“No, you have your hands full. I can swing out and get her,” Zac offered. “I don’t have anything on my schedule besides bothering Janet all day.”
“Thanks, man. We appreciate you.”
The words were music to his ears.
“Actually,” the office manager cut in, “Benji is already on his way. But, Zac, she needs you to cover for her until she gets the situation figured out. She said something about her spare is already on her car so she needs to get a new set from the shop. Either way, I can look up the details of her first job.”
“Sure, I can do that.” Zac strode over and accepted the sticky note Janet held out to him. “Bouldering at the Penstock trail? Sweet. What time are the clients checking in for waivers and such?”
“She said they already did it and to have you meet them at the Old Pipeline Bridge at nine.”
“Easy enough,” He shrugged then grunted as he looked at his watch. “I’d better hop to it. Jonathan, baby, other baby, Janet. It’s been real.”
Zac’s work truck crunched to a stop in the busy parking lot on the side of the Wenatchee River. He was surprised to find a space that late in the morning since it was a superb day for climbing. Autumn lured flocks of tourists with its changing leaves. Gold, red, and orange played with the trusty evergreens as the colorful trees prepared to drop their leaves. The mornings started brisk, but as soon as the sun rose high in the sky, the warmth would radiate through the valley. Many climbers aimed to get an early start on claiming their favorite routes before others came along. Some would share while others became oddly territorial. Zac always thought it was funny when people acted like they owned one of the boulders. He’d even seen a guy get so enraged that he’d pissed all over one to keep everyone else away.
As though there weren’t hundreds of other rocks to play on in a five-mile radius.
He loaded a couple of crash pads on his back and opted to leave the cooler of snacks in the truck. If the site was too busy, he’d probably encourage his group to find another spot down the river.
Again, plenty of boulders for everyone.
He crunched toward the start of the pipeline bridge to wait but froze when he saw a flash of auburn hair tucked neatly into a jaunty ponytail.
Tabby cat.
Chapter fifty-three
Tabitha
“Tabbycat.What.. .?” Zac’s words fell away as he spotted her. He stood frozen at the beginning of the bridge while she’d been waiting at the halfway point, anxiously bouncing on the balls of her feet.
“Hi.” Real smooth. Perfect opening line. But honestly that was all she could muster because with his hands clenching and unclenching the shoulder straps of those crash pads all she could think about was what those fingers were capable of.
“What are you doing here?” he finally managed, taking a tentative step closer as though afraid she’d run at the sight of him.
Tabitha held up both hands, climbing shoes and chalk bag hanging off her fingers. “I’m here to climb.”
“For”—he swallowed—“for work?”
“For fun.”
His shoulders slumped as though she couldn’t possibly be there for him. “Frankie got a flat. So you get me instead.” He strode a little closer. “Is that ok? Shit, I just realized that must be why you wanted her to meet you out here.”
“And why is that?”
He rubbed at his beard. “To avoid me.”
“Can I tell you a secret?” Tabitha closed the distance. Standing toe to toe with him she laid a hand at the middle of his chest. His heart quickened against her fingertips and that sexy smile returned to his lips.
“You knifed Frankie’s tire to get me here?”
She laughed, glad that he was finally catching on. “No. We took the easy way and set the whole thing up. She doesn’t have a flat.”
His smile widened, lighting up his eyes. “You’re here for me?”
“I’m here for you—” she barely uttered the words before Zac’s arms snaked around her and pulled her in for a demanding kiss. He tongued the seam of her lips and she happily let him in as tears welled in her eyes. She’d missed him, craved him. But this time around, the separation had been nearly unbearable. Fingers pressed into her lower back, crushing her against him while the other hand toyed with her tidy ponytail. He tugged her head back and kissed a smoldering line down her jaw. She was lost and happy to be.
A cheeky whistle sounded from the path and Zac finally pulled away, wearing an oops expression. He gripped Tabitha’s wrist and pulled her toward his work truck.
