Crazy Little Thing Called Love (26 page)

“Hey ya Bluebell.” He leaned against the hood
of the car.

“You busy?”

“Nah, just checking out the car.” He
shrugged, “How’s your dad?”

She shrugged and her chin dipped an inch.
Most people wouldn’t have noticed but he knew her well enough to
know it meant she was about to lie to him. He’d already figured out
that tell.

“Fine.”

“And how’s he really?” He raised a skeptical
eyebrow.

“Not good. He’s sleeping more and more. The
doctors say that happens near the end.” Her voice cracked on the
last word.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

Her chin tilted back up, “Thank you for
asking, and for wanting an actual answer.”

“No problem.” He relaxed into a smile.

“I’ve spent as much time as I can with him
the past few days. I never knew when he was going to wake up so I
just stayed by his side.” She shrugged again, “But he was pretty
grouchy earlier and I couldn’t take it anymore. Thought I should
get out of the house, get some fresh air.”

“Plenty of good places to do that out here in
the country.”

Her blue eyes flashed with something he
thought was doubt and he immediately regretted the snide remark.
She was tough. He knew it. He didn’t like the idea of making her
doubt herself.

“Oh, um… yeah I just thought I’d stop in and
say hi. I could go if you’re busy.” She was already starting to
back away and he quickly pushed himself off the hood of the car to
grab her arm.

“Uh-uh… don’t you go leaving baby-doll. I
already told you I ain’t busy.” He wrapped his other arm around her
waist and drew her back against him, “We have a rule about you not
running out on me when I have a raging hard-on remember?”

She laughed and the sound punched him in the
chest. He liked her laugh, it was light and carefree, a little
girly just like her. It made him want to kiss those pretty pink
lips, to taste and play and drink her in even when he was still
half-annoyed for her disappearing and then showing up looking good
enough to eat.

“Is sex all you think about?”

“When you’re around? Yeah.”

She laughed again and he took the opportunity
to study her face. She was more than pretty, beautiful really. She
had a Cupid’s bow mouth that’d bring a priest to his knees and when
she smiled it was just a little bit lopsided and adorable. He
wasn’t sure he’d ever liked a smile that much and any lingering
annoyance disappeared when she looked up at him with those big blue
eyes.

“I have a pretty
hard
time thinking
about anything else when you’re around too.”

“Funny.” He smiled back at her.

“Were you going to take the Impala for a
spin?” She stepped out of his arms before he could take advantage
and lay a big kiss on her.

“I was, yeah.”

“Mind if I tag along?”

“Sure, I can think of plenty of dark wooded
areas where we can park and make out in my dad’s car.” He wagged
his eyebrows suggestively.

“Did that line work for you in high
school?”

“Every time.” He shrugged.

She bit her lip to keep from smiling, “Ever
let one of them drive?”

“No.”

“First time for everything I suppose.” She
circled the hood of the car, “What’s this baby got under the hood?
327?”

He tilted his head, sure he misunderstood.
She wanted to go for a ride in the Impala and she knew what kind of
motor was in it? She was beautiful, good in bed, didn’t want
anything from him but sex and to top it all off she liked cars,
fast cars. And he’d thought she was great before? He’d officially
stumbled upon the perfect woman.

“You want to go for a ride?”

“No, I want to drive.” She smiled at him and
then looked back at his chest, “I thought maybe we could hang out,
do something other than just get naked. I don’t have very many
friends in town and… I want to be your friend.”

Friends? She wanted to be his friend? Where
had that come from? And why did it annoy him all over again when
he’d just been annoyed five minutes ago that all she wanted from
him was sex.

“I already thought we were friends baby-doll.
With benefits.”

She smirked, “Is that what we’re calling
this?”

“You got something else you want to call
it?”

She looked thoughtful for a long minute. Her
big blue eyes were on him and she didn’t just stare at his chest.
He felt like he was holding his breath and waiting, for what he had
no idea. Finally she smiled and the tight pain in his chest
released.

“No, I think that about covers it.”

“Good.” He slid his arms back around her
waist and pulled her in close, “Because I want to be your friend
and all… but I still want to see you naked.”

“I think that can be arranged.” She tiptoed
up and brushed her lips across his lightly, “If you let me drive
the car.”

“If I let you drive the Impala you’re going
to owe me again.” He grinned.

“I don’t mind paying up in advance if
necessary.”

Blue yawned and stretched and then blinked
and looked around. It took her a second to place her surroundings
since she wasn’t in her bed at the ranch. The dark, distinctly male
furniture reminded her that she was in Zach’s bed, again, and that
sent another round of memories through her that warmed dark hidden
places in her body.

They’d made it all the way to the river
before they ripped each others clothes off and went at it in the
backseat of the Impala like teenagers. The fact they’d lasted that
long had been a miracle. From the minute she set eyes on him she’d
wanted to simply insist he drop the blue jeans, shove her against
the nearest hard surface and do with her as he pleased.

She’d had to remind herself she hadn’t gone
to see him for sex. Nah, who was she kidding? Of course she’d gone
to see him for sex, but that hadn’t been the only reason. She’d
needed a friend, needed to get away from her grouchy father for a
little bit and have some fun. Her first thought had been of Zach.
She always had fun with him.

She knew she was sitting on the edge of a
very dangerous ledge. She liked him, liked him too much really if
she let herself think about it so she tried not to. She tried not
to think about the difference in liking what he did to her and
liking the man himself. She could want him, she just couldn’t want
more.

That was why she’d stayed away from him for
four days; her period had just been a nice excuse she’d known he
wouldn’t argue over. Because the last time she’d been with him
she’d seen him watching her from the barstool while she attempted
to cook them dinner and for just a split second, she’d thought
about wanting more, wanting that moment over and over again. His
green eyes had looked at her and glazed with desire despite the
fact they’d already had sex twice and she’d known he wanted
more.

But more for him was just sex and that’d been
enough to convince her she needed a couple of days on her own.
Because if she wasn’t careful she could really want more with a man
like Zach and he wasn’t offering her anything but sex. That’s all
either of them were capable of, he didn’t do relationships and she
wasn’t staying in Fate long term anyway. They were just friends,
with lots and lots of sexual benefits.

Driving around the back roads of Fate with
him had been fun. It had also been insightful. She’d never heard
him talk so much. Compared to the other times they’d been together
he’d been an open book, an open book written in another language
maybe but open nonetheless.

They’d talked about their parents, about
growing up on ranches. He told her about his progress with the
house. She told him about her job back in Denver. It had been nice,
really nice. So nice, in fact, that when they finally got back to
the house she hadn’t done the responsible thing and gone home. No,
she’d gone inside and enjoyed some more of the benefits of her
handsome, sexy friend. And then apparently she’d fallen asleep.

She cursed as she realized sunlight was
filtering in through the curtains. She’d spent the night. She had
given herself one rule before giving in to the temptation to go see
him yesterday and she’d broken it. She was not a spend the night
type of girl. She was not his girlfriend and she had strict rules
about sleeping in men’s beds that were not her boyfriend.

He wasn’t in the bed beside her which meant
he was up, awake, somewhere in the house. That meant they’d have to
do the awkward morning after goodbye. She hated the awkward morning
after goodbye. Maybe as a friend with benefits it wouldn’t be as
bad as the casual hookup. She crossed her fingers and grabbed her
clothes from the floor.

She went into the master bathroom and came to
an abrupt stop. He’d finished it. Her mouth gaped open in surprise.
She’d been here four days ago and it had been a mess of rubble and
wood. Now it was beautiful.

The new tile was a slate gray and laid
diagonally across the room in a crisscross pattern. The vanity,
which had been missing before, had been replaced with a gorgeous
dark wood pedestal with gray granite countertop. The out of date
gold hardware had been replaced by stainless steel and a new
mirror, framed like an old window hung from a nail above it. Just
like the bedroom it was beautifully masculine.

She had no idea he could do this. And to
think he’d done it in a matter of days. It was remarkable. She
stared in utter wonder as she slipped her clothes back on and
borrowed his toothpaste, using her finger since it would be rude to
use the toothbrush of a friend, benefits or not.

Her hair was a tangled mess as much from her
braids the day before as from Zach’s hands and sleeping. She
twisted it into a quick ponytail. She wished she’d thought to bring
her purse inside from the Audi the day before since she had some
makeup in there but she hadn’t. She wiped the dark mascara smudges
from beneath her eyes and resigned herself that she was going to
have the morning after look no matter what.

When she finally took a deep breath for
courage and turned to go face him she stopped again. A blush stole
over her cheeks naturally. She hadn’t seen him come up behind her.
He was lounging against the doorway, his big arms crossed over his
broad chest, watching her. She wondered how long he’d been standing
there.

“Morning.”

“Morning.” He pushed off the door and stood
up to his full height, “You want some coffee?”

“No thanks. I should get going. I’m sorry I
fell asleep.”

“It’s not a problem. I told you that you
could stay.”

“Yeah it’s just…” She shrugged, “Now you know
how awful I look in the morning.”

“I don’t think you could look awful even if
you tried Bluebell.” He stopped in front of her and kissed the top
of her head, “Even with hat hair and no makeup, all I want to do is
strip you down and get you back in my bed.”

“Such a sweet talker.” She took a step back
away from him and changed the subject from the morning sex she
would not be having with her friend, “This place looks amazing by
the way. I can’t believe you finished it since the last time I was
here.”

“It’s been four days.” He frowned, “I had to
do something with my time other than sit around wondering if I’d
ever get you back in that shower.”

“It’s really beautiful.” She sidestepped
another of his explosive comments that made her a little weak in
the knees.

He didn’t mean anything by it. He was just
charm and sex in dangerous quantities with a face to match. Still,
something in her stomach wanted to hope he’d been missing her, at
least missing the sex if not more.

“Thank you.”

“You’re really good at this you know
that?”

“It’s just a hobby.” He shrugged.

“It shouldn’t be. Really. You could make a
lot of money doing this for people. Lord knows all the houses in
Fate probably haven’t been updated since 1972.”

“I don’t have time to renovate other people’s
houses. I barely have time to renovate mine.”

“Well you should make time.” She
shrugged.

“That’s what my brothers keep telling me.”
His mouth pursed into a line and his tone hardened.

She blinked and it was like looking at a
completely different man. The good natured, charming flirt was
gone. In his place was a darker, serious but no less sexy man. Not
for the first time she had the thought that she might actually be
seeing the man behind that wall he had stacked so high.

“I’m not surprised. Anybody that’s seen what
you can do should be telling you how great it is, how good you are
at it.”

“You really like it that much?” He looked
wary.

“Yes. I really like it that much.” She nodded
and stepped back against him, cupping his cheek so that his stubble
scratched her palm in a gesture he did to her all the time to make
her look at him and listen, “You’re good at this Zach.”

“Thank you.” Some of the wariness faded to
what she thought was relief or possibly just gratitude.

“You’re welcome.” She tiptoed up and brushed
her lips against his, “I should get going though.”

“Probably.” He nodded even as his arms went
around her waist and pulled her tight against his chest and his
lips whispered over hers again.

“I mean it. I need to go.” She let him kiss
her even as she argued.

“Definitely.” One of his hands tangled in her
hair, tugging just hard enough to tilt her head back and give him
better access to her lips for more light, teasing kisses.

She was losing the battle with herself to
leave. She was losing the battle with herself not to like him too
much. She was losing her mind because she would be crazy to
actually care about this man.

“Zach?” She breathed his name as his lips
trailed down her neck. “This is crazy, I can’t. I have to go.”

“I know.” His hips tilted into her pelvis and
she felt him against her, hard and wanting, “I know its crazy but
stay…” He kissed her jaw, the edge of her lips, her nose, “just
stay a little while longer.”