Chapter Six #2
“Oh.” She really hadn’t given much thought to Lexie’s boyfriend.
But Zac obviously had.
He planted his hands on his hips, his pectoral muscles flexing. “So, what’s it going to be? Here or the couch?”
There was a long pause as Maxie stared at him.
She didn’t want to sleep in that bed with him.
Her willpower was at an all-time low, and he was standing there looking so big and male and touchable.
But he was thinking like a cop. He was doing the job she’d asked him to do.
He’d kissed her, yes, and touched her, but was that all part of the act?
She heard movement downstairs. She didn’t want to ruin what had happened with Lexie and Roxie. Not tonight.
And she didn’t think she could bear to send him away.
“Stay. It’s a big bed.”
His gaze darkened as it raked over the mattress. “Not that big.”
That surge of need returned, slamming into Maxie’s belly.
All she wanted to do was slide her hands over that amazing chest of his, grab him by the belt and pull him to the bed.
But she wasn’t feeling so brave alone with him.
She’d given in to too many impulses for one day and doing anything like that was still beyond her. Probably always would be.
“I…I’m going to take a shower,” she improvised. She’d taken two steps towards it before she felt her wet panties clinging suggestively. She didn’t have any clothes in there, and as easily as she’d jumped into the pool half-naked, this wasn’t the same.
Easing by him, she opened a dresser drawer far enough to stick her hand inside. “I need to get the chlorine out of my hair.”
He lifted one of his eyebrows. He didn’t look as if he bought the excuse.
Grabbing what she needed, she scooted off to the bathroom. She shut the door with a click and sagged back against it.
She’d invited Zac Ford into her bed.
Her knees turned to jelly. She needed some time, but somehow, she doubted he’d let her stay in here long. She tossed her clothes into the hamper, wet panties and all. When she got into the shower, her body shook. All night, alone in bed with Mr. Blond, Buff and Beautiful.
She should have drunk more bourbon.
Maxie took as long as she could, but eventually she had to leave the bathroom. She smoothed the oversized T-shirt over her thighs, wishing it was longer. Her normal sleepwear was lighter and girlier, but for tonight, this was better.
Or so she thought until she opened the door and saw Zac already stretched out on the bed.
He’d stripped down too and had gotten rid of the jeans and dark shirt.
All he wore were gym shorts, the long, slippery nylon kind.
Nothing else. His torso was bare, showing more tempting muscles that she’d missed.
His shoulders were wide, tapering to a trim, rippled waist. The shorts he wore rode so low she could see his hipbones and a tempting tapestry of muscles working its way down his abdomen.
Her toes curled. No, the bed was definitely not big enough, not with him in it.
His blue gaze stroked her slowly, and a smile settled onto his lips. “Put us together, and we’re ready for some one-on-one.”
Her breathing stopped entirely.
“Basketball, I mean.”
Maxie’s cheeks heated, and she stood uncertainly in the bathroom doorway. Her hair was only towel dried, and the breeze from the air-conditioning vent made her shiver. She didn’t know which was worse, standing here with him watching her or climbing into bed with him.
He lifted his hand. Hanging from his index finger was one of her frilly nighties, the white one with the bandeau bodice. “I found this under the pillows.”
The sight of him holding that silk lit a fire under her.
She darted to the bed and snagged it from his grip.
Balling it up, she hurried to the dresser, only to discover that the curtains were still wide open.
His Jeep was in her driveway and countless townspeople had seen them out together tonight.
She didn’t need to give them even more of a show.
She untied the sashes that held back the floor-length curtains.
They swung down, shutting the world out.
And closing them in together.
Hesitantly, she turned.
Zac was still watching her, and in that moment the house seemed too quiet. More people were downstairs, but up here, with only one low-wattage lamp lit, it had become way too intimate.
“What happened at the pool, Maxie?”
Her chin popped up. The question threw her, and it was more personal than anything she’d prepared herself for. “We went swimming.”
“Don’t play dumb. You know what I mean.”
Her lips flattened. “I was overheated.”
“That parking lot could have been on fire, and it wouldn’t have been hot enough to make the Maxie Miller I know strip down to baby-pink panties in the middle of a public place.”
She winced. Trust him to notice that detail. She searched for another plausible reason. “I…”
“And don’t tell me it was peer pressure.” He propped his head in his hand, rolling onto his side as he watched her. “I believe that for Lexie, but not for you.”
Maxie stared at the floor and wasn’t surprised to see that she’d rocked her right foot back onto its heel. The room became impossibly quieter when the air conditioning clicked off. The only sounds were their breaths, and hers had gone too short and ragged.
“Something happened out there, Beauty. I saw it come over you. What was it?”
She couldn’t explain. Honestly. It had been instinctive. When she’d seen Roxie in that pool, she’d been transported back to another time and place.
Tightness pulled at her chest. “I was reminded of something,” she confessed.
“What?”
He wouldn’t understand. There was no way to communicate what she’d felt in that moment. Her gaze flicked away but stuck on the TV in the corner of the room. She couldn’t tell him, but maybe she could show him. After all he’d done, he deserved some kind of explanation.
And she wanted to see it again.
She had to see it.
Impulse took over, and she hurried to the entertainment center. Hands shaking, she pulled open a drawer and began searching through old videotapes. She found the one she wanted, and her heart began tap-tapping against her rib cage. He might not understand when he watched the video, but she would.
She’d been wondering all her life, and tonight she might have gotten an answer.
Her hands were unsteady as she plugged the video into the old VCR/DVD combo unit.
Sweeping up the remote, she pushed play.
The bed shifted behind her when Zac moved closer.
She sank to the floor when the video started playing and hit the fast-forward button.
There they were, her mom and dad at the zoo.
“Is that you?” His voice was only inches from her ear. “God, you were beautiful even then.”
Maxie braced her back against the bed. She zoomed through the segment of her laughing at the monkeys until she found what she was searching for.
The puddle.
Her thumb missed the button. On the second try, she slowed the video to normal speed.
There she was, Little Maxie, her eyes big and excited when she saw the standing water.
Maxie watched, her throat tightening as the younger version of herself took off running like she’d done tonight.
Another push of a button slowed the video to half speed.
Her eyes began blinking fast as Little Maxie rushed towards the puddle in slow motion, only to stop at the last possible moment.
The young girl’s face was poignant when she looked into the camera.
Maxie pushed the pause button and stared back at the sad, vulnerable expression on her own face. She recognized that emotion now. That little girl had wanted something very badly, and the grownup version of her was only now remembering what it was.
“I was looking for them.”
The quiver in Maxie’s voice pushed Zac off the bed. All day long, she’d been pushed to the limit, yet she hadn’t cried. Until now. The threat of tears cut him to the quick.
She didn’t seem to notice him when he sat beside her, close enough that their hips bumped, and their arms touched from shoulder to elbow. He took the remote out of her hands. Looking at the video, he tried to understand.
Only she wasn’t saying anything more. She stared at the screen with her breath coming short in her throat.
He pushed the rewind button and watched the whole thing again.
The adorable little girl seemed so excited at first. She’d rushed that puddle like she intended to make the biggest splash ever, but she stopped at the edge, her entire body leaning forward even as something held her back.
The need in her eyes was heartrending as she searched the crowd.
Why had she stopped? Her parents were holding the camera and encouraging her to go on, but the little girl seemed uncertain and timid.
“Who were you looking for?” he asked.
Her eyes were wet. “Lexie and Roxie. My sisters.”
This time when her voice broke, she broke with it. Her shoulders shook, and her head bowed. “I kept asking my parents for sisters, but I didn’t want new ones. I wanted the ones I already had.”
He understood then what her toddler’s mind had forgotten. Wrapping an arm around her, he pulled her close. She resisted at first, but then pressed her cheek against his chest. The dampness of her tears against his skin was like a knife to his gut.
He shut down the video and the TV. She wasn’t a loud crier, but that didn’t make it any easier. The tension in her body showed the misery she was in. She might have forgotten what had happened, but the pain she was feeling now was as sharp as it had to have been then.
For that, he wanted to pound somebody’s head in. Who did something so cruel? Separated sisters who were so intricately intertwined? Rage bubbled up inside him, wanting to lash out at whoever was responsible, but he knew that wouldn’t help her. Not right now.
He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Well, you’ve found them now, haven’t you?”
She took a shuddering breath but nodded. Her cheek felt like silk as it rubbed against his chest, right over his heart.
He wondered if she could hear it pounding.
Wrapping his arms around her, he got his feet underneath him and stood. He carried her to the bed and pushed her damp hair back from her face.
“I don’t know if I’m supposed to be happy or sad,” she said, her voice raw.
“Be whatever you want to be.”
“I feel guilty for wanting them when I had such a wonderful family…second family.”
He grabbed a tissue from the nightstand and dried her cheeks. She blew her nose before clenching her hand into a fist.
“And I hate that I have to think of my parents that way now—as my second parents.” She tossed the tissue across the room.
It bounced off the wall and landed in the wastebasket, but she didn’t notice the perfect shot.
“I’ve made such a mess of everything,” she whispered. “And I’ve pulled you into it.”
“You didn’t take me anywhere I didn’t want to go.”
“I’ve lied to everyone. I’ve made you lie, not even thinking how it might affect you.” Her chin started quivering again as she turned those big brown eyes on him. “I’m sorry, Zac.”
“It’s okay, baby.”
She pressed the balls of her hands to her eyes. “How did everything get so screwed up?”
“It’s not screwed up. Things are finally starting to fall into place.” But she couldn’t see it. She was too tired and overwhelmed. “You need to sleep.”
“I don’t think I can.”
“Sure, you can. You close your eyes and let go. Things will look better in the morning.”
Bracing his hands on either side of her, he vaulted over her.
She reacted reflexively, splaying her hands against his chest. He hovered above her for a moment.
The way she was touching him, the idea of lowering himself atop her was tempting.
But that hadn’t been his intent. Not with the dampness still in her eyes.
He continued his roll and stretched out in the open space beside her instead.
“I sleep on the right. Remember?”
A soft sound left the back of her throat. A gasp or maybe even a short laugh.
He hoped it was a laugh. All this stress wasn’t good for her, and he didn’t like seeing her this way. He’d do almost anything to put that shy smile back on her face.
Tease her or shock her. Or kiss her like there was no tomorrow.
He doused the light, and the room sank into darkness.
It didn’t lessen his awareness of her. If anything, his senses became more acute.
The bed might be wide, but he could feel her heat and hear her breathing.
He could smell her clean scent, and more than anything he wanted to taste her again. Pull her so close their skin clung.
He settled for lying near her under the sheets. She might have blown his mind at the pool, but this was a hell of a lot closer than they’d ever made it before. He’d give her the space she needed. For now. “Relax, Beauty. Everything’s going to be okay. We’ll figure it out tomorrow.”