Chapter Eight
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The cheesy purple and gold banner hung over the entrance to the hotel ballroom, trumpeting the event that Leann Anderson had been dreading for weeks. All the pre-reunion activities had been leading up to this night.
Tremont High School Class of 2002 Reunion.
“Are you ready to do this?” Zach asked, straightening his tie. He cleaned up nicely from his usual casual slacks and jeans. Tonight he was wearing a dark blue suit that looked like it had been made just for him, molding his wide shoulders and tapering to his lean waist. Zach was a handsome man by anyone’s standards. A man that wasn’t for her. He’d made himself clear that afternoon at the gym.
Stop staring at the man, Leann. He doesn’t want you.
Still, it wasn’t his fault that he wasn’t into her. He hadn’t asked for this assignment. After her earlier humiliation, she’d vowed that tonight she would be friendly and casual. He’d never know that she’d been hurt by his rejection.
“Does it matter? We have to do this. We have two murders to solve.”
“No, I have murders to solve. You have a reunion to attend. You need to stay out of the investigation. If anything happened to you, your brothers would beat me senseless.”
“Are you afraid of my brothers?”
Chuckling, Zach grinned at her question. “Singly, no. But when they gang up on a person? Fuck, yes.”
The table by the entrance was covered with name tags and Leann found hers but almost pretended she didn’t. It had a grainy black and white photo from her senior year in high school. It was hard to believe but yearbook pictures could actually look worse.
Like when they were pinned to Leann’s cleavage.
Zach’s gaze lingered on her chest. Maybe he didn’t dislike her after all. He appeared to like what he was seeing without being a creep about it. “Nice…picture.”
Way to send me mixed signals.
“It’s horrific and you know it. My only comfort is that most everyone’s photo is going to be this bad.” Leann’s nerves ratcheted up a notch as her gaze darted around the room. “Now what’s the plan? Do I need to steer you to certain people or are we going to mingle casually?”
“Let’s start mingling casually and if I see someone I want to talk I’ll either say something directly or nudge you in that direction. Deal?”
“Sounds fine.” She nodded to the smiling woman heading straight for them. “That’s Jenna Marshall. You might remember her from last night.”
For the dozenth time, Leann had second thoughts about even being at this reunion. If she hadn’t promised Jason to bring Zach she probably would have skipped the entire party tonight. She’d remembered why she hadn’t spoken to most of these people in fifteen years.
She didn’t like them much. They probably didn’t like her either.
Visiting the past was a stupid thing to do but here she was – rubbing elbows with people she’d rather not see again. Most of them, anyway. She was happy to see Jenna, despite not keeping in touch as well as she could have. Leann hated electronic communication, preferring face to face.
Pretty blonde Jenna looked especially lovely tonight. “There you two are. I’ve been looking for you everywhere. We have a table near the bar. Come join us. Everyone is having a great time and there’s champagne.” Hugging Leann, she gave Zach a flirty smile. “Just try not to drink too much tonight like you did graduation night. Remember how you ended up puking all over the back of Drew’s truck?”
Why yes, Leann did and she was so happy that Jenna had brought that moment up right in front of Zach.
Why do I care what he thinks?
Because you do. You like him even if he doesn’t like you.
“I could do without memories like that.”
Jenna just laughed. “Remembering the stupid things we did is half the fun. Now smile and show all the people here how great your life turned out and how fabulous you look. Lots of people are going to want to see you tonight. Now, let me take a look at you.”
With all the people milling about in the entryway of the hotel ballroom this was hardly the ideal spot, but Leann knew from experience that Jenna was like a dog with a bone when she got an idea in her head. Better to give in on the small stuff and then dig her heels in on something bigger.
Obediently taking two steps back, Leann looked down at the black silk slip dress she was wearing. She’d spent way too much time picking it out but she was happy with how she looked in it. The dress was held up with spaghetti straps that highlighted her year-round Florida tan and showed a hell of a lot of leg, ending at mid-thigh. Silver sandals with a four-inch heel gave her more height than her usual five-foot-five.
“You look gorgeous,” Jenna pronounced with a big smile. “Doesn’t she look beautiful, Zach?”
Leann wanted to dig a hole and crawl away, but Jenna and everyone else thought that Leann and Zach were a real couple.
“She does, indeed. You both do,” he replied gallantly. “Now which way are we going, ladies?”
Straight to the bar. Chattering and giggling, Jenna led them to a long table filled with Leann’s former classmates. There were several open bottles of champagne on the table and it looked like they’d been drinking for awhile.
Henry Chambers, a guy who had sat behind her in geometry, stood up with a grin on his face.
“Is that Leann? Wow, you look great. Come sit by me.”
Oh fuck no. The way Henry was swaying on his feet told her he’d had at least one too many, probably more. And hadn’t he married at some point? Was his wife here or was he divorced?
Zach’s arm tightened around her waist. “Sorry, Leann’s with me. Sweetheart, can I get you a drink?”
She needed to remember to thank him later. Henry had always given her a strange vibe and it wasn’t a pleasant one.
“Dirty martini and make it a double, please.”
Leann had a feeling it wouldn’t be her last drink tonight.
* * *
The ballroom was a crush of bodies, the largest crowd yet at any of the reunion functions. After mingling for awhile, Zach found himself on the dance floor with Leann. It was a good way to get a good view of all of the guests without looking like he was watching them. He wasn’t flush with rhythm but he had a few moves that kept him from being totally lame. Leann, on the other hand was fantastic, her body movements graceful. He didn’t want to enjoy being this close to her but he couldn’t help himself. She was an attractive woman and his love life pretty much sucked because all he did was work.
He’d almost kissed her at the gym this afternoon and he was equal parts relieved and regretful. He did desperately want to kiss her but he was having trouble reminding himself that she was off-limits. Jason would geld him with a dull spoon if Zach touched his little sister. Thank God his phone had rang because he hadn’t been about to stop. Her lips had been far too tempting.
Trying not to think about how her body brushed against his and how his pulse raced whenever she was in the room, Zach asked her question after question about the people in attendance. Anything to get his mind out of the gutter and back onto the case. He couldn’t seem to drag his gaze away from the curtain of fiery red hair, the mouthwatering curves shown off to perfection in that black dress, and most of all that creamy skin that begged to be touched and caressed. Every time she twirled, her skirt lifted and revealed a tempting amount of thigh that almost had him on his knees in worship. It was only through hard won self-control and the memory of his employer that kept him from pulling her a little closer or maybe trying to steal a kiss in the shadows.
Jesus, it’s like the surface of the sun in here.
He’d worked up a sweat and he could use something cool. “How about I get us a couple of drinks?”
“That sounds like a great idea. Just a soda for me. I’ll see if I can get us a table.”
Her reply was drowned out by the sounds of angry, raised voices near the men’s room. At three inches over six feet, Zach had an excellent vantage point to see what was going on, and from where he stood it looked like Drew Marshall and Troy Wallace were in each other’s face. Troy was shoving his finger into Drew’s chest – an aggressive move – and Drew wasn’t backing down. Even from here Zach could see their faces, bright red with fury. If they didn’t cool down right away the altercation was going to deteriorate into a brawl.
Leann stood on her tiptoes, her gaze darting around the room. “What’s going on? I can’t see a thing.”
“Drew Marshall and Troy Wallace are going all caveman on each other. Wait here.”
Now this was interesting and just might be the break he needed. Zach thrust himself headfirst into the crowd that had gathered around the men. Shouldering his way through the crush of bodies, he managed to insert himself between Drew and Troy just as the latter threw the first punch. Zach awkwardly caught it and he had to brace his legs and spread his arms out, placing a hand on each man’s straining chest.
“Just fucking stop it. If you want to beat the hell out of each other, take it outside.”
Where I’ll follow you to see what you’re arguing about.
Troy pointed his finger toward Drew. “I’ll take it outside if he has the guts. I don’t think he does.”
Pushing against Zach’s hand, Drew replied with some trash talk. “I’ll meet you anywhere at anytime and kick your ass.”
“Big man with this guy protecting you,” Troy jeered, spittle flying out of his mouth.
Zach wanted to punch both of these guys. Just because. He hated it when men put their testosterone on display in some childish effort to one-up the other person. This was behavior that should have been left in high school.
“He’s protecting you, asshole,” Drew growled.
Sick and tired of their juvenile bickering, Zach gave each of them a big shove backward. “I’m not protecting anyone but the innocent bystanders.”
Jenna Marshall ran up to Drew clearly distressed with tears in her eyes, tugging at his arm trying to pull him away from Troy. “Just stop it. Stop this right now. He isn’t worth it. You’ll end up spending the night in jail.”
Troy tried to push closer but Zach held him back. “I didn’t do anything.”
Jenna looked over her shoulder at the other man, her lips pressed into a thin line. “Shut up and get out of here, Troy. I don’t want you. No one wants you.”
Was this over Jenna?
Drew rubbed his chin and then seemed to relax. “You’re right, babe. You’re right.”
She caressed his cheek and he leaned down to give her a brief kiss before returning his attention to Troy.
“Stay the fuck away from my wife.”
Troy grinned and laughed. “Or what?”
“Or you’ll regret it,” Drew said quietly, anger still written clearly in his features. “Come on, babe. Let’s get back to our friends.”
Drew and Jenna disappeared into the crowd that was quickly dispersing now that the excitement was done. Troy, however, didn’t seem ready for it to be over and he kept throwing his arms in the air and running off at the mouth about how everyone always took Drew’s side.
Leann joined Zach, handing him a tall glass of water. “I thought you might want something cold to drink. That certainly was interesting. Are you okay?”
He rubbed his right shoulder where Troy’s fist had glanced off of him. “I’m fine. Troy doesn’t have much of a right hook. I think Drew could have taken him.”
Crossing her arms over her chest, she watched as Troy headed out of the main entrance to the ballroom. “He’s had a crush on Jenna for years but I’ve never seen him go after Drew. At least, I’ve never witnessed it.”
A guy with a temper like that didn’t suddenly acquire it. Zach would bet his next paycheck that wasn’t out of character behavior for Troy Wallace.
“I think he had too much to drink tonight and let his old crush get the better of him. Hopefully he’ll be embarrassed tomorrow morning.”
Leann gave him a dubious look. “Maybe. He was mumbling and complaining under his breath as he walked out of here. That’s not the action of a sorry man.”
“I said he’d be sorry tomorrow.”
“I stand corrected.”
He drained the glass and set it on a side table. “I think I told you to stay put.”
She nodded, mischief in her brown eyes. “I have poor listening skills. I also don’t work well with others or share my toys. Back in first grade I brought in candy but not enough for everyone in the class.”
“I just wanted to keep you safe but clearly you’re a menace to Tremont society,” Zach teased. They were having a great time together. It was almost like a real date. But not quite, of course. Because she wasn’t for him and he fucking needed to remember that. “Now how about that drink?”
Jenna bounded up to them, smiling now that the situation was resolved. It appeared that Troy had left the reunion so all was well in the world. “Zach, Leann, come join us, you two. We’re going to do a toast to the Class of 2002.”
Jenna had quickly retreated back to her table and friends but the invitation was still open. Zach raised an inquiring brow to Leann. It was up to her.
“So would you like to join your friends?”
Better to be in with a group of people than be alone with her. His mind was going places that he knew better than to visit.
“I love champagne,” she said with a smile, linking her arm with his. “What about you?”
He hated the stuff but it was the beverage of the evening, so he’d deal with it. It was, however, a much-needed reminder that they’d lived very different lives. He was a kid from the streets and she’d been born with a silver spoon.
“Lead the way.”