Her knees turned to jelly.She needed some time, but somehow, she doubted he’d let her stay in here long.She tossed her clothes into the hamper, wet panties and all.When she got into the shower, her body shook.All night, alone in bed with Mr.Blond, Buff and Beautiful.
She should have drunk more bourbon.
Maxie took as long as she could, but eventually she had to leave the bathroom.She smoothed the oversized T-shirt over her thighs, wishing it was longer.Her normal sleepwear was lighter and girlier, but for tonight, this was better.
Or so she thought until she opened the door and saw Zac already stretched out on the bed.He’d stripped down too and had gotten rid of the jeans and dark shirt.All he wore were gym shorts, the long, slippery nylon kind.Nothing else.His torso was bare, showing more tempting muscles that she’d missed.His shoulders were wide, tapering to a trim, rippled waist.The shorts he wore rode so low she could see his hipbones and a tempting tapestry of muscles working its way down his abdomen.
Her toes curled.No, the bed was definitely not big enough, not with him in it.
His blue gaze stroked her slowly, and a smile settled onto his lips.“Put us together, and we’re ready for some one-on-one.”
Her breathing stopped entirely.
“Basketball, I mean.”
Maxie’s cheeks heated, and she stood uncertainly in the bathroom doorway.Her hair was only towel dried, and the breeze from the air-conditioning vent made her shiver.She didn’t know which was worse, standing here with him watching her or climbing into bed with him.
He lifted his hand.Hanging from his index finger was one of her frilly nighties, the white one with the bandeau bodice.“I found this under the pillows.”
The sight of him holding that silk lit a fire under her.She darted to the bed and snagged it from his grip.Balling it up, she hurried to the dresser, only to discover that the curtains were still wide open.His Jeep was in her driveway and countless townspeople had seen them out together tonight.She didn’t need to give them even more of a show.She untied the sashes that held back the floor-length curtains.They swung down, shutting the world out.
And closing them in together.
Hesitantly, she turned.
Zac was still watching her, and in that moment the house seemed too quiet.More people were downstairs, but up here, with only one low-wattage lamp lit, it had become way too intimate.
“What happened at the pool, Maxie?”
Her chin popped up.The question threw her, and it was more personal than anything she’d prepared herself for.“We went swimming.”
“Don’t play dumb.You know what I mean.”
Her lips flattened.“I was overheated.”
“That parking lot could have been on fire, and it wouldn’t have been hot enough to make the Maxie Miller I know strip down to baby-pink panties in the middle of a public place.”
She winced.Trust him to notice that detail.She searched for another plausible reason.“I…”
“And don’t tell me it was peer pressure.”He propped his head in his hand, rolling onto his side as he watched her.“I believe that for Lexie, but not for you.”
Maxie stared at the floor and wasn’t surprised to see that she’d rocked her right foot back onto its heel.The room became impossibly quieter when the air conditioning clicked off.The only sounds were their breaths, and hers had gone too short and ragged.
“Something happened out there, Beauty.I saw it come over you.What was it?”
She couldn’t explain.Honestly.It had been instinctive.When she’d seen Roxie in that pool, she’d been transported back to another time and place.
Tightness pulled at her chest.“I was reminded of something,” she confessed.
“What?”
He wouldn’t understand.There was no way to communicate what she’d felt in that moment.Her gaze flicked away but stuck on the TV in the corner of the room.She couldn’t tell him, but maybe she could show him.After all he’d done, he deserved some kind of explanation.
And she wanted to see it again.
Shehadto see it.
Impulse took over, and she hurried to the entertainment center.Hands shaking, she pulled open a drawer and began searching through old videotapes.She found the one she wanted, and her heart begantap-tappingagainst her rib cage.He might not understand when he watched the video, but she would.
