Slowly, she reached behind her for her Glock that hooked in her shoulder holster. Just as she touched the gun, Zack stepped in front of her.What the...Was he trying to protect her? If her heart wasn’t flipping with tenderness right now, she would have snapped at him for getting in her way.
The bushes rustled again. Zack’s arm reached behind him, touching her. What was he thinking? She shook her head. Hewastrying to protect her. This was a side of him she didn’t think she’d ever see.
Suddenly, from within the trees, a light shone on her and Zack. She shielded the brightness from her eyes with one hand as she pulled out her gun with the other.
“Whit? Is that you?” A man’s voice came from behind the light.
She exhaled as relief flooded through her. “Joe?” She moved around Zack.
The light shining from within the trees lowered, but the glow from the light shone on her stepfather’s face. He finished moving out of the bushes, stepping toward her.
When they reached each other, she threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. He returned the show of affection.
“Oh, you scared me to death.” She slapped his shoulder as she pulled away. “I thought you were a bear.”
Joe shrugged. “I’ve been called worse.”
She laughed, remembering the times when her motherhadcalled him some really harsh names. She glanced over her shoulder at Zack and motioned him to come closer.
“Joe, this is my friend Zack Tucker.”
Joe reached out his hand in greeting, and Zack shook it. “Nice to meet you, Tucker. Welcome to my ranch.”
“Uh... yeah. Thanks for letting us come.”
“So where is your car?” Joe asked, stretching his neck as he looked behind them.
“Stuck in the mud,” Whitney answered. “We’ll have to dig it out tomorrow.”
“Good idea. We’ll worry about that tomorrow.” He pointed his head up the road. “Let’s get walking. I don’t want to keep you love-birds out here where it’s cold.”
Inwardly, she groaned. Zack was going to turn this into something more, she just knew it. But before he could ask, she hurried to his side and slid an arm around his waist. Shock and amusement registered on Zack’s expression.
“We’re coming, Joe.” She held Zack from moving until Joe was a little ways in front of them.
“Love birds?” Zack asked with humor in his voice.
“I couldn’t tell him the real reason we’re here,” she whispered.
Zack bent his head closer to her as he circled his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer. “I thought you told him we needed a place to hide.”
“Yeah, well... I didn’t tell him exactly why we needed to hide.”
“Whatexactlydid you tell him?”
“Uh, you see, I hinted that we both needed some time away from real life, and away from the crowds.”
Zack’s body shook with a silent laugh. With his mouth so close to her ear, the warmth from his breaths were making her shiver, but it wasn’t a cold shiver. Instead, her body was getting hotter by the second.
“Good excuse,” he said softly. “So are we lovers? Engaged? What?”
“I just told my stepfather that we had been dating for a while—”
“Ah, lovers it is.”
She clenched her teeth. Zack would never let her live this down now.
“Come on, you two,” Joe called. “There will be time enough for cuddling when we get to the house.”
