Chapter Nine

Zach was not man who made many mistakes, but he absolutely screwed up when he touched Jenna, although technically she touched him first when she’d hug-tackled him in the gym. But now Zach knew what it felt like to hold her. Knew what her hair smelled like—coconut and something flowery. Knew that her small, curvy body fit exactly into his like a puzzle piece that had found its place. Knew he wanted more of everything.

And more was completely out of the question. Why? his analytical brain had asked on the walk back to the love shack. They were both adults, both single, and she was attracted to him, too. Well, Sherlock, first she was getting over a long-term relationship, and the internet article he’d read said that could take a long time. The last thing she needed was some asshole trying to start something new with her and confusing the process, drawing it out further. And two, Zach didn’t do relationships.

He enjoyed female company from time to time, but they were the type of woman who came on to him first at a dinner or a charity ball, usually, and made it clear what they wanted from him. His only rules were that she wasn’t married and that it was a one-off. Sex was a basic biological function, a need like food or water or shelter. It didn’t need to be more complicated than that. The women he took to bed were of the same mind, so they’d satisfy the mutual need and move on. Anything else, even a second go, meant entanglement, and that was just a distraction from Zach’s main goal of making a success of his business.

Jenna was not the one-off kind of woman. And Zach didn’t think he could be that kind of man with her. That scared the hell out of him. No, better to just be friends, keep his hands off, for her well-being and his, and then scratch the itch when he got back home. Although that thought honestly left him cold. As beautiful and talented as some of the women he’d associated with were, he couldn’t imagine ever being with anyone again that would compare favorably to Jenna. Maybe the memory of her would fade over time, but what if it didn’t?

“Mind if I shower first?” Zach asked when Jenna unlocked the door to the hut. He headed to the bathroom without waiting for a response. He turned on the cold tap, peeled off his clothes, and stepped under the stream.

“She needs a friend right now,” Zach said to himself. “A friend. Not an asshole trying to get in her pants.”

When he was certain his body got the friend-zone message, he dressed in the clean clothes he’d picked up at the gift shop and left the bathroom. Jenna was sitting on the sofa staring at her phone, and she didn’t seem happy.

Zach sat down beside her, careful to leave some space between them.

“I called him,” she said, and of course Zach knew who “he” was.

He nodded and tried to act casual, but he was worried. “How’d it go?”

“About as well as expected.” She let out a breath and collapsed back into the couch cushions. “He let me know how I had ruined the whole day, all the trouble and expense it was going to be to reschedule. How I’d humiliated him in front of the magazine photographer and all the clients he’d invited to the wedding. How upset his parents had been. He demanded to know where I was and when I’d be coming back.”

One word stuck out to him, besides the fact that Elliot’s first words hadn’t been to ask how she was doing and apologize for being a dick. “Reschedule?”

She let out a short bark. “Yeah. Reschedule, as in go forward with getting married.” She turned her head to look at him. “Can you believe that?”

Zach thought about how self-centered Elliot had become. “Actually, I can.”

“I think all the other stuff was just to make me feel guilty enough to do it. Especially the part about his parents…and mine.”

That bastard had used her dead parents against her? “And what was your response?” It would kill Zach if she’d decided to go back to Elliot, but it was her decision.

She grinned at him. “No, of course. Duh.”

Zach forced a smile, relief easing his tense muscles. “Right.”

“Did you really think I was that gullible?”

“Well, Elliot can be persuasive when he wants to be.”

“True.” She tossed the phone aside. “I still can’t help thinking that if I’d just spoken up sooner. Addressed some of the things I’d been feeling. I mean, the seating was just the last thing, you know? Not the first. I should have—”

“Stage three,” Zach said, unable to hear her go on, trying to find a way to blame herself.

“Stage three?”

“Bargaining and guilt. ‘If only’ statements.”

“I wasn’t…hmm.” She twisted a strand of her hair around her finger. “You might be right.”

“Of course I’m right,” he said, grinning at her.

“Sure. Research and data. Who needs a psych degree when you have the internet?”

“I’ve probably saved you a boatload of money on therapy already. You’re welcome.”

She smiled but then started to frown again. “The thing I can’t understand, though, is why Elliot invited so many clients to our wedding and why he was so set on impressing them. I mean, a wedding is about the bride and groom, their family and close friends, right?”

“It should be,” Zach said, though he’d never really thought enough about weddings to consider the guest list. Something about the situation had his Spidey senses tingling, though.

When Elliot and Zach first started their firm, days after their college graduation, Elliot had insisted that they throw a big launch party and invite anyone who might give them business, even though they barely had a dime left after renting office space and setting up shop. Elliot came from money, but his parents had refused to lend Elliot any more until he proved he could stick with something, so they were on their own. When Zach questioned the wisdom and expense of putting on such a high-class event when they were eating Ramen every night for dinner, Elliot had said that it was important to look successful in order to make successful people want to hire them.

So Elliot had wheeled and dealed to make it happen, and they’d run up scary high credit card debt, but Elliot had been right. It had worked. It had been a Hail Mary that had paid off, launching a firm that became known for catering to only the most exclusive clients.

Maybe Elliot just wanted to show off his success, but from what Jenna said, it seemed he was not just wanting to show off, but desperate to do so. Was his business in trouble? It had been in excellent shape when Elliot had maneuvered Zach out of the way. But what if things had gone downhill since then? Zach had been the logical half of the partnership, always watching the bottom line and making the decisions that guaranteed a prosperous future for the business. With Zach gone, who was making those decisions now?

Possibilities began to flood Zach’s brain. If he was in trouble, could Zach get the business back? He had his own thing now, but that business was his baby. He’d been fully invested in making it work, stopping only to sleep a few hours each day until it was the success Elliot and Zach had always dreamed of. Which made Elliot’s betrayal about so much more than money. When he’d left, he hadn’t just left a job. He’d left part of himself there. And if he could get it back…at least get back what was owed to him in pride and blood, then yeah. He was going to do that.

But he wasn’t sure that’s what was going on here. He needed to gather more data before he made assumptions. That meant keeping his ears open for any other clues Jenna might drop and getting his team to put out some feelers and see if there were any rumblings around town. He had a couple people he could call, too. Zach began to make a to-do list in his head.

“I want to ask you something,” Jenna said hesitantly. “And feel free to say no.”

Zach forced his attention away from strategy and back to Jenna.

“That sound ominous.”

“Not ominous, but…” She stopped. “Forget it.” She started to get up, but he reached for her hand before she could run away.

“What is it?”

She sat back down, and he dropped her hand. No touching. Damn, that was hard to remember.

“Well, this morning was actually pretty great. I mean, boxing isn’t really my thing. Or sweat. But it was fun, you know? You were kind of right about the anti-honeymoon thing.”

“Can you repeat that, please?” he teased. “The part about my being right.”

She gave him the side-eye but kept going. “I want to do the rest of the list. And I thought maybe, if you were able to take the time off from work, maybe you might want to stay for a few days and do it with me?”

When Zach didn’t answer right away, she kept talking.

“I mean, I understand if you have to get back. Believe me, I get the whole workaholic thing. But we get along and have the same sense of humor, and you’re just…fun.”

Fun. No one had ever called him fun before. Focused, sure, but not fun. But with Jenna, he’d laughed and teased and actually thought about something other than data points and pie charts for almost twenty-four hours. It was so, so tempting to just blow off work and hang out with Jenna instead, but now that he had a new project in mind, and the big meeting to prep for, he just couldn’t. For the first time in his life, he actually resented his work.

“I want to,” Zach said, looking into Jenna’s hopeful face. “But I have to get back. I have a big—”

“It’s fine,” she said, smiling a little too brightly. “Really. I figured that would be the case. I just wanted to check. I’ll be totally fine on my own.” She got up. “I’m just going to grab a shower, if you’re done in there.”

Now Zach was the dick. Some friend. No wonder he wasn’t really close to anyone in his life. “Jenna, wait.”

She paused. “Yeah?”

“I can stay tonight and go first thing in the morning.”

“You don’t have to do that. I don’t need a pity…friend.”

“Pity friend?”

“Oh, you know what I mean.”

“There’s no pity here,” he said. “I want to stay.” He picked up the wrinkled itinerary from the side table. “Towel animal folding? That’s what you had planned for tonight?”

“It seemed cute.”

“I’ll come up with something else. Something a little more anti.”

She smiled. “If you’re sure…”

“I am, as long as I can camp on your couch again.”

“It’s yours,” she said and went into the bathroom with a new lightness to her step.

Jesus, that was heady—someone so happy for his presence. Was there anyone else in his life like that? Marcy and the rest of his staff would probably be breaking out the booze when Zach told them he was going to be late coming in tomorrow.

He took out his phone, still smiling, and dialed Marcy.

“Mr. Ruiz. Heading to the airport?”

“No, actually. I’m going to be staying another night. But I need you to get the team on a new research project right away. Integrated Data Systems.”

“Mr. Hansen’s company?”

“Yes.”

“Anything specific?”

“I’m wondering about the financials. I have a feeling he might be in trouble.”

“A feeling.”

“New information.”

“Information from Mr. Hansen’s fiancée?” Her tone wasn’t judgey, but the insinuation that he’d squeezed her for info was there.

“Ex-fiancée. And yeah.”

“I’ll get the team on it right away and send you whatever we find out. Anything else?”

Zach looked down at his gift shop wardrobe. The groom shirt was soaked in sweat, so he’d gone with “under new management” to change into.

“I don’t suppose you could teleport some clothing,” he said. “I’m in shorts and sandals and…I don’t even know what you call it.”

“Resort wear,” she supplied helpfully. “A lot of people here would pay good money to see that.” She cleared her throat. “There is a small wardrobe selection on the plane,” she said. “In case of emergency.”

“There is?”

“Yes. Would you like me to arrange for someone to bring a bag by the hotel for you?”

“That would be great,” he said, pretty sure he needed to give Marcy a raise when he got back to the office. “One other thing…have you ever heard of towel animals?”

“On some cruise ships, the housekeeping staff folds the linens into animal shapes and leaves them on the guests’ beds. Some are quite intricate.”

Who needed Siri when you had a Marcy? “Somebody has way too much time on their hands.” Zach walked over to Jenna’s bed. Sure enough, housekeeping had been in and made the bed while they were gone, and there was a pair of flamingos with necks intertwined to look like a heart standing in the flock of parrots on her bedspread. More rose petals were scattered around, too. Hearts and romantic animal pairs were not going to work for an anti-honeymoon activity.

“Got any suggestions for something crafty two people can do together that don’t involve laundry and isn’t romantic?”

“Mr. Ruiz, you are a charmer,” she said. “But I think I have the perfect thing for you.”