“Hey, ladies.I didn’t know this place rented rooms by the hour.”
Roxie had her top on, and with a flourish, she zipped up her shorts.“Sorry, sweetie.We’re checking out.”
“Oh, baby, don’t say that.”
“Don’t encourage him.”Lexie grabbed her sandals and then her sister by the arm.“Zac.”
The distress in her voice finally snapped Zac out of his sexual stupor.His head lifted and his eyes narrowed.His hold on Maxie tightened when he saw the situation developing.“Let’s go, troublemakers.”
He gripped her hips, and Maxie turned where he led.He circled his arm around her waist and accompanied her towards a gate she couldn’t even remember opening.
“My dress,” she said as they passed the pool chair.
He didn’t even break stride when he gathered it up.“Got it.”
But… But… She was still in a towel!
Lexie and Roxie hurried ahead.Roxie picked up her bra and underwear and kept on going, while Lexie struggled to put on her shoes.The back of her dress gaped open wide, and her wet underthings were already soaking through the lavender silk.
“Get your shoes,” Zac said.
Maxie snagged them.
Skipping across the parking lot, Roxie and Lexie made a beeline for their car until they realized they didn’t have the keys.They backtracked towards Zac when the Mustang drove closer.
“Get on your way,” Zac ordered the driver.The cold authority in his voice made Maxie look upwards in surprise.
“Yeah?”the man said, leaning out the window.“Who’s going to make me?”
“Indigo Falls Sheriff.”
The thug’s eyes narrowed, but the car stopped pacing them.The man must have seen something in Zac’s face that told him anything he tried would bring more trouble than it was worth.Still, he leered at the three of them before stepping on the gas and whipping the car away.
“Creep,” Roxie muttered.
Lexie nudged her towards the car.
Maxie tried to keep up with the group, but she wasn’t sure if she was securing her towel or if Zac was.With as soaked as it was, she didn’t know how much it hid anyway.Barefoot, she couldn’t track with his long strides, and tiny rocks bit into her heels.
“Ah!”she yelped as the motel swung in her line of sight.
Once again, she found herself in Zac Ford’s arms.He held her close to his chest, and she braced herself.Her palm pressed flat against all that hot, chiseled flesh.He inhaled deeply, and those muscles that fascinated her so much flexed.
With long strides, he carried her to his Jeep as Lexie and Roxie flanked him like bookends.
“My keys?”Lexie asked.
Maxie held on to Zac’s shoulders until he lowered her to the ground.She did a little dance as he pulled out his keys, but then he was letting her into his Jeep.She scurried inside, clutching the towel to her chest and trying to cover her backside at the same time.He tossed her dress onto her lap and opened the back to get Lexie’s purse.
“Follow us,” he instructed.“The address is 218 Wilshire.”
Away from the pool, back in the real world, Maxie started to understand exactly what she’d done.She couldn’t believe the mess she’d gotten herself into.She’d stripped down for Zac and all of the Inndigo’s clientele to see.She’d jumped in the pool and had gotten soaked.Droplets of water still trickled from her hair and down her spine, making her shiver.
She was wearing a wet towel, for God’s sake.
“Have fun?”Zac asked as he slid into the driver’s seat.
She couldn’t answer.There were no words.She’d had trouble saying hi this morning.That was nothing compared to the way embarrassment and shyness bound her now.
