Authors: Kimberly Dean
“Come on, Beauty,” Zac said as the group headed to their rooms. “Playtime’s over.”
He grabbed the towels and moved to the steps at the far end of the pool where the lighting was dimmest.
“Spoilsport,” Roxie murmured, even as she began to swim over.
“Not you.” He pointed. “
My
Beauty.”
For the first time in nearly an hour, shyness overcame Maxie. He could see it. There in the middle of the open pool, with nothing on but a scrap of cotton, she went still. Watching her intently, Zac crooked a finger at her.
She was the one who’d gotten into this mess. She could come out the same way she’d gone in.
He opened the towel wide. “Better hurry if you don’t want a bunch of hungry, sweaty construction workers watching you.”
Maxie got tongue-tied as Zac waited for her. His shirt was open, and his chest was bare. She was staring so hard, the chlorine was burning her eyes. She’d been watching him for months, dreaming and fantasizing. And there he was, looking hot, ripped and impatient.
While she was topless.
She wrapped an arm over her breasts. What had she done? Where had her brain been?
Lexie looked anxiously over her shoulder at the motel. “Go on, Maxie.”
Maxie couldn’t believe her predicament. She’d stripped down to almost nothing in the middle of a public place, right in front of the town sheriff. And she’d
reveled
in it.
Another car passed on the road, and it kicked her into action. She couldn’t stay here, not like this, but her only other option made her nerves go haywire.
She began swimming towards Zac, keeping her strokes short and her chest pressed against the water. He stood over the pool, looking male and sexual. He stayed planted at the head of the steps, not shying away or giving her privacy.
And why should he? They were supposed to be lovers.
When the water became too shallow to swim, she crossed her arms over her breasts and braced her feet on the pool bottom. She stood, and her stomach quivered as water sluiced down her body. Her legs were shaky as she climbed the cement steps, but she wasn’t ready when he caught her.
In one swoop, he enfolded her in the towel and lifted her out of the water. She squealed when he pulled her right up against his hot, heavy form. His nose brushed against hers as he looked into her eyes. His gaze was the blue of a hot flame.
“Can’t be shy,” he whispered. “I’m supposed to have seen it all before.”
When his mouth settled over hers in a possessive kiss, it nearly lit her afire too.
Maxie felt herself snuggled up tight as Zac kissed her silly.
His heat seeped through the towel, intensifying as it became damp from her skin. He molded her to him, and the terrycloth clung to her curves. She clutched at his shoulders, and he tucked the edges tight against her back. His fingertips snuck underneath to stroke her bare skin, and the touch slid lower. He arched her backwards, his fingers going lower still until they snagged on her wet panties.
“
Cough, cough.
” Roxie let out a hack as she scurried by them, wet and buck naked. “Do you two need our room key?”
“Shhh,” Lexie hissed. She was already climbing the steps and waving for a towel. “Don’t attract any more attention.”
“What? You just look like you’re wearing a bikini.”
“Cam would freak out if he knew what we did.” Lexie wiped off and scurried towards her clothes. “How do I let you get me into these things?”
Roxie wiggled her fingers towards her head and then Lexie’s. “We’re on the same wavelength. You wanted to cool off as much as I did. Besides, it wasn’t only me.”
Maxie stared up into Zac’s hot eyes. He’d pulled back from the kiss to let her breathe, but she was still snug against his bare chest. Her arms were around his neck, and her hips… Her mouth rounded into a surprised O. Her hips were glued against his as his hands cupped her bottom. She could feel everything about him, every breath he took and everything that flexed or
hardened
.
An old Mustang rumbled into the parking lot of the Inndigo. The headlights swept over them before stopping abruptly. The driver revved the hot rod and let out a wolf whistle.
“Hey, ladies. I didn’t know this place rented rooms by the hour.”
Roxie had her top on, and with a flourish, she zipped up her shorts. “Sorry, sweetie. We’re checking out.”
“Oh, baby, don’t say that.”
“Don’t encourage him.” Lexie grabbed her sandals and then her sister by the arm. “Zac.”
The distress in her voice finally snapped Zac out of his sexual stupor. His head lifted and his eyes narrowed. His hold on Maxie tightened when he saw the situation developing. “Let’s go, troublemakers.”
He gripped her hips, and Maxie turned where he led. He circled his arm around her waist and accompanied her towards a gate she couldn’t even remember opening.
“My dress,” she said as they passed the pool chair.
He didn’t even break stride when he gathered it up. “Got it.”
But… But… She was still in a towel!
Lexie and Roxie hurried ahead. Roxie picked up her bra and underwear and kept on going, while Lexie struggled to put on her shoes. The back of her dress gaped open wide, and her wet underthings were already soaking through the lavender silk.
“Get your shoes,” Zac said.
Maxie snagged them.
Skipping across the parking lot, Roxie and Lexie made a beeline for their car until they realized they didn’t have the keys. They backtracked towards Zac when the Mustang drove closer.
“Get on your way,” Zac ordered the driver. The cold authority in his voice made Maxie look upwards in surprise.
“Yeah?” the man said, leaning out the window. “Who’s going to make me?”
“Indigo Falls Sheriff.”
The thug’s eyes narrowed, but the car stopped pacing them. The man must have seen something in Zac’s face that told him anything he tried would bring more trouble than it was worth. Still, he leered at the three of them before stepping on the gas and whipping the car away.
“Creep,” Roxie muttered.
Lexie nudged her towards the car.
Maxie tried to keep up with the group, but she wasn’t sure if she was securing her towel or if Zac was. With as soaked as it was, she didn’t know how much it hid anyway. Barefoot, she couldn’t track with his long strides, and tiny rocks bit into her heels.
“Ah!” she yelped as the motel swung in her line of sight.
Once again, she found herself in Zac Ford’s arms. He held her close to his chest, and she braced herself. Her palm pressed flat against all that hot, chiseled flesh. He inhaled deeply, and those muscles that fascinated her so much flexed.
With long strides, he carried her to his Jeep as Lexie and Roxie flanked him like bookends.
“My keys?” Lexie asked.
Maxie held on to Zac’s shoulders until he lowered her to the ground. She did a little dance as he pulled out his keys, but then he was letting her into his Jeep. She scurried inside, clutching the towel to her chest and trying to cover her backside at the same time. He tossed her dress onto her lap and opened the back to get Lexie’s purse.
“Follow us,” he instructed. “The address is 218 Wilshire.”
Away from the pool, back in the real world, Maxie started to understand exactly what she’d done. She couldn’t believe the mess she’d gotten herself into. She’d stripped down for Zac and all of the Inndigo’s clientele to see. She’d jumped in the pool and had gotten soaked. Droplets of water still trickled from her hair and down her spine, making her shiver.
She was wearing a wet towel, for God’s sake.
“Have fun?” Zac asked as he slid into the driver’s seat.
She couldn’t answer. There were no words. She’d had trouble saying hi this morning. That was nothing compared to the way embarrassment and shyness bound her now.
He chuckled and put the Jeep into reverse. “I did.”
Oh God.
What had she been thinking? She hadn’t been thinking. That was the only answer. She’d seen Roxie running towards the pool, and impulse had grabbed her. A familiar wanting had sucked her up, and this time she hadn’t been able to fight it.
And it had been the most thrilling, fun, impossible impulse of her life.
She bit her lip as she admitted the truth to herself. She’d loved it. She’d loved every moment from the first splash right up until that hot kiss. She’d loved everything until “the timid sort” hand had reached out and gotten her in its clutches again.
Right now, it was strangling her.
She tried to sort out her dress. Finding the hem, she opened it up and pulled the material over her head. Wiggling it downwards, she covered herself. She tied the straps behind her neck before tugging the terrycloth the rest of the way down. It took some more gyrations, but she finally got the wet towel out from under her butt. Dampness from her panties soaked into the seat beneath her as she smoothed the sundress over her legs, but she felt somewhat decent again.
When she glanced up, she caught Zac looking at her, mouth agape.
He closed it with a snap. “Now that’s a trick.”
Getting through this night was going to be the real trick.
Maxie chewed on her lower lip when he turned into her driveway. Headlights lit the cab of the Jeep as Lexie pulled her car in behind them. Almost simultaneously, the lights from both cars shut off, leaving her sitting alone in the dark with Sheriff Zac Ford, her make-believe love stud.
He watched her steadily, the lines of his face lit from the light over her back door. “Honey, we’re home.”
Chapter Six
Maxie’s brain was whirling a mile a minute, the effects of the bourbon completely gone as she opened the back door to her house. How was she supposed to carry through on this charade? Why had she invited everyone here when she needed time to contemplate all that had happened? For heaven’s sake, she’d kissed Zac like a sex-starved schoolmarm. Was he expecting her to—?
She froze on the threshold, her chaotic thoughts skidding to a stop. The kitchen. She’d forgotten how she’d left it. Her gaze swept over the table and countertops. Nearly every flat surface was strewn with photo albums, personal documents and family memorabilia. Her whole life was there, put out on display.
Anyway, life as she’d known it.
Her fingers trembled. She wanted to gather everything up and shove it into drawers and cupboards, but there wasn’t time. She could feel Zac close behind her and hear the others as they crossed the lawn.
He touched her lightly at the waist. “Show them to their rooms, and I’ll gather everything up.”
He understood. She didn’t want to hide. She just wanted privacy and time. She needed to figure out how she felt about everything. It had only been this morning when her life had been turned upside down.
With a bracing breath, she stepped aside for her guests. “Sorry about the mess.”
Lexie wrapped an arm around Maxie’s shoulders. “This isn’t a mess. These are your treasures.”
Roxie set her suitcase on the floor. The expression on her face was full of wonder, maybe even closer to yearning. Walking to the counter, she traced the edge of a photo album, careful not to let her hair drip on it. “Can we look through some of the pictures in the morning?”
Maxie realized how selfish she was being. This woman had bared her soul in an attempt to reach out and make contact. She’d handed over medical records, school records and more. Watching her face, Maxie could practically feel Roxie’s emotions. She was curious and
envious
.
“Sure,” she said, changing her mind. Pictures, she could handle. Maybe. “In the morning.”
She couldn’t deal with much more now. She was tired, wet and wrung out in so many ways. A shiver went through her. The air conditioning felt too cold against her damp skin, and goose bumps popped up when a wet droplet of water trailed down her spine.
“Your rooms are this way.” She led them across the living area to the downstairs bedrooms. “There’s one here. The bathroom is there, followed by another guest bedroom.”
“Why don’t you take the front one, Lex?” Roxie said. “That way you can watch for Hatchet.”
Lexie checked for a clock, and her face brightened when she saw the time. “He shouldn’t be long.”
“Don’t you two wake me with any mushy stuff. I’m bushed.” With a grin, Roxie walked away. Zac trailed after her, carrying her suitcase.
A blush was on Lexie’s face when she peeked at Maxie. “We won’t… I mean…” She clutched her vase of flowers close to her wet dress. “I’ll make sure we’re quiet.”
This time it was Maxie’s turn to reach out. She hadn’t quite worked her way up to a hug, so she squeezed Lexie’s shoulder instead. “I’m looking forward to meeting him.”
“I like Zac.” A small smile curved Lexie’s lips. “Don’t you two wake us with any mushy stuff either.”
“We won’t,” Maxie said in surprise—until she realized that was supposed to be a possibility. And after the way they’d kissed… Her own cheeks heated. “I mean…”
Her gaze flashed up to meet eyes that so much resembled her own.