it is.’ With that, he smiled and climbed out of the car. Light and agile on his feet, he dodged puddles with ease, almost dancing, as he dashed through the rain in his flip-flops to reach his front door. He turned back to wave just once before disappearing inside.
Already mentally planning what to wear, I pulled away from the kerb and headed home. My outfit needed to be something simple—I didn’t have time for anything else—but the rare opportunity to drop the act had presented itself. Zac had already seen me au naturel with Charlie and then all tramped-up with Joshua, so maybe the time had come to leave the mask at home and show Zac my more elegant, refined side?
Showered and stripped of my mask, I left my hair loose and opted for a natural, more demure look as I re-applied my make-up. Determined to let my outfit do the talking, I slipped into my gorgeous silver dress and gently tugged on the zip. The thigh-high split would be deemed ‘outrageously daring’ on anybody else and had been that way for me when I’d bought it. Intended for my end-of-year school prom, I’d got myself kicked out before I got the chance to wear it.
Finally getting its first outing, the dress bordered on positively conservative these days and showed a lot less skin than my usual choice of outfit. Ideally, I’d have teamed it with my matching sparkly heels but the rain put paid to strappy sandals so I went with my clear shoes that looked like glass slippers.
A final check in the mirror reflected a totally different girl to the one who’d stood in front of the glass earlier. Dressed to impress, I ignored the shiver of terror that begged me to go back and grab my lenses and pulled my bedroom door shut behind me.
For one night only, could the real Alice Taylor please step forward.
Less than an hour after dropping Zac off at home, I pulled up outside his house again. In hindsight we should have exchanged numbers so I could text to reassure him and let him know I was on my way. It still smarted that he thought I’d go back on my word. I may be many unpleasant things, but being a flake wasn’t one of them.
The lack of number and drawn curtains meant Zac had no way of knowing I was outside, but damned if I was going out into the rain to knock on his door. I gave two short blasts on my car horn instead. The downstairs curtain twitched before I’d taken my hand off the horn as though he’d been standing there just waiting for some kind of signal.
Zac’s head appeared in the window, bathed in light. He smiled when he saw my car then the curtain fell back across the window. Within seconds the room went dark and the front door opened. A large golf umbrella emerged first, blocking most of the doorway as it opened but then it lifted skyward to reveal Zac, suited and booted with his shirt open at the collar.
Omigod.
Water pooled in my mouth in competition with the deepest puddles of rain, forcing me to swallow twice to clear it. I could feel my eyes bugging out at the drop-dead gorgeous guy making his way to my car. Suits were most definitely my ‘thing’ so it wasn’t like I had any control over my reaction, plus it was the first time I’d ever seen Zac dressed in something other than sportswear.
Zac reached the car and flung the door open, triggering the cabin lights. ‘Hey, Alice.’
‘Hey yourself, Zac.’ In light of the facts, I immediately forgave myself for the sudden case of butterflies that fluttered in my stomach.
He slid into the seat with his back to me, keeping the umbrella over him until both highly polished shoes were in the car. ‘I thought this might come in handy,’ he said, shaking the brolly out before stowing it between his seat and the door.
‘Good plan,’ I murmured, distracted by the fragrance that wafted over me as Zac pulled the door closed to seal us in. As he reached for his seatbelt, I inhaled deeply, losing myself in the woodsy scent that reminded me of the forest near where I grew up after a heavy downpour.
How ironic considering our previous two meetings: trees and rain. Unfortunately, it did nothing to settle the now frantic flapping in my gut. Up close, his metallic grey suit complemented my silver evening dress as if we’d been planning the event for weeks. Between us, we made quite the impact and were sure to turn heads wherever we went.
A frisson of excitement raced from my head to my toe; the anticipation building as I waited for him to notice me. ‘You ready then?’ I asked, keeping my gaze to the front.
‘Yep, let’s g—’ His voice cut off abruptly and I knew it was because he’d seen me for the first time.
‘What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?’ I lifted my leg to pop the clutch and my skirt separated, revealing a flash of leg.
Zac gasped.
I turned my head to look at him, desperate to see his reaction. His eyes were wide and I caught him closing his mouth as if his jaw had dropped open. It got harder and harder to hold back my ginormous grin so I allowed myself a little smirk. ‘You’re looking good, Zac.’
‘You too, Alice.’ He lifted his gaze to meet mine, slowly as though taking in every detail, and a range of emotions played across his face: shock, awe, even desire—which got my blood racing—before settling on something resembling pride. ‘You too.’
‘Thank you,’ I said, my voice filled with enough warmth and sincerity to surprise both of us so I cleared my throat and reached for the gearstick.
We drove in silence for the first few minutes but then Zac broke the deadlock.
‘Do you fancy Chinese or Italian?’
‘Either works for me. Why don’t you choose, seeing as it’s your birthday?’
‘Italian it is, then.’ He reached inside his jacket and pulled out a phone. The glow reflected off the windscreen as he scrolled through the numbers before lifting his phone to ear. ‘Hi, I’d like to make a reservation for two please,’ he said, adopting a more formal voice to speak into the handset. A pause. ‘In about half an hour?’ Another pause. ‘Yes, it’s Isaac Newton.’ Say what? ‘Thanks, that’s great. Bye.’
I pounced the instant he ended the call. ‘Isaac Newton?’
‘Yep, that’s my name,’ he said, pocketing his phone.
‘Right. So what else don’t I know about you?’
Of all the dumb questions.
Zac bit back a grin. ‘Oh, let’s see now… I prefer to be called Zac for obvious reasons.’ Yeah, I could hardly blame him on that one. ‘I’m twenty-two, as of today of course, and I have one older brother called Thomas. I left home at eighteen to go to university and now have a degree in Sports Psychology. I am a fully qualified lifeguard, swimming coach and personal trainer, and one day I’d like to have my own gym,’ he said, pausing to draw breath. ‘Oh and my parents expect me home for Sunday dinner at least once a month. Your turn…’
Shit.
I wanted to kick myself, or maybe ram the car into the nearest tree. Anything to get out of the mess I’d gotten myself into. Barely minutes into the journey and I’d gone and walked right into a self-inflicted trap like a complete moron. How could I have been so stupid?
‘Problem?’ Zac asked, picking up on the hitch in my breath.
‘No,
