Chapter Four
Zack worked to keep the excitement hemmed in as he stared at his now silent cell phone. A contract with West Coast Security to develop a program for a company out of Sacramento. It would mean some travel time, but most of the work could be done at home.
Zack clapped his hands and rubbed them together.
Back in business.
He let his grin go and hollered. He liked the idea of working with a team again. This was what he’d needed to get a fire under him.
Glancing up, a movement outside the window above his desk caught his eye. This really
was
his lucky day. Lena ran down his street in running pants, a sweatshirt, and sneakers. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail and hung down her back, bouncing with each tread.
A run sounded like a great idea.
At the porch, he pulled on his winter hat and scanned the block. Just down the street, she turned the corner into the neighborhood park. He tied his shoes in record time.
The air was cold and invigorating. A deep breath had him smiling as he took to the street. He’d gotten lazy since being home. He’d feel this workout, no doubt.
Zack tried to start slow and warm up to the idea, but every second it took him to reach that corner was a chance he’d lose her altogether. So he picked up the pace, feeling the stretch in the back of his legs as he took the dirt trail into the park. The trail wound its way through the gently sloping terrain, which was covered by trees along the river.
Lena ran ahead of him by twenty yards or so. Each step closed the distance until he finally came up beside her, elbowed her, and grinned. “Hey.”
She stumbled and sucked in a breath. “Sheesh. You scared me.” Quickly re-establishing her pace, she peered from the corner of her eye.
Suspicious, as usual.
Zack focused on the trail ahead of them. Soon, they were running in rhythm. Neither trying to out-do the other. He liked that about her. Even when they’d been stationed together, her drive hadn’t come from proving herself or comparing herself to the male majority.
He, on the other hand, enjoyed the slower pace. A perfect match.
They left the park behind and turned down Main Street, heading back toward her family home. He whistled to get her attention, and when she frowned his way, he nodded toward the café. “Coffee?”
She shook her head, her frown becoming a scowl.
“Come on. I’m buying.”
Just when he thought she would blow right by the small shop, Lena rolled her eyes and stopped. “You’re a distraction, Zack Benson.”
The muscles he hadn’t warmed up before running ached with renewed fervor at the unexpected halt. He stretched when she did and walked with her, pacing in front of the store to cool down.
“Ready?” He opened the door and let her in. Didn’t matter that she’d been running, she still smelled great. Maybe that made him weird, but he didn’t care. He took a deep breath as she walked by—florals, a hint of basil, and the sweet scent of woman.
“Mike says you’re out of the Army for good.”
“Six months now.” There were aspects he missed about military life, but the daily grind, no. Deployment had its own set of problems, but he’d have preferred those.
“You got bored, didn’t you?”
“Maybe. But it was really my dad who got the ball rolling.” Zack stepped up and smiled for the lady behind the counter. “We’ll have two coffees, one black and one with two sugars and cream—the heavy kind.”
Lena looked surprised, and that irritated him a little. Why shouldn’t he remember she liked her coffee sweet and light?
“I guess I did get bored. Seems crazy when I think about it like that. It was never a boring job in the grand scope of things. But in the end, I needed to come home.”
“How’s your dad doing now?”
“He’s hanging in there. Still mostly independent, just…can’t keep his head long enough to handle everything.”
Lena lifted a brow. “Can’t keep his head? Is that what the doctors told you?”
Zack laughed. “No.”
After paying with the few dollars from his pocket, he took the coffee and followed Lena to a table in the corner. “Tell me how it was,” he asked, not needing to explain he meant her deployment.
“Long,” she answered with a shrug.
“Such a talker. You should learn to curb some of that exuberance.”
She blushed. “Blah, blah, blah. You know how it is over there. Do we have to talk about it? Let’s talk about something else.”
“You want to go to Quinn’s tonight?” He hadn’t intended on asking her out—not that she’d think of it as a date.
She evaded. “You know what I really want?” She touched his hand, as if she didn’t know she was doing it.
He held his breath.
“A nice long vacation in the Caribbean, drinks with umbrellas in them, and nothing else. No letters, no funny feelings about those letters or the mystery man who wrote them. I’m fed up with thinking about it. I’m finished.” She rested her elbows on the table, and her shoulders relaxed. “Wow. Feels good just saying it.”
She had funny feelings?
“So, you’ve been getting letters?” Zack picked up his napkin and folded it once, then twice. He glanced at Lena, hoping to come off nonchalant.
“Ugh! Don’t even start. I am
not
going over it again. If I have to hear one more time about how silly it is for me to fall in love with a guy just because he writes beautiful letters, I’m going to leave town. Maria’s the only one who has any sympathy, but the way she keeps sighing and swooning over it makes me feel like an idiot.”
He stared, the coffee forgotten in front of him. His thought process came to a grinding halt. There was even a flutter in that region of his chest, right under his sternum. He cleared his throat, set his coffee down, and opened his mouth to say…what?
She fell in love?
“Zack, you’re a guy.”
He’d had a moment. She hadn’t.
No problem.
He unscrambled his brain. A guy. “Yes,” he answered with some hesitation, then grinned. “Thank you for finally noticing.”
She stopped, gave him a look, and shook her head with a smile. She pulled her coffee mug into her lap as she sat back, relaxed. She tilted her head and studied him with those dark eyes. Dang, those eyes and the mischievous twinkle in them.
He felt a sigh coming on, which pissed him off a little. What was he? Some little old lady? Or worse, like Maria? But that look said everything. Friends. Compatriots. Pals. Like she was about to tell him secrets she would never tell a lover. Which of course, they weren’t…
yet
.
“We’re both very practical.”
Maybe.
He shrugged. “Okay.”
“Why the secret? Why would a guy pull the secret admirer bit on a woman halfway around the world?” She leaned forward again, crossed her legs, and set the coffee back on the table. “Why not just tell her? If I know the guy…don’t you think that would only be a bonus for him?”
“Maybe he likes surprises.”
But Lena guffawed over that answer. “Please. Surprises are for birthdays or vacations. And this…this is exactly why I’ve decided to completely forget about the whole thing—”
What?
Disappointment slammed into him. “You’re not going to meet him on Christmas morning?”
“Oh, my God. You know, too?” Lena rolled her eyes. “Mike told you, didn’t he?”
Oops
. “Uh, yeah, Mike told me.”
Shit
. If only Mike had said something. Then he wouldn’t be lying his ass off. He hated to lie to her, but she
had
to go to the gazebo. If she didn’t go…
“I like surprises,” he said. “The good kind, anyway.”
“I’m just not sure anymore. This could end up being a very bad surprise, you know?”
“What?” He grabbed her hand. Surprise flitted across her pretty features. He didn’t know what else to say. He wanted to surprise her, and for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why. Maybe it was because she’d always been so—like she’d said—practical, even predictable. So smart, most of the romance in life seemed to go right over her head.
“I’m starting to think I’ve created some kind of Don Juan in my head. No matter what, how can anyone live up to that? I’m—I’m just afraid that whoever is there, I’m going to be disappointed.”
“But he could be the love of your life.”
“We are not going to talk about my desperate attempt to find someone to love me.” But the relaxed Lena was gone, and her frown returned.
The bitter edge to her words struck him, actually pushed him back into his seat. He stared at this beautiful woman with the scowl on her face. “Everyone loves you.”
Jeez
. He knew her parents would never admit to a favorite, but he’d been around the Rodriguez family his whole life. Carlos adored her, always going the extra mile to get her exactly what she wanted. Anabel could talk an ear off about the wonderful things her daughter had accomplished, being the first family member to finish college, go to medical school. Even her younger sister, Catalina, had stars in her eyes when it came to Lena.
She had the likes of Phillip, and any number of other men, sniffing at her heels.
“That’s not what I mean, and you know it,” she argued.
He shook his head. “I don’t know anything. You’ve had people—men—lined up, wanting your attention since forever. It’s damned annoying is what it is.”
Anger sparked in her eyes. She opened her mouth.
“Just because you don’t notice it, doesn’t mean it isn’t happening,” he continued. “And I don’t care how capable you are, you better be more than careful. You could meet this guy and he could turn out to be a serial killer.”
Her mouth snapped shut.
Great way to encourage her to meet you, dumbass
.
“You think I’m capable?” she questioned him, and looking at her, he noticed she didn’t have the raging fire in her eyes anymore. Now, she just looked hopeful.
“Of course,” he answered, leaning forward again and gripping her wrist. Her gaze fell to where his hand touched her arm. He ran his thumb over her pulse point, felt it jump just before she pulled back her arm. She would never see him as more than a brother at this rate. It was obvious she’d never thought of him that way. But if he didn’t cross that boundary, he’d for sure never make it to boyfriend or anything else.
“You’ve always been capable. Oldest girl, bossy as hell, responsible,” he continued with a shrug as he lost the steam of his argument and met her gaze. Eyes, as dark as his were light, that could warm like chocolate or freeze like black ice. More than anything, he wanted to lose himself in those eyes. “A doctor and a soldier—”
“Well, when you put it that way…” She smiled brightly, almost too brightly, and wiped the table in front of her with a napkin. “I’ll just take this uptight, responsible girl on her way.”
Crap.
He’d offended her. “Lena, wait.” He stood and stopped her again, afraid she would leave annoyed. “I have a meeting this afternoon with a business contact, but we really should hit up Quinn’s tonight. Get a drink. No talk about letters or deployment. It’ll be fun. Like old times.”
“Are you asking me out on a date?” A hint of exasperation—and was that horror?—in her voice.
“No.” His reaction was pure panic and self-preservation. “Or yes. Maybe. As friends. I don’t know. Would that be so bad?”
The idea obviously threw her for a loop.
Not a good sign, buddy.
“A night out sounds great. Just what I need to take my mind off…everything.”
…
If Lena had a dime for every time someone called her bossy, she never would have had to join the Army. She could have paid for school in full before ever stepping inside a classroom.
Ugh.
She kicked at the porch swing as she made another pass, pacing back and forth, trying to cool down. Cool seemed unobtainable at the moment. She wasn’t bossy, anyway. Could she help it if people were always asking her to do things, to solve problems? She might meet her letter writer and scare him away with her
capableness
.
She frowned and took a seat on the swing. As much as the description pleased her, being capable wasn’t a romantic quality. Zack had certainly never found her more than a friend. But a person could change. She needed to figure out how to attract a man, even if it meant glossing over some of her more assertive qualities.
“Aren’t you cold?”
Lena glanced up at the sound of her sister’s voice. “Hi, Maria.” A shiver ran through her. “I guess I am.”
Standing, she hooked arms with her as they went inside. “Zack wants to do something tonight. You feel like heading out? Maybe get a drink over at Quinn’s?”
“I thought you’d never ask,” Maria said with a laugh. “Let’s put the call out. Just us kids, away from the house, out on the town. Pre-Christmas celebration.”
The kitchen held the warmth of the afternoon sun, and she went straight to the pantry for a box of cookies.
“I heard about the phone call from Phillip.”
Lena rolled her eyes as she ate a cookie. She shouldn’t be surprised. “Word travels fast.”
“I got a text from Cat, who heard from Juan, who talked with mom this morning.” Maria grinned, and Lena let go of her own worries enough to laugh.
She shook her head. “
Ay, Dios mío
. You see why I joined the Army?”
“Yeah, well, I also heard from Donna that you were at the coffee shop with Zack this morning.” Maria poured herself a glass of juice. “My big sister is getting around.”
“Hardly. I was out for a run, and Zack just happened by. Pure coincidence.”
“Mmhmm.”
“What does that mean?”
Maria shrugged. “I like Zack.”
“Well, maybe you should ask him on a date. He’s not interested in bossy, old me. We’ve known each other too long.” But her heart gave a jealous beat at the thought of her sister liking Zack.
Life could be so unfair.
Chapter Five
Zack worked a problem out on his computer as the afternoon wound to a close. He saved the file and would forward it to his boss in Sacramento first thing tomorrow. There was a small glitch in the program. A phone call to work out the kinks was inevitable, but for now, he had a date to get ready for.
A date with Lena. A first.
Hearing that she’d fallen in love with those letters, the guy who wrote those letters. The excitement of that had quickly faded to worry. What had he done in those letters to create such affection? Half the time, he’d merely been rambling on about nothing. Could he live up to whatever it was she’d found in them? What if she was disappointed?
No, he refused to believe that she’d be disappointed when he surprised her on Christmas morning. But then… He’d been like a brother for so long. What if she couldn’t get past that? What if seeing him in a different way was impossible?
…
Lena put on her tight, going-out jeans and her shimmering, red top with the deep V in front and back. Black leather boots and a wrist full of bangles finished the outfit.
“Cat, you coming?” She hollered for her sister in the bathroom.
Mom came into the foyer with a kitchen towel in her hand. She wore a new Christmas-themed apron that had
Will Cook For Gifts
written across the top. “Juan will bring your sister home before eleven. She has choir practice in the morning.” She turned to him. “Don’t be late,
hijo
.”
“Yes, mom,” he answered in a sing-song voice and kissed her on the cheek. She whipped her towel at him before he could get through the front door.
“Be careful,” she called to all of them as they all piled into Dad’s truck. Maria took the wheel.
“We should get into a game tonight. Have a scavenger hunt in town.” Cat leaned forward and stuck her head between the two front seats. “We’ll break up into teams. It’ll be fun.”
Lena grinned. “Yes, let’s do it.”
“No, no, no.” Maria groaned. “I have to be up early for work. And Cat has to be home, too. It’s already eight thirty. Let’s just go sit and enjoy a cold adult beverage!”
“Boo,” Lena answered. “I want to do something fun. If it’s not a scavenger hunt, it’s going to be something else.”
They pulled into the parking lot at Quinn’s, and it was packed. “I guess we weren’t the only ones with a good idea. Sheesh.”
“The bars always get busy the week before Christmas,” Maria answered. “People are either celebrating or crying.”
Lena laughed. “Crying?”
“Sure. Break-ups, lost loved ones, or just plain single.”
Lena put an arm around her sister’s shoulders. “You won’t be crying in your beer tonight, will you?”
“Heck no.” Maria stood straighter. “I love being single. I’ll even drink to it!”
“I’m going to play a game of pool,” Juan announced, taking the lead up to the door.
Cat blew him a raspberry. “Fine. You know when you don’t want to have real fun or do a scavenger hunt, it’s because you’re old.”
Juan held the door and rolled his eyes.
Lena patted his shoulder as she passed through. “
Gracias
.”
She took two steps into the dimly lit room and found Zack, sitting at a table just inside the door. Carla, one of their classmates from high school, stood next to him in an apron. She held a pad of paper and laughed at something he said. But he glanced over and smiled when he met her gaze.
His smile struck her, and the noise of her family and the crowded bar faded, leaving her prisoner to the pounding of her own heart. She knew his smiles, half-smiles, and just plain non- smiles—like those he gave before screaming at his platoon of soldiers to give him fifty. This was none of those.
A smile, just for her.
What the eff?
Noise resumed, and time sped back up.
Someone bumped into her. “Mike,” she murmured, confusion rocking her senses.
“Gonna just stand there, sis?” Mike said, putting an arm over her shoulder.
She shook it off and glanced at Zack. He was joking with her siblings and had pulled a chair out for Maria when she came around the table to sit next to him.
Had she imagined it? Was her head playing cruel tricks?
Mike took her elbow and pulled her along.
“I thought you were working tonight.” Lena finally found her voice.
Mike shrugged, also doing the gentlemanly deed of pulling out a chair for her. “I skipped out early when Mom called and told me you’d all be here.”
Part of her had hoped Zack might have mentioned it to him. That would ease the ache she felt and reassure her that Zack hadn’t
actually
asked her out on a date. But he had, and she’d ignored it.
Why?
Because she’d learned a long time ago not to hold out hope that he would ever see her as more than a friend.
…
Zack finally caught Lena’s gaze from across the table, and he lifted a brow as if to ask her,
what is this?
Not that he didn’t enjoy spending time with the family. As a matter of fact, until the holidays had come around, there’d only been a few dinners since summer ended. School, work, and life had taken precedence.
Lena shrugged and a slight flush rose on her cheeks.
“Lena, you and me, at the pool table for a game.” When it looked like she might refuse, Zack stood and went around the table.
“I play winner.” Juan called out.
“Oh, no. I can’t. I stink at pool, Zack. You know very well how badly I play pool.”
“Come on. Smart girl like you should have no problem setting up a table and sinking a few balls. Practice, that’s all.” Zack tugged on Lena’s chair. He took her hand and was surprised to feel a slight tremble in it. He tightened his grip. “Relax, I’m not going to bite. It’s just a friendly game of billiards.”
She laughed, almost nervously. He let her hand go when they reached the little cove with a table in it. They were just hidden from view, enough to be able to talk privately, or make out. But that was just his imagination running away with him.
They both took a cue, and Zack set the table. Her silence put him on edge. Usually, he knew what she was thinking, now he felt out-of-sorts. He’d asked her out on a date—
hadn’t he
?
She’d come with an entourage.
“Zack?”
He looked up and found her waiting for him. He made the opening break and nodded to her. “Your turn.”
She stared at him with a blush rising on her cheeks. “Where do I start?”
He relaxed, smiled at her, then studied the table, looking for her first move. “Over here,” he started and took her arm to guide her around to where the cue ball sat. “Go for the solids. You can hit the four in, no problem. Easy peasy.”
She stood behind her cue and leaned over the table.
“No. Not like that.” Zack moved in behind her.
The idea hadn’t started out as a ploy, but now that he was here, breathing in the delicious scent of her perfume, he enjoyed the heat of her against his skin where his arms met hers. They were hip to hip. He cupped her hand in his and rested the cue stick on top of it. She fit perfectly under his arm and against his body.
He cleared his throat as lust shot straight through his bones. “Ready?”
She turned her head and eyed him suspiciously. Her gaze fell to his lips for a fraction of a second, but she turned back to the table and took her shot. The light bracelets at her wrists chimed, and the purple ball rolled into the corner pocket. “Okay.” She grinned, turning into his space. His hands went to her shoulders where they met skin, supple and smooth.
“That wasn’t too hard at all,” she whispered. Her breath seemed caught in her throat, as if maybe, maybe she felt something, too.
Zack stayed where he was, absorbing her warmth, the happiness that seemed to roll off her. This was what he’d wanted for her when he asked her to go out with him. Just a chance to have some fun, remember what it was like when they were younger.
He brushed strands of her hair from her face, the touch making his heart stutter. The urge to kiss her overwhelmed him. “Lena.”
“Yes?”
With his thumb, Zack traced a line along her collarbone. He tunneled his hand under the thick weight of her dark hair. Her eyes were wide with wonder. When he dipped his head to taste her, her lips parted, and she sucked in a breath.
Zack’s heart was pounding. Like the staccato of his M16 beating against his chest.
The kiss was soft and slow, and at first, she didn’t respond at all. On the verge of letting her go completely, he felt her hands come up and grip his waist. Her lips moved against his.
Nothing in his entire life had felt so right before. He sank into her.
“Hey guys…Whoa!”
Zack groaned at the intrusion. Lena broke away, sucked in another breath, this one filled with shock and what-did-I-do?
His eyes slid shut.
Damn it.
“I—” Lena scrambled out of his reach. “I better go.”
“Lena—” Zack went after her but was stopped in his tracks by Big Brother and a shove that sent his pulse pounding.
“What the hell is going on, Benson?”
Zack rubbed away the impression of Mike’s fingers against his chest and peered over his friend’s shoulder. Lena sat with her sisters. She hadn’t gone far. “Just a friendly game of pool and some decent conversation for a change,” he answered with a roll of his shoulders as he picked up his cue.
“What are you doing with my sister?” Mike stood at the ready—shoot first and ask questions later. His fists clenched at his sides. “Zack?”
Zack hit the ten ball into the side pocket and straightened.
None of your damn business
. But that wasn’t going to fly. He shrugged. “Nothing…anymore.”
“Is that supposed to be funny?” Mike’s voice vibrated with restrained fury.
“No,” Zack bit off, stopping the harsher words that wanted let loose. He threw the cue down on the table. “I better go.” He did not want to fight with Mike about this.
Mike grabbed his arm. “You might be my friend.” He shook his head. “But don’t mess with Lena. She’s inexperienced…and fragile. She’s not used to dealing with guys like you.”
“Let go of my arm.” Zack frowned, pulling out of Mike’s grasp as he tried to reconcile the woman Mike described with the woman he knew.
Mike filled the doorway and crossed his arms over his chest.
Zack blew out a breath. “How long have we been friends, Mike?”
Mike didn’t answer right away.
“How long?” he demanded.
“How the hell should I know? Twenty years?”
“Twenty-five, you shithead.” Zack let the endearment slip as the irritation inside of him started to boil over. “I’m not messing with Lena.”
Mike opened his mouth as if to object.
“Besides,” Zack interrupted. “Lena deals with guys like us…
All. The. Time.
She can handle herself better than a lot of soldiers I know.” He shook his head. “Wake up, Mike. I want your sister. I’ve wanted your sister for years. Now I have to convince her I’m worth her time.”
He left Mike speechless in his wake and made his excuses to the rest of the family. He waved a hand at their protests. “I gotta go.”
Go blow off some steam.
Lena avoided his gaze, but he didn’t let that stop him from giving her shoulder a squeeze before he left.
Zack reached his car, blew out a breath, and leaned against the hood. She’d kissed him, and she’d kissed him good. There was no mistaking her response. But then she’d run away like the Taliban were on her heels. So, what did she want?
Frustrated, he hopped into the car and headed home. This had all seemed so simple when it started. How the heck was he supposed to win Lena over with her brothers and sisters overlooking their every move? Maybe she really had joined the Army to be alone.
Back at the house, he still crackled with nervous energy. He wanted to go for a run, but chose to occupy his brain instead, so he compiled a new version of the code and started running compliance tests for the Sacramento project. Still, his thoughts kept returning to Lena. He needed to get her alone, tell her everything, and beg her to kiss him again, because that kiss was proof. Proof that some part of her was willing to give him a shot.
Over and over, he ran more trials, testing again and again, while playing out various scenarios in his mind. He was running out of time. The annual Christmas Concert was in two days, and the Winter Carnival would be winding down. He could almost picture Catalina performing in the finale, surrounded by poinsettias—
He jumped up from his desk so fast he knocked over the chair.
The concert
. It was true the Rodriguez family was everywhere, but maybe he could turn that to his advantage. With a sly grin, he picked up his phone and dialed the familiar number
.