Chapter Five

 

NATALIE GLANCED UP at the sound of a heavy vehicle door slamming shut, tripped over a crack in the sidewalk, and blinked in disbelief to see Zach practically leap across the curb and catch her before she could fall. He pivoted and sat heavily on the bus bench conveniently located to keep them both from landing on their butts on the cement, with her on his lap.

“Ooooof! How—where did you come from?” Natalie’s voice was breathless as she peered up at him. She had no clue if it was from almost falling, being startled at seeing the object of her very thoughts before tripping, the solid feel of Zach’s muscled quads under her bottom, or the bulging biceps circling her back and legs was responsible. She could feel his heart racing against her ribcage, and his voice was shaky when he answered.

“Just dropped Belle off at my sister’s house and saw you on the sidewalk. Pulled over to offer you a ride. Damn, Nat, you about shaved ten years off my life watching you fall. Where were you going? Don’t you have a car?”

She blinked in confusion at his statement. Why would he care if she fell? Oh, she didn’t think he was heartless and wouldn’t feel sorry for her if she hurt herself again. But he seemed a tad more shaken up than just a neighbor or acquaintance would be. She dialed back into his questions.

“I have a PT appointment, and I sold my car when I left Portland. Can’t decide what I want to buy, and Grandma’s house—my house—is close enough to walk to Calum’s. One of those online services delivers my groceries and other things.”

“Well, I realize walking is probably good for your injury, and know you’re aware of your limits, but I wish you’d consider letting me drive you to and from PT until you’re a little steadier on your feet, if Cal can’t.”

The look in his eyes was one of concern, not one of those ‘I know best, little woman’ expressions, which would have alienated her and raised red flags all over the place. The fact he waited for her to decide, with no impatience or irritation, also added to the growing list of things in his favor.

Not that she was keeping a list of pros and cons, no siree, but ever since her crazy bastard of an ex-husband went off the deep end years ago, she’d learned to categorize other’s behaviors to determine if she should even give them the time of day, much less let them into her inner—tiny—circle of friends or even acquaintances.

So far, Zach was living up to the picture she’d formed years ago in Calum’s hospital room of a compassionate, protective guy who would only lay the hurt on someone if they threatened anyone he cared about.

Realizing she’d sat there on those muscled quads for way too long staring up at the man, she stiffened and made to climb off his lap, only to realize she had nowhere to put her hands to accomplish that feat that wouldn’t land in the wrong places.

“Uh, help me up, please.”

She watched what seemed like reluctance flash through his beautiful, storm gray eyes before he stood and gently set her on her feet, keeping one big hand wrapped around her bicep to steady her. She sighed and told herself not to be a stubborn twit just because she was feeling emotionally fragile, and—she’d recently realized—was still enormously attracted to him.

That kernel of attraction that had popped up a couple of years ago had taken on a life of its own at seeing him yesterday, and was growing by leaps and bounds. Not good. Not good at all. But she could be adult about this, accept his offer of help—maybe redeem herself for snapping at his little girl—and get to and from Calum’s without face planting, or winding up in surgery again. She’d spaced out, staring up at him, and when he opened his mouth, no doubt to offer again, she quickly spoke up.

“You’re right. I’m not as steady on my feet as I thought I was, and certainly don’t want to end up with another surgery. I’d appreciate it if you can drop me at Calum’s.”

Relief flashed through his eyes, and she realized how amazing it was to be around a man who showed his every emotion out there for her to see. This man would not surprise you with a hooded look and a fist to follow up. Not that Zach would ever hit her, she was sure of that. But she also wouldn’t be caught off guard ever again with emotions that didn’t match what she thought she saw on someone’s face.

“Right, well, I’m happy to help out.”

He kept his hand around her bicep as they walked across the sidewalk to his truck, and it remained there as he opened the door with his other hand, before he released her to wrap his powerful hands around her waist and lift her effortlessly into his SUV.

She cringed at the squeak that emitted from her throat, but to be lifted so effortlessly when she wasn’t expecting it would make anyone exclaim. She knew she’d lost weight, but she was no featherweight.

Those biceps weren’t just for show, she thought with a silent sigh of admiration she quickly tried to squelch. She barely had the emotional or physical energy to take care of herself, much less the energy to offer anyone any kind of relationship. Well, except maybe as a friend she kept at arm’s length. Maybe she could manage that.

Her eyes tracked his athletic frame as he jogged around the front of the truck, opened the driver’s door, and climbed inside. He shot her a quick glance before starting the engine, looking ahead and behind, then executing a U-turn to head back the way he came, toward Calum’s gym.

“Thanks for letting me help you out.”

His deep voice broadcast his sincerity, and Nat had to shore up her resolve to keep him firmly in the casual friend zone.

“You’re welcome.”

They made the quick drive two-blocks to Calum’s, and Zach reversed his actions before she could even get her door open, clasping her bicep again, then helping her ease to the ground.

They both swiveled their heads at Calum’s shout, “What happened?”

Nat grasped Zach’s forearm to ask him not to tell Cal she’s almost fallen. She didn’t want to endure another lecture, even if it was well-meaning and from a core of love. She was surprised and grateful when Zach reassured her cousin without lying or giving away her near-miss.

“Nothing, bro. Nat accepted my offer of a ride to PT, since I was out and about anyway, dropping Belle off at Randi’s.”

Natalie turned back to Zach and mouthed, “Thank you,” mesmerized by the heat that flashed through his eyes as they locked on her lips, before his gaze roamed across her face before finally pinning her eyes with his.

Fascinated to see him shake his head before stepping back, then turning with her next to him to face Calum, it was all she could do to tear her gaze away from his handsome face and unlock her voice.

“Well, thanks again for the ride, Zach.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll be back in, what, an hour to pick you up?”

“Oh, no, you don’t need to come back. Maybe Calum, or an Uber…” When Zach just shook his head, and Calum spoke up, she trailed off.

Calum looked apologetic when he said, “Can’t today, Nat. I have another client right after you’re done.”

Zach ghosted a fingertip down her bare arm, giving her chills that had nothing to do with being cold. The opposite, in fact.

“You never know what size car will pick you up with those transportation companies. I don’t think your leg can cope with being cramped, can it?”

Natalie curbed a sigh before caving and responding. “No, probably not. I’ll be ready in an hour, and would appreciate a ride home.” She suddenly wondered if his daughter would be with him when he came back for her. She didn’t think she could cope with that.

“Will…” She hesitated, not wanting to offend him, and also not wanting him to ask why she was asking, so came up with as innocuous a question as she could. “Will this interfere with you picking up your daughter?”

She caught the keen look in his eyes and realized he must have spoken to Calum about her at some point in the past few years. Maybe even since yesterday. There was no pulling the wool over this guy’s eyes.

“Nope, she’s spending the entire day with Randi—Miranda, my sister—and she’ll drop her off this evening after dinnertime.”

“Oh, well, in that case, if you really don’t mind, an hour from now is great.”

With a chin lift for her cousin, and a look she couldn’t decipher for her, Zach gave a wave and a “later”, pivoted and headed around his truck again to climb in and drive off, Natalie unable to take her eyes off him until he was down the street.

“Hey, now that he’s gone, how about you tell me what’s really going on, and if there’s any new damage we need to work on?”

She whipped her head around, realizing she’d been so caught up in thoughts of Zach and watching him leave, she’d all but forgotten her cousin was still standing there. A blush crept up her neck and across her face when she realized her bossy cousin could still read her like a book, and know when she was stretching the truth, or perhaps not being fully transparent about something.

He’d had that uncanny ability when they were children growing up together, and she should have known he’d only sharpen that knack as an adult.

“Fine, you’ll torture me with questions until I tell you, so I may as well get it over with. I was walking here for my appointment, slowly and carefully, and Zach pulled over to see if he could give me a ride. He startled me and I started to fall. Since he apparently has lightning-fast reflexes, just like you, he scooped me up before I landed on my butt and then gave me a ride. Happy now?”

She hated how snippy she sounded, but just had no steam left and wanted to get PT out of the way, then ensconce herself back home in her grandma’s house, away from sympathetic eyes and questions about how she was doing.

Worn out, both physically and emotionally, and on a fast track to becoming a hermit, that’s how she was doing. And there was nothing anyone could say or do to stop her slow slide into depression.

 

❄ ❄ ❄

 

ZACH RUBBED a hand down his face and leaned back in his office chair, lecturing himself to stay emotionally detached from Natalie, while also being there for her if she needed him. His protector genes were roaring to the forefront, not to mention that blasted attraction he’d felt for her ever since their time together in Cal’s hospital room.

He’d been working non-stop for the fifty minutes after dropping her off at Cal’s and needed to get back there to pick her up so she didn’t wonder if he’d forgotten her.

“Damn, what is it about her?”

“She’s sweet, loyal, independent, and pretty to boot. What’s not to like?”

Zach whipped his head around and took in his empty office, fully expecting to see Nat’s grandma standing there, imparting wisdom and attempting to steer him in the right direction whenever he started to go off course—like she had when she was alive.

“What the hell?” He glanced around and wondered if lack of sleep and worry were getting to him. He’d slept for shit last night, thoughts of the pretty Natalie filling his head, along with worry about her apparent injury and weight loss vying for attention.

“Gram Edna, no haunting allowed.”

He felt foolish, scolding a dead woman, but hell, if that hadn’t been her revisiting him, then he really was losing his mind. He stood and stretched, grabbed his keys off the desk, then strode downstairs and out the front door, soft feminine laughter floating down the stairs after him.

He pressed the button to unlock his truck, opened the door, and slammed it closed, shaking his head in disbelief. He’d heard rumors about their being magic and hauntings in Beacon Bay, but hadn’t put much stock in it. Granted, he’d only been living here a few months, but still. Magic?

Vowing to ignore any grandmotherly advice from beyond the grave, and to keep his heart locked away, he drove the short distance to Cal’s clinic, pulled into the pickup zone in front and decamped the vehicle in time to see Nat exiting the building, Cal a shadow in the doorway, a scowl on his face.

Wondering if the cousins were arguing, he gave his buddy a chin lift, opened the passenger door for Nat and cupped her elbow as she put a shapely leg on the running board, then clutched the oh-shit bar to hoist herself in.

Unable to just stand there and watch her struggle, he wrapped both hands around her trim waist and gave her a boost, wondering at the blush that swept across her pretty face when she got settled.

“Everything okay?”

With a soft sigh, she shot a quick glance his way before looking out the windshield again. “Yes, Cal’s just not happy with my lack of progress since the surgery.”

“Was it recent, the surgery?”

“The day before—before grandma died.”

He had to lean in to hear the rest.

“That’s why I didn’t attend the funeral.”

“Aw, sweetheart.” He shook his head. Afraid to say too much, and unable to stay quiet. “You’ve had a rough time of it. Let’s get you home, uh, to your house and settled.”

He gave himself a hard, virtual kick in the ass at the Freudian slip; the thought of taking her home and getting her settled in his house a little too appealing for comfort.

Rounding the front of the vehicle, he climbed in, pressed the starter button and pulled away from the curb. Abandoning all self-preservation of his heart, he glanced her way and asked, “You must be hungry after Cal’s torture session. Want to stop for a bite, or get something to go?”

His peripheral vision caught her head whipping toward him before she turned front again, and he almost held his breath, waiting for her response.

“Uh, well.”

He waited patiently, afraid anything he said would tip her decision to go home alone.

“I’m kind of sweaty, and don’t really feel like eating in a restaurant.”

Well, he thought, that wasn’t an all-out no to lunch.

“Okay, how about I swing into the drive thru for Kurt’s Crab Shack? With his variety, we should both find something we want.” Hoping to elicit a smile from her, he teased, “Unless you don’t like seafood. In which case, you better keep that a secret, being in a coastal town and all.”

Her soft giggle was like winning the lotto, and he ignored his inner voice, asking why making her happy was so important to him—if in fact he was bound and determined to protect his heart and keep it locked away.

“I love seafood. Well, except for mussels and clams. But don’t tell anyone I said that.”

“Your secret’s safe with me, Nat.”

He glanced her way again to see another sweet blush sweep up her face and wondered what that was all about.

Once in the drive thru, idling next to the menu board, he about jumped out of his skin when she leaned over to read it, her hand resting on his bare forearm somehow translating in his brain to it being wrapped around that suddenly hard appendage between his legs. His heart suddenly racing, he dropped his other hand from the steering wheel down onto his lap to hide the fact he was hard as a pipe, just at the feel of her holding his arm.

It took all his willpower to continue looking at the menu, instead of turning his head to see how close her beautiful face was and possibly steal a kiss. Damn, why was his heart and libido suddenly in charge, instead of his brain? Had he felt this way for her the past couple of years without realizing it, and proximity was flipping all his switches to ON?

A squeeze on his arm and soft voice had him whipping his head around, and yup, sure enough, he was an inch away from her sensuous, full mouth. All he had to do was lean….

“Zach? You okay? Your turn to order.”

“What? Oh, yeah, uh, food. Right.”

His eyes dropped to those siren lips again, then back to her eyes, and her look of confusion transformed into one of understanding. That he was a hairsbreadth away from kissing the daylights out of her.

She jumped back as if poked with a stick, averting her gaze and waving at the menu.

He scrubbed a hand down his face, calluses scraping against the perpetual scruff on his jaws and chin before he faced the menu again and rattled off the first things that came to mind. As he pulled forward toward the window to pay, he realized it was a good thing he and Belle ate here frequently, since he had no clue what he’d just ordered.

All he could think of was the missed kiss, and when the next opportunity would be to see Natalie.

The young man at the window saved him from his impossible thoughts by handing across bags of food, which he passed to Nat. Drinks came next, and he pulled his wallet from the center console to pay.

“Oh! I didn’t even think about having left my wallet at home when I said yes to stopping for food. I didn’t mean for you to pay for my lunch.”

He turned and caught the embarrassed, uncomfortable look on her face and hastened to reassure her. “No worries, Nat. When I suggested it, I had every intention of treating you today. Consider it a welcome to Beacon Bay and the neighborhood.”

He caught her sighing again and wondered if she was depressed or just exhausted. He knew sighing could be a sign of either.

“That’s kind of you, especially considering how horrible I was to your—your little—to your daughter yesterday. I feel terrible about that, but…”

Zach pulled into the first available parking spot, put the vehicle into park and turned to face her, knowing they needed to get past this with the least amount of pain for her. He hesitated, then thought to hell with it before reaching for one of her hands to clasp in his, his thumb brushing across the top.

“Nat.” When she kept her face averted, he gave her hand a little squeeze. “Natalie, sweetheart. No explanations are necessary.”

That brought her eyes, swimming in tears, up to his. Oh man, this woman was in so much pain.

“Believe me when I say I understand. You don’t need to explain, honest. Belle had shaken it off by the time she was scarfing her PB&J.”

That got a watery laugh from her, thank god.

“And as for paying for your lunch, how about you buy me lunch later this week, or if you don’t want to go out, if you want to just slap something together, invite me over for lunch. Randi keeps Belle for me on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so we can target one of those days.”

At her look of gratitude, he felt about ten feet tall, when in fact he had done nothing to deserve that look. Anyone with half a heart would understand. Any man would want to spend time with her.

Was he setting himself up for heartache or happiness? If he kept them in the friend-zone, then neither of them would get hurt, and just maybe he could help her get acclimated to the area and provide an occasional ear and shoulder.

He just had to remember to not cross the line from friends to something more. Something hotter. Something with a life of its own. Especially since Belle was his focus, and Natalie wanted nothing to do with kids.

Dammit all to hell.