by T. M. Cromer
Bent double, he was out of breath. The picture she made with her hair sticking out in all directions, leftover mascara smeared under her eyes, rumpled clothing, and the scowl pulling her features tight, was priceless.
“Babe, if you could only see your face. I’ve never seen anyone so angry over coffee before,” he finally managed.
“Because you don’t know any authors, you dolt!”
“Is it safe to assume you are not a morning person?” he asked, cautiously circling the island and moving to her side. Her glare was answer enough. “Okay. I’m going to forgive you for calling me names—I’m pretty sure I heard a few other choice words mumbled under your breath—and offer to go on a coffee and donut run for you. Will that soothe the savage beast?”
Grudgingly, she nodded.
Placing an arm on either side of her to lock her in place against the counter, Zack leaned in to capture a taste of her pouty lips. All he received for his efforts was a hand shoving his face away.
“Seriously? I haven’t even brushed my teeth,” she grumbled. “Keep it in your pants, Romeo.”
He changed his trajectory and nibbled her neck. As he trailed small kisses along her jaw to her ear lobe, he felt her soften and sag into him. It seems something other than coffee could help to calm the monster within.
“How do you take it?” he murmured against her throat.
“Ohdeargod!” she croaked.
Zack pulled back to observe her face, a question on his own.
“Wait! What?”
“Your coffee, Erica. How do you take it?”
Her mouth formed an O as she registered it wasn’t sex he was referring to.
Chuckling, he bussed her forehead and stepped back.
“I hate you.”
“Yep, keep telling yourself that, babe,” he snickered and dodged her flying fist.
“Cream, three sugars. And don’t come back without a least a quart of it.”
“Bossy much?” he teased. “Oh and by the way, you are now down to cream and one sugar.”
“Huh?”
Her confusion was adorable. He let it sink in as he grabbed his wallet and keys off the bar. One, two, thr—
“Oh, hell no! You are not denying me my constitutional right to have sugar in my coffee. It’s a medical necessity.”
“It is not a medical necessity,” he stressed.
“It is for you,” she argued back. “Because if you don’t bring me my coffee the way I like it, I will physically hurt you. Is your insurance up to date?”
“Let me put it another way. Donut or three packets of sugar?”
Almost sure he heard what constituted a rabid animal growl, Zack backed out of the kitchen and ran for the front door. She was hot on his heels, fist in the air. Well, it was one way to get her to exercise.
Luckily for him, she was out of breath with a hand to her side before she got halfway across the lawn. He was safely tucked behind the wheel of his car with the doors locked when she shot him the bird and stormed back into the house. The knock on his window had him jumping and yelling. Christ, he was getting jumpy.
“Jeez, Bucky! What the hell?”
“Sorry, Zack. I was getting ready to leave when I decided to do one last drive around the neighborhood. Seeing you run from Erica had me wondering what the heck you did to piss her off.”
“Personal trainer mode before her coffee.”
“Ah. Yeah, I can see where that would do it. You going to get her coffee now and make it up to her?”
“How’d you guess?”
“I was married for a few years, remember?” his friend reminded him.
“I’m pretty sure she was possessed there for a moment.”
“It happens. Want me to stay for another ten minutes?”
“Nah. I think she’d kill anything or anyone walking through the door without her fix. I suspect she’s safe for now.” He offered Bucky a wry smile. “Thanks, man. You really are awesome.”
With a double pat to the driver’s side door, the officer shuffled off to his car. It occurred to Zack old Bucky was a great friend.
“Oh, Evil Spawn of Satan, I’m home,” Zack sang out as he reentered the house twenty minutes later.
Torn between anger and her warped sense of humor, which apparently matched his, Erica gave up and laughed.
“You are so pushing it,” she said with a jab of her index finger against his six, no make that eight-pack, abs. She now knew this because her fingers, of their own accord, felt him up. Catching his stunned stare, she blushed. “Uh, sorry?”
“Did you brush your teeth?”
A giggle escaped. “Nope. Not yet.”
“You are a cruel woman, Erica Sutton,” he sighed.
“So I’ve been told.” She stretched for the coffee he was holding up and out of her reach. “You’re going to ransom my coffee and donut, aren’t you?”
“Yep.”
“State your demands.”
His wicked grin made her knees weak. Trying to appear ever so casual, she moved her hands behind her to rest against the stone counter. It didn’t hurt her position pushed her braless breasts out. Her girls did their job and captured his attention. Booyah! She still had it. In his distracted state, Zack lowered the container holding their drinks and the bag of goodies. Seizing her opportunity, she snatched them from his grasp.
“What the—?”
“Snooze you lose, big boy,” she taunted with a smirk.
“How’d you know I’m a big boy? Girls’ locker room talk?”
“Oh please, not before the nectar of the gods touches my soul. I don’t want to hurl on an empty stomach,” she threw over her shoulder, laying her breakfast goodies out on the table.
The slap on her ass was unexpected. She whirled to give him a piece of her mind. “It’s a good thing I already—”
His mouth on hers cut the rest of her sentence off. Hands plunged into her wild, morning hair and angled her head to the right as he angled his to the left. Erica felt his tongue delve into the crevice of her mouth again and again, teasing and tangling with hers. God, the man could kiss. She’d give him about an hour to stop before she’d insist on coffee.
“Damn, woman,” he panted. “Please say the word and we’ll spend the day in bed.”
She was tempted. Oh. So. Tempted. However, reality intruded in the form of his cell phone.
“Crap. I have to take this. Hold that thought,” he ordered before stepping away to take the call.
He’d taken two steps before he spun back to look at her. Liar, he mouthed. Her frown had him pointing to his teeth. Another giggle escaped. She snagged the coffee cup with her name, along with the bag of donuts, then headed for her room, humming under her breath. Of course she’d brushed her teeth. What was the Girl Scout motto? Always be prepared?
* * *
Sometime later, Zack sought her out to tell her his business was finished and to ask if she was ready to go shopping.
“You don’t have to chauffeur me around.”
“We’re still a fairly small town. I don’t think we have Uber drivers yet. The closest car rental is twenty-five miles away,” he reminded her. “I went ahead and had Todd call Stan’s Garage & Towing to come see about taking your car in and refitting it with tires. He’s going to check if they can buff out the scratches, until you can get it repainted.”
“Thanks for making the arrangements. My brain is still about thirty minutes from kicking into gear. I didn’t want to think about all I had to do today,” she groaned and flopped back against the pillows.
“You realize it is one in the afternoon right?” he asked.
Zack perched on the bed, his hip butting up to hers, and offered her a second cup of coffee.
“What’s this for? I don’t want to take yours.”
“I actually drank mine in the car on the way back. These were both for you. I seem to recall there being a threat to my life if there wasn’t at least a quart in my hand when I returned,” he teased.
“You are a god among men,” she breathed in contentment, after taking a sip.
“I bet you say that to all the boys.”
“Nope, just the gorgeous ones who bring me two cups of joe and lemon filled donuts.”
“You think I’m gorgeous?” he grinned.
“Oh, stop. As if you don’t already know you are.” Rolling her eyes, she took a long chug of her drink.
“So about our earlier conversation…” he hedged while attempting to remove the comforter.
Slapping a hand down on the covers, she gave him the stink eye. “No.”
“You can’t be persuaded?” The question was accompanied by his fingers trailing along the neckline of her borrowed t-shirt.
“I can definitely be persuaded. But it still doesn’t mean I don’t have a million things that require my immediate attention.”
He wrinkled is nose to show his fake ire and sat back. “Fine.”
“No one has ever made me feel as wanted in my whole life, as you have in the last twenty-four hours. Thank you,” she said, suddenly solemn. For whatever reason, it was important he know that.
“Well, now that’s just a crying shame. It also proves the males of our species are dumber than rocks.”
Honesty shone from his brilliant, azure eyes, and the truth, displayed there for her to plainly see, made her heart sing. Her hand, without any prompting from her brain, cupped his jaw. She inched forward to place a light kiss on his cheek.
“My hero,” Erica declared.
“I’m nobody’s hero, Erica.”
Noting the seriousness of his tone and wondering at the reason for it, she decided to turn things back toward fun.
“Really? Because I’d say you were for the java alone.”
“Well, I guess I saved a few lives from your temper.”
“Har-dee-har-har,” she mock laughed, causing his real one.
“Come on, babe. Let’s get this show on the road.”
“I’m ready.”
A dark look flashed across Zack’s features. Following the path of his gaze, she saw her nipples standing at attention through the cotton shirt. In a split second, she had her arms folded across her chest. The blush seemed to start at her toes and work its way to the roots of her hair.
For once, he didn’t tease her. Instead he exclaimed in a fierce voice, “You can’t go out like that! Without a bra!”
She snorted.
“What’s so damn funny?” he demanded.
“You. Women go braless all the time.”
“Not you.”
“Before yesterday, you hadn’t even seen me in twelve years. How would you know?” she asked, starting to become irritated with his high-handedness. Jeesh, it wasn’t like he was her boyfriend. Yeah, but you want him to be, taunted her inner voice.
“I just know. What’s your bra size, and where’s the best place to find you one?”
“Ohdeargod! I am not doing this with you right now.” When she saw he intended to be stubborn about it, she huffed out a breath and changed her tone to soothing. “Zack, don’t you have a sweater and/or jacket I can borrow to shop? It’s January, so layers are a necessity right now anyway.”
If anything, his frown grew more pronounced. Without saying a word, he left her sitting there.
“I wonder if that’s a no?” she muttered to McFatty, who sat viewing the whole scene from a nearby chair.
The question was answered about five minutes later when Zack brought back a bulky, pink sweater and woman’s leather jacket.
Suddenly, it was her turn to be pissed off. “I’m not wearing any of your ex’s clothes. You can take them right back to where you found them.”
His brows shot up, and his mouth twisted to the side. Erica had come to realize this was his way of trying to contain his amusement.
“When Dane roomed with me, his ex-girlfriend left them here on one of her trips down from Chicago. You appear to be roughly the same size.” He thrust the clothes in her direction. “I forgot I had them, to be honest.”
“You’d better not be lying. All I need is some other chick out for my blood.”
Her statement sobered them both.
Chapter Six
Their shopping excursion lasted most of the day and well into the evening. Zack couldn’t recall a time when he’d had such a blast in recent years. Erica made everything fun. That she’d taken everything in stride and remained upbeat impressed the hell out of him. He didn’t know anyone in his circle who would have taken the destruction of their home as well.
Lunch had been particularly trying. He hadn’t wanted to appear like the bad guy always cracking down on her eating habits, but Erica had no discipline when it came to sweets. She’d ordered dessert first, claiming she could be fire-bombed at any moment. The waitress blanched when she realized his dining companion was earnest in her claim, especially when the news came on the flat screen television behind Erica’s head, and the top story was last night’s event.
Of course, Erica had just shrugged, grinned and ordered key lime pie to go with her cheesecake.
After they arrived home, she suggested reheating the pizza they had left over from lunch.
“What is wrong with you?” Zack demanded. “Did you, or did you not, come to my gym yesterday wanting to get in shape?”
“Guilty as charged. But are you saying your members sign a pact with the devil or something? They aren’t allowed a cheat day?”
“A cheat meal, maybe, and only then after they’ve been at it for a while. Not the second day into the program,” he informed her, frustration leaking from every pore in his body.
“Pfft. Well, it’s either feed my endorphins with sugar and carbs or cry. I’d rather not be a blubbering baby.”
“We can feed those endorphins another way,” he suggested with a sensuous smile.
He saw the moment the words registered. Desire snaked through him as she fanned her warm face. Damn, he loved her blush.
“You’re relentless, you know that?”
“Is that a no?” he called to her retreating back.
She paused mid-stride and whirled to glare at him. “I have work to do, you horn dog.” After delivering her insult, she spun to walk away.
“Yeah, well, I still didn’t hear a no.”
Her giggle pleased him. It indicated she wasn’t opposed to a fling with him.
Zack busied himself with putting away groceries and a phone call to Jacob. When his son’s voice came over the line, he exhaled a sigh of relief. The list of rides, food, and stories his boy had experienced was endless. Finally it came time to wrap up the conversation, but first he wanted to speak to Christie’s father, Charlie, who had been the police chief of their small town until he retired last year.
“Okay, lil man. I love you, too. Can you put your grandpa on the line? I’ll see you soon.”
“Hello?”
“Hey, Charlie. Do you have a minute? I wanted to run something by you,” he asked.
“Sure. What’s going on?”
It only took a few minutes to bring him up to speed on the story. His goal was to get some insight from a veteran of the force. Maybe Charlie could provide a detailed profile of what kind of person they might be looking for.
“Do you want me to cut our vacation short? We can head home in the early morning?”
“No. I’m wondering if you should extend your stay to keep Jacob out of harm’s way. I can clear it with the school when they open up again on Monday.”
“I’ll tell you what, Judith wants to visit her sister, Sarah, while she’s here in Florida. Why don’t I get them settled there and come back? Then we can work out a plan to trap this stalker you seem to have acquired.”
“You don’t mind?”
“Not at all, Zack. You are like a son to me. Anything I can do to help, I’d like to try,” Charlie said, emotion heavy in his voice. “I’d like to think if Christie had been more mentally stable, you would have worked things out between the two of you. As it is…”
“I know, Charlie. And thank you,” Zack answered, humbled in return. “Are you flying or driving?”
“I’ll text you later tonight and let you know if I can get a flight out. If not, I’ll rent Judith a car and drive.”
“Fair enough. Give her my love. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
After signing off, he whipped up two chicken Caesar salads, then went to seek out Erica.
“You ready for some dinner?” he asked her.
She glanced up from her laptop, giving him a startled look. The bewildered expression on her face told him she’d been too engrossed in her task to even consider eating. Come hell or high water, he intended to help her revise her diet, and not because of weight, but because skipping meals and eating crap was unhealthy in the long run. And she, if he were being honest with himself, was the first woman he thought he might like around for the long run.
“You know, dinner? The pesky meal that doesn’t contain a donut, unlike breakfast and lunch,” he teased.
“Oh, yeah. Want me to heat up the leftover pizza?” she offered, her attention already drifting back to the screen in front of her.
Sighing with frustration, Zack removed the computer from her lap and shifted to set it carefully on the coffee table. When she would have protested, he hauled her to her feet, dipped to put a shoulder to her stomach, and stood with her balanced over his shoulder.
“What the hell?!” she exclaimed. “Why are you manhandling me?”
“Quiet.”
“The hell you say!”
“Quiet,” he ordered again.
Before she could think to struggle, he was already setting her down on the counter, wedging himself between her legs, and grabbing a plate he’d set on the island. He held a forkful of salad to her mouth. “Eat.”
“Dude. What’s with the caveman routine?” Erica grunted a few times and pounded on her chest. Lowering her voice she mocked, “Man. Wo-man. Tarzan. Jane.”
Laughing, because it was impossible not to, Zack drew back the fork and pressed a fast, friendly kiss to her lips. “You’re a damn trip. Now, please eat.”
“Well, since you asked so nicely,” she said in a prim voice, then proceeded to consume the bite he offered her. “Mmm, this is good!”