Page 67 of Here & Now

A couple of weeks?

“I might interview another agent, but I was pretty impressed with Scott. I’m meeting with him again in a few days, and then I’ll decide.”

A few days? Zane’swindow of opportunity was closing. There must be something he could do to prevent her from working with Scott, but what? On the other hand, he should probably back off and leave her alone like she’d asked. Is that what she really wants, though? Her kisses said otherwise…

“I almost forgot. I bought something for you and Sofie.”

He smiled, recalling their shopping and breakfast outing.

“I’ll mail it out tomorrow so she can wear it right away.”

She’d shown him a picture on her phone of her new niece. Sofie was an adorable child with chubby cheeks and a wisp of strawberry-blonde hair just like Bree’s.

“I’m also going to Gene’s Books to look for something for Mom. Speaking of books, I boxed up a bunch of Grandma’s Harlequin romances. I’m going to take them to a used bookstore in Cape Coral that somebody told me about.”

Me! I told you about that!

She went quiet for a while, and he wondered if she’d slipped inside without him hearing. He was about to get up or at least change positions when she spoke again.

“Will you please stop bringing him up? Whatever it was—a flirtation, physical attraction, temporary insanity—it’s over. Besides, he’s probably already moved on to his next conquest. He goes through women like you go through Diet Coke.”

He might have laughed if she’d been talking about somebody else. As it was, he cringed at her unfavorable depiction of him.

“Yes, I promise to keep you posted. Now I’m going inside to change out of this dress.”

Dammit. He wished she’d stay outside a while longer. Even though she was trash-talking him to her sister, he still liked hearing her voice and catching glimpses of her through the foliage. On the other hand, if she caught him listening, she’d probably trash-talk him even more.

“It’s been a long day. I’ll probably stay in and order a pizza.”

He felt a flicker of relief. It could have been worse; she could have been going out on a date with sleazy Scott Duggan.

“I love you too. Give Sofie a kiss for me.”

She went quiet again. Why doesn’t she go inside? Does she know I’m here?

Just in case, he leaned his head back against the chair and closed his eyes. That way, if she spotted him, she’d think he was napping. He sat like that for some time, keeping his ears attuned to every sound.

Finally, he heard her patio door open and close, and he popped his eyes open. He waited another minute and then stood, clutching his beer in one hand. He swallowed the rest of it in one gulp and went inside.

He dropped the beer can in the recycle bin and then went into his bedroom to change out of his wet trunks. As he was getting undressed, he thought of her doing the same thing next door.

Despite the day’s drama, he still envisioned what she’d look like naked. Stop being a guy!Wait a minute. I AM a guy!

He hurriedly dried off, dressed, and went into the kitchen. As he glanced around his empty house, he thought, Now what? If he and Bree had still been on speaking terms, he might have asked her over for dinner.

Since that wasn’t an option, he opened the fridge and took out a box of leftover pizza. Of course, that reminded him that she was ordering pizza too.

He would have gladly shared some of his, but she didn’t want anything from him, including his day-old pizza. He sat on a stool at the island and ate a slice right out of the box.

While he chewed, he thought hard about what to do. Marco was right: he was a man of action. It wasn’t like him to sit back and do nothing when he wanted something, or in this case, someone.

Suddenly an idea sprang to mind. Instead of going next door to talk to her and getting the door slammed in his face, he could bump into her somewhere on the island, say the post office or Gene’s Books. He could have letters to mail and books to buy, just like anyone else. The island was small enough that it wasn’t unusual to run into someone you knew—it happened all the time.

As she’d pointed out, many of the people he ran into were females, but there was only one female he wanted to run into now. He was on a mission to show her the man he really was rather than the one she’d made him out to be.

By the time he’d finished the cold pizza, he had a renewed sense of purpose. He had a date with Bree tomorrow, and she didn’t even know it.