Chapter Seven
Holly paused at the stove as she felt Zack enter the room behind her. She’d gotten up early that morning to see to the chores, then she’d readied the quad for them. She was taking him to the cabins being built on her family’s property. Nick was contracted for the job, and she wanted to get there the fun way.
She turned, as she had the day before, to find Zack once again standing in the doorway. And just like yesterday, her breath caught. The man was way too handsome. And he darn near took up the full space of the doorway.
“Breakfast?” she asked. Her voice had a nervous croak to it, and she was quickly reminded of the way he’d looked at her the night before. He’d made her feel nervous then too.
It had been a brief glance, but his gaze had lingered on her mouth, and she’d had the very real thought that he’d been about to kiss her.
Which would have been a mistake. She didn’t do casual. He was leaving in two weeks.
These things she had to keep in mind.
But his look most certainly had made her wonder what his kiss would be like.
His gaze flickered over her now, and she found herself standing there as if on display. She was wearing her normal summer, around-the-house attire of shorts and a T-shirt. Royal blue was the color scheme for the day. But this time, she’d paired it with work boots that came up above her ankles. The boots were purple and studded, and the tongue was done in a cow pattern.
Poking out the top of them were retro tube socks with gold horizontal stripes circling just below her knees.
“Nice boots,” Zack said. He didn’t even try to hold back the sarcasm.
She smirked. “Nice pants.”
His pants weren’t the standard dress pants of the last few days, but he still looked like he belonged in the middle of a roomful of suits instead of a construction site. Navy chinos and a short-sleeve button-down were not what he needed to show up wearing if he wanted to connect with his brother.
Plus . . . construction site. Duh.
Turning her back to him, she flipped the pancakes. She also used the moment to not look at Zack. Because she was finding that every time she looked at him, she got a little further away from remembering he wasn’t her type.
“You’ll need jeans today,” she told him. “You have time to change before your breakfast is ready.”
He didn’t reply for a few seconds, and then he admitted, “I didn’t bring jeans.”
She felt him step up behind her as much as heard him, and then he peered over her shoulder. She held her breath. He kept getting in her space like that. It made things inside her all fluttery.
“You aren’t seriously thinking of serving me pancakes with chocolate chips in them, are you?”
God, he smelled good. What kind of soap did the man use, anyway?
She drew a deep breath in through her nose, just to tease herself with the expensive smell, before pointing out the whiteboard on the opposite wall. “I could stick with my mother’s plan and serve you eggs and grits if you prefer.”
He made a face. “Grits?” He said the word as if she’d just asked him to eat raw liver for breakfast.
“It’s what everyone else got.”
“Why would you serve that to people?”
“Because we’re in the South, sweetie. And because people like grits.” She waved her spatula at him. “So choose. Grits or pancakes?”
He glanced at the stove. “And I have to have them with something in them?”
“They aren’t something, they’re chocolate chips. They’re good.”
“Why would you ruin a perfectly good pancake with chocolate chips?”
“Because they’re fun.”
He went silent. His dark gaze once again studied her, this time concentrating on her face and hair. She had her hair pulled back in a French braid running down the middle of her back, and she’d worn less makeup today. Only a hint of lip gloss, and just a brush of mascara. But not because of what he’d said last night about being unable to look away from her when she wore less.
She just didn’t need it today. After she dropped him at the cabins, she planned to put in a few hours of work.
Makeup wasn’t needed when she intended to spend the day by herself.
“You look nice today.” His words were easy. Her knees went weak.
What the hell was wrong with her?
They’d had a good time after they left the park last night. But that was all. They’d talked. They were becoming friends. She liked him.
But not liked him.
He was Cody and Nick’s brother, for crying out loud.
Her friends who were now ticked at her for springing Zack on them to begin with.
Getting weak-kneed over the man was out of the question.
“Thank you,” she murmured. “You do too. But I still think you’re wrong about the makeup. Less is not always more.” And she had no idea why he thought she hid behind it. She had nothing to hide from.
“No, I’m not.”
She pointed a finger at him. “I’ll prove it,” she declared.
His gaze narrowed on her, and she stood there in front of him as if on trial. She wanted to know what he was thinking when he looked at her. Did he really have a hard time looking away?
The thought did more for her cardiovascular system than a jog into town and back.
“What did you have in mind?” he finally asked.
She had to rewind the conversation in her mind to remember what she’d even said. Oh yes, makeup. She intended to prove him wrong. “I’ll pick the perfect time, and I’ll wear even more than I normally do.” She gave him a haughty look. “And you’ll admit you’re wrong.”
“But I’m not wrong.”
The man did not lack in confidence.
She held out a hand. “Deal, or not?”
“What are we playing for?”
She ran a couple of ideas through her mind, tossing out the more lewd ones, and then smiled. “Pancakes.” Before he could respond, she added, “You’ll eat them however I serve them.”
He grew silent, as if giving serious contemplation to the terms. “And if I win?” he asked.
Excitement winged its way through her at the thought of the prizes he might request if he won. None of which were appropriate between friends.
“What do you want?” she asked. Her voice dropped to a near whisper.
He once again took his time deciding. As he did, his gaze skimmed over her body. When it landed on her feet, she grew nervous. Surely he wouldn’t suggest she wear shoes that made sense to him. She liked the shoes she wore.
His gaze traveled back up. She wet her lips when he lingered briefly on her mouth. He made her too antsy. At long last, his eyes once again met hers. The seriousness in them took her by surprise.
“If I win,” he started, “then you consider chasing something other than marriage.”
The back room of her studio came to mind. Then Chicago.
Then the crush of failure.
But she knew she would win this bet, so it didn’t matter. She closed her fingers around his outstretched hand. “Deal.”
They didn’t shake their hands up and down. They just stood there. Palm to palm. She could feel the rougher toughness of his fingers against her smoother, softer skin. It wasn’t a calloused kind of rough. Just a manly rough. And big.
His hand was very big.
Her mind hit the gutter.
“Today I want pancakes without chocolate chips,” he said. It wasn’t a demand. Exactly. It was more of a plea. In a no-nonsense, I’m-in-charge-here sort of way.
Her chest moved up and down with her breaths, and they stared at each other. Once again she was reminded of last night. They’d had a staring match over him putting the convertible top down when they’d left the park. She’d won that round, but something told her that had been rare. She didn’t think she could take this match.
Looking away, she grunted in frustration. “Fine,” she muttered.
He laughed softly beside her. The sound feathered over her ear and slid down her neck.
“But I’m going to find you a pair of jeans to wear,” she tacked on.
His laughter shut off.
She peeked at him. “There are some clothes of Sean’s here. My youngest brother. He leaves a few things for when he comes home.”
“I’m not wearing someone else’s clothes.”
“You can’t wear those,” she pointed out. “I’m taking you to the cabins your brother is building. It’s messy out there. Plus, I thought if things go well, you could hang out with him for a while.” She jabbed her spatula toward his pants. “You can’t stay there all day looking like that.”
Twenty minutes later, Zack was in another man’s jeans and someone else’s work boots.
He was on the back of a four-wheeler, his fingers digging into Holly’s sides as if he were a scared little girl, and they were blasting across the green fields of Marshall property.
At least he’d gotten pancakes without chocolate chips in them.
But still. What the hell was happening to his life?
Normally he’d be on his third or fourth meeting of the day. He’d be seeking out a case that would win him a partnership. And he’d be readying for lunch with someone who could get him somewhere.
Instead, he was laughing in the wind as if he hadn’t a care in the world.
Holly continued to amaze him. When she’d turned around that morning and he’d first caught sight of her, he’d known that the rest of his two weeks there were going to be a challenge.
“Why do we have to ride out there on this thing?” he shouted over the roar of the motor.
He wasn’t sure she’d heard him until she leaned back into his chest and tilted her chin up. She angled in his direction. “Because I like it.”
And that was enough.
With her still pressed to him, he fought the urge to slide his hands from her sides on around to her front. Her body was just soft enough, and he found it a struggle to remember the type of women he normally spent time with.
She straightened in the seat and he silently groaned at the loss of her touch.
Instead of focusing on the woman who was quickly becoming an addiction, he took in their surroundings. She was flying through a heavily wooded area now, though they seemed to be sticking to a well-worn path. The occasional glimpse of the river and mountains to their left kept pulling his gaze. It was beautiful out here.
If the sound of the engine and the rushing wind wasn’t filling his head, he suspected it would be near silent.
Suddenly, Holly lifted slightly off the seat. His brain registered what she was doing a millisecond before the tire of the quad hit a rut. Mud splattered up on his jeans, a small clump making it all the way to his cheek, and Zack moaned out loud as he bounced hard on the seat. He barely kept from reaching to cup himself to shield his testicles from more torture. If his fingers weren’t clenched so tightly around Holly, he probably would have.
She settled back on the seat and let up on the gas. Slightly. Leaning back again, she shouted, “Sorry about that. I don’t normally have someone with me and didn’t think to warn you.”
“And you normally drive like this?”
She burst out laughing. “Of course. What’s the point of having something fun if you don’t have fun with it? If you’d let me get behind the wheel of your car last night, I would have driven it like this too.”
“You just killed any future opportunity to drive it,” he shouted back.
She laughed again. “You need to take more risks,” she yelled out. “Anyone ever tell you that?”
“I’m not sure where the word need comes from in that sentence, but I assure you I’m fine the way I am.”
Except for one thing. He was wrapped around a woman he couldn’t have, yet growing more and more certain he wanted. Holly was not the type to settle for a fling, and he had a career to get back to in Atlanta. He had no business touching her, but he couldn’t help himself.
He slid one hand to her front and flattened his palm on her stomach.
When she didn’t say anything else, merely sat up straighter and pulled slightly away, he leaned forward and followed her. He didn’t stop until he once again had his front pressed to her back. He put his mouth to her ear. “Tell me again why we had to come out on this thing instead of taking a car?”
He felt her back move against his chest as if her breathing had grown heavier.
“Because this is more fun.” She slowed again to take a tight path through a tiny part in the trees. He followed her lead, ducking his head in sync with hers.
“We could have gone over to the stables and saddled a couple of horses,” she suggested. “That would have been fun too.”
The memory of climbing up on the horse with her was not a pleasant one. He hadn’t been that out of control of his own destiny in years.
“If those were my only two options,” he began, “this is much preferred.” Plus, he was actually enjoying himself. Not that he was ready to admit it.
She hadn’t kicked the speed back up, so he took the time to enjoy the scenery. They were still in the trees, but the density was fast becoming sparser. He could see more glimpses of the river, and even picked out a small log cabin sitting alone against the riverbed. It looked to be only large enough to contain two or three rooms, and the roof rose up from the front and then stopped a few feet down the back. The side facing the river was at least half a floor higher.
“You should come with me tomorrow,” she told him as she slowed more, this time gently bumping them through a rut. The tire spun in the mud and he held tight as she shifted their weight and freed them.
“If it involves this particular vehicle, I’m going to go ahead and say no.”
“Spoilsport.” She laughed with the word and pointed out a flock of birds sunning in the middle of a meadow off to their right. “I promise it will be something that can be done via my car.” She shot him an evil grin. “Or yours.”
“What is it?” He was not letting her behind the wheel of his car.
“We’re going to go buy you some jeans.”
Not having to wear someone else’s clothes appealed to him.
And if he would be spending more time with Holly—which he fervently hoped he would be doing—then he would need something other than the clothes he’d brought.
“I could get down with that,” he said.
He slid his other arm around her and held her snug against him. He even caught himself smiling for no apparent reason. It was turning out to be a fun morning. All of that might change the minute she got him to the cabins. Probably Nick would still have no interest in seeing him. But the fresh air and Holly’s happy spirit made the thought of trying again less depressing.
He even managed a small hope that his apology would be well received.
They came out of the woods and nature’s beauty burst out around them.
“Wow,” he murmured. The river glistened in the sunlight, and everywhere he looked was green. Grass, trees, mountains. Even moss-covered rocks.
“Right?” she asked. She pulled the quad to a stop and turned it off. “I love this place. I come out here all the time.”
They both climbed off, his movements slower than hers due to the fact that his testicles felt more like they’d been vibrating directly on the engine than on the padded seat.
When he finally made it to her side, they stood watching the soothing waters with the Smokies as the backdrop. It looked like a good place to fish.
As if he knew anything about fishing.
She pointed to a small area across the river where there were no trees. “That’s where we were last night.”
He didn’t say anything. Just stood with his hands on his hips, soaking it all in. It was a nice moment, and he was glad she’d brought him here. If he were to imagine a spot where he might like to escape the craziness of life on occasion, something like this might come to mind.
When he looked around, he found Holly watching him.
“What do you think?” she asked.
He didn’t have to think. “It sure beats Atlanta traffic.”
She nodded. “I know. I couldn’t get over the constant noise in Chicago. And the sheer number of cars. Everywhere.”
“You never did tell me what you were really doing up there.”
“I told you . . .” She shrugged and turned away. “I went to see my cousin.”
She stuck with her story, but he got the impression it was a lie. At most, a partial truth. Which only made him want to know more. Instead of pushing, he continued his examination of the area around them. He could push later.
“What’s that?” He pointed to the log cabin he’d seen through the trees.
Holly followed the line of his outstretched arm to land on the building. A look of sadness once again crossed her face. It twisted at his heart. And it made him definitely want to know more.
“It’s my place,” she finally answered.
He raised a brow, shocked.
She shrugged. “It was an old house that had been on the property since before I was born. I had my dad and brothers fix it up for me a few years ago.”
“Yet you stay at the main house. Or is that just when your parents are out of town?”
“I stay at the house most of the time, yes.”
She started walking back to the quad as if the conversation was over.
“Wait,” he said. He didn’t know what question to ask first, but it was clear she didn’t want to talk about it. Whatever it was. Before he could string together the right words to get an answer, a familiar honking sound ripped through the air.
He cringed at the squawk as two geese sauntered out of the woods and headed toward them.
“What is up with those geese?” he asked. They’d been beside his car that first day.
“They’re mine too,” Holly said. She pulled a pack of crackers from the front pocket of her shorts and tossed some in the direction of the animals. They honked as if in thanks.
“You have pet geese?”
“It’s more like I’m their pet. They chose to stay a couple of years ago. I just gave them names.”
“You named the geese?”
“Sure. Wouldn’t you hate to live somewhere and have everyone just call you ‘man’?”
Her back was to him as she tossed more crackers on the ground, and he simply stared at her. He had no words.
“You are one of the strangest women I’ve ever met,” he finally managed to mutter.
She nodded. “I know.”
He followed her to the quad and climbed onto the back of the seat, moving gingerly as he slung a leg over the cushion. “What are their names?” he asked.
Green eyes that he could look at for hours turned to him. In them was a mixture of sadness, teasing, and contentedness. She was the most interesting person who’d ever come into his life.
“Snow White and the Huntsman,” she said.
It took a couple seconds to come up out of her eyes and figure out she was talking about the geese. She’d named them after a movie. All he could do was shake his head.
And fight the urge to pull her close.
“Why don’t you stay out here?” he asked.
She started the machine. “Because I get lonely.”
Like she’d accused him of being last night. He peered back at the building and could see how someone like her wouldn’t like it out here. She needed people around her. She needed liveliness and laughter.
But then, why had she gotten her brothers to fix it up if she didn’t intend to live there?
With the question still rolling through his head, the motor revved and he reached for her waist.
Looked like answers would have to wait. It was time to go find his brother.