Chapter Thirteen

On the walk over to Jenna’s surprise anti, her phone rang.

Zach felt like ripping it out of her hands and throwing it into the nearest bit of ocean, since it had to be Elliot. But he forced himself to act normal as she answered.

“Hey, Chuck,” she said brightly, and he relaxed a little. He could hear a deep voice on the other end of the phone but not any words.

“I’ll check,” Jenna said. She pulled it away from her ear and covered the mouthpiece. “He wants to talk to you,” she whispered.

About the last thing Zach wanted to do was talk to a stranger on the phone, but he was happy it wasn’t Elliot.

“This is Zach Ruiz,” he said, just like he answered his phone at work.

“I know who you are,” a gravelly voice on the other end of the phone said. “I’ve been looking into you.”

“Okay.” He glanced at Jenna, who was looking mortified. “How can I help you?”

“I have your childhood and college years covered,” Chuck said. “I’m interviewing your college professors currently.”

“Wow. That’s thorough.”

“Yes, sir. So, if you have something to hide, now is the time to come clean.”

Zach didn’t know whether to laugh or to be very, very afraid. “I have nothing to hide.”

Chuck grunted. “Everybody has something to hide. We’ll see about yours.”

Zach glanced over at Jenna. She was covering her mouth, trying to stifle her laugh.

“Here’s Jenna,” Zach said and handed the phone back to her.

She composed herself quickly. “Zach’s a good guy, Chuck. You don’t have to worry.”

Zach felt a little like he was a teenage kid who had just spoken to his date’s father. And he obviously hadn’t passed muster.

“I understand,” she said, not looking at Zach. “Yes, I still have it.” She nodded. “Talk to you soon.” She tucked her phone back into her purse. “Sorry. Chuck is…overprotective.”

“What do you still have?” he asked as they started walking again.

“I’m not actually sure what it is. Chuck said it’s like mace, but military grade.”

“Sheesh.”

“Yeah, I’ve been afraid to test it. I suspect it’s strong enough to take down a city block.”

“I hope I never get on the wrong side of that,” he said. “What are your other friends like?”

Her whole face lit up as she talked about her friends. “Aggie is a character. She’s a widow, is well into her eighties, and has absolutely no filter. She dresses how she likes, says what she likes, and drives her son, Tommy, absolutely nuts.”

“Sounds like a trip.”

“I love her. She’s the best. Like the grandma I never had. And Tommy is like the dad I always wanted. Patient, sensible, doles out lots of good advice and lots of bad dad jokes. He finalized a nasty divorce about a year ago and has been spending a lot more time at the assisted living center where Aggie, Chuck, and the twins live.”

“I can’t see Chuck living in an assisted living center.”

“He says he’s there on security detail.”

That actually made a lot of sense. “Special forces or something?”

“We don’t know. But he has some scary contacts and can find out anything about anyone.”

“So he suggested,” Zach said. “And the twins?”

“Clara and Helen. They’re fairly new to the center. They never married, but they sure do date a lot. Always lived together, so when Helen broke her hip last year and needed to move to a place with more care, Clara moved with her.”

“That’s kind of sweet.”

“It is. I can’t imagine liking one person’s company so much that I never wanted to be parted from them.”

“Not even Elliot?”

Jenna was silent a moment. “No,” she said finally. “Elliot and I are very different people. But I just thought…well, I thought there was enough in common that there might be a future there. Or maybe I just wanted there to be enough so badly that I overlooked a few important things.” She looked up at Zach and gave a sort of sad smile. “I was wrong, obviously.”

Zach wished he could banish the sadness from her beautiful eyes. Wished he could magically give her what she wanted. But all he could really do was be there for her while she worked through things.

“If you don’t mind,” he said, surprising himself, “I think I’ll just stay the rest of the week.”

Her face lit up. “Really? You don’t have to. I mean, I’m okay on my own.”

That was a lie. Maybe she could be alone, but it was clear she didn’t want to be.

“Absolutely. I’ll have Marcy send down some files so I can get any critical work done, but other than that, yeah.”

“Are you sure? This isn’t some kind of pity thing, is it?”

It was, a little. But the bigger part was that he liked Jenna. He liked spending time with her. And he definitely liked spending time with her in the love lodge. “There’s that bingo card to consider,” he said, stopping and pulling her up against him. “Can’t fill all those spaces in one afternoon.”

She giggled. “True.”

Zach was down for a little PDA, but just as he was looking for a convenient bench on which to canoodle, Jenna pointed to a storefront across the street.

“There it is,” Jenna said.

“Penny Greenfield Photography?” Zach said. “I thought this was supposed to be anti photo.”

“Anti romantic sunset beach photo,” Jenna corrected, tugging him by their joined hands across the street.

Zach didn’t really understand the distinction, but Jenna seemed excited, and since he loved to see her excited, he jogged across the street with her.

Once inside, Zach looked around the waiting area of the photographer’s studio, still not quite sure what they were doing there. It looked normal enough. Framed pictures of babies and families and high school seniors and even some sweatered pets stared back at him through glass. There was a small waiting area with a sofa and a couple of chairs in one corner and jumble of props, backdrops, and umbrella lights organized neatly against one wall. Nothing super out of the ordinary.

“This is going to be great,” Jenna said.

Really, anything with Jenna was turning out to be pretty great. He was beginning to see the appeal of all the cute mushy stuff that had originally been on her agenda. And hell, a private dinner on the beach with Jenna sounded pretty damn good. So did a massage. Maybe they could add in a few true couples’ activities, just for fun. Just because they were working through Jenna’s anti list didn’t mean they couldn’t indulge in a little anti-anti honeymoon stuff, right?

“It’d be great if you told me exactly what we’re doing here,” he said.

“It’s a surprise.” She went up on tiptoe to kiss him quickly on the mouth. Yeah, he’d never get tired of that. “Get on board with the program here.”

“I’m on board,” Zach said against her lips. He wrapped his arms around her waist and hauled her against him. “Totally.”

Like that little kiss was going to tide him over. Zach kissed her thoroughly before letting her go. It was unseemly to walk around with a boner all day, but that was what Jenna did to him. Even though he’d spent more time than was decent fantasizing about her breasts, her body, and the little noises he’d hoped she’d make when he pressed into her, the reality had exceeded all expectations. She was everything he’d always wanted come to life. She’d been generous sexually, adventurous, and oh so responsive.

“Addictive” would be a good word for her.

And just like a drug habit, they wouldn’t be able to sustain the status quo. Either they’d go to rehab and quit each other forever or they’d OD. A bad ending, either way.

But not now. For the next few days, Zach was going to ride the Jenna high and worry about the consequences later, something new for him. He rarely embarked on a venture he hadn’t researched thoroughly then analyzed and plotted the possible outcomes on multiple charts and graphs. No, he was flying blind here. All he really knew was that they couldn’t stay in Lovers Lagoon forever. Nothing had really changed between them except for the sex. He still didn’t do relationships, and Jenna still wasn’t ready to jump back into one, even if he was. So that left them with the right now.

Zach planned to enjoy the hell out of it and clean up the carnage later.

“Jenna?” An older woman dressed in shorts and a flowery pink top emerged from the back room. She slid her glasses from the top of her head onto her face.

“Yeah,” Jenna said, and Zach thought he detected a note of excitement as well as a sliver of uncertainty in her voice.

“Penny,” she said, shaking Jenna’s hand. “I’m ready for you back here, if you want to change.”

“Sure.”

“You can wait here,” Penny said to Zach. “If you want to watch the shoot, that’s fine, but a lot of brides like to surprise their husbands with the photos.”

“Okay,” he said, looking to see what Jenna wanted.

“How about I get changed first, then you can come in?”

“Sure. Whatever you want,” he said.

He hadn’t seen Jenna pack any other outfits, though what she was wearing was cute enough. Shorts and a silky sleeveless top. Her hair had been pulled back with a headband. Her lips were pink, but the rest of her face looked creamy and natural. She wasn’t one of those women who had to always wear heavy makeup, and he liked that. He liked to see what a woman really looked like, not the illusion of what she thought she should look like.

While the ladies got Jenna ready for whatever they had planned, Zach walked around the main room looking at the photos. Smiling parents with kids dressed alike. A bride on her wedding day from behind, the long train of her gown trailing behind her. A photo of three little girls who looked like they were wearing Easter dresses.

Zach’s family had never really done family photos. Not this kind, anyway. He remembered getting dressed up and heading to Kmart for family photos once, though. All four of the kids had been scrubbed clean, and even his dad, who had oil permanently embedded beneath his fingernails from his mechanic work, was shaved and had his hair combed. His mom looked tired all the time, and Zach was sure she was, since she worked with kids all day and took care of her own four kids plus in-laws the rest of the time.

He should call them more. His dad had retired when Zach made his first million and bought them and his grandparents modest houses in Phoenix. His grandparents moved on and seemed happy and comfortable in their new assisted living facility, but they wouldn’t be around forever. He missed his grandmother’s stories about life in Chile and all the aunts, uncles, and cousins he’d never met. Would they enjoy a trip back to see everyone? Maybe Zach could arrange for the whole family to go. His mother had never been, either. None of them had, including Zach and his siblings.

Zach was the oldest, and as soon as he’d been able to, he’d paid for his brothers’ and sister’s college tuition. They all had good jobs now, one in engineering, one in finance, one a pediatrician. His parents had worked hard. There was always food to eat and clothes to wear, but there had been few extras. Zach was glad he could do something for them now. And they would absolutely love Jenna.

Zach had to stop that train of thought. His family was not going to meet Jenna. Their relationship had an expiration date. He needed to remember that, because he was the one who had stamped it.

“We’re ready,” Penny called from the next room, and Zach walked in, only to stop mid-stride as he stared at the scene before him.

“Yeah, that’s the reaction we usually get,” Penny said, a smile in her voice. “You can sit over there.”

He moved toward what he hoped was a chair, unable to take his eyes off Jenna.

In the middle of the studio was a big four-poster bed, covered with a lush red velvet spread. And on top of that was Jenna, dressed in a lacy black cami and black G-string panties. She was on her belly, her feet up in the air, crossed at the ankles. Black fuck-me heels completed the outfit. Her hair was a sexy cloud around her face, not unlike the way she’d woken up in Zach’s bed that morning. Blood red lipstick made her mouth look like something from a fantasy.

Zach’s mouth went dry as he groped blindly for the chair behind him and sat down.

“This is a good anti, huh?” she asked, beaming.

“Wow,” was all he could manage. As much as he loved the outfit, there was something new in the way she held herself that was just as appealing. Confidence. Yeah, that was it. She was sure of herself. It was clear she felt sexy and wasn’t afraid to take that attitude for a test-drive. That was sexier than any scrap of lace she could have put on.

Penny went to the camera and started taking pictures, directing Jenna into different poses, each sexier than the last. Some were on her hands and knees. Some on her back with her legs in the air, crossed at the ankles. Some on her side, emphasizing the curves of her hips and thighs.

“Which poses do you like best?” Penny asked, turning away from the camera to consult Zach.

His dick wasn’t particular. “All of them,” he said, and the sexy smile Jenna gave him made him even harder. Penny snapped another pic.

“There’s some bottled water in the fridge in the waiting area,” Penny said, and Zach thought water was an excellent idea since his body temperature had to be topping 104 right at that moment. “Ice cold.”

Zach stumbled out of the room, Jenna’s tickled giggle following him.

“He’s a keeper,” he heard Penny say as he dug into the fridge for that water. “So cute. And obviously completely smitten with you. I’ll bet the wedding was amazing.”

Zach froze, the bottle half way to his lips. Of course Penny would assume they were newlyweds.

He strained to hear how Jenna would respond. “The honeymoon’s been pretty good,” she said, and Penny chuckled.

Zach sucked down the bottle of water then grabbed a second.

“I think we’ve got some good shots,” Penny said. “I’ll upload them to the computer while you’re getting dressed, and you and your husband can choose which you want.”

Husband. Damn, that sounded so good. He’d gone his whole life up until that point thinking he didn’t ever want to be anyone’s husband. But Jenna’s husband? Huh. That just felt…nice.

Jenna was different than any other woman he’d ever met. She was sexy, obviously. Smart. Strong. Sweet. But there was something else between them whenever they were in the same space. He just needed to be near her. Look at her, touch her. Whatever she’d allow. They just fit. No other woman he’d ever met had felt that way.

Being with Jenna was like going home.

Warmth spread through his chest, and a feeling of lightness he hadn’t ever experienced before washed over him.

Zach was in love with this woman. With Jenna.

And he was pretty sure he had been from the moment she’d jumped into the backseat of his car and he’d seen her in the rearview for the very first time. Love at first sight? A few days ago, he would have said it didn’t exist. That it was psychologically impossible to fall in love with someone within seconds of seeing them for the first time. Before you even know if you were compatible, had the same likes and dislikes and goals. Hell, he would have said that love was a manufactured emotion, whether you knew the person one year, one minute, or one lifetime. People convinced themselves that they were in love with another person, their “soul mate,” so that they felt less lonely on a planet full of lonely people.

But that was before Jenna.

Zach’s world shifted. Tilted completely on its axis. He felt dizzy, a little high. Just like in all the sappy pop songs.

How had this happened? He hadn’t wanted it to. Wasn’t looking for it. Didn’t even have a plan to achieve something like this. It wasn’t part of his five-year plan or on any checklist. But it had happened anyway.

Jenna. Jenna had happened.

“Are you okay?” Jenna asked, suddenly appearing before Zach like a vision.

“F—” His voice was a weak croak. “Fine,” he got out on the second try.

“You looked a little lost there.” She leaned in and kissed his cheek. “I knew you’d like this photo shoot.” She bit her lip, some of the confidence gone in the wake of his comatose reaction. “At least I hoped you would. I mean, I’m no supermodel or anything, but—”

Zach stood and gathered her in his arms, holding her tight. “You’re perfect,” he said and kissed her softly on the top of the head. Each breath, each touch of her skin, was precious to him now.

So, he was in love with Jenna. Now the only thing he had to figure out was what to do about it.