“Sorry, I’m done,” he told them and pretended to zip his lip shut. As if that ever worked with this guy.
Mac looked remorseful. “Man, I hate to say this, but have you considered the possibility that Laney might never—”
“Accept more from me? Want to be with me? Yeah, man, I have.” Zach focused his gaze on his beer. “I consider that possibility every day,” he replied, his tone subdued.
Mac slapped him on the back. “As long as you know what you’re up against, you’re on track. That’s what we used to say back in the Teams.” Then, he leaned in closer. “You’ve got this, man. You’ve just gotta give it your all.”
Yeah. Give it his all. What happened if he did that and still lost?
Then, he’d be left with nothing.
C
HAPTER
T
WENTY
-T
HREE
I
T WAS THEIR USUAL KARAOKE
Saturday at Shenanigans and, finally, everyone was in town for the first weekend of March. Laney was getting ready for the evening after having spent time earlier laying out at the beach. It had been much warmer than usual and she had enjoyed basking in the warm sunshine, rereading one of her favorite paperbacks.
After smoothing moisturizer on shoulders that were a bit pink from the sun, Laney was applying light makeup when her phone began to vibrate on the bathroom counter, signifying an incoming call. Looking down at the screen, she faltered at the name flashing.
Zach.
Reaching out tentatively, she picked it up and answered.
“Hello?” Why did her voice sound so timid?
“Laney.” She sighed inwardly. How did he manage to make her name sound so sexy when he said it? “I wanted to see if you’d like to drive over with me tonight.” He paused for a moment. “It seemed like a great night to ride in the Chevelle.”
Laney’s eyes fell closed on a silent moan. Oh, he was playing dirty. He had to know how much she loved classic cars. And that Chevelle of his? It was an SS 396 that had been restored and painted a dark, cherry red. She had always lusted over it from afar, but had never ridden in it before. Because, well, they hadn’t exactly been bosom buddies or anything.
“Laney?” he prompted her after her silence.
Clearing her throat before responding, she said, “Sure, that’d be great. I can be ready in about twenty minutes.”
“See you then.”
After ending the call, she headed to her closet, bypassing the dress she’d originally planned to wear. Plucking another one off the hanger instead, she nodded to herself. “This is definitely the one for tonight,” she mumbled.
The dress was black with a pattern of bright, red swirls, fitted to just an inch from the hemline above her knees where it flared with a small ruffle. It had a slightly scooped neckline and thin straps, and Laney felt like it flattered her body type the most. Then, she rummaged through her shoes until she found her black wedge slides.
Running a brush through her hair one last time, she unplugged the flat iron she’d used and went in search of her purse and keys. Just as she was ensuring her small wallet was in her wrist purse, the doorbell rang. Walking over to it, purse in one hand and shoes in the other, she set the shoes on the mat before opening the door to Zach. And instantly faltered.
Whoa. Did he somehow get hotter?
It wasn’t like he was dressed all fancy or anything. He merely had on a pair of dark-washed jeans which accentuated his trim waist, a short-sleeved, dark blue button-down shirt displaying his tanned, muscular arms and his usual leather flip flops on his feet. Laney sighed internally. He was too handsome for words.
“You look gorgeous.” His eyes swept over her before returning to meet her gaze. “You’ll be beating those guys off with a stick tonight,” he told her, the corners of his mouth quirking up. For whatever reason, something made Laney step toward him.
“Maybe I’m hoping to only have that issue with one guy in particular tonight.” She felt her eyes go wide, mirroring his own, her comment surprising both of them.
Where the hell did that come from?
Zach gave her a slow, sweet smile, bending to press a tender kiss to her lips. “I’d be honored to be that one guy. Ready to go?”
Laney merely nodded, sliding on her shoes, grabbing her keys from the entryway table to lock the door behind them. Walking down the stairs to the driveway where Zach’s car was parked, Laney let out a long sigh.
Zach turned to her in surprise. “Was that sigh for my car?”
She ran a finger lightly over the side of the hood before jerking her hand back. “Oh! Sorry, I just really love this car.” She paused. “It’s so beautiful.” Her voice had a breathless quality to it.
Zach was so quiet that it made her turn back to him, finding him staring at her with a stunned expression.
“You love my car?”
“Yeah,” she exhaled. “I kind of have a thing for classic cars.”
“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.
C
HAPTER
T
WENTY
-F
OUR
“S
OOOO,”
R
AINE 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 about 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.