hesitated. She supposed she could go without it. Surely one missing fastener wouldn’t hurt. He’d probably arrest me for unsafe driving, though.
Biting back a sigh, she rolled to her feet and took the four steps over to within reach of his hand. She nabbed the lug nut, but as she drew her hand back, he grabbed her wrist.
Savannah’s gaze flew up to meet his. He was staring at her, his eyes narrowed and intent, almost angry. “Son of a bitch,” he muttered.
Then he dragged her against him and kissed her.
His mouth was hot and hard and hungry, and Savannah resisted it … for about three seconds. It had been so long since a man’s arms had held her. So long since a man’s mouth had captured hers. So very, very long since she’d felt the liquid heat of desire zinging through her veins. It felt so good, so delicious, that she surrendered to it.
When he lifted his head a few moments later, those sky blue eyes of his hazy with desire and just a little bit stunned, she put her hand on his head and guided his mouth back down to hers. Just before their lips touched, he repeated, “Son of a bitch.”
He backed her up against the Taurus, his tongue stroking her lips, slipping between them, meeting hers. He kissed her deeply, passionately, and tasted of spearmint and danger. This was no first-date kiss, but then, this was no date, was it? This was impulse, greedy and furious. It was as if Zach acted against his own better judgment, against his own will, as if he was helpless against his attraction to her. The possibility of it filled her with a heady feeling of power.
Not that she was actually doing much thinking at the moment. Her blood pounded, her skin tingled, she ached. She needed. While a part of her recognized that she might have just tripped over the line into insanity—after all, she was enthusiastically indulging in a very public display of affection with a sheriff she didn’t even like—she was too caught up in the moment to care.
His hand began to move, skimmed across her breast, thrilling her. Her breath hitched, and for an instant he froze.
Zach released her mouth and his arms fell away as he jerked back and stepped away. Her stomach dropped with an instant of loss before good sense prevailed. For a long, humming moment he stared at her with eyes gone dark and edgy, the angles and planes of his face pronounced. I did get to him, she thought, pleased.
He got to you, too. And he’s the sheriff! He knows about you. It’s only a matter of time before he tells everyone in town.
Savannah wasn’t nearly as pleased as she’d been a moment before.
Maybe her displeasure showed in her expression, because all of a sudden Zach relaxed. That oh-so-talented mouth of his lifted in a smug, knowing smile. He tipped an imaginary hat and turned to leave. “See you later, Peach.”
Only after his Range Rover had disappeared around a curve in the road did she turn back to her tire. That’s when she realized that at some point in the proceedings, she’d dropped the stupid lug nut. It took her five minutes to find it, then another five minutes to finish with the tire. Pulling back onto the highway, she headed for Eternity Springs and the comfort of a long, hot bath and a glass of wine.
She never noticed the truck parked on the side road that slipped onto the highway after she passed and followed her stealthily back to town.
EIGHT
Zach strolled into Cam’s outdoors store shortly before closing time later that same day looking for distraction. His friend stood at the cash register ringing up a sale to a family of tourists, so Zach eyed the different areas of the store, deciding where to spend his time. He wandered over to the golf section, lifted a putter from the display, and tested its weight. A good merchandiser, Cam had a bucket of balls, an Astroturf putting surface, and an electric ball return machine available for customers to try out the products.
Zach dropped a white golf ball onto the green surface and rolled a putt. He missed the target by six inches, scowled, and tried again. Then again.
“That one is two sixty-nine ninety-five,” Cam said.
“That’s a stupid amount of money to pay for a golf club.”
“I agree, but I sold two of them this week. If you’re looking for a putter, you