“Yeah, I will,” Allison grumbled, not sounding the least bit thankful. And maybe she was that petty, that small after all.
Two hours later, gratitude edged petty and small aside. Brad, the guy Zach sent to help, was about six-five and weighed as much as Allison, Bethany and the baby combined. It had taken some serious lifting to cart everything inside. From there, Brad went about breaking down the boxes and assembling the dresser, crib, changing table and rocking chair, thanks to a half a dozen tools Allison couldn’t begin to name pulled from a box roughly the size of an overnight bag.
The furniture was huddled in the middle of the nursery because they had yet to paint the walls the soft yellow Bethany wanted. The color would be a perfect contrast to the white furniture while the sheets, blankets and accessories she’d picked out were all in matching pastels.
The room was still a little bare, but at least now it was starting to look like a nursery. And Bethany seemed to be moving forward instead of staying stuck in separation limbo—like time would somehow fail to move on until she and Gage reconciled.
While Brad put the furniture together, Allison had helped Bethany move the rocking chair around the room, trying to find the perfect spot that would allow her a view out the window without being hit by the full afternoon sun. As Bethany rocked gently, her hand on her rounded stomach, a far-off look crossed her features.
“You’ll be holding your baby in no time,” Allison told her sister.
“I can’t wait,” Bethany said, but her smile was a little shaky, and Allison knew her sister had to be thinking about Gage.
“Seems like yesterday I was putting baby furniture together for my own kid,” Brad said, his dark eyes twinkling as he gave the crib a shake. From what she could see, the sturdy piece didn’t move an inch.
“We really appreciate you doing this, especially on such short notice.”
“No problem. I told Zach if he ever needed a favor, all he had to do was call.”
Sincerity shown in the man’s eyes. From what Allison could tell, Brad seemed like a good guy. A beer-drinking, poker-playing, sports-on-the-weekend kind of guy. She already knew he drove a truck, and if his baseball hat could be believed, the occasional lawn tractor.
He was not, however, the kind of guy Allison would ever have figured to be friends with Zach Wilder.
Curiosity itched like poison oak, but she refused to scratch. It didn’t matter why or how Brad and Zach came to be friends. She was grateful for their help—end of story.
“So, how do you know Zach?”
“Bethany!” Allison protested, her own vows falling to the wayside thanks to her sister’s simple curiosity. “That’s none of our business.”
Her eyes wide, Bethany held out her hands in surrender. “Sorry. Didn’t know it was a state secret!”
“I don’t think it is,” Brad chuckled. “We actually met through my wife. He stopped to do her a favor, and I’ve owed him ever since. I didn’t really think I’d have the chance to pay him back, so I’m grateful you two ladies needed help.”
Maybe she could look at it that way, Allison thought. As helping out Brad rather than accepting help from Zach….
Coward, the voice rejoined.
And, yeah, if Allison were honest with herself, that was more like it. She was afraid to see this side of Zach. Gorgeous or not, the cool-headed, cold-hearted businessman was someone Allison could resist. She didn’t need someone like that in her life, refused to have someone like that in her life.
She’d already known it wouldn’t be that easy, and that not even Zach could be so one-dimensional as she’d learned Friday night on a chandelier-lit dance floor. But the last thing she needed was anything that would make him even more attractive.
Once Brad left, amid multiple thanks from both women, Bethany ran her hand along the crib’s closely spaced guard-rails. “So,” she said, her voice more matter-of-fact than curious, “are you going to tell me what’s up with you and Zach?”
“Nothing’s up. We’re working together on a project.”
“If there’s nothing going on, how do you explain this?” her sister challenged, waving a hand at the nearly completed nursery.
Explain this… Still at a loss, Allison wryly said, “Maybe he’s decided he can’t do without me at work, and he knows if I tried to put all this stuff together, I’d have to take off for a week.”
“Not to mention the extra time for someone else to take it all apart and put it back together the right way,” Bethany murmured, a slight smile tilting the corners of her mouth.
“Ouch,” Allison protested, holding a hand to her wounded heart. “That hurts.” But she wasn’t the least bit offended by her sister’s ribbing. It had been far too long since her sister had teased her.
And Allison supposed she had Zach to thank for that as well.
When she left Bethany’s later that evening, Allison had every intention of heading home. The storm had washed the streets clean, leaving shallow pools that reflected the red, yellow and green of the stoplights and filled the air with the clean scent of rain. It was the perfect kind of evening to fix a cup of tea, curl up with a good book, turn the air conditioner down and pretend the weather was actually cold.
Besides, it was after seven o’clock. The workday had long since ended at Knox…for everyone but Zach. Allison didn’t doubt for one minute he’d still be at his desk working. And he’ll be in first thing tomorrow morning, she reminded herself. So you can thank him then. But despite the stern reminder, she took the turn that led down a very familiar road.
And not simply because she drove the street to work every day.
Allison pulled into the parking garage a few minutes later with a plan firmly in mind. She would thank Zach for his help, and that was it. She was climbing from the car when a familiar figure a few rows over caught her attention. She’d never admit it to anyone, didn’t like admitting it to herself, but she’d recognize Zach’s straight-shouldered, purposeful stride anywhere. He had a duffel bag slung over one shoulder. Judging by the intense frown on his face, he carried the weight of the world inside.
His car was parked on the other side of the garage, and he had yet to glance her way. She could slide back into the driver’s seat and save her gratitude for the morning. No one needed to know she’d stopped by to see him…
Zach dropped the duffel bag inside the trunk and slammed it closed. But instead of circling the car and climbing inside the driver’s seat, he stayed where he was, both hands braced against the trunk. Frustration rolled off him in waves, and Allison didn’t have to ask how his work on the presentation had gone to know he wasn’t happy.
And any thoughts of slipping away unnoticed fell by the wayside. She slammed the door harder than necessary to alert Zach to her presence before she strolled across the parking garage. “Hey, Zach.”
Straightening, he turned to face her, whatever frustration she’d seen earlier wiped from his handsome face. If she didn’t know better, she would have sworn nothing was wrong. If she didn’t know him better…
Leaning a hip against the car, as if he didn’t have a care in the world, Zach said, “What are you doing here? I thought you had a furniture emergency.”
“I did, until you came to the rescue.”
“I didn’t do anything.” Leaning forward slightly, he added, “I was working.”
He was close enough to catch a hint of his aftershave, an intriguing combination of citrus and spice, and to see the flecks of ebony in his blue eyes. The combination sent an electric awareness streaking all the way down to her fingers and toes. Tempted to move closer, to sink her tingling fingers into his dark hair, Allison held her ground instead and did not give in to the urge to inhale even more of his scent. “You sent Brad. He was a huge help, and you were right. There was no way I could have moved all the furniture inside or put it together.”
Expecting an I-told-you-so, Zach surprised her by merely shrugging. “I made a phone call. No big deal.”
Exce
pt it was, even though Allison didn’t want it to be. “I’ll pay you back. Whatever Brad charges, give me the bill and I’ll handle it.”
Zach shook his head. “Forget it. The guy felt he owed me a favor.”
“Why?”
He rolled his eyes at her demand. “You aren’t gonna let this go, are you?”
“Nope. So you might as well tell me now and save me from asking another dozen times.”
“His wife had a flat tire on the side of the road. It was late at night in a not-so-great part of town. I stopped and helped her out.”
“And yet her husband seemed to think he owed you?”
“The spare seemed a little questionable, so I followed her home to make sure she didn’t have any more problems. But really, it was—”
“No big deal. I got it.”
“Anyway, I remembered that Brad worked for a moving company. It seemed like a good time to call in that favor.”
A favor he never would have called in on his own, Allison knew. Which meant he’d done it for her.
Despite her supposed tenacity, Allison didn’t ask him why, not even once. Instead, she said, “If you aren’t going to let me pay you back for this, will you at least let me take you out to dinner?”
A look of surprise crossed his face, and Allison quickly worked to diffuse it. “Only as a thank-you.”
She read the refusal in his eyes and told herself she was glad. Momentary rejection was a small price to pay for temporary insanity. Because, really, what was she thinking, asking Zach to dinner? Even as a simple show of gratitude, she had breached all kinds of barriers both of them knew better than to cross, and thank goodness he was going to say no—
“You’re on.”
“What?”
“Dinner. Where do you want to go?”
“Um…” Too stunned by his unexpected acceptance, Allison couldn’t think of a single restaurant. “Are you sure you don’t have other plans?”
“I was going to go to the gym.” He frowned as if suddenly aware he’d altered his plans—not to mention broken his own rule—by saying yes.
Allison waited for him to change his mind, wanted him to change his mind, but then the image of Zach standing by the car, arms braced against the trunk flashed in her mind. And even though she knew she’d likely regret it later, she said, “You want to drive or should I?”
In the end, Zach drove as Allison figured he would. He asked her choice of restaurant, and she named a place close to work. She’d been to the Italian restaurant for lunch before and figured it was a safe pick. But she hadn’t counted on the ambient switch from day to night. On the soft music playing in the background. On the low lighting or the soft glow of the centerpiece candles. And when the hostess led them to a secluded table in a far corner of the restaurant, Allison felt her face start to heat.
Would Zach see this as some kind of romantic come-on? The last thing she needed was for him to think she was hitting on him, especially when her invitation to dinner had been completely innocent, a thank-you for his help.
When Zach placed a hand at the small of her back, shivers ran up and down her spine—a silent mockery of her noble intentions—and Allison practically dropped into the chair. And, okay, so maybe her feelings weren’t completely innocent, but she certainly had no intention of acting on those not-so-innocent feelings.
A smile kicked up the corners of his mouth as he murmured, “Nice place.”
Jerking her gaze back up to his eyes, she hoped the way too romantic mood lighting at least hid the heat flooding her face. “I’ve only been here during the day. For lunch. When it’s not so—”
“Not so what?” he prompted when her voice trailed off.
Romantic. Seductive. Intimate. The words bounced through her brain, along with the far more worrying thought that maybe it wasn’t the restaurant. Maybe it was all Zach and she’d still feel the awareness humming beneath her skin even seated across from him in a fast food restaurant that boasted a jungle gym and red-haired clown.
“Not so crowded,” Allison substituted, hoping mind reading wasn’t one of Zach Wilder’s considerable talents.
Judging by the knowing smile he gave, it just might be. Candlelight reflected in his eyes, the tiny dancing flames tempting her to come closer to the fire. “So, you were hoping for something a little more private?”
Allison forced a bland smile. “I was hoping for fast service. I have a very important presentation in the works, not to mention the Collins Jewelers groundbreaking tomorrow morning.”
It was a cop-out, she knew, for her to bring up work, and it didn’t even have the effect she’d counted on. She thought the mere mention of the presentation and groundbreaking ceremony would make Zach jump right back over the professional line they’d crossed, but instead he laughed, the flash of teeth and the spark in his eyes making him look very nonprofessional and even more appealing.
“How very conscientious of you, Ms. Warner. You might end up with a promotion after this.”
Allison knew he meant the words as a compliment, but she had to suppress a shudder. That was the next to last thing she needed, second only to any kind of romantic involvement with Zach. She caught the speculative look in his expression but was saved from having to answer questions by the waitress’s arrival. The woman placed two glasses of ice water in front of them along with a basket of warm, mouthwatering breadsticks. She ordered the cheese ravioli while Zach placed an order for a trio of lasagna, spaghetti and manicotti that honestly did sound like plenty of food for three people.
“You know, I realized something when I picked you up at your place the other night.”
“Uh-oh. What deep dark secret of mine have you uncovered?”
“The thing is,” Zach leaned closer, erasing the distance the table put between them, “I couldn’t help noticing…you don’t have an alarm system.”
Allison jerked back, swallowing an abrupt laugh as well as healthy dose of embarrassment. Had she really thought Zach was coming on to her? Had she really expected him to say he’d noticed something attractive, remarkable, irresistible about her?
Idiot, she thought, giving in to the laughter. “Got to hand it to you, Zach. You are quite the salesman. I didn’t even see that one coming.”
Drawing back slightly, he blinked in surprise before protesting, “That wasn’t a sales pitch. You’re a single woman, living alone—”
Still convinced she was being sold, she waved a careless hand. “Yeah, yeah, I know, but I live in a good neighborhood.”
“Good neighborhoods are usually the ones where homes are broken in to. Thieves don’t bother to break in if you have nothing to steal. And the bad guys aren’t always looking to rip off a flat screen TV.”
Refusing to let him scare her, she protested, “Zach—”
“Look, just listen. When I was a teenager, it was my mom and me. After my dad died, I worked my way through high school, doing the usual jobs—fast food, car washes, waiter. Anything that had hours available evenings and weekends. Anyway, one night when I was still at work, my mom was home alone. She was getting ready for bed when she heard a sound from the back patio. My mother’s a brave woman, not the kind to jump at shadows or call the police because she hears a noise. She figured it was the neighbor’s cat or that the wind had knocked a flowerpot off a ledge. So, she went downstairs to check it out. She’d just reached the bottom step when she saw him.”
Feeling like she was listening to an urban legend told around a flickering campfire—only this story was true— Allison swallowed. “Someone had broken in?”
“My mom didn’t get a good look at the guy. She turned and ran back upstairs. She knew she’d be trapped there, but he was blocking the back door, and she would have had to run right in front of him to get to the front door. So she ran upstairs and locked the bedroom door. She told the guy she was calling the cops, but 911 had her on hold and this psycho was pounding on a hollow door with a push button lock that didn’t have a chance of keeping him out un
til the cops showed up.”
Allison didn’t want to even imagine herself in that position, but it was impossible not to empathize. “She must have been terrified.”
“She was, but luckily, I got off work early that night. I think the guy heard the car door slam and was too stupid or too stoned to realize there was no way the cops could have gotten to the house so fast. He split out the back before I even knew anything was wrong.”
“And your mother was okay?”
“Yeah, she was fine, but we got an alarm system the next week.” Zach took a drink of water before he added, “I struck up a conversation with George Hardaway, the guy who did the install, and a few months later, he hooked me up with a job at Knox.”
“When you were still a teenager?” Allison knew Zach had worked at the company for at least five years, the watch he’d received told her that, but she hadn’t realized he worked there so much longer.
“Yeah, it’s going on a dozen years now. I started out installing on weekends and evenings when I was in high school and then in college. After I graduated I moved into customer service and then sales.”
“No wonder you’re so good at it. With a sales pitch like that, who could refuse?”
Zach frowned. “It’s not a sales pitch.”
Regret instantly swamped Allison. She’d meant her comment as a compliment, but she could see how he might have taken it as one of her flippant remarks. “Zach—”
“Here you go. Cheese ravioli and our signature trio.” The waitress’s arrival interrupted Allison’s apology, and she had to wait until she’d told the young woman that no, she didn’t need water, yes, she’d like grated parmesan on her ravioli, and no, thank you, she didn’t need anything else before she could continue.
“I’m sorry, Zach. I didn’t mean to trivialize what happened to your mother.”
“It’s okay.”
Thinking his acceptance of her apology happened way too easily, Allison went on. “I only meant you have a personal experience your clients can relate to.” One that was much more meaningful than the facts and figures he’d quoted Riana or the techno-speak he used when telling Daryl about the Collins presentation.
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