much as it pains me to admit,’ Rylie said to Tabitha, ‘you may be onto something with this off balance thing.’
‘I hear that,’ Meg whispered.
When the party had well and truly wound down, Zach found Meg standing by the bar alone—a bright red firecracker amongst the few shadowy forms lingering till the end.
‘Did you get your fair share of marshmallows?’ he asked when he was close enough to breathe in her subtly exotic perfume.
She turned to him with a coconut shell curved into her palm and a straw in her mouth. That mouth. If Zach had ever had cause to believe in heaven and hell that mouth was enough to convince him of both.
‘I’ve eaten far more than my fair share. But it’s too late. There’s no getting them back now. You had a good night?’
‘Tonight hiding in plain sight finally caught up with me. My right hand is bruised from pressing local flesh all evening.’
Her eyes smiled as she sucked on her straw. ‘So how was it being Mr Social?’
‘One couple had me pinned for half an hour trying to get me to join their pyramid scheme.’
She laughed so hard she tucked her drink to her chest so as not to spill it. ‘If you want I can give you some hints on how to extricate yourself quickly and politely so that they leave thinking you were lovely but somehow certain they’d better not go near you again.’
‘You are a woman of many hidden capabilities, Ms Kelly.’
She raised one thin eyebrow. ‘And then some. Now come on, you must have met some nice people.’
‘I did.’ Most were surprisingly decent. Warm, welcoming, enthused that he’d seen such value in their beautiful region to create the resort. He said, ‘One local businesswoman had some fantastic ideas about marketing local produce around the country using the resort label. I might even look into it while I’m here.’
She grinned. ‘I told you schmoozing had its perks.’
‘So you did.’ He glanced around. ‘Where are your chaperones?’
‘Rylie needed her beauty sleep and Tabitha practically had to be carried back to the room, she so wore herself out dancing.’
When she smiled at him she made him feel as if he were sixteen again with possibilities he’d never even imagined opening up before him. He felt as if he could take on the world. He felt as if he were standing on unstable ground.
He waved an arm away from the bright bar. Together they walked around the edge of the beach to a place the firelight didn’t quite reach.
She slid her bare feet sensually through the sand. Her fingernails and toenails had been repainted blood-red. She smelled of jasmine. Her skin glowed warm and creamy in the firelight. Escaped tendrils of her hair flickered away from her lovely face in the light summer breeze. Heat curled deep within his abdomen.
His voice was rough when he said, ‘I’ve had a question I wanted to ask you all night.’
She clutched her coconut shell to her chest and looked at her feet. ‘And what’s that?’
‘Did you seriously have that dress in your suitcase this whole time?’
She laughed. ‘A girl never knows when she’s going to need a party frock. Besides, the girls packed my bags for me. You’ll be shocked to discover coming to a wellness retreat was their idea.’ She glanced sideways. ‘You look very smart yourself.’
He puffed out his chest. ‘I always do.’
‘Mmm. But there’s just something extra special about you tonight that I can’t put my finger on.’
She put her finger on the fullest part of her bottom lip instead. The urge to drag her into the reeds and finish what they’d started the day before, to give in and let instinct and abandon bring release, was almost overwhelming.
Until she asked, ‘So did you choose hot pink for your little necklace there?’
Zach glanced down at his shirt only to be reminded of the wilting lei. ‘Give me a break—everyone got one coming in.’
‘Do you see me wearing one?’
‘They must have run out before you got here.’
‘Likely excuse.’ She slid the straw into her mouth and grinned.
And now you’re flirting, he said inside his head. Of course you’re flirting. Just look at her. I mean, really look at her. He did. She took his breath away.
They hit the far side of the fire and as one took up residence on an empty straw mat. The bonfire no longer blazed, but embers glowed red-hot at the base of the gently licking flames.
‘It’s very quiet out here all of a sudden,’ she said, her voice soft.
‘I think we may officially be considered stragglers.’
‘Most socially uncool.’
‘No need to panic quite yet. We won’t be the very last. I’m told there’s always one fellow hanging about ready to douse the fire once all’s said and done.’
‘Then our party reputations will live to see another day!’ she said, but he saw in the flicker of her eyes that she heard what he’d really been telling her. They had a chaperone of sorts after all.
She crossed her legs frog style, sitting her drink on her far side and laying her hands in her lap—they fast disappeared into her ample skirt—as she looked into the fire.
Silence stretched between them. He wondered if she could feel the same electricity running up and down her arms that was creating havoc over his.
When she blatantly asked, ‘So where’s Ruby tonight?’ he knew without a doubt that she was well aware.
CHAPTER NINE
THE fact that Meg had to be the one to remind him of the participant in their relationship who wasn’t there brought Zach solidly back to earth.
Habit had him slamming his lips shut tight. But then Meg tucked loose strands of hair behind her ear and shot him an encouraging smile. And he couldn’t deny, even to himself, that talking to her helped. More than talking to Felicia, or the teachers at Ruby’s school, or the social workers who came to the house once a week.
Maybe it was the fact that she would be leaving in a few days. Maybe it was because sometimes she seemed to understand Ruby more than even he did. Or maybe it was because he simply enjoyed talking to her.
For whatever reason, he said, ‘She’s sleeping over at her friend Clarissa’s house. Her first sleepover since moving here. She was so excited when the invitation came through this morning I couldn’t say no.’
‘Did she tell you about the invitation before or after she made you pancakes?’
He thought back.
