“And he’s behaving himself?”
Zac flinched, ready to confess his sins, but Tabitha jumped in again. “He has been a remarkably professional guide. I’ve been safe with him on every excursion. He takes his role with your company very seriously. You’re lucky to have him.”
Jonathan assessed them both for a moment, then nodded. “All right. Should we get back to the interview?”
She’d left out a few key points, but Zac wasn’t going to correct her and bring about his own unemployment. Her words burrowed deep inside him and he wondered if it was all true. Because while he had the freaking hots for her, he also wanted to ensure her safety on the excursions she booked. And not only because she was writing a massive magazine spread on Off the Beaten Adventures. He did take his job seriously.
Deeper than that, he couldn’t let anything bad happen to her.
“I’ll field the how-we-met question,” Lucy interjected, likely trying to cut the tension with distraction. The woman was an angel. “I’d just been dumped by my boyfriend in Seattle.”
She launched into the retelling Zac had heard at least a dozen times about how Jon was Lucy’s guide, and a landslide stranded them in the woods for a few days. Basically, they came out of it in love but there was a whole denial thing and it took a few months before they actually became a couple. Not until after Lucy’s best friend, Todd, helped him win her back with a special lip-sync performance at a Seattle drag bar called The Tackle Boxx. Zac pretended to tune out the recount, but it secretly pulled at his heartstrings whenever he heard it. Especially Lucy’s version; the little woman had a way with a story.
“I still have glitter in . . . places,” Lucy finished with the apples of her cheeks reddening in a naughty blush.
“But maybe leave that part out of the interview,” Jonathan chuckled, beaming at his wife like he would dress in drag and perform every day if that’s what it took to be with her.
The group spent another hour with the back and forth of the interview. Jonathan even let Zac field a few of the questions and mentioned that he might be taking over while Jon and Lucy were on leave with the babies.
Pumped by the end of it, Zac strode out of the café with a skip in his step and Tabitha at his side. Knowing that Jonathan was seeing Zac in a new light—one where he trusted him with the business—gave Zac the proverbial warm and fuzzies. That feeling amplified as he replayed Tabitha sticking up for him.
The leggy redhead glided beside him, hair and dress fluttering behind her as she mentally processed the interview. If he read her correctly, she felt optimistic about how it went too. Though she was so smart and talented that she could probably craft something masterful out of mud.
To distract himself last night—after jerking it to the memory of the alley incident of course—he’d pulled up old copies ofRock ‘n’ Ropesto read some of her articles. He couldn’t help the curiosity to know what she’d been up to all these years. Her early pieces shouted her hopes and ambitions from the rooftops. They felt quintessentially tabby cat. Joyful, determined, laser-focused. But as he jumped to newer stories, the vibe changed. Her words dulled some, as though typed with worn, jaded fingers. What had caused the shift? A big life change? Romantic split? He had to know.
But when he looked over at her again, it pained him to pop her out of her buzz. Maybe he’d ask her tomorrow at the final excursion.
Maybe not.
It wasn’t his business after all. And she’d be gone the day after that. Best to come to grips with that sooner rather than later.
“Can we finally go bowling?” Tabitha asked with a grin so wide that Zac knew he could deny her nothing.
Ok, so he would come to grips with it later, then.
Chapter twenty-nine
Tabitha
Whiletyingthelaceson her bowling shoes, Tabitha replayed the interview with Jonathan and Lucy Miller. The meeting had flowed smoothly following their inquisition of Zac, and she walked away with enough material to write an entire series of articles on the charming couple. The interview, paired with the climbing excursions, would surely inject her work with the excitement and zest Claudia said was missing. In a few short days, she felt changed in some way. Lighter.
“You’re up first,” Zac said after entering their names into the scoreboard above their lane.
She gasped, blinking at letters as though she were reading them wrong. “Tabitha?”
He chuckled at her mock dramatics. “As a thank you for standing up for me back there.”
“Every word of it was true. You’ve been great on our excursions,” she assured, swishing past him to select her ball from the return rack.It’s the extracurricular interactions that haven’t exactly been professional.But again, two to tango. She hadn’t pushed him away. In fact, she’d encouraged it. Challenged him. And she couldn’t deny to herself that she’d wanted every skim. Every stroke.
“Thank you, really.” His raspy voice was soft, gently expressing his appreciation.
She shook off her rising lust and glanced over her shoulder. “Keep your distance.”
Zac stood behind the seats to protect his crotch. “I’m a quick learner.”
Tabitha smirked and picked up her ball then ambled up to the beginning of the lane. The blonde wood beneath her feet was slick with so many years of polish. How anyone could move fluidly without slipping was beyond her. She swung her arm like a pendulum a few times to work up the momentum and then launched.
“Everyone sucks their first time,” Zac reassured as her ball made a severely angled dash into one of the gutters. “Plus, that was a practice throw.”
