“Don’t know.” But he remembered Coach Marchum being a real asshole. “She didn’t seem interested in going there, though, and I couldn’t see taking her straight to the bookstore without letting her clean up first.”
The water shut off and they all looked up again. True to her word, she’d made it quick. And right now, she’d be stepping out.
Naked. Wet.
Knowing he needed to get his thoughts back on safer ground, Garrett turned to Shohn. “What did you need to talk about?”
Sitting back in his seat, his gaze speculative, Shohn sprawled out his legs. “Remember that damned fire at the lake? The one where everyone scattered before you could figure out who’d started it?”
“I do.” What had probably started as a group of high schoolers roasting marshmallows and indulging in a little necking, got out of hand when a knucklehead decided to toss in some fireworks. They’d gone off and started a dozen small fires. No real damage, but next time could be different, so it wasn’t something they’d entirely overlook. “We’re still asking some questions about that, but you know how it is. None of the kids want to be a snitch.”
“I was hoping you’d found a name or two because there was another fire like it at the park.”
Garrett sat forward...until Shohn waved him back.
“The fire was already cold when I found it, and whoever set it did a good job of keeping it contained. But there were fireworks wrappers left around the area.” He shook his head. “Bottle rockets and dry conditions do not mix in the woods.”
“And we both know which knucklehead has a tendency to dick around with bottle rockets.”
“I’ll snoop around,” Shohn said with a nod. “See if he was camping out that night.”
Just what this situation didn’t need. “Shit.” Squeezing the bridge of his nose, Garrett fought off a headache.
“Not enough sleep?” Adam asked.
“I’m fine.” But yeah, he’d been up most of the night with his shift, then had talked with a few Scout leaders about letting their kids come in for a tour. He still had a dozen things to do today, and—
He froze as he suddenly heard singing. Off-key singing.
They all grinned.
Garrett didn’t mean to laugh at her, but wow, she sounded bad, maybe even worse than she’d looked. “She’s probably using the blow-dryer and doesn’t realize how loud she’s being.”
“Or,” Shohn said, “she doesn’t care.”
Adam cocked a brow. “You think?”
“If I’m remembering right, she always was a little out there.”
“Yeah?”
“A real free spirit,” Shohn explained.
Garrett narrowed his eyes. “Thought you didn’t remember her?”
“Not with how she looks now, no. But since you jogged my memory, it’s coming back to me.”
Adam watched him. “You going to take her up on dinner?”
Shohn scoffed at the idea. “No offense, but you saw her. He’ll find a way out of it.”
But how? Garrett didn’t want to hurt her feelings.
When the singing suddenly stopped, he froze. They all listened. Hell, Garrett even held his breath. But she made not a single sound on the stairs.
And then suddenly she was there, striding barefoot down the short hall to the kitchen.
The air left his lungs in a low exhalation.
Without even realizing it, he pushed back his chair and stood.
Shohn and Adam did the same.
They all gawked at her.
Zoey held her dirty clothes wrapped in the gray T-shirt. Freshly washed long brown hair hung in soft waves, pulled over one shoulder to cover her left breast.
Supershort, white-cuffed shorts left her entire long, shapely legs bare, and the peach-colored halter emphasized the shape and swell of modest B-sized breasts.
Her bare shoulders were lightly kissed by the sun, her green eyes bright with amusement, her mouth—God, that mouth—curved as she appreciated his reaction.
With a small curtsy, she said, “Better, right?”
They all nodded.
Adam got it together first, at least enough to say, “Incredible.”
Zoey laughed.
“Hard to believe,” Shohn murmured, “that you’re the same woman.”
Her small nose wrinkled. “Throw-up has a way of making everything pretty icky.” She turned those big green eyes on Garrett. Her teeth sank into that plump bottom lip as she searched his face, then her smile widened. “What do you think?”
He thought he wanted that mouth, in about a dozen different ways. He cleared his throat. “Dinner sounds great. I’m off next Saturday.”
Tonight she’d get to take Garrett to dinner.
Zoey smiled, thinking about how nicely her first week back had gone, especially given how she’d dreaded it. She’d expected unfriendly reunions, awkward greetings and ugly stares of condemnation.
Instead, for one reason or another, she’d seen Garrett almost every day. The town was small, so every time she turned around she ran in to him.
Each and every time he stopped to talk with her.
Each and every time her infatuation with him grew.
Never mind that he was a big, sexy hunk with an easy smile and a hero’s personality. He was...well, everything else, too. Friendly, respectable, admired, liked—not just by her, but apparently everyone else, as well.
A few times she’d seen him at his sister’s bookstore when Amber invited her for lunch. Amber didn’t close the shop during her visit, but it was a slower time for her and few people stopped in.
Yet somehow, each time, Garrett showed up.
Amber also took her to dinner—at Nadine’s house, with Shohn and Adam and some of the other cousins there, again, including Garrett. She loved Nadine’s pet hotel, and she really enjoyed seeing Nadine and Shohn interact.
They all had pets, and all swore they’d be giving her plenty of business once she opened her grooming salon.
It seemed to Zoey that Amber’s family went out of their way to make her feel welcome. It was so relaxing
