“No,” Tabitha huffed. “I also don’t have a car. Lark drove us here in her RV.”
“Ok.” Zac hefted the case of beer onto his shoulder and made for the exit.
“Wait, that’s it?” Tabitha scurried after him. Great. Now she had to either figure out the bus route or find a way to rent a car. There was no way she’d make Lark drive her to the interview. Maybe she could coax Lark to stay in her room for a few hours while she drove the RV out there by herself. But the idea of Lark vomiting in the hotel room and navigating Gertie around the winding roads almost had Tabitha reaching for the antacids she’d just bought.
“I’ll pick you up at ten-thirty.”
“What?”
“I’ll drive you. Maybe we could get a bite to eat first?”
Tabitha had dozens of reasons why his suggestion was a bad idea, but Claudia’s voice rang in her ear.
Give us a glimpse of the old Tabitha and your job is safe.
She didn’t like accepting help, but what choice did she have? And who better to bring out the version of her that the magazine wanted than someone who knew her.
Intimately.
“Ten-thirty it is,” she smiled tightly. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” he said and turned to stride in the opposite direction.
“But no Poke!” she shouted.
“No shit,” he hollered over his shoulder with a laugh.
Chapter twenty-six
Zac
“Don’tdoanythingIwouldn’t do,” a gray-faced blondie called weakly from her RV window. “On second thought, do them and tell me if I’ve been missing out.”
Wise woman.
Tabitha ducked her head and practically cannonballed into the passenger side door Zac held open for her. He chuckled, shut the door, then sent Lark a lazy salute. “Ma’am. Yes, ma’am.”
“I was talking totabby cat. You behave yourself man-meat.” Her two-fingered I’m watching you gesture was a far cry from threatening, but Zac held up his hands to play along anyways. Might as well humor the woman as she neared her deathbed.
Zac hopped into the driver’s seat just as Tabitha let out a low whistle of appreciation.
“You did it,” she mused quietly, eyeing the back of the vehicle.
He beamed with pride. He’d worked hard designing the perfect van layout and constructed the framework himself. By far this was the project he’d spent the most time and effort focused on. Working anything from start to finish wasn’t exactly in his wheelhouse. But the van held his attention. Compelled him to create something amazing.
Something she would approve of.
The light in Tabitha’s eyes as she took it all in made every sliver, every wrong saw cut, every frustrating problem that popped up worth it. She was impressed and Zac was high on it.
“What do you think?” he asked as though the answer wasn’t already scrawled all over her beautiful sun-kissed features. Let him be shameful; he wanted to hear her say it.
“It’s great.” Tabitha turned and locked her glimmering blue eyes on his. That smile—so genuine and vivid. “Perfection.”
The pride in his chest doubled. Tripled, really.
“Thanks,” he said, ignoring how much her approval meant to him. “Shall we?”
“You’re driving.”
