“Is there another Poke shop in town?” Again, she schooled her snark. She hadn’t slept well last night. After their sizzling encounter she’d gone back into the beer garden, paid the tab, then made up an excuse about being tired before retreating to her hotel room to try to figure out what the hell happened. And while Zac had made her feel all kinds of inconvenient feelings, he wasn’t the only one dancing the tango earlier that night. Lowering her hackles, she softened her voice and continued. “Frankie took us after hiking Valhalla yesterday morning.”
“Should have guessed.” He scoffed and adjusted his worn baseball hat. Tabitha silently watched his bicep bulge with the movement. Heartache pinched at her ribs as she spied the worn tattoo on the back of his upper arm. Other designs didn’t cover the two carabiners hooked together to create a heart. Instead, they danced carefully around his first tattoo, accentuating the presence without getting in the way of the original design.
A mark that he’d gotten with her.
Redirecting her attention, Tabitha actually heard Zac’s words. “Wait, why ‘should have guessed’? Do people regularly get sick from the food there?”
He chuckled at her recoiled shock. The health department gave it the green smiley face, which meant they’d passed inspection, but perhaps that was old?
“Not to my knowledge,” Zac soothed, holding up a hand to calm Tabitha’s anxiety. “But Frankie tried to get me to go once and I was put off by how iffy the entrance was. It didn’t screamfood safetyto me.”
“Right? When we went, garbage bags were outside the door with a stray cat having a feast.”
“Little orange cat with a bite taken out of one ear?”
“Yes?”
“That’s Rufus,” Zac said as if that explained everything.
“So . . . Not a stray, then?”
“No. Well, yes.” He looked to the ceiling as though the correct description was scrawled on one of the drop panels. “He’s kind of the town cat. No one really owns him, but he’s regularly taken to the vet, gets flea medicine, has all his shots. We joke that he’s our mayor since we haven’t had one in a few years. He hangs out in some of the storefronts on the main drag through town.”
“That sounds sanitary.” Tabitha shuddered as she imagined the mangey cat hopping up on one of the tables at Okay Poke to nibble on tuna an exiting group left behind.
“We don’t let him inside of restaurants.” He sounded offended. “We aren’t a bunch of hicks, ya know.”
“No, I wasn’t saying you were—”
“Haven’t you ever been to a store with a shop cat?”
“I don’t think so,” Tabitha murmured. Her basket was suddenly very heavy and she was very tired. Zac began shifting uncomfortably too. She looked down at the medicine and jolted out of the bubble they’d been standing in together. “Shit. I need to get this to Lark.”
“Let me help.” Before she could refuse, the basket hung from one of his hands while he balanced a case of Ranier beer on the other. She followed behind him, watching the way his soft T-shirt pulled at his flexed back muscles. And wow, those equally worn Carharts hugged his ass nicely with each step.
“Tabby cat.”
“Huh?” she responded guiltily, caught mid-ogle.
“Did you still want to do the multi-pitch today? We could move it to tomorrow if that helps Lark.” He unloaded her groceries onto the conveyor belt and placed the basket in the neat stack by the register.
“I’ve got the interview with Jonathan tomorrow at lunch. It’s a critical part of the whole article.”
“Sure, that makes sense.” He nodded. “What about Saturday?”
“I leave Saturday.”
Zac pulled out his phone and typed furiously, not saying anything more. Tabitha exchanged pleasantries with the cashier, paid, and picked up her bag. But before she could leave, his phone dinged and a smile spread wide across his face.
“What is it?” Tabitha asked cautiously. She’d seen that exact grin many times before, which always accompanied some mischief.
“You’re meeting with Jonathan at noon today. Then we can climb tomorrow. That should give blondie the opportunity to feel better.”
Initial irritation overcame her until she tamped it down. He was trying to help. It was sweet, actually. And she should be grateful that he had connections with the owner.
She forced her own smile. “Thank you. Where do I meet him for lunch?”
“Are you familiar with Wenatchee?”
