This Changes Everything by Jennifer Ashley Page 0,27

a native of Phoenix, because we refer to places by what used to be there instead of what’s there now. New is not necessarily better, but it’s not rejected either.

After a while, I let out a heavy sigh. “I really should go. I’m going to be late.”

Zach is resigned. “I guess you should. If I’m late, I get reamed out by my mom. That’s the problem with a family business—everything is personal.”

“Sounds nice,” I say with longing.

Zach watches me a moment. “I might call you. No—I will call you. Today. If you don’t want me to, or you think it’s too soon, all you have to do is let it go to voicemail. I’ll figure it out.”

My heart hammers, joy flooding out my worries. “I’ll pick up.” I grimace. “As long as I’m not in the bathroom. I’m not a toilet talker.”

“Whew!” Zach dramatically wipes his forehead. “Neither am I. Last thing I want to hear when I’m pouring out my heart is a toilet flushing.”

We start laughing and can’t stop. I get up and so does he, and we hang on each other, gone in hysteria.

Zach walks me to my car. A few neighbors are out, picking up newspapers or getting into cars for work. They wave to Zach, and he waves back, unembarrassed about emerging with a woman who has obviously spent the night.

He even kisses me in front of everyone. “Have a great day, Abby.”

I know I will, because he’s said so.

I finally make myself get into the car. “Wait—how will you get to work?” Zach’s truck is nowhere in sight.

“I called Austin when I got up. He’ll swing by.”

He says it with confidence, knowing his brothers have his back at every turn.

Zach leans down and kisses me through the open window. Then he pats the top of my car and waves me off.

I drive down the road, wanting to sing. I turn on the radio, find something I can sing with, and start wailing. I turn off onto Central, heading south with everyone else in Phoenix.

The crawl to my house takes forever, as I knew it would, but I cease caring. I sing, I smile at people hunched in their cars with road rage in their eyes, wave cars to go ahead of me when they’re stuck, and generally enjoy the commute.

At home I jump through a shower and dress. I could have showered at Zach’s and driven straight to work, but arriving in the clothes I wore yesterday would have embarrassed the hell out of me.

My shift starts at 8:30, and I make it, miracle of miracles, at 8:40.

“Warren!” Mr. Beale yells down the cubicle alley the minute I scuttle into mine. “My office. Now!”

Chapter Nine

Zach

Austin shows up in my truck, which he’s taken good care of. As he drives us to work, he keeps flashing me an annoying grin.

“What?” I finally ask, irritable. I don’t want to interrupt my constant thoughts of Abby and our time in bed together.

“I haven’t seen you this gone in a while.” Austin gives me a satisfied glance. “I like it.”

“Gone? What kind of bullshit is that?”

But I know he’s right. I’m out the other side of gone and off over the horizon. I still feel Abby beneath me, her body moving with mine—one time she was on top, beautiful as she rocked on me. I stifle a groan, and Austin laughs louder.

“Oh man, your face. So are you and Abby together now, or what?”

“Two dates,” I growl. “And they weren’t really dates. Mind your own business, little bro.”

Austin lays off, but he’s still laughing under his breath.

We arrive at the office and he slams out of the truck and inside, me on his heels. I don’t want him announcing in the middle of the showroom that I slept with Abby last night.

Austin stops short when we walk inside, and I nearly run into him.

Mom is at the reception desk with a young woman who has light brown hair pulled back into a bun. She’s slender but not skinny, athletic but not muscle-bound. She wears glasses with light blue rims that match her eyes.

Mom turns around when we come in. “Good morning. I want you to meet Erin Dixon. The temp agency sent her. She’s going to be filling in at reception for a while.”

Erin smiles and says hello. Austin checks her out, but she doesn’t appear to notice him beyond politeness. Interesting.

And a relief. Erin is pretty, and if Mom hired her, even as a temp, it means