quickly pressed on. “I’m sorry I disappeared on you after the Fourth. That’s not what I intended when I brought you home.”
“I’m sure you didn’t intend for a felon to go crazy in the forest, either.” She approached him, rose on her tiptoes, and planted a quick kiss on his mouth. “Thank you for the sentiment, but it’s unnecessary.”
“Good.” Zach took advantage of her nearness and wrapped his arms around her. There was nothing quick about the kiss he gave her.
Or about the nooner he ended up getting after all.
He asked her out to dinner before they both returned to work, but it was quilt group night, and as the newest Patchwork Angel, she didn’t want to miss one of the few meetings held during the summer season. Instead, they made a date for the following night, which also was Zach’s first day off since the Fourth.
He spent the next morning catching up on neglected chores and taking Ace on a long walk around the lake. That afternoon he accepted an invitation from Jack Davenport to join him and Cam Murphy up at Jack’s estate, Eagle’s Way, to watch a Rockies game. For the first time in a very long time, he looked forward to his day off being almost over with.
He took Savannah to dinner at the Yellow Kitchen, and they had a delicious, romantic candlelit meal. He didn’t miss the thumbs-up Ali gave her when she went to the ladies’ room or the smile Savannah flashed in return, and it pleased him. Savannah had made friends with his friends in Eternity Springs. One of these days she’d learn she could trust them with the truth about her background, but that was an argument for another time. First she had to navigate the turbulent waters of the next few weeks.
The subject of her nephew had not come up over dinner, but as they waited for dessert to be served, he asked, “Do you want to talk about TJ?”
She took a sip from her water glass. “Actually, I’d just as soon not. I’m as ready as I’ll ever be, and I can use the distraction. Not that you’re merely a distraction,” she hastened to add. “That sounds insulting.”
“Hey, I’m happy to be a distraction.”
“In that case, I have a big favor to ask. Is there any chance that you could go with me to the airport tomorrow?”
Zach didn’t hesitate. “Of course. I’ll be happy to go. One of the perks of being the boss is getting to jerk around my subordinates’ schedules.”
“Thank you.”
Relief filled Savannah’s eyes, and the smile she gave him was so bright he thought he might need blinders. He sat gazing at her until Ali approached their table carrying their dessert order. “One piece of double chocolate cake and two forks.”
“Yum,” Savannah said. “I’ve heard wonderful things about your double chocolate cake.”
“From Sarah, I expect,” Ali said with a laugh. “It’s a recipe I found, but she bakes it for me. She does have a magical touch. You two enjoy.”
Savannah took a bite of cake, and, watching her, Zach was lost. He’d been mesmerized by her smile; the way she ate chocolate cake totally seduced him. She licked her fork. She purred with pleasure. She smacked her lips and swooned.
He went as hard as that piece of petrified wood he’d found up on Murphy Mountain during his first summer in Eternity Springs.
She invited him in when he took her home, thank the good Lord above. The moment the door closed behind them, he pressed her up against the wall and took her mouth in a sizzling kiss. It proved to be the start of one of the most erotic nights of his life, and by the time he finally drifted off to sleep, he’d decided that distraction was one of his favorite words in the English language.
He was pleasantly tired as they headed out of Eternity Springs the next morning, bound first for a quick stop at the Gunnison police department, where Zach needed to deliver a file to a detective, and then afterward for the airport. Yet with every mile they traveled, Zach could see his formerly-relaxed-by-distraction lover grow more and more tense. Concerned about her, he reached out and patted Savannah’s knee. “It’ll be okay.”
The smile she gave him in response was wan. “I’m scared half to death.”
Zach braked gently as he rounded a curve to discover a herd of seven bighorn sheep crossing the road some fifty yards in front of them.