bighorn sheep scaling cliffs and, of course, a spectacular waterfall that had been photographed somewhere in Africa, all of which she’d integrated into the campaign. She’d played on the consumer’s new love affair with preserving the environment, and the company loved it, Patrick loved it, and for another two years she didn’t have to worry about moving her office to the basement.
Best of all, she was really proud of her work. She’d bet Zach would be pretty impressed, too. Damn it. She couldn’t think about him. Why would she, anyway? He obviously didn’t give a hoot about her. He hadn’t even called. Not that she’d expected him to. Or wanted him to. Not really.
Okay, maybe there was a small part of her that hoped he’d call and beg for her forgiveness. That he’d come up with some totally ridiculous but plausible explanation for having deceived her. Which in itself was ridiculous and made her so darn mad. Yet she still missed him.
She jerked open her desk’s top drawer where she kept a healthy supply of aspirin. The first thing she saw were the two candy bars. Sad and misshapen mementoes of that ridiculously perfect week she’d spent with a stranger. She should get it over with and eat the dumb things. Or better yet, toss them in her wastebasket. They’d been melted and reformed twice now. Leaving them tucked in the corner, she closed the drawer.
