Laney let out a long sigh. “Well, I guess it’s a good thing I’d only planned to hang out at the beach and not with you,” she gestured to Mac, Raine and Lawson, “social butterflies.”
“I could always give you some surf lessons,” he offered with a shrug. “You mentioned you’d wanted to learn how.”
Zach watched as Laney struggled with an answer. Just as he was about to give her an out, she surprised him. “You think you could really teach someone as uncoordinated as I am?”
With a smirk, he raised his brow. “Remember that I gave lessons to Mr. Travis. The man is eighty. I had him on the board and catching his first wave within a couple weeks, tops.” With a laugh, he added, “And that man is a self-proclaimed uncoordinated klutz which I can attest to.”
“Ooh! That’s so awesome, Laney!” Raine clasped her hands together in excitement. “Who knows? Maybe Zach will have you catching waves by the time we get back into town.”
“Or maybe she’ll just be getting wet,” Lawson tossed out, casually, getting a shove from Raine. “From the waves. Wet from the waves. Geez, woman. Get your mind out of the gutter.” His eyes crinkled with humor.
“On that note, I’m going to pack up and head on out. You guys have fun,” Laney said with a wave.
“I’ll walk out with you,” Zach told her. “I wanted to give you a copy of the plans I worked on for when we get back from break.”
“Sounds good,” she agreed as they headed back down the hall to their classrooms. They walked in silence, and once they had arrived at his classroom, he spoke.
“It’ll take me a second to grab them off my desk.” He opened the door and held it for her to enter first, following behind her. Yes, he was trained to be a gentleman, but that was only half of it. The other half was that it gave him the perfect opportunity to check out Laney’s ass. And what a fine ass it was. God, he could remember the feel of it when he had gripped her hips while she rode him, taking him dee—
“Zach?” Laney calling his name was like a jolt, drawing him back from his thoughts.
“Sorry. I, uh, thought I had forgotten to do something.” He mentally slapped himself for that pathetic excuse. Walking quickly to his desk, he grabbed the copies he had made for Laney. “Here are the plans along with some master copies of the activities I’ll be using with the students.”
She took the paperwork from him, flipping through the paper-clipped stack before looking up at him. “Thanks. It looks great,” she said softly.
“No problem.” He turned to pack up his bag, tossing a question over his shoulder. “Ready to head out?”
“Sure, let me just grab my things real quick.” She headed to the door.
As she left his classroom, Zach blew out a slow breath. Just like that, his day was made. Simple things in his life were made even better.
His door opened abruptly, Lawson entering.
“Well, well. Look at you with your cute, little dreamy smile.” His friend grinned. “Methinks it’s due to a tall, curvy brunette with a smart mouth.”
“Well, done, Columbo. Great detective work,” Zach said drily.
“So what did she do to make you go all googly-eyed?”
Well, shit. If he admitted the reason was merely because Laney agreed to walk out with him, he’d sound like the biggest pussy in the world.
Fuck it
.
“Laney’s walking out with me,” he said casually, neatly stacking his file folders on his desk. Before his friend could offer a response, Laney opened his classroom door, entering with her bag on her shoulder.
“Ready? Oh, hey, Laws. You walking out with us, too?”
“Nah, I’ve still got some work to do. You two go on ahead.” He walked to the door. “Hey, there’s this song that’s been stuck in my head lately. Goes like this,” he broke off, singing 98 Degrees’ “Because of You” while exiting the classroom.
Laney stared after their friend, before turning back to Zach. “Was he actually singing a 98 Degrees song?”
He asked with faux innocence, “Oh? That was 98 Degrees?”
She leveled him a look. “I’ve been in your car, have seen your old CD collection.”
Walking over to her, bag on his shoulder, he flipped off the classroom lights. Nudging her shoulder with his, his eyes danced with mischief. “I’ve also seen yours, Kavanaugh.”
Warmth ran through him at her broad smile. She tsked. “Oh, Mayson. Turning this conversation dirty, are you?”
Placing his hand at the small of her back, he ushered her out of the classroom.
“Oh, Kavanaugh. I was merely speaking of your own CD collection.” He smiled down at her after locking his classroom door. He held out his arm to her.
She linked her arm through his and they walked down the hallway. “I’m calling b.s. You were getting dirty.”
They arrived at the door to the empty stairwell, leading them to the first floor of the school. Pushing open the door, they walked down the first set of stairs. Just as they approached the second set, Zach steered her back against the wall, hearing her surprised gasp.
Pressing his body flush against her, his lips brushed hers as he spoke. “But, Kavanaugh. You like it when I get dirty.” His voice was guttural and he watched her eyes darken with arousal.
Her tongue darted out to wet her lips. “You—” Her reply was cut off as they heard the door above to the stairwell open above them, causing them to jump apart. The voices of some other coworkers echoed and he and Laney traded a look of understanding, resuming their walk down the remainder of steps.
But, damn, if he didn’t wonder what she had been about to say before they’d been interrupted.
C
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T
HIRTY
L
ANEY COULDN’T BELIEVE SHE WAS
about to do this. She was going to have her first surf lesson. From Zachariah Mayson, no less. If anyone would’ve told a year ago that this would be happening, she would have doubled over in laughter and had them committed to the nearest mental institute.
But here she was, walking down the beach to where he’d said to meet him, in her bathing suit and cover-up, carrying a towel under her arm. As she came within a few yards of where he was on his surfboard, demonstrating how to quickly go from his stomach to his feet on the board, she noticed the small boy he was talking to. Stopping so as not to be noticed or distract the two, Laney watched him with the young boy who had to be about five or six years old.
“Can I try it, again, Mr. Zach? I think I can do it better this time.”
She watched as Zach smiled down at the boy and ruffled his hair affectionately. “Of course, Dawson. It takes a lot of practice to get this part down. Learning how to pop up off the board was probably one of the hardest things for me to learn when I started surfing.”
Dawson looked up at Zach with a mixture of surprise and awe. “Really? You had a tough time, too?”
Zach squatted down, eye-to-eye with the boy. “I sure did. It felt like it took forever but finally, after practicing as much as I could, one day I got it. Everything else just fell into place after that.”
The boy nodded. “I’ll practice a lot, then.”
“Sounds good, buddy. Let’s work on it together before it’s time for my next lesson, okay?”
“Yes, sir,” came the enthusiastic answer.
Laney watched as the two practiced for the next five minutes before Zach glanced down at his watch. “That’s all the time we’ve got today. Don’t forget to practice at home on your board, okay?” The two exchanged high fives as Laney noticed a young woman approaching with a little girl who appeared to be near Dawson’s age.
“Mr. Zach!” the young girl called out as she ran up, hugging his leg with an adoring expression upon her face. “I missed you.”
He scooped her up in his arms. “I missed my favorite girl, too. Do I get a hug?” The little girl threw her arms around his neck and Laney’s breath caught in her throat at the sight of Zach closing his eyes with a smile, embracing the little girl in his arms.
He would make a great father someday
, an inner voice whispered. In an attempt to squash that thought, Laney walked toward the group, as Zach was speaking to the mother.
“He’s doing great. I think, with a bit more practice, he’ll get it down in no time.” Zach turned his attention back to the little girl still in his arms. “Now, if we could only get you to join us for surf lessons …” He tickled her under the chin, eliciting adorable giggles.
“Mr. Zach, I don’t want to surf. I like running,” she told him matter of fact.
“Well, when your legs get a little longer, we can go running together. How about that?”
“Yes, sir!” She smiled; pretty, little teeth on display as Zach set her down upon the sand.
“Well, we need to get going. Say good-bye to Mr. Zach,” the mother told them.
“Bye, Mr. Zach!” the two children called out.
“Bye, guys! See you next time.” He waved to them as they made their way along the beach. She watched him turn to her, his gaze running over her before his lips formed a slow smile.
“Morning, Laney.”
“Morning, Mr. Zach,” she teased.
He shook his head, flashing a dangerous grin. “Now, you should know not to give your teacher grief before the lesson has even begun.”
Tossing her towel down, she toed off her flip flops and casually asked, “So, who are the cuties?”
“Dawson and his sister, Maya. They’re the best.” Appearing confused, head tipped to the side, he asked, “I would’ve thought you’d know them … or at least know of them.”
Dumfounded, she furrowed her brow. “Why would you think that?”
“Because your brother was the one who put them in touch with me.”
At Laney’s questioning look, he continued, “Foster said Marissa lost her husband a little over a year ago and Dawson had been really struggling. His dad had told him he’d teach him to surf when he came home from the last deployment …”
“And he never came home,” Laney finished, quietly.
Zach studied the ocean for a moment. “No, he didn’t.” He turned back to Laney. “So, he thought I’d be able to give Dawson some lessons and male bonding at the same time.” He shrugged. “The least I could do is spend some time with the little guy and teach him the basics of surfing. Especially after all he and his family have been through.”
Laney swore her heart beat a little faster, knowing that Zach hadn’t thought twice about helping this sweet boy and his mother out during an unimaginably difficult time. How had she completely missed this side of Zach over the years? And why had he hidden behind obnoxiousness all this time?
* * *
“Ready for me to make a surfer out of you, Kavanaugh?” Zach wiggled his eyebrows at her playfully.
Removing her beach cover-up and tossing it on top of her towel, she held out her hands. “Okay, I’m ready. Let’s do it.”
How he managed to not swallow his tongue was something short of a miracle. Seeing Laney take off that cover-up and show those curves of hers was almost more than he could handle.
It wasn’t like she wore a skimpy suit, by any means. He had warned her that they would be going through the basics, requiring her to move quite a bit from lying on her stomach, to jumping up to her feet numerous times. She was wearing a black swimsuit top with thick, secure straps encasing her ample breasts and a pair of women’s short-cut board shorts in the same color. Her toned stomach was on display with that tiny, silver piercing in her belly button winking at him as it sparkled in the sunlight.
Zach scrubbed a hand over his face, rubbing the bit of scruff along his jawline. She studied him curiously. “You okay?”
Swallowing hard, he cleared his throat and forced an enthusiastic smile. “Yeah. You ready?”
She returned his smile. “I’m ready. Let’s do this.” She moved closer, nudging his shoulder with hers, looking up at him coyly. “Do I get a reward if I’m a good student?”
“Possibly.” He tapped a finger to his lips as if in thought. “What kind of reward are you interested in?”
Laney moved even closer, trailing a finger down his chest, over his firm abdominal muscles in the lightest of touches before stopping at the waist of his board shorts. “The kind that involves you and me wearing a little less clothing …”
Acting nonchalant, he pressed his lips together firmly to suppress a smile and shrugged. “I’ll have to think about it.”
Laney’s lips parted on a gasp of disbelief. “Why, you!” Her fingertips tickled his sides and he squirmed away from her with a laugh. As soon as he was a foot away, his eyes crinkled with laughter.
“Now, Laney. You should know that I’m familiar with your ticklish spots, as well. So, if you want to continue this,” he gestured between them, “know that you’ll lose this battle.”
With her hand on her hip, a wide smile, hazel eyes sparkling with mischief, she waved him toward her. “Bring it on, buddy.”
It was a while before they called a ‘cease fire’ and actually got around to her surf lesson. That ended up being the best surf lesson … no, the best day Zach could remember having in a long time.
C
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T
HIRTY
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NE
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HE MUST HAVE BEEN PUT
on a sex embargo. That was the only thing Laney could think of when it came to her and Zach. It was like a switch had been flipped since that particular karaoke Saturday. Things had cooled down, aside from that intense moment in the stairwell at school and their occasional dirty phone calls … until the morning of her first surf lesson. They had tackled one another, each falling victim to the other’s tickling, rolling around on the beach and getting unbelievably sandy without a care. And when they had kissed, it had been like every other kiss between them.
Hot. So fiercely hot and decadent. Every time Zach kissed her, she never wanted it to stop. His lips were like an addiction.
They’d spent nearly every day of Spring Break together—aside from the two days she and Tate had designated as girls-only beach days—starting off their mornings with surf lessons. Afterward, they would hang out together on the beach, enjoying the sunny weather. He’d even gone to yoga class with her this past week, only having one absence because he’d had to teach a surf lesson. The entire time they had simply enjoyed each other’s company. It was a complete change—a nice change—from how things had been between them in the past.