by Dylann Crush
The ride up the seventy-two percent incline hadn’t been nearly as nerve wracking as the trip down in a thirty-five-foot RV. Zach glanced back to check on Reagan as they careened around a hairpin turn. Her face had taken on an ashy gray tone, and her lips moved in some silent chant. Probably a prayer. Even for an adrenaline junkie like himself, the ride had him clutching the handle above his head.
Bob’s hands skimmed the oversized steering wheel like he was out for a drive on some flat country road, not navigating down a treacherous, one-and-a-half lane mountain pass. “So are y’all on vacation out here?” he asked.
“Not really,” Zach said. “On our way to Florida for a wedding, so just passing through.”
“Oh, I love weddings,” Shelly chimed in from the back. “Who’s getting married?”
Zach turned his head toward Reagan. Her eyes flew open and took on a deer-in-the-headlights look. “Um, it’s a…”
“We are.” The words sailed out of his mouth before he had time to even think about it. Dammit. He could have thrown a cousin, a college roommate, for fuck’s sake, even a co-worker, under the bus.
Reagan’s eyes went from deer-in-the-headlights to sheer and utter terror. He raised his shoulders in slight shrug of an apology.
Shelly squealed, drawing his attention away from Reagan’s shell-shocked face.
“How long have y’all been engaged? How did he propose?” Shelly asked.
Zach waited for Reagan to respond, but she stared straight ahead like she’d been suddenly turned to stone. He cleared his throat. She glanced his direction, her eyes full of accusation.
“Um, we haven’t been together too long. The proposal though, that was really something. You want to tell her about it, cupcake?”
“Oh, you do a much better job, sugarlips. Go on ahead,” Reagan said through clenched teeth.
Figured. He’d hoped she’d be willing to play along and help him dig himself out of the hole, but it looked like he was on his own. An engagement story, hell, he could come up with something. “Well, we were down in the Keys on a private island last fall…”
Reagan’s head snapped up. Private island, huh? That seemed to get her attention. He’d have to follow up on that later.
“That sounds so romantic!” Shelly squealed and clasped her hands together.
“Yeah,” Zach continued. “We’d been sunbathing at the clothing-optional beach and…”
“Clothing optional?” Bob asked. “You mean like a nudist kinda thing?”
Reagan gave an almost imperceptible shake of her head as a slight flush of pink tinted her cheeks. He shouldn’t be enjoying this as much as he was, but dammit, he loved to watch her squirm. It had been her fault they missed the train. She deserved to sit in the hot seat for a little bit.
“Reagan goes for that type of thing,” Zach said.
“Oh, my God!” Reagan said. “Seriously?”
“It’s okay, cupcake. There’s no judgment here.” Zach blew her a kiss.
“Yeah, keep going,” Bob said, shifting in his seat.
“So, we’d come in from the beach, and I had the hotel staff spread rose petals around the room and over the bed. I had champagne on ice and chocolate-covered strawberries delivered. I got down on one knee and told her I couldn’t imagine my life without her and asked her to be my wife.”
“Were y’all still naked at that point?” Bob asked.
Great, visions of him and Reagan naked would probably be running through this guy’s head later. Leave it to him to pick the pervy guy at the info desk to drive them down the hill.
“No,” Reagan said. “I didn’t feel comfortable at the nude beach, so I wore my swimsuit. Zach was in the buff though. He’ll use any excuse to show off his special piercings.”
Reagan shot him a sassy smirk, and his dick perked up. Was this her idea of getting even for the fake engagement slip? He’d love to show her his “special piercings” along with a few other things.
Shelly’s face screwed up in confusion. “What kind of special piercings?”
“Oh, you should see them. Right down the front of his—”
“That’s enough now, angelface,” Zach said. “To make a long story short, she said yes, and now we’re headed back to where the magic happened to make it official.” He nodded to himself. That should put an end to any questions. Little did Reagan know, she had come a little too close to the truth with some of her improvising.
“So you got your, uh…” Bob glanced his way and cleared his throat. “Isn’t that painful?”
“Hey, how long have you had this rig? Handles pretty smooth on this incline.” Zach shot a look back at Reagan. The smug smile on her face was a nice change from the pre-puke look she’d had a few minutes ago.
Bob launched into a detailed explanation about how he’d decided on this model of recreational vehicle. Zach pretended to pay attention. The whole time his ears remained trained on the conversation between the two women. Shelly continued to pump Reagan for information, but Reagan sounded like she was blowing her off. He’d probably get an earful when and if they ever got to the bottom of the blasted mountain. It would be worth it, though. That look on her face when he mentioned the nude beach… definitely worth having strangers think he had piercings on his dick. He wasn’t about to tell them there was just the one.
The RV continued to descend the hill. After a tense stand-off with an old Bronco where the lanes narrowed around an outcropping of rocks, they reached the bottom of the mountain. Bob brought the motor home to a stop in front of the train station and shoved the gear shift into park.
Zach climbed out of his seat and offered his hand. “Thanks, man. You really saved my ass up there.”
Bob pulled him closer and muttered under his breath, “The piercings, do they really, uh, for her, is it better?”
“Haven’t heard any complaints.” Zach gripped his hand tighter. “Make sure you check out a place before you let them near your junk.”
Reagan stood and made her way to the door. “How do I get this open?”
“Oh, let me.” Shelly rushed to the door, flipped the lock, and swung the door open. “Before y’all go, I just want to say congratulations. You’ll make such a beautiful bride. Here, I want you to have this.” She unpinned a ribbon from a board she had suspended on the wall and passed a pendant to Reagan.
“I can’t accept this,” Reagan said, refusing to take the necklace. Looked like she wanted him to step in. He decided to wait it out and see what would happen.
“You should have it.” Shelly pressed the pendant into Reagan’s hand. “Bob gave me one like it on our first anniversary. Paper, that’s the traditional anniversary gift. He wrote me a little love note and tucked it inside. It’s a locket.”
“It’s beautiful,” Reagan said. “But I can’t accept a gift.”
Bob came up behind them. “You’ll hurt her feelings if you don’t take it. That’s one of her most popular items. Go on, now.”
Shelly nodded. “It can be your something new for your wedding.”
“Come on, Reagan. For the wedding.” Zach nudged his shoulder into hers and whispered into her ear. “Take the damn necklace so we can get the hell out of here.”
Reagan smiled and dropped the necklace in her pocket. “Thanks so much. And thanks for the ride. We appreciate it.”
Bob wrapped his arms around them in an awkward group hug. “Sometimes people are put in our lives for a brief period of time for a reason. I think that’s what happened here today. Nice getting to know y’all. Take care now, ya hear?”
Zach patted Bob on the shoulder and extricated himself from the embrace. “You, too. Beautiful family you’ve got here. Safe travels.”
Reagan had already climbed out of the motor home. He stepped down and stood next to her on the curb. Neither of them said a word while they waited for Bob and Shelly to get situated and pull away. As the RV eased into the light early evening traffic, Reagan elbowed him in the side.
“Married! Why in th
e world would you tell them we’re getting married?” She whirled away and walked off in the general direction of the parked car.
He took several giant strides to catch up. “Would you rather I tell them the truth?”
“No. I’d rather we hadn’t detoured here in the first place. No more stops. No more distractions. No more interruptions. Is that clear?”
“Crystal.” He pushed the button on the key ring and unlocked the car doors.
As he slid into the bucket seat, Reagan held the necklace out to him. He reached for the ivory ribbon. “You sure you don’t want this? Shelly meant for you to have it.”
Reagan’s glare drilled through him like a laser beam. “For the wedding. The wedding that’s not ever happening.” She pulled the seatbelt over her chest and let out a burst of an exhale.
“Aw, never say never. And here I was looking forward to the honeymoon already.”
“Can we go now, or do you want to find some other strangers to lie to?” She gestured to the road then glared out the window.
“Believe me, cupcake. Getting you to Miami is my top priority.”
He reversed out of the parking space and gunned the gas, sending the wheels spinning and gravel flying out behind them. As the car fishtailed and straightened, he sneaked a peek at Reagan. Damn, was she crying? With her forehead pressed to the window, he couldn’t see her face. He had a tendency to push things too far, and he’d done it again. He wanted to reach over and comfort her. Say something that would ease her mind and lighten the mood between them.
Instead, he focused on retracing their route to the highway. The sooner he got her to Miami, the sooner he could put all of this behind him. Senator Campbell had warned him years ago to stay away from his daughter. Zach hadn’t had a problem with that until she fell into his lap. No matter how hot she looked in his T-shirt or how she ignited his libido, revisiting the past with Reagan couldn’t happen.
The hollow twinge pulsed under his rib cage, higher this time than before. As he accelerated onto the highway, he rationalized it away. Keep your eye on the prize, Anderson. Get her to the wedding and get the next job done. That was exactly what he intended to do.
13
Reagan let about an hour go by before she trusted herself to speak. Maybe it was the stress over not being at the wedding yet, the intensity of spending the past two days with Zach, or the fact that she hadn’t changed her underwear in forty-eight hours, but something was getting to her and she didn’t like it. Still faced with the fact that she was down a photographer, it was time to make nice with Zach if she had any hope of him standing in. She took in a few deep breaths and angled her body toward him.
He nodded along with the classic rock drifting out of the speakers. The setting sun flooded through the driver side window, casting the interior of the car in a mixture of shadows. He fumbled with something on the console between them.
“Want some fudge?”
Her hands ran over her stomach. How did he eat like this all the time and keep such a ripped bod? “No, thanks.”
“It’s rocky road.” He glanced her way.
“Maybe a little bite.” Her fingers brushed his as she took the fudge and a shiver ran through her at the contact. “Thanks.”
“You cold?” he asked, his hand already adjusting the temperature.
“No. I’m fine. It’s… I’m sorry about before. You were right. It was my fault we got stuck on the hill.” She swallowed the lump in her throat, along with her pride. Reagan didn’t have a problem admitting when she was wrong. But she didn’t necessarily like to admit when Zach was right.
He took a moment before he responded. “I’m sorry, too. About saying we were getting married. They caught me off guard.”
“It’s okay.”
Silence filled the car again, but instead of a stony silence, the mood had lightened to a comfortable quiet. Dusk coated the landscape. The orange and red tones muted into light gray, then inky blackness, making the trees look like twisted shadows on the side of the road.
Zach’s voice took on a gravelly tone when he finally spoke. “You ever think about it?”
“Think about what?” Her brow furrowed, and she studied his profile from the light of the dashboard.
“Getting married. Settling down. Maybe even having a kid or two. Seems like that’s what everyone expects.”
Reagan’s heart thudded so hard in her chest, she was sure he’d be able to hear it over the surround-sound speakers. “Sure I think about it. Don’t you?”
“You ever get close?”
“To settling down?”
He nodded.
“Once. Junior year of college.”
“What happened?”
She waited for the familiar pain to spread through her. It had faded from full-fledged heartbreak to a dull ache over the years. “My dad’s people did a background check. Turns out he had a record. I guess he sold some weed to a few friends back in high school.”
“And you had no idea?”
“Nope. He said he wanted to tell me about it when we got serious, but he knew my dad wouldn’t let me see him anymore. He made a mistake, had paid the price, and was ready to move on with his life.”
“But your dad didn’t see it that way.”
“Nope. Told me if I didn’t call things off, he’d stop paying my college tuition and cut me off completely. In hindsight, I probably should have stood up to him, then.”
Zach looked over. “Why didn’t you?”
She shrugged. “I was scared. Where would I go? You have no idea how far my dad’s reach extends.”
“I can guess. So dates have to be dad-approved?”
If only he knew. Not only did her potential dates have to be screened for political connections, her dad also did a complete background check on all of them. Thanks to the due diligence of his office staff, she hadn’t had a real date in over two years. Not that she wanted to admit that to Mr. I-Can-Date-Any-Supermodel-I-Want.
“Something like that. What about you? Do you ever get tired of supermodels and string bikinis?”
Zach snorted. “You know, I spend most of my time in front of a computer touching up photos. But, sure. I’d love to settle down. In fact, I’ve got a plan. One or two more jobs and I might have enough saved up to set up my studio as a home base. I want to move into more travel or location photography.”
“And the wife and kids?”
“Bring it on. Two point five munchkins, minivan, the whole shebang.”
“What, no dog?”
“Dogs aren’t really my thing. Did you notice that scar on my lip? Got that when I tangled with a stray down in Cuba. Thought he wanted a bite of my sandwich, but he wanted to chew off my face instead. But maybe a cat. Or at least a hamster. Yeah, I could handle that.”
He joked like he didn’t mean it, but she heard an underlying truth to his words. What kind of a girl would Zach be attracted to? Size zero, twenty-two-inch waist, bleached blonde hair and skin bronzed by the sun? Probably a Brazilian beauty with a gravity-defying badonkadonk. Reagan had done those Brazilian Butt lift workouts to no effect.
“Hamsters are nocturnal. They’ll drive you crazy on their wheel all night long. How about a cat instead?”
“We’ll see. Closest thing I’ve had to a pet in the past ten years is a cricket I can’t seem to find in my apartment. Every time I’m home for a few days he starts to chirp. Drives me up a fucking wall.”
Reagan squinted, trying to figure out if he was joking with her again. “How do you know it’s the same cricket?”
“Because he carries an umbrella and introduced himself as Jiminy.”
“Good one.”
Zach nodded. “It was, wasn’t it?”
How did he do it? She’d never felt so comfortable and at ease yet so aware of the man next to her as she did with Zach. He possessed a certain combination of sex appeal and boyish charm. It made her mind go fuzzy and other parts of her tingle with anticipation of the possibilities between them.
“Hey, can I ask you something?”
“Sure, what’s up?” He glanced her way, and she slouched against the door.
Something about being cloaked in the darkness of the car made her a bit braver. What did she have to lose? She and Zach would be going their separate ways soon.
Before she chickened out, she forced the words out in a rush. “That night in the closet, if someone hadn’t opened the door on us, how far would you have let it go?” Her face burned as the question raced across the short distance between them. The silence stretched, the pregnant pause drawing out into an uncomfortable awkward void.
“Forget it,” she said, waving her hand in front of her. “It was a stupid question.”
“No.” Zach’s hand fumbled for hers. He glanced from her to the road and back. “I would have let it go as far as you would have, Reagan.”
She let out a breath on a long exhale, followed by a startling hiccup. He laughed but didn’t pull his hand away. A low burn simmered in her stomach and traveled past her belly to settle in between her thighs.
Their eyes held the contact for a long moment. A much longer moment than they should have, seeing as how they were traveling seventy-five miles an hour down a dark interstate. Zach looked away first and Reagan’s gaze followed, just in time to see something brown flash in front of the windshield before a jarring impact tossed her body forward, causing the seatbelt to lock. Zach slammed on the brakes and the car skidded to a stop on the side of the road.
“Are you okay?” Zach leaned toward Reagan. Her hands pressed over her heart. If hers was pounding half as hard as his, she probably felt like she was about to go into cardiac arrest.
She nodded.
“What the hell was that?” he asked.
“I don’t know. Something bounced off the front of the car. Was it a deer?”
“You sure you’re all right?” He cracked his door to turn on the interior light. Her face seemed paler than usual.
“Yeah, a little shook up. You?”
“I’m going to check and see if whatever we hit is still back there. Wait here?”