“Yes.This is my idea and my responsibility.I appreciate all you’ve done so far and the support I know you’ll give, but most of this is on me.”
Zach was impressed with the way she was taking ownership of it all, even if she’d lied about having locked in a celebrity when she hadn’t.“I can come back tomorrow and help.”
“Only if you feel up to it.”
“As much as you say this is your responsibility, I’ve been given the task to help you and that’s what I’ll do.”
“Even if you really don’t want to,” she teased.
“Even if I don’t want to.”He reached across the space between them and took hold of her hand again.He was really starting to like having physical contact with her.“When I say I’m going to do something, I commit one hundred percent.I’ll be here tomorrow.How about I text you when I’m leaving home?”
Tilly squeezed his hand briefly before letting it go.“Sounds good.Come on, I’ll see you out.”
Together they walked to her door, and when she opened it, a draft of cold air swept in.Zach shivered as he pulled his jacket on.“Thanks again for dinner.It was just what I needed.”
“You’re welcome, and it’s the least I can do for you.”
They stood in the doorway, staring at each other.The breeze caused a tendril of Tilly’s blonde hair to feather across her face, and he automatically reached out and curled it around her ear, the back of his knuckles brushing her cheek.Her eyes widened and her lips parted.
The temptation to taste them swelled.A little touch and he would know if they were as soft as they looked.As if she could read his mind, Tilly moved toward him a fraction as her fingers gripped the door a little tighter.
Should he?
Could he?
Not wise.
He stepped back, putting distance between them.“Night, Tilly.”
Zach turned and strode down the path to his car.
Chapter Eight
All she hadto do was hit Enter, and then she’d find out whether Zach had any social media profiles.After their dinner at the diner, she’d thought about popping his name into a search engine and seeing what she could find, but she hadn’t.
That all changed after spending hours with him the previous night.She hadn’t gotten very much sleep because she’d wanted to send all the emails.And then she’d done what they’d talked about doing, but didn’t get around to—make a list of everything that needed to be done in order to ensure her traveling live Nativity play would be a success.
Now that she had time to think, she recalled Zach’s comments about the high-profile people she wanted to contact.There’d been something about the way he’d spoken that had surprised her.Then again, not all people liked celebrities, but with Zach, it had seemed more like cynicism, as if he despised their very existence.
Perhaps he had reason to.He’d said he’d lived in LA and had been exposed to actors and actresses.Perhaps he’d been called to save a well-known person’s house, and they hadn’t even thanked him or his crew for saving it.
All in all, she just wanted to see if she could find out more about the man.About who he was.If he had any family.
Not to mention, they’d almost kissed, and she’d wanted it to happen so badly.She wished she’d just taken a chance and done it.But that slight hesitation had been enough for him to back away and leave.
She wanted to know all she could about firefighter Zach Langley, and while asking him would be the most sensible thing to do, she had a feeling he wouldn’t be as open to that as she hoped.
“Just do it, Tilly.He might be one of those people who didn’t have any social media presence.”Saying it out loud didn’t make it any easier for her to hit the Enter key.
Why was she being so silly about it?In the past she’d always searched up names of the guys she’d gone on dates with.It had saved her a couple of times when she’d found out they appeared to be in relationships.Some people really were jerks.
Wait!
Was that the reason she was so reluctant to find out what she could about Zach?Was she unconsciously worried that he had a significant other?Given her track record, it would make sense, but Zach didn’t seem the type of guy who would cheat on someone.She may have thought he wasn’t married, but that didn’t mean he didn’t still have a partner in California.Lots of people did long-distance relationships successfully.There was only one way to find out for sure.She hit the Enter key and the screen started to fill with links.
She clicked on the top one that saidTalk show host’s son saves campers from certain death.
“Oh my God!What?”Tilly couldn’t believe what she was reading.
