was already exhausted and she’d been home less than twenty-four hours.
Ignoring Brittany’s silence, Mel decided this was information that needed to be disclosed. “Seems Philip Law is helping him out again, like he always does. Zach showed up here a couple of months ago, bold as brass. Flew his plane in, didn’t explain himself to anyone.”
“Why would he need to explain? He’s like a son to them.”
“Molly Noakes told me they hadn’t heard from him in months. Then one day he just shows up like he has a perfect right to be here.”
“He does have a perfect right to be here. Puffin Island isn’t private.”
“Folks were speculating on why he was back. Last thing we all heard, he was flying in Alaska. And now he has his own plane.” Mel leaned forward and lowered her voice. “I heard a rumor he might have stolen it, but I’m guessing not.”
Brittany stared at the girl who had sat across from her in the classroom and paid more attention to the boys than the teacher. “I’m guessing you’re right.”
She ignored the niggle of guilt that came from knowing she’d also wondered how he’d come to own a plane.
“He’s flying people with money. Real money. Charging a fortune. If you’d waited to divorce him, you might be a rich woman now. Could have bought yourself that diamond ring he never gave you.”
Brittany had studied weapons through the ages and found none more effective for inducing pain than the barb of the female tongue.
“Thanks, Mel. Great to see you again.”
Get me out of here.
Desperate to escape before any more locals came in to do their shopping and gossip, she strode through the store, her eyes fixed on the exit.
The doors slid open at her approach and she quickened her pace, her strides just short of running.
Determined not to catch anyone’s eye she kept her head down.
And collided with the solid wall of muscle that was Zach.
GROCERIES TUMBLED OUT of the bag and Zach caught Brittany’s shoulders and steadied her. He felt the smoothness of bare skin, and breathed in the faint smell of summer roses. Heat ripped through him.
He was no stranger to sexual attraction, on the contrary, it formed the basis for every relationship he’d ever had, but nothing came close to the desire he felt for this woman.
He half expected to see flames licking around his ankles.
In the circumstances his response was beyond inappropriate.
He tried to work out what had happened to send her almost sprinting out of the store. It was true that shopping bored the hell out of him and he felt like running whenever he had to buy groceries, but he assumed it had to be more than that. She’d been so desperate to escape, she’d slammed right into him.
He tried to let her go, but his hands refused to cooperate with his brain. Instead he tightened his grip and stroked his thumbs soothingly over her bare arms. “What happened?”
She gave a soft gasp of dismay as she registered who was holding her and immediately stepped back.
“Sorry about that. Didn’t see you.”
He was about to demand the reason for her rapid exit when Mel appeared from the front of the store, her mouth gleaming with a coat of freshly applied lipstick.
Whenever he appeared, so did the makeup.
On one occasion he’d seen her crouched behind the counter, using her phone as a mirror as she’d checked her reflection.
Her barely concealed infatuation didn’t bother Zach, who believed a person’s feelings were their own. He’d done nothing to encourage her and as far as he was concerned his responsibility ended there. He’d been careful never to give Mel a single reason to think it was worth her while depleting the world’s makeup stores in his honor. If she wanted to go to the trouble, that was her choice.
And today she’d definitely made that choice.
“Well, that was quite the reunion.” She was giggling and fluttering lashes weighed down by a thick layer of mascara. Watching the effort Mel took made him glad he wasn’t a woman. As far as he could see, the number of hours spent applying and then removing makeup could amount to a whole year over the course of a lifetime.
He knew he was looking at the reason Brittany had run. Gossip was Mel’s favorite hobby and judging from the expression on her face, he’d been the subject.
He had no interest in whether his actions pleased or displeased others, but he knew it would bother Brittany.
Without looking at him, she bent to rescue cans, shampoo and toothpaste from the bag she’d dropped, an endeavor hampered by the fact she only had use of one hand.
He stooped to help her, brushed against her and saw her scoot away.
“I can manage.”
He saw Mel’s eyes narrow as she registered the tension and put her own spin on it.
“I’ll help,” she cooed and stooped, too, an elaborately choreographed maneuver that gave him an eyeful of carefully constructed cleavage contained by a froth of black lace as unsubtle as the red lipstick.
Zach, who was as shallow as the next guy, wondered why all that voluptuous flesh on display failed to distract him from Brittany.
She was wearing her usual trademark cutoffs and a bright top that showed the contrasting strap of her sports bra. Her outfit displayed limbs that were toned, strong and golden.
He wondered if she was wearing a thong under those shorts and then decided he was better off not knowing. He dragged his eyes from the taut curve of her butt to her hair, which fell in a thick braid between her shoulder blades.
The color on her cheeks was natural and there was no gloss on her lips, yet of the two women there was no doubt in his mind who was the sexier.
He clenched his jaw, wondering why Brittany’s soft, bare lips should be so much more kissable than Mel’s glossy pout.
Ten years and a whole lot of bad feeling lay between them, but still all he wanted to do was shove her back against the wall and bury himself in her.
Tension made his voice rough. “How are you getting home?”
She straightened, clutching the bag awkwardly with her good arm. “I’m walking.”
“That bag won’t survive. I’ll give you a ride.”
Mel clearly had her own ideas about that. “No need to go out of your way, Zach. I’ll give her another bag.
