The chair scraped against the flooring as she sprang out of it.Why had she worried that he’d be bored at his job in Indigo Falls?Bored was safe.
But that showed no trust in his capabilities.
She paced about the kitchen.He knew what he was doing.He was trained, he was in top physical condition, and he was smart.
She pushed her phone where it sat next to the sink.“Come on, Becky.”
It had been over thirty minutes since her last text.
Maxie leaned back against the counter and stared at the floor.He wasn’t coming.He was probably already at home, forgetting about her.Her fingers curled around the counter’s edge.She should go over there and knock on his door until he opened it.That’s what Roxie would do.If he wasn’t there, she’d wait on his doorstep.
Maxie glanced down at herself.
She was in her robe.
If she went over there, she’d have to change the plan her sisters had set for her—and she was clinging to that plan with her fingertips.She didn’t want to get in front of him and draw a blank again.There were things that needed to be said.There were misunderstandings that had to be straightened out.Without her plan, there was a strong possibility she’d get knotted up even more and tongue-tied.
What if he’d had enough?What if he didn’t want to listen?What if he’d decided she just wasn’t worth it?
She jumped when she heard a door slam and twisted so fast her hair flew over her shoulders.A pair of headlights was reflecting off her garage door.
She flew to the back door.Her fingers fumbled as she tried to unlock it, but she still managed to tear it open before Zac had made it to the steps.
She launched herself at him.Simply ran down the steps and leapt at him.He stepped back, unprepared for the impact, but he caught her.She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed tight.“Are you okay?”
His arms hesitantly looped around her.“I’m fine.”
“I was so worried.I didn’t know what was happening.Was anybody hurt?”
“Just the crane operator.They think he had a mild stroke.”He held her for a moment longer.The motion of their breathing pressed their bodies against one another.In the shadows behind her house, in the warm summer night, it was intimate.His hand stroked through her hair, but then he tightened his hold around her waist.Picking her up, he carried her up the steps and into the house.
Maxie’s feet were dangling as he closed the door behind him.She didn’t want to let go of him, but she did when he set her back on her feet.
In the real world.
She stepped back, uneasy and uncertain.Once again, impulse had taken over and she’d just gone with it.She laced her fingers together and retreated to lean against the counter.She was so happy he was out of harm’s way and that he’d chosen to come here, to her home.
“Is the bridge safe?”she asked.
“Yeah, but getting that crane stabilized took all day.”
“I heard somebody fell.”
He rolled his shoulders, and her mouth watered as she watched all his muscles shift under his uniform.“He didn’t exactly fall, but he did end up trapped on a girder underneath.”
She shivered.God, how awful.“How did you get him out?”
“I went down after him.”
She froze.“You did what?”
Zac’s gaze glided over her and stuck.She realized that she’d been fidgeting, rubbing her toes against her opposite shin.As a result, her short robe had slipped open.Her toes paused halfway to her knee.The air in the kitchen became as soupy as it was outside.
“I’ve got rock-climbing experience, so it made sense that I be the one who harnessed up.”
She set her foot sedately back on the floor.“So, all in a day’s work?”
She’d worried so much, but she hadn’t worried enough.Too many movies and bad TV shows had her thinking of the worst possible outcomes.
