and then to the ladder, weighing her options. Which was the lesser of the two evils?
In the end, she just couldn’t force herself to climb through all those lilies and pussy willows, too afraid of snakes and bugs, or whatever else might be hiding in the weeds. With a growl of frustration, she swam over to the ladder and pulled herself up as quickly as she could.
She didn’t even care that she was still dripping wet. As soon as she reached the top of the ladder, she hurried across the deck to grab her clothes. Pulling them on wasn’t easy but she managed it in record time.
She turned around just in time to see Derrick come up the ladder, water dripping down that magnificent body of his, those broad shoulders and rippling abdominal muscles just taunting her.
“Look all you like,” he teased and stood still for her perusal. “It’s better to touch though.”
Zarah’s eyes snapped up to his and she blushed, turning away and grabbing her notes. “I apologize for invading your lake today,” she said nervously.
“Invade anytime, Zarah.”
She hurried away, heading back to the village as fast as she could without appearing to run. She suspected that he knew exactly what she was doing anyway, but didn’t care. At this point, she just needed space and time to recover.
Chapter 7
Zarah felt as if she were being cornered. No matter how many times she tried to hide, Derrick was always right there. His green eyes watching her carefully while his large, male body trapped her whenever they were alone.
The morning following their swim in the lake, she was sitting in the coffee shop before work with Mary and Suzanne and several others. They were all laughing about men, their husbands or previous boyfriends and Zarah laughed at some of the stories Mary told of the men she met before marrying her husband. The woman really cracked her up.
She glanced down at the newspaper, not really interested in reading any of the news, just wanting to keep abreast of the international headlines. Suddenly, the laughter was gone and there was only silence in its place.
Within thirty seconds, all four other women picked up their coffees, purses and anything else they’d brought with them and were walking out the door. Zarah wasn’t sure what had happened, but she wasn’t in any rush, so she remained seated. Since her back was to the doorway, she had no idea that Derrick had just walked into the coffee shop. She glanced back down at her newspaper, about to fold it up and head over to the shop when a large body sat down next to her, trapping her in the booth and moving closer than she felt comfortable.
“Going somewhere?” he asked, looking down at her and putting his arm around the back of the booth. His shoulders were so broad that they actually blocked out the rest of the café.
She shifted uncomfortably on the bench, wanting to put some space between their bodies, but he only shifted again, plastering his leg back against hers.
“I should get to the shop. Mary needs my help,” she said, but it sounded all breathy and distracted. Her eyes dropped to his mouth, wishing they were in a place where he could kiss her.
“You don’t need to be there for thirty minutes. I just spoke to Mary as she was leaving.”
Zarah looked quickly at the exit and saw her best friend and her boss heading down the street with three other women, all five of them with their heads bent towards each other as if they were discussing something of great import. “Traitor,” Zarah said under her breath.
Derrick laughed but was delighted with her expression. “So what are you reading in the newspaper?” he asked.
Zarah glanced down, trying to remember which article she’d been skimming. “Nothing really.”
“The economy is getting better,” he commented, then lifted his eyebrows as if to tell her that the conversation was now in her court and she’d better pick it up.
Zarah couldn’t pull her eyes away from his. “That’s what the statistics are saying at least.”
“You disagree?” he challenged.
Zarah wasn’t sure how it happened, but within moments, they were in a heated argument over the best way to lead the economy out of this current mess. She rolled her eyes several times when he claimed one avenue to achieve financial success but she tossed back at him another option. Back and forth they argued and Zarah laughed at how much she admired his comments.
She glanced