Something flickered in his eyes but he only said, “Sure.”
As she started the coffee, she asked whether he was ready to begin work on his bathroom.
“I’ve put it off until I get a new truck. Tackling the porch, too, since that involves hauling lumber. I started stripping the living room floor instead, just for fun.”
“Is it fun?”
He grinned. “Nope. Stuff stinks, which means the whole house stinks. Sanding isn’t one of my favorite jobs, either. Using a big, upright sander is like riding a motorcycle over cobblestones. It wants to throw you off real bad.”
Tess laughed. “Do you own one?”
“Nah, they’re cheap to rent. I might strip a couple of rooms before I do rent the sander, though.” He stretched his legs out. “The empty bedrooms, for sure. Might as well make it worth it.”
They talked a little more about the logistics. He didn’t want to finish the hall and have the new finish damaged while he was hauling the fixtures into the bathroom, for example. It was like building a tower with blocks. They had to be in exactly the right order.
Tess felt sure his mind wasn’t a hundred percent on the conversation any more than hers was.
Finally she couldn’t stand it. She set a mug of coffee in front of him and said, “I get the feeling there’s something you don’t want to tell me.”
He grimaced. “Yeah, I’ve been debating. It’s not bad,” he said hastily, seeing her alarm. “Like I told you the first time we talked, in a way it’s better if you don’t know too much.” He shook her head at her expression. “The fact you’ve been threatened and the sheriff’s department is pretending it isn’t happening throws all the rules out the window, though, as far as I’m concerned.”
If he’d said otherwise, she would have gotten mad. As it was, she took her seat across the table from him and just waited, aware of apprehension.
“Apparently, Bran has been asking questions.”
“You didn’t know he was?”
Zach shook his head. “We’ve had enough conflict, this...kinda surprised me, to be honest.”
And pleased him, which made him uneasy, if Tess was any judge. Typical man, not sure how to react to the softer emotions.
“Anyway—” The way Bran had heard it, Zach told her, was that Hayes and Antonio had had a near-fight the evening before the scene she’d witnessed. One the deputy’s girlfriend had seen and kept silent about.
“Are you going to try to talk to her?” she asked.
He shook his head. “I can’t. I’m a witness, not an investigator in this case. I’ve already called Lieutenant MacLachlan and told him what I heard without admitting who told me.”
“Wouldn’t it have been better coming from Bran?”
“No, he’s gone out on a limb here. To step into someone else’s investigation without being invited...” He shook his head.
Tess made a face. “I guess that makes sense.”
Zach laughed. “I’ll tell Bran you approve.”
“You do that.”
He laughed again. “Feisty woman.”
“Am I?” She looked away from him. “Lately, I feel like all I do is cower and call you to rescue me.”
“You’re not a cop,” he said flatly. “I am. What are you going to do, buy a gun? Any idea how to use one? What if you shot someone who never had any intention of hurting you?”
“I didn’t say I wanted to buy a gun. I just don’t like feeling helpless.”
“I know you don’t.” His voice was suddenly, impossibly, gentle. He pushed his chair back from the table but didn’t rise. Instead he held out a hand to her. “Tess?” The gentleness remained but a new huskiness was there. “I say let’s throw out all the rules.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
HE COULDN’T BELIEVE those words had come out of his mouth. That he’d just suggested they break the rules together. And yet...nothing on earth would have made him take them back.
Zach waited, his hand outstretched to Tess.
When she stood and started around the table, relief and something more powerful threw his heart into a new rhythm. Her approach was cautious, but he saw enough in her eyes to be sure she was as drawn to him as he was to her—and as worried about it. In his fear that she’d change her mind, he quit even breathing in an attempt to look as unthreatening as possible.
And then she took the last, hesitant step and laid her slim, cool hand in his. As air rushed into his lungs he tugged her forward. With a small cry, she dropped onto his lap, threw her free arm around his neck and pressed her mouth to his.
The kiss was clumsy, their noses bumped, he even tasted a hint of blood when his teeth scraped the inner flesh of his lip. But urgency rose in him as hot and fast as it had in her. He banded her with his arms and tilted his head to change the angle at which their mouths met. His tongue plunged deep, until he wrenched back enough control to stroke her tongue more deliberately, a sensual dance she met.
As they kissed, Tess’s back arched, pressing one breast against his chest, shifting her weight on his thighs until he had to grab her hips and reposition her to allow for his erection.
He’d never been so ready so fast. He squeezed her butt, wrapped her hip with his hand and kneaded, moved down her thigh then slid up. The heat and dampness he felt even through denim went to his head.
Even so, kissing her was enough for now, which would alarm him if he let it. But he loved her taste, her answering pleasure, the small sounds she made, too much to tear his mouth away. His lust was contained by an unfamiliar tenderness that heightened all his senses.
He suddenly realized they might not make it to a bed if he didn’t move now. For their first time, the kitchen table wasn’t right. With a groan, Zach lifted her and set her on her feet, shoved the chair back hard enough to make it rock, and stood.
“Bedroom,” he said hoarsely.
Her dazed look, showing incomprehension, went to his head, too. Or maybe not; his thinking had regressed to the primitive.
“Yes,” she whispered. “Yes.”
Zach hustled her out of the kitchen and down the hall. He didn’t turn on the overhead light in her bedroom, only the lamp beside the bed. He unceremoniously yanked back the covers and then went to work on her clothes. He wanted desperately to see her.
She wriggled a little to help him peel her shirt over her head, exposing a simple, white cotton bra. Zach liked it. He’d never been a fan of satin and stiff lace and wires. He cupped both her breasts, squeezing gently, feeling her nipples peak beneath the cotton, watching her eyes dilate as she stared down at his hands on her.
Then, patience abruptly gone, he unhooked the bra and was working on the button and zipper of her jeans before it hit the floor.
He had to crouch in front of her to pull jeans and panties over her feet. The position was excruciating in one way, but in another... She was gorgeous, long-legged, long-waisted, the curve of her hips luscious.
Enthralled, he dropped to his knees and nuzzled the caramel-brown curls that stood out against the white sweep of her belly. He inhaled, breathing in her scent as if it was a distillation of her. He could get drunk on her, he thought. Maybe he already was.
Was this why he couldn’t resist her? Basic chemistry?
No. It was her eyes that had fascinated him first, the swirl of green and gold, the way they so often betrayed what she was thinking... The jut of her chin when she was angry... Her courage, integrity.
Her smile.
Her long, long legs.
“You’re beautiful,” he said thickly, pulling back so he could wrap his hands around her ankles, stroke and explore his way upward. He found the sensitive places that made her jerk and breathe harder, the unbelievably soft skin behind her knees and on her inner thighs. The way she radiated heat the higher he got.
>
Tess bent her head to watch him, her eyes dilated, her lips slightly parted, her color high. Her fingertips rested on his shoulders. When he reached her warm, damp center, he wanted to press his lips to her, but, damn, he didn’t have it in him to play.
Making a ragged sound, he rose to a crouch and untied his boots so he could kick them off as he stood. Tess reached for him with urgency that matched his, yanking his T-shirt over his head then flattening her hands on his chest. She explored, her strong fingers kneading, tangling in his chest hair, delicately pausing at his nipples.
Zach’s backup pistol clunked down on the bedside stand. He’d never stripped faster. He tumbled Tess back onto the bed and went after her mouth even as he positioned himself between her thighs. Her legs wrapped around him and he started to push into her before his brain flashed a red light.
Swearing, he stopped, pulled out.
“What are you doing?” Tess exclaimed. “Stop!” Her legs tightened around his waist.
“Condom.”
She whimpered but released him. He grabbed the packet he’d taken from his pocket before he’d tossed his pants aside. In disbelief, he saw his hands shaking as he sheathed himself.
Worry about it later.
He pushed back into her, and her back arched in a long, luxurious spasm. Tess uttered little cries and held on to him with her arms and legs. They had a brief fight as he retreated, but then she surrendered to the rhythm, slow at first because... God, the tight clasp of her body felt so good he wanted to do this forever, then faster and faster because he couldn’t help himself.
Her fingernails dug into him at the exact moment he felt her small muscles begin to contract around him. She cried out his name. Zach reached down, grabbed her hips and drove hard, closing his eyes and gritting his teeth as his own orgasm roared through him. The pleasure went on and on, until he was wrung dry, and aware of some sharp emotion beneath his breastbone. It was an uncanny feeling, as though he’d received an injury without noticing.
Something else he’d think about later. He collapsed on her, knowing he was too heavy but unable to persuade his muscles to obey. Breathing was all he could manage.
But when he finally made the effort to roll... Tess wouldn’t let him.
“Stay,” she whispered. “Don’t go.”
The not-quite-painful sensation in his chest sharpened.
* * *
ZACH LEFT BEFORE DAWN.
Tess’s sleep had been so deep, she’d felt drugged when she became groggily aware that he was gently moving her arms and legs to free himself. She seemed to float higher on the mattress when he got out of bed and reached down onto the floor.
For clothes, she realized. All their clothes must be down there, mixed.
He picked up and discarded what must be hers, then dressed quickly. Her eyes had adjusted enough for her to see when he reached for his handgun.
“You’re leaving,” she mumbled, oh so brilliantly.
Zach sat on the edge of the bed, planted a hand on each side of her shoulders and bent to kiss her. He took his time, but had himself so thoroughly in control, Tess knew he couldn’t be persuaded to come back to bed.
“Trying not to be obvious,” he murmured.
She frowned. “I thought we were throwing out the rules.”
“Doesn’t mean we have to tell everyone else we did.”
“Oh.” Tess wasn’t sure that made sense, but arguing about it was pointless when he was so obviously determined to go.
“I have to shower, shave and change before work, too.” He nuzzled her cheek and sat up. “I’ll call.”
Dark against not-quite-as-dark, he left. A moment later she heard the front door open and close softly.
Instead of brooding, she set her alarm and tumbled back into sleep—better sleep than she’d had in weeks, because Zach had been here most of the night and because of the cameras he’d installed.
Tess was in the shower at her usual time in the morning when she realized how amazing she felt. Champagne-in-her-veins, two-double-back-flips amazing. The thought made her laugh and she ended up swallowing water.
As if. Tess Granath, elementary-school giraffe, couldn’t in a million years have been a gymnast. She had dreaded the gymnastics units in PE. The only varsity sport she’d participated in had been basketball, her junior and senior years, after she’d finally gained control of her body.
With the spring in her step this morning, maybe she’d surprise herself, she thought in amusement.
Actually, she reflected, grabbing her purse to go out the door, she was already surprised. Sex had never made her feel nearly this good before.
On impulse she called Lupe Estrada and asked if she could take her out to lunch. She hadn’t seen her in a couple of weeks and Lupe had been subdued even then.
Lupe was quiet today, too, even once they arrived at the pizza parlor. Lupe had always loved pizza, but Rey scoffed at it.
She’d gone back to work doing tailoring for the dry-cleaning business, she said, but made a face. Laying her hands over her stomach, she said, “Every time I feel a twinge, I think it’s happened again.” She’d told Tess how excruciating the kink in her intestines had been, and worried because even the doctors didn’t seem to know why it sometimes happened. And, of course, the surgeon had had to cut muscles to go in, which would also be slow healing.
In answer to Tess’s questions, she admitted that once she was fully healed, she hoped to get pregnant. Then she might have to take in sewing instead of going out to work.
Lupe was a beautiful woman, petite and curvaceous with glossy, wavy, black hair down to her hips, who hadn’t married until she was nearly thirty.
Rey had never seemed comfortable with Tess, which had limited the two women’s friendship. Mostly, they got together when he wasn’t around. Her best guess was that he was ashamed not to be fluent in English, even though he hadn’t moved to the United States until he was a young man. She’d seen him flush when he made a mistake. But when she tried out her Spanish on him, he had looked at her with a stony face and said, “I speak English.”
Typical male ego, she’d thought at the time.
Lupe claimed not to have heard anything about the other men Antonio had lived with. “I don’t think any of them were home to see what happened,” she said. “I don’t know why he was home during the day like that.”
“I was on my lunch break, so he might have been, too.”
Their number was called and Tess jumped up to get the pizza. They both dished up slices.
Into a silence Tess said, “Have you heard that the investigation has been taken over by two detectives from Stimson? I gave my statement to them last week. The deputy prosecuting attorney was there, too.”
Quiet for a minute, Lupe at last said softly, “I heard someone say you’d changed your mind about what you saw.”
Tess’s shock was supplanted by anger. “Who?”
Lupe’s very dark eyes skittered from hers. “It was...people talking where I work. Out in front, customers. I didn’t know them.”
“Did you believe them?”
“Of course not! But Rey said he heard the same, so I thought I should tell you.”
“Did he believe it?”
“He doesn’t know you the way I do. I told him you’d stand up for what’s right.”
Maybe the time had come to just ask. “I’ve...had the impression he doesn’t like me.”
“That’s not true!” Lupe exclaimed with more spirit, her head lifted. “He just worries that you’re not Catholic and you have so much more money... That you might look down on us.”
Tess wasn’t sure she could take another bite. She set the pizza down.
Lupe frowned. “You have to understand. He’s still constantly asked to prove he’s a citizen. He’s made to
feel stupid. I think he’s embarrassed because I finished high school and he didn’t. And you—you have a college degree and own your own business.”
“You don’t feel that way, do you?”
“No!” Lupe declared indignantly, her color high. She bit her lip. “Sometimes I’m a little bit jealous.”
“You could have gone to college.” With her grades and family background, she might have even gotten a full ride.
Lupe made a face. “You know my parents didn’t let me. They needed me to start working, to bring in money for the family. They never understood...”
“How much more you could have made if you’d gone on with school.”
She nodded, her dark hair swinging, but then shrugged. “I’m lucky because I like to sew. I didn’t really want a career, anyway. You know how much I want children. A big family.”
“I do, too,” Tess said softly. “I’ve met a man—”
Lupe wanted to know all about him. Tess told her what she could without revealing the part Zach played in the ongoing investigation. “He’s been protecting me from the threats I’ve been receiving. But I don’t think he’s ready to get married or start a family.” She tried to smile. “So, you see, you’re lucky to have Rey.”
“I’ll tell him you said so.” Lupe patted her hand. “He thinks you look down on him because he’s only a farm worker.”
“Isn’t he a foreman?”
“Yes, but still he goes out to the fields every day. He takes orders. He could lose his job anytime.”
Tess snorted. “I can’t be fired, but I could end up losing the store. If a Home Depot or Lowe’s opens here in the county, so people didn’t have to drive as far to get to one, it would do in my business. Not many of us can afford to be smug.”
“That’s true,” Lupe said thoughtfully.
“Will you ask Rey who said that, about me changing my mind? Whether someone has been spreading a lie or whether people were just shrugging and saying, ‘Oh, she’ll say what they want her to, you know she will’?”
Lupe nodded.
Conversation became easier after that. Tess had to accept that Rey might never relax around her, but that didn’t mean she and Lupe couldn’t stay friends. Maybe they’d cleared the air today, at least.
The Closer He Gets Page 17
