“Ah, what I mean is, I trust Sam’s choices.So I wait to see what he has going on before doing mine.”
It’s not completely true, only a partial lie.I used to do just that.Now I’ve got my favorites based on years of trying out various combinations.But none of that matters given I haven’t done a good job of explaining myself and he’s looking at me like I’m hopeless.
“You’ve got a thing for Sam?”His head is cocked to the side and his voice is now barely a whisper.
Yet Sam must have overheard us because he starts to laugh and we both turn to see Mom and my stepdad, whom I also consider a true friend, watching us with sheer amusement written all over their faces.Great.
“Boy, does she ever.”Mom shuts the oven door, grinning like the cat who ate the canary.“Well, I should say, she used to.Now I’d say they’re more partners in crime.Thick as thieves.”
Sam wraps his arms around my mother’s waist, perching his chin on her shoulder and nodding.“We get each other.”
I blush despite myself, remembering the teenager that I was, crushing on Samson Beaulieu.He’s a good-looking man, so kind and loving, and very much a father figure to me even though I have my own dad.We all got lucky when he came into my mother’s life.
“That we do,” I finally pipe up, handing Zach’s pizza stone to my mother.“But I no longer crush on him.Those days are over.Now it’s just deep admiration.”
“I see.”Zach eyes us warily as if trying to figure us out.
When the pizzas are ready, we gather around the kitchen table to eat, laugh, and carry on as if Zach has always been a part of the family.It’s gratifying and helps ease the prickly edginess poking at me since his arrival.His natural comfort with my family, and theirs with him, is also a little unnerving.
“So, Zach, if I’m not mistaken, Drew introduced you to Paige, correct?”My mother is playing coy.She knows all this.
He nods, chewing the last of his pizza.“Yes, Paige needed some legal advice.”He’s measured in his response, perhaps not wanting to bring up my landlord.
“Yes, with her horrible landlord.”Mom stacks the plates.“But you aren’t a lawyer.You’re in real estate, right?”
“Uh-huh.”He wipes his mouth with a napkin before resting his forearms on the edge of the table.“But I have lawyers that specialize in real estate and with Drew in New York, he asked me to help out.So I did what I could but if you ask me, I got the better end of this deal.”
He looks my way with a wistful smile and squeezes my thigh under the table, kick-starting a pulsing need between my legs.
After dinner, my mother and Sam suddenly have somewhere to be, claiming they’ll be out for the rest of the evening.This is news to me.Last I thought, we had plans to watch a movie after dinner, but this was before Zach arrived.
Their departure is obvious, but I keep my mouth shut.If I’m being honest, I want to be alone with Zach.I’ve got a lot of questions.
I walk them to the door, leaving him seated in the living room, and return to find him looking out over the St.Lawrence River.
“Why are you here?”
He turns to face me.“I’m your boyfriend, I should be here.”
“Zach, it’s just you and me now.Talk to me.”
He strides right up to me, so close I feel the heat of his tall, broad frame and I’m forced to tilt my head back to keep eye contact.
“What do you want to know?”he asks with a sexy gruffness in the pitch of his voice.
Damn him.
“Tell me why you came when I asked you not to?”I let out an exasperated huff.
“If our time alone is going to be spent with you telling me to leave, I’d rather join Sam and Olivia.”His tone is light, but the corners of his mouth are tight as if smiling hurts and I feel bad for pushing this, but my sanity depends on it.
“This isn’t real,” I murmur more to myself, knowing he doesn’t want to hear what I have to say.
“What are you talking about?”
“You and I aren’t real.”I lamely push at his hard chest, hoping he stays right where he is, almost touching me.
And this is why I needed to get away from him.Move out.And why he shouldn’t be here right now.My mind is muddled, and my body wants things it shouldn’t and can’t have.Namely, Zachary Rothwell.
