Back to Buckhorn

by Lori Foster

  He had to put her in his truck, and he just rolled with it. No fuss, no big deal. No censure or disdain.

  Zoey should have remembered his even temper and iron control, but she hadn’t been expecting him.

  No, she’d been looking for Amber—and when she’d spied Garrett instead, she’d whispered a quick prayer that he would look past her so she could slink away.

  She never had been the lucky sort.

  Even though he hadn’t let the appearance or smell get to him, he was her fantasy guy, her biggest regret, and he’d just found her looking as bad as any woman could.

  Worse, she had to impose on him to use his shower. But good God, it was bad enough that he had to see her like this. She didn’t want to face the rest of the town looking like she’d been regurgitated from an ailing giant.

  Zoey was pretty sure things couldn’t get any worse...until Garrett pulled up to an older Cape Cod and she saw two of his cousins in his driveway. It was all she could do to keep from groaning in agony.

  Shohn Hudson was a year older, Adam Sommerville four years older, and they were both amazing specimens.

  She tried to sink lower in the seat while Garrett quickly put the truck in Park and got out. “What’s going on?”

  Shohn said, “Not much. Just had a few quick questions for you. Since Adam and I were heading out to dinner, we just stopped by.”

  Hiding inside the truck, Zoey looked over the men. Amber had caught her up on all the family dynamics, so she knew Shohn, now engaged, was a park ranger. Seeing him in his uniform, his hair dark, his eyes darker, she’d be willing to bet a lot of women chose to get lost in the woods.

  As a gym teacher, Adam stayed in amazing shape. A growing breeze teased his messy blond hair, and when he took off his sunglasses to see into the truck, she got stuck staring into sincere, chocolate-brown eyes.

  Smile going crooked, Zoey waved.

  “Who do you have in there?” Adam asked with a confused frown.

  Only then did Shohn even notice her. He peered into the truck, too, and Zoey knew she had to quit being a coward.

  Straightening the ugly gray T-shirt, she opened the door and got out.

  Hands on his hips, head dropped forward, she knew Garrett resigned himself to explaining her unwelcome presence.

  Nervousness always made her babble. “Hi. I’m Zoey Hodge.” Gray clouds rolled in, which she appreciated. The bright sunlight only ramped up the smell and showed all the mess more clearly. “Hey, Shohn. We weren’t in the same grade, but I knew you from school.” She watched for signs of recognition, but he only stared at her. “No? Well, that’s okay. I didn’t really expect you to remember.”

  Shohn looked her over with doubt, and stayed quiet.

  “But Adam, you’re older, right? I mean, of course I remember you. Duh. All the girls knew you. But I doubt you ever noticed me.”

  Adam got his faculties working first and reached out to greet her. “Hi. Nice to—”

  “No!” She held up a hand. “I got puked on.”

  Adam froze, then, as one, the two men turned to stare at Garrett.

  He let out a breath. “On the plane. Sick kid she helped care for.” He gestured. “Amber asked me to pick her up since she was dealing with that busted pipe.”

  They turned to look at Zoey again.

  “Garrett’s going to let me use his shower.”

  Eyes widening, their gazes shot right back to their cousin.

  Flustered, especially at how she’d blurted that, Zoey continued, “He’s been supernice, especially considering...” She gestured at herself. Unfortunately, the men were all downwind of her. It’d be best if she wrapped this up. “And Garrett, seriously, I appreciate it so much. I don’t know how I can thank you enough.”

  “Not a big deal.”

  “Of course it is.” Anxious to escape, she inched toward the back of his truck. “How about I take you to dinner sometime? It’s the least I could do, right?”

  Garrett shook his head. “No, that’s not necessary.”

  “I insist.” She bit her lip, saw that all three men noticed and quickly forced a smile. “I’ll just...” Turning, she strode to the truck bed to get her luggage.

  “I’ll get it,” Garrett said.

  “It’s okay.” The last thing she wanted to do was be more of a nuisance. She lifted the heaviest suitcase over the side of the truck bed. “I have it—” But in her haste, she lost her hold and the suitcase hit the ground.

  Then popped open.

  A bra and a two pair of underwear fell out.

  She snatched up the bra and one skimpy pair of panties with lightning speed, sticking both under the rest of the clothes.

  She was reaching for the other pair of panties when a big breeze rolled them over the driveway and up against Garrett’s shoes.

  “Ground,” she said with soft desperation, “swallow me whole, please.”

  Brows raised, Garrett picked up the sheer beige lacy scrap meant to dredge up pure male fantasies.

  After grabbing the closest top and shorts, she slammed the case closed and hurried to Garrett. Holding out a hand, hoping to brazen her way through the uncomfortable moment, she said, “Thank you.”

  Looking more than a little stymied, he handed the underwear to her.

  “Shower?” she prompted, hoping to get things going.

  “Sure.” He cleared his throat. To his cousins, he said, “You guys want to come in?”

  They started making quick excuses, as if they thought he was entertaining her. She shook her head. They surely knew better but probably hoped to put him on the spot for fun. She remembered well how they all liked to tease each other.

  “I’m just showering,” she explained with a wrinkled nose. “That’s all. No hanky-panky. I mean...look at me.”

  Shohn cocked a brow.

  Adam tried to check his amusement, but she saw his smile.

  “No, don’t look at me,” she corrected. Good God, the last thing she wanted right now was a closer scrutiny. “Look at him.” She pointed at Garrett. “Clearly you guys know he and I aren’t...well, you know. Right?”

  Garrett was as gorgeous now as he’d been when she’d left. Possibly more so. Out here in the bright sunshine, his black hair glinted with blue highlights. And his eyes... She sighed. Sinfully gorgeous, as light as a summer sky but twice as wicked, with those incredibly long, dark lashes...

  When she realized she was staring at him, and everyone else was staring at her, she demanded, “Make your cousins come in.”

  “You heard her.” Garrett gestured. “A storm’s rolling in. It’ll be best if she finishes up before that.”

  “I’ll hurry,” she promised again.

  As he unlocked the front door, Garrett said, “Soon as I get you settled, I’ll move your luggage into the cab behind the seat in case the rain starts.”

  “Thank you.”

  With Adam and Shohn staying several feet behind her—probably to avoid breathing her in—they stepped inside the house.

  Zoey stopped and stared. “Holy cow.”

  For the first time since they’d arrived at his place, Garrett seemed to relax. “Like it?”

  Head back, she looked around at the cove ceilings, then down at the high baseboards. “It’s incredible.” Everything looked vintage, but also shiny and new.

  He checked his watch, then said, “If you finish in enough time, I’ll show you around.”

  Oh, shoot. She was holding him up again. “Lead the way.”

  As he headed for the stairs, they passed a cozy living room on the left, an impressive study on the right. Straight ahead she could see a beautiful country kitchen. Everything looked quaint and original, but in really good shape.

  At the top of the stairs, immediately to her right
, was the bathroom. Stopping at a closet he got out two big, fluffy white towels, a washcloth and a blow-dryer. “Shampoo, soap and all that is already in the shower.” In the all-white bathroom, he lowered the toilet lid and set everything on top of it.

  She could have guessed he’d be a neat freak. Men as controlled and contained as him wouldn’t appreciate clutter.

  Unfortunately, she was a messy, cluttered catastrophe.

  “So much character.”

  He did a double take.

  “The house, I mean.”

  He studied her as if he’d never seen a woman before. “I’ve always thought so.” He looked around. “There’s just something about an older building and all the extra detail put into it.”

  She nodded. The freestanding tub had a shower stand at one end, an oval curtain rod suspended from the ceiling. “It’s just...awesome.”

  “Pipes are old. Might take a minute for the water to get hot.”

  “I bought an older house too, but judging by the pictures I’ve seen, it’s nothing like this.”

  “Pictures?”

  “Your sister helped me pick it out.”

  “You bought it without seeing it?”

  She shrugged. “Yeah. I needed a place.” For herself—and her mother. Her house would need a year of work before she even got close to this perfection. “Maybe I can show it to you sometime.”

  Appearing curious, he said, “Sure.”

  Forgetting herself, Zoey put the clothes—panties on top—with the towels. The glossy subway tiles on the wall drew her fingertips. “This looks vintage, but can’t be. It’s in such great shape.”

  “I redid most of it using the same style. Salvaged what I could, but yeah, a lot is new.”

  Maybe she’d be able to get some pointers from him. About to ask him, she glanced his way and found him staring at her panties again. Taking one big step she put herself in front of the clothes. “Thanks again. I’ll only be a few minutes.”

  Still he stood there, watching her in a funny way.

  “I think I’ve got it from here.”

  His gaze went over her face, then he shook his head and started out. “If you need anything else, let me know.”

  * * *

  After moving her luggage, Garrett walked into the kitchen, where he knew Shohn and Adam would be waiting to rib him. The second they saw him, he said, “Shut up.”

  Shohn laughed. “You gotta admit, it’s pretty funny.”

  “Not from her perspective, I’m sure.”

  “Yeah, probably not.” Shohn asked, “A kid really threw up on her?”

  “Yeah.” He relayed the story.

  “Almost happened to me once,” Adam admitted. “A fifth-grade girl came up, said she was sick and started gagging. I got a garbage can under her in the nick of time, and it was still gross. Felt really bad for her, too. The other kids teased her until I made them all run laps.”

  Garrett wondered how Zoey felt about walking through the airport in such a messy state. Had she gotten stares? Whispers? She’d put up with it in school. She shouldn’t have to put up with it still.

  “So...” Opening the fridge and searching around, Shohn helped himself to a cola. “Why’s she using your shower?”

  “Like she said, she just flew in.”

  “She’s not from around here?”

  He shook his head. “She moved away back when I was a senior. Remember Gus Donahue?”

  “He’s that guy who died in a car wreck, right?” Buckhorn rarely lost one of their own, and when they did, especially a kid, they remembered.

  Adam frowned with the memory. “Jumped a hill and wrapped his car around a tree.”

  Distracted, Garrett pulled out a chair. “Upstairs in my shower is Zoey Hodge.”

  Shohn dropped into a chair across from him. “The girl who broke up with him?”

  “The girl,” Adam said with a frown, “who too many blamed?”

  “One and the same.”

  The old pipes in the house rattled when the water came on. Both his cousins looked up at the ceiling as if they could see her showering overhead.

  They looked with sympathy, but damn, even with the surprise of her wrecked appearance, Garrett was starting to feel a little differently. Maybe because no woman had ever used his shower.

  Or maybe because she bit that full bottom lip the same way he’d always imagined doing.

  Or it could be those hot little panties she’d soon be slipping into...

  “She’s moving back?” Shohn asked.

  “Here for a visit, far as I know. Her mom got hurt pretty bad when she fell from her horse. Zoey will be helping out. But the mom had been staying with the uncle—”

  “Who was Gus’s coach.” Adam let out a low whistle. “Surely he doesn’t blame her?”

  “No way,” Shohn said. “Not after all this time.”

  Garrett shrugged at them both. “Don’t know.” But he remembered Coach Marchum being a real asshole. “She didn’t seem interested in going there, though, and I couldn’t see taking her straight to the bookstore without letting her clean up first.”

  The water shut off and they all looked up again. True to her word, she’d made it quick. And right now, she’d be stepping out.

  Naked. Wet.

  Knowing he needed to get his thoughts back on safer ground, Garrett turned to Shohn. “What did you need to talk about?”

  Sitting back in his seat, his gaze speculative, Shohn sprawled out his legs. “Remember that damned fire at the lake? The one where everyone scattered before you could figure out who’d started it?”

  “I do.” What had probably started as a group of high schoolers roasting marshmallows and indulging in a little necking, got out of hand when a knucklehead decided to toss in some fireworks. They’d gone off and started a dozen small fires. No real damage, but next time could be different, so it wasn’t something they’d entirely overlook. “We’re still asking some questions about that, but you know how it is. None of the kids want to be a snitch.”

  “I was hoping you’d found a name or two because there was another fire like it at the park.”

  Garrett sat forward...until Shohn waved him back.

  “The fire was already cold when I found it, and whoever set it did a good job of keeping it contained. But there were fireworks wrappers left around the area.” He shook his head. “Bottle rockets and dry conditions do not mix in the woods.”

  “And we both know which knucklehead has a tendency to dick around with bottle rockets.”

  “I’ll snoop around,” Shohn said with a nod. “See if he was camping out that night.”

  Just what this situation didn’t need. “Shit.” Squeezing the bridge of his nose, Garrett fought off a headache.

  “Not enough sleep?” Adam asked.

  “I’m fine.” But yeah, he’d been up most of the night with his shift, then had talked with a few Scout leaders about letting their kids come in for a tour. He still had a dozen things to do today, and—

  He froze as he suddenly heard singing. Off-key singing.

  They all grinned.

  Garrett didn’t mean to laugh at her, but wow, she sounded bad, maybe even worse than she’d looked. “She’s probably using the blow-dryer and doesn’t realize how loud she’s being.”

  “Or,” Shohn said, “she doesn’t care.”

  Adam cocked a brow. “You think?”

  “If I’m remembering right, she always was a little out there.”

  “Yeah?”

  “A real free spirit,” Shohn explained.

  Garrett narrowed his eyes. “Thought you didn’t remember her?”

  “Not with how she looks now, no. But since you jogged my memory, it’s coming back to me.”

 
Adam watched him. “You going to take her up on dinner?”

  Shohn scoffed at the idea. “No offense, but you saw her. He’ll find a way out of it.”

  But how? Garrett didn’t want to hurt her feelings.

  When the singing suddenly stopped, he froze. They all listened. Hell, Garrett even held his breath. But she made not a single sound on the stairs.

  And then suddenly she was there, striding barefoot down the short hall to the kitchen.

  The air left his lungs in a low exhalation.

  Without even realizing it, he pushed back his chair and stood.

  Shohn and Adam did the same.

  They all gawked at her.

  Zoey held her dirty clothes wrapped in the gray T-shirt. Freshly washed long brown hair hung in soft waves, pulled over one shoulder to cover her left breast.

  Supershort, white-cuffed shorts left her entire long, shapely legs bare, and the peach-colored halter emphasized the shape and swell of modest B-sized breasts.

  Her bare shoulders were lightly kissed by the sun, her green eyes bright with amusement, her mouth—God, that mouth—curved as she appreciated his reaction.

  With a small curtsy, she said, “Better, right?”

  They all nodded.

  Adam got it together first, at least enough to say, “Incredible.”

  Zoey laughed.

  “Hard to believe,” Shohn murmured, “that you’re the same woman.”

  Her small nose wrinkled. “Throw-up has a way of making everything pretty icky.” She turned those big green eyes on Garrett. Her teeth sank into that plump bottom lip as she searched his face, then her smile widened. “What do you think?”

  He thought he wanted that mouth, in about a dozen different ways. He cleared his throat. “Dinner sounds great. I’m off next Saturday.”

  Chapter Two

  Tonight she’d get to take Garrett to dinner.

  Zoey smiled, thinking about how nicely her first week back had gone, especially given how she’d dreaded it. She’d expected unfriendly reunions, awkward greetings and ugly stares of condemnation.