A Little Wild (35 page)

Good ol’ trickster Eth. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Saying goodbye, Zach hung up. There’d been no sense revealing that he and his “lovely woman” were currently incommunicado. Tess had flipped his world into a tailspin when she’d confessed her knowledge of his father’s intentions—and then had topped off that stunner with her wonky tale about a bet with Chloe.

Women had told him some outrageous things before, but learning he’d been the object of a sex dare was a definite first.

Unfortunately, despite Ethan’s prodding, Zach hadn’t decided what to do about it.

Shaking his head, he wandered into the living room and sat on the couch beside Lump. The cat sprawled into his usual take-me-I’m-yours position.

“Hey, Lump.” Zach scratched the beast’s belly. “Are women trouble or what?”

One yellow eye slit, feline suspicion gleaming.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to disturb you.”

The cat meowed and rolled over, paws pushing into the back cushion. A chew toy poked up between the seat and cushion.

“What’s this?” Zach pulled out the tattered disc. “The Danver’s coaster,” he mumbled. With Tess’s fake phone number scribbled on the back.

He rubbed the frayed edge. Having sex like a man? She was nuts.

He stared at the scrawled numbers, her name inked in block letters: TESS S. His loser response from that night in the bar drifted to him:
That Spanish?

No wonder she’d thought him empty-headed.

He scraped his shoe-clad feet on the floor. In a way, he should feel thankful that Tess had perceived him as a mindless stud. After all, if not for Chloe’s dare, would she have approached him?

That night, then later at the Crockett’s meeting, she’d been wrapped tighter than a roll of Lifesavers. Without the bet to spur her on, she probably wouldn’t have indulged in their first hot phone sex—which had paved the way for every tender moment between them.

Zach shifted on the couch. Shit, Ethan was right. Again. Zach
was
an asshole. He’d fallen in love with the woman and now he’d just let her walk away?

Look at his life these last few years. Like his brother had accused, he always bided his time, waiting for the right moment. He took action, but in a roundabout way. Fuck, if he were Dad, he would have sprung Crockett’s on him, too.

What did that tell him about Tess? Should he continue biding his time or drop the bullshit pride and tell her he loved her?

Beside him on the couch, Lump purred.

“Yeah, beast, it’s a no-brainer.”

Zach shot up, grabbing his leather jacket as he headed for the door.

Chapter Twenty-One

Tess licked
West Coast Charlie’s Best!
wild cherry ice cream off her spoon. Plunging the spoon in the carton, she returned the container to the coffee table and reviewed her mental checklist.

One satin shortie bathrobe:
on
.

Fuchsia pushup bra and matching thong panties:
also on
.

Spiked sandals:
nervously tapping hardwood
.

Heavy trench coat to cover her scantily dressed body until she sweet-talked her way into Zach’s apartment:
hanging in the hall closet
.

What else?

Two new, fluffy bath towels snuggled in the shopping bag resting on the armchair. Also, one bottle of jasmine-scented bubble bath.

The ruined handset from her old telephone answering machine resided on the closet shelf. She didn’t specifically need to take the phone to Zach’s, but it provided a cute reminder of when he’d called and she’d dropped the cordless in the tub. He’d love finally learning why she’d bought a new phone.
If
he allowed her into his apartment. So she’d collect the handset, her toiletries and a change of clothes for tomorrow, in hopes he still wanted her and asked her to sleep over.

If he didn’t want anything to do with her, she’d hustle her red-faced self home and gorge on the huge vat of ice cream. The whole thing.

The point was, she was taking a huge risk, putting her heart and her potential humiliation on the line. She wanted to create an unforgettable impression, to show and tell Zach how much she loved him.

If he rejected her, her heart would crack in two, but she couldn’t stand the not knowing.

Tummy fluttering, she glanced at the wall clock.
Chloe, where are you?

Her friend had promised to drop by to offer her bolstering words of support—and to kick her butt over to Zach’s in the event she developed cold feet.

If Chloe didn’t arrive by the time Tess finished assembling the win-Zach-back goodies, she’d have to survive without her best friend’s send-off. Because she
was
going to Zach’s. She had to. Or for the rest of her life she’d wonder what might have developed between them.

She pulled in a breath. “Well, Buddy, there’s no sense putting off the inevitable.”

The budgie chirped in his cage.

“I know, I know, I could be back in half an hour. Have a little faith, why don’t you?”

Buddy trilled, and she sighed. “Sorry, I’m edgy.”

Then get a move on.

Right.

Taking prim steps so she wouldn’t topple off the ridiculously high sandals, she teetered to the hall closet and retrieved the cordless.

Rap! Rap!

Chloe. Finally!

Ruined phone in hand, Tess turned to the door. “Chlo?”

No answer.

Chloe had a building key, so wouldn’t have required a buzz-in. However, in this outfit, Tess wasn’t taking any chances. Some lunatic might have snuck in behind a neighbor.

She sidled to the peephole. Zach! In jeans, a black T-shirt, and a distressed leather jacket. With his hands propped on his hips and his head bowed, she couldn’t glimpse his expression.

As if he sensed her watching him, his head lifted. The distortion from the ancient peephole cloaked his features.

“Tess?” The thick door muffled his deep voice. “I know you’re home. I saw Chloe in the parking lot. She gave me her key.”

Tess’s pulse raced. Never in a million years would she have imagined Zach arriving just as she was leaving. Her plan had shattered—the pep talk she’d intended to give herself driving to his place, the element of surprise, the safety of the trench coat.

She swallowed. She felt naked.

And ridiculous.

What if he laughed in her face?

“What do you want?” she asked.

“I need to see you.”

The shortie housecoat skimmed her thighs. “I was coming to your place.”

“I know. Chloe told me that, too.”

Damn, damn, damn.
“What else did she say?”

“Not a thing, babe. But I’m here, and I want to come in. Please open the door.”

Babe.
He’d called her babe! “I’ll get my coat.”

“We aren’t going anywhere. You don’t need one.”

That’s what you think.
She
would
complete her mission.

However, she’d brave out the moment and face him dressed as she was.

Blowing out a breath, she set the ruined phone on the kitchen counter. “Okay, I’m letting you in. Don’t laugh.”

“Why would I laugh?”

You’ll see.
“Is anyone in the hall with you?”

“No. Babe!”

“Just a second.” Steadying her heart-attack breathing, she loosened the bathrobe sash. The lavender satin parted to rest on her lace-clad breasts. A shoulder-wriggle inched the slippery fabric down the outer slopes of her bra to cradle in the crooks of her arms.

Her skin tingled as her lungs seized. Apart from the matching bra and panties, her entire body would be exposed to his view.

Beneath her breasts, her vulnerable heart pounded.

She loved him. Deeply. Truly. She’d make a fool of herself to prove it.

If he laughed at her, she’d know they had no future.

If he didn’t want her, she’d die.

What the hell was taking so long?

In the hall, Zach scrubbed a hand over his face. Now that he finally stood here, moments away from holding Tess, the emptiness of the last week clawed at him. He loved her. He wanted to tell her. If only she’d open the damn door!

His wish was granted in the next second. The door cracked open, and a goddess materialized. A vision of yearning blue eyes and rosy-with-uncertainty, lightly freckled cheeks. Her hair floated over her shoulders, several wavy strands resting in her cleavage. A lacy bra the color of bright pink tulips enhanced her breasts. Her lips parted, the color in her cheeks deepening.

His mouth hung open.
“Wow.”

“Hi.” She spoke the word softly, her voice a beseeching blend of nerves and longing. She gripped the door edge, one slender leg crooked in invitation.

Desire pummeled him, joined by love and affection. Whatever he’d expected when she’d opened the door, it hadn’t been this.

The light bulb in his mind blinked. She hadn’t dressed like a sex kitten to seduce him. Not solely. She’d opened herself to him, baring her heart as well as her beautiful body. The color in her face and the hesitant tone of her voice betrayed her.

“Hi,” he said gruffly. “You were coming to my place dressed like that?”

Her gaze lowered. She nodded. “I would have worn a trench coat.”

He glanced down the building’s short hallway. He didn’t want anyone else to see her. “Get inside.”

“Why? Is someone coming?”

Yeah, me, in about two seconds.
“No, but I don’t want to risk it.”

Her fingers remained on the door edge. “Not until I know why you’re here, Zach.”

Always the questioning lawyer. He loved that about her—her intelligence and determination.

“Why were you coming to
me
now? Our timing’s always been good, babe.”

She shook her head. “Not at first.”

“True. Not when you were trying to fight us despite that I was supposedly the focus of a bet with Chloe. That tells me something.” He tapped the doorjamb. “You didn’t sleep with me because you thought I was a mindless stud. Hell, you gave me the wrong phone number on purpose.”

Her teeth sank into her lower lip.

Zach withdrew the tattered coaster from his jacket pocket and passed it to her. Her gaze widened.

“Yeah, I still have it,” he said. “Lump stole it, which explains the fang marks. I found it a half hour ago. You want to know what prompted me to come to you now? The coaster did.”

She shook her head. “Why?”

“Because, the night we met, this was all you gave me. If not for Chloe, I never would have learned your real phone number. Pretty strange behavior for a woman intent on winning a bet. Which leads me to think you didn’t really want to do it.”

“I acted on impulse. I thought I could weasel out of it later. Then you phoned me.”

Their first incredible phone sex. The memory had forever emblazoned itself in his mind. However, he figured he couldn’t divulge that particular episode to their future grandchildren—
Nan and Pop first kissed while Nan was taking a bath. Only Pop wasn’t in the bathroom with her.

Where were you, Pop?

Um, uh, never mind.

He smiled. Yeah, he wanted to have children and grandchildren with this woman. He wanted to be with her always.

He wanted her for his wife.

He said, “Then we met at Greenburg. Other than a couple of fantastic fondlings, you fought our attraction with everything you had.” He glanced down the hall again. Still empty. He looked back at her. “Babe, I’m not against a little exhibitionism now and then, but not for this conversation. I’m either coming in or you’re wearing my coat.” He shrugged off his jacket and held it for her. “Turn around.”

Blushing, she transferred the coaster from one hand to the other as she pushed her arms into the old jacket’s baggy sleeves. She flipped her hair out from the collar and faced him. The battered leather swallowed her, the waistband level with her miniskirt-sized satin robe.

She looked incredibly sexy. His sweet biker-angel.

She clasped his hand. “Come in.”

Zach closed the door behind them. “Are we square on your bet with Chloe?”

Tess placed the coaster on the kitchen counter. “Not completely. I did finally go for the bet, Zach, but only because I realized I was falling for you and I didn’t want to admit it.”

“So, in the art-gallery closet, did you suggest the pro bono arrangement because you were falling for me or for the bet?”

“I wanted you, so much. But I was also trying to deny what I felt for you. I thought if I concentrated on sex, I’d stop myself from falling in love.”

He stepped toward her. “Did you succeed?”

“No. Not by a long shot. I love you, Zach. I have for weeks.”

His heart soared. “I love you, too. That’s what I came here to say.”

She smiled. “You love me?”

Nodding, he took her hand. “I’ve known for weeks, too. I wasn’t trying to deny it, though. I was worried I’d scare you off if I said something too early.”

“You probably would have,” she admitted softly.

He caressed her knuckles. “Tell me, sweetheart, if I love you and you love me, why aren’t we kissing?”

“That’s easily rectified.”

He tugged her into his arms, roaming his hands up her lingerie beneath the leather jacket. He pulled her close and their lips met, the kiss long and soulful. Sweetness, love and passion mingled with a need so intense it felt punishing. He wanted her—now, always—but they still had so much to settle.

Breaking the kiss, he held her within a loose embrace. “I’m sorry for what happened in your office last week. I knew you were stressed because of your parents’ situation, and I should have cut you some slack. My only excuse is that I have no experience with serious family trouble. My mother died, and it was awful, but I always knew my parents loved each other. Whereas you…” He looked at the phone. “Have you heard from your mom lately?”

Tears shone in Tess’s eyes. “She’s feeling better. Dad insisted they live apart while they attend counseling. She did something early in their marriage that contributed to their problems in a major way. It wasn’t just my father’s fault. He really is a good man.”