by Zoe Chant
Teri’s eyes were wistful. “You’re making me wish I could be a ranger.”
“No reason you couldn’t be,” Zach countered. “I mean, you have to apply to school, and pay for it, but why not? You’re an experienced hiker and you know Glacier like the back of your hand, right?”
“Well, I wouldn’t go quite that far. It’s a big place. I’ve spent a lot of time there.”
“So? Don’t think they don’t take women—we’re all guys here so far, but that just means we don’t have enough women on the team.”
That got him another beautiful smile. “That’s not what most men say about all-male professions, I don’t think.”
“None of us are ‘most men,’” Zach said firmly. “We’re all shifters, for one.”
He hadn’t thought about the implications of that, but Teri caught him on it. “I’m not a shifter,” she pointed out.
“It’s not a rule or anything,” he protested, but she was shaking her head.
“I can’t think about any kind of job that requires school just yet,” she said. “I can’t afford to pay for anything. I need to get a job I can start right away, so I can save up enough to move out and pay my own bills.”
Well, that was a point he couldn’t argue with. “Okay. I just meant—don’t count it out as something that could happen, someday.”
“All right.” Teri’s smile was small, like she wasn’t sure if she could really be happy about something so far away.
Zach wanted to wrap her up in his arms and tell her everything would be okay. Warring with that, though, was the desire to see her standing on her own two feet, taking on the world and succeeding at every turn.
The waitress picked that moment to come by with their check, and Zach was started to see that it was almost nine PM. They’d been talking for over two and a half hours.
“What do you want to do?” he asked Teri, after he’d handed the waitress his card. “I can drive you home, or we could get drinks, or dessert, or whatever you want.” He hoped Teri didn’t want to go straight home. He wasn’t ready for the evening to be over.
And sure enough, she said, “I wish I never had to go home. Let’s stay out a bit longer. Or a lot longer.”
“Any all-night places around here?” he asked with a grin.
She laughed. “If only! No, we’re not an all-night kind of town. I will eventually have to go home and sleep in my own bed, sadly.” Then she glanced up at him and blushed.
Sadly. “I’ll stay out with you as late as you want,” he said, “and if you want to come back to my place for a drink, or dessert—I think we have some ice cream in the freezer—we don’t close at midnight. And I promise you that I won’t take that as meaning anything but a drink or dessert.”
Much as he’d like to. The thought of kissing Teri, touching her, feeling those soft curves pressed up against him, getting his mouth on her everywhere—
Zach forced himself to stop thinking about it. As attracted as he was to Teri, he wanted her to be sure that if she came over to his and Joel’s place, she’d be absolutely safe and there was no chance he’d do anything she didn’t want.
Anything she did want, now...well, that was another story.
“That...actually sounds wonderful,” Teri was saying. “If your brother won’t mind me barging in without an invitation.”
Zach waved a hand. “Joel won’t care. He might even be camping out tonight, he was talking about wanting to be close at hand in case any of the tourists got into trouble.”
“Then, sure! I’d love to.” Another brilliant smile.
The waitress showed up again with his card, and Zach gave her a generous tip and slid out of the booth. “Let’s get going, then.”
As Teri stood up, Zach was treated to another full-on view of her gorgeous body in the tight dress she’d worn. The dress was a dramatic dark blue and hugged her curves, outlining her breasts and her hips in a way that made him long to unzip it and find out what everything looked like underneath.
Too soon, she put her coat on, hiding the view. Zach bit back a protest. Maybe, even if Teri didn’t want to fall into bed right away—which was fine, Zach would never think badly of a woman for being cautious about that—she’d want to spend some time on more PG-13-rated activities. Zach was aching to feel those lush curves under his hands.
But he’d wait as long as Teri wanted. Even if it was hard.
His inner fourteen-year-old snickered at that—it was good he was wearing a coat, too, he had to give the fourteen-year-old that—and Zach pulled himself together and led the way out to his car.
The drive out to his place wasn’t too long, and before he knew it, they were pulling into the driveway. Teri hopped out of the car right away. She wasn’t the sort of woman who wanted doors opened for her, Zach had figured that out pretty fast, and he liked it. Her drive for self-sufficiency and independence was something he admired.
And identified with. He’d had to struggle to be self-sufficient ever since he’d become an adult, and he knew how hard it could be to make it work.
He unlocked the house and stepped inside, calling, “Joel?” and motioning Teri in after him.
“Yeah?” Joel appeared at the top of the stairs, buttoning up his uniform jacket. His eyebrows went up when he saw Teri.
“Joel, this is Teri Lowell,” Zach said, as Teri closed the door behind her and smiled up at his brother.
It was a warm smile, but it seemed like it was more...friendly, less sparkling, than the smiles she’d been giving him. Was he just making that up? It was possible that he was just making that up. Wishful thinking, maybe.
“Nice to meet you,” Joel said, coming down the stairs to shake Teri’s hand. “I’m Zach’s brother Joel.”
“Hi.” Teri gave as good as she got on the handshake. “Sorry for invading your home like this. And sorry in advance for eating your ice cream, but Zach made me a promise and I’m going to call it in.”
“Nah,” Joel said, “all we have left is Rocky Road, and I can’t stand that stuff. Eat it all so he’ll buy something else.”
“I swear sometimes it’s like we’re not even related,” Zach said sadly.
“Nuts,” Joel said. “They’re the worst. What’s wrong with chocolate? Just get chocolate.”
“Here’s an idea,” Zach said. “Buy your own ice cream if you feel so strongly about it.”
“Sure, that’ll happen,” Joel said. “Eat the Rocky Road,” he stage-whispered to Teri, and she laughed her sweet, musical laugh.
“I’ll do my best,” she assured him.
“You heading out?” Zach asked Joel, finally processing the uniform.
Joel nodded. “Want to check out the east ridge, make sure everyone’s all right overnight up there.”
“Oh, people are camping up there already?” Teri asked eagerly. “I used to hike up there all the time. It’d be a cold place to spend the night this early in the year.”
Joel turned to her, nodding. “Yeah, for some reason everyone’s out in force already, and some of them have kids. I’m going to be running some patrols, camp out myself, make sure no one’s in trouble or in danger of hypothermia. Can’t be too careful.”
“Absolutely,” Teri said. “Where are you planning to camp? Just so I know the place a ranger would choose.”
And somehow, to Zach’s surprise, she ended up in a whole discussion with Joel about what the best mountain-camping spots were in the Park. Joel had the advantage of extensive camping experience and professional training, but it turned out Teri actually knew Glacier terrain better than Joel did, since she’d been coming to the place her entire life.
Zach eventually decamped to get them bowls of ice cream, and when he came back, they were still talking about campsites. “Isn’t it about time for you to get going?” Zach asked, nudging his brother.
“I like her,” Joel told Zach.
“Go to work,” Zach said.
“Going.” Joel grinned at him, said, “Very nice to meet you,” to Ter
i, and was out the door.
Teri turned to him, smiling. “I like your brother.”
“Good.” It was more than good—Joel didn’t always warm up to people very quickly, so seeing him talking easily with Teri right after they met was a great sign. “There’s ice cream in the kitchen.”
“Even better.”
Zach showed Teri to a seat at the table—next to him, across from where Joel would sit if he was here—and the generous bowl of Rocky Road waiting for her.
“Mmm,” Teri said, taking a bite. “This is perfect. I shouldn’t have this much, probably—my mom would be all over me about weight and calories right now—but ice cream is a serious weakness of mine.”
Zach remembered suddenly that Teri’s mother had described her as “needing to lose a few pounds” over the phone to strangers when she’d thought Teri was missing at the Park. He was struck by a wave of anger. “You look fantastic,” he told her. “And no matter what anyone looks like, they should be able to eat without anyone insulting them.”
Teri paused, pulling her spoon slowly out of her mouth. Zach tried very hard to focus on the conversation and not on the sight of it.
“You’re right,” she said slowly. “I suppose I never thought of it as insulting me. She’s my mom, she’s just giving me a hard time, I guess. But she does it by telling me I’m unattractive.”
“Nothing could be further from the truth.” Zach’s voice had a hint of a growl in it. Now that Teri was in their home, wearing that dress, eating their food, his leopard was really sitting up and taking notice. And it was smugly pleased that Teri wanted them enough to be here.
Teri blushed and laughed at the same time. “Thanks. You’re so nice.”
“It’s not nice, it’s true. You’re gorgeous. Your...uh, your body type is...”
How to say this without being crass? From Teri’s amused look, he guessed she’d figured out what his dilemma was, and she wasn’t planning on helping him out.
“Like an old-style painting,” he said suddenly, remembering a couple that he’d seen pictures of in textbooks or on the Internet. “One of those ones with all the naked women, the ones who are supposed to be beautiful goddesses? You look like that.” Was that weird?
Teri’s cheeks were bright pink, now, and her laughter had faded. She was staring at him.
Yeah, that had probably been weird.
“Wow,” Teri said softly. “No one’s ever said anything like that to me before.”
Was that good? “I mean it.”
Then her lips curved again. “I look like one of those naked women.”
“Well. Not that I’ve seen you naked. But...in general. Like a naked woman with clothes on. Please help me.”
“But Zach,” Teri said, starting to laugh again, “I am a naked woman with—”
And at that, Zach couldn’t help himself any longer: he leaned across the table to kiss her.
Her laughter fell away almost immediately, and she kissed him back. It was sweet and faintly Rocky-Road flavored, and the little noise she made went right through him.
God, he wanted her.
After a long moment, he pulled back, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “I’ve wanted to do that since I met you,” he confessed.
Teri blinked. “Really?”
What did she mean, really? “Of course, really. Was it not obvious how much I’m attracted to you? What with asking you out...and also telling you straight-up a minute ago.”
“I—well, I wasn’t totally sure,” Teri confessed, biting her lip in a way that was incredibly distracting. “I thought you might just be trying to be nice.”
Zach stared at her. “Teri, when I’m nice to somebody, I act friendly, or I do them a favor like switching shifts or something. I don’t take them out to dinner, invite them back home for dessert, and tell them they look like a Renaissance painting. I might be nice, but I’m not that nice.”
Teri snorted at that, shaking her head. “Okay,” she said ruefully. “When you put it that way, it doesn’t make much sense. I guess I just—I haven’t dated in a while, and since the accident, everyone feels sorry for me all the time. I wasn’t sure if you were feeling sorry for me.”
“I am feeling a lot of things right now,” Zach told her. “Sorry isn’t one of them.”
She snickered. The mood was lightening, but Zach still wanted to make something clear.
“It’s awful that you were in that accident.” Zach leaned forward, catching her eyes. “I wish it hadn’t happened to you. I wish you weren’t stuck in the situation you’re in. I’m—I’m angry on your behalf. I’m sorry that you don’t have the options you need. But I’m not sorry for you. I hope that makes sense.”
Teri nodded. “It does. It really does. There’s a difference, believe me.”
“I admire you,” Zach continued, watching the blush rise on Teri’s cheeks again. That little flush of pink on her skin, suggesting that her skin would be warm against his...“I think you’re amazing, how well you’ve recovered and how you’re looking in the face of all of these problems and are still able to laugh like you do. I think you—”
Teri grabbed the front of his shirt and hauled him in to kiss him. Zach was instantly caught up in the heat of her, the softness of her lips against his, the feeling of that warm flush under his fingers as he cupped her cheek...
He pulled back to catch his breath. “Now,” he said seriously, “is this just because you feel sorry for me? Because I don’t want—”
Teri smacked his shoulder and kissed him again. “Ow,” Zach said, muffled.
She pulled back just far enough to say, “Shhhh,” and resumed the kiss.
She felt amazing. She tasted amazing. Zach had never met a woman like her, and now he never wanted to let her go.
***
Teri wasn't the sort of person who did this.
She had never in her life gone home with a man on the first date—not even just to hang out at his house, let alone to do...what they were about to do.
She hadn't ever looked down on women who did, though. She just hadn't understood. Why would you want to have sex with someone you just met? How could you stand getting so intimate with a man you didn't even know?
This was different.
She felt like she did know Zach. She looked into his silver-gray eyes and she knew him. And he knew her.
And she'd spent the evening feeling like if she couldn't touch him, she was going to go absolutely crazy.
Now they were kissing, serious, fierce kisses that sent fire through her body and made her hate the table that was between them. Zach's mouth was hot and damp against hers, his breath coming fast, his hands desperate against her cheek, her shoulder.
She needed this. She'd never needed anything more in her life.
Teri dragged herself away from the kiss with a gasp. "Upstairs?" she panted.
"God, yes," Zach said raggedly. Then he paused. "Are you sure? I want to do this, but I don't want to pressure you into anything."
The consideration made her heart clench. She knew Zach was as fervent, as crazed to touch as she was. And yet, he was reining himself in, checking in with her to be sure that she was on board.
"Yes," she said firmly. "I want this."
He took her at her word, and stood up. She could see his erection tenting his jeans, proof positive that he wanted this as badly as she did.
She followed him up the stairs. The view from the back, she noticed, was almost as good as the view from the front. The only thing that kept her from reaching out and stealing a grope was the very real possibility that they'd end up doing it right there on the stairs instead of waiting for the bedroom.
Zach hung a left at the top of the stairs and gestured her into a bedroom. Teri didn't take any time to look around, just zeroed in on the big bed in the center of the room.
Just as she reached it, Zach came up behind her and caught her around the waist, kissing the back of her neck. Teri shivered at the feeling of his stubble aga
inst the soft skin there, her nipples hardening. His hands tightened on her hips, sending a rush of heat through her belly.
"Come on," she said, pulling against his grip. "I want you now."
"Take this off," he murmured into her neck, his hands toying with the hem of her dress.
She pulled forward again, and this time he let her go. "Unzip me, then."
"My pleasure." His voice had deepened with arousal. The rumble of it sent shivers down her spine, and they only strengthened as his fingers caught the zipper at the back of the dress and slowly, slowly drew it down.
Teri tugged at the dress, and it fell easily down to pool at her feet. Zach turned her with a light touch to her shoulder, and then she was facing him just in her bra, underwear, and shoes.
"God, you're beautiful." He leaned in to kiss her neck again, and then kept going down. Light kisses brushed over her chest, until he reached her cleavage, and then he reached around to unhook her bra.
He managed it handily, which surprised her—most guys just could not get the hang of bra fastenings, in her experience—and tossed it away.
Teri stopped him with a hand on his chest before he could start exploring. "Your turn," she said, with a pointed look at his clothes.
"Oh. Right." He looked as though he'd completely forgotten that he was still fully-dressed. Too distracted by her body?
It honestly seemed hard to believe—Teri had never thought of herself as particularly hot. She was a little too heavy, and she didn't spend a ton of time on makeup or moisturizer or perfume or any kind of beautifying products. She knew she wasn't ugly or anything, but she'd never considered herself to be the sort of woman who turned guys' heads.
Zach, though...he wasn't looking away.
He kept his eyes on her as he unbuttoned his shirt and tossed it aside, stripped out of his jeans, and got rid of his boxer-briefs, all quickly and efficiently. Teri watched the reveal of his golden, muscled body with a dry mouth, and thought that she might insist on a slower striptease at some point. A body as perfect as his deserved some slow, careful consideration.