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He wrinkled his nose. “Those are for funerals. Tell me something about your parents. Do they live around here?”
Her eyes rounded. She sat up and looked away. “My father’s dead.”
Wincing, he got up as well and took her hand. “I’m sorry, Lucy.”
She gave a sharp laugh and faced him. “Don’t be. I wasn’t. I don’t think anyone was.” Pulling away, she found her jeans and dragged them on. He noticed she hadn’t bothered with any underwear. “He was a dad in name only. Dads do things with their kids. He didn’t. And you can’t miss something you never had. If it wasn’t for Charlie... well, let’s just say I might have ended up even worse off than I am.”
“Worse?” He put his hands on his hips and realized he was still buck naked. Grabbing his jeans off the ground, he pulled them on.
Lucy found her white T-shirt and dragged it over her head. Zach tried to drag his eyes off the pert nipples tending that T-shirt, but he couldn’t. She hadn’t pulled her T-shirt all the way down and a sliver of skin still showed above her jeans. Walking over to her, he stroked that skin. “What’s worse?”
She shook her head, let out a breath and looked up at him. “You name it. My mom’s in Branson’s Creek. I go to see her once a week but she doesn’t even know me anymore. She’s...my daddy hit her once too often. And I—” She broke off the words and tried to turn away.
He held onto her. “I know what it’s like to lose someone. My parents died in a car accident when I was still in high school. Took me six months to get custody of my brother and longer than that to get over just how damn angry I was at my folks for leaving us like that. I hated them for such a long time—and then it finally sank in that they did the best they could. Same for you—some people shouldn’t have kids. Some do and screw it up pretty good. That’s not what matters. You’re doing something with your life. You’ve turned into a remarkable woman.” He pushed the hair from her face. “Don’t ever sell that short by saying it’s worse.”
“I don’t know why I’m telling you all this. I don’t even talk to Charlie.”
He leaned over and kissed her lips, a brush of his mouth against her softness. “There’s something to be said for getting close.”
She backed up a step. “Yeah, but I’m not asking you to stay. We’d better get back to work. I’m not earning any money like this.”
She turned and walked away before he could say anything. And he wasn’t sure he was any closer to understanding her. But he was sure that she was getting under his skin.
Chapter Nine
By the time Zach got back to Charlie’s house all he could think about was how good a shower sounded. Sweaty, a touch sun burnt, he could feel the muscles he
’d used today telling him to go easy tomorrow. He could also smell chicken cooking—and he was pretty damn sure he could smell Lucy on him still. He headed upstairs fast, showered, and changed into clean jeans and a plaid shirt. He pulled on socks and his boots and came downstairs to hear Charlie just about yelling.
“If you would just let me help you—”
From the kitchen, Lucy answered, her tone low and determined. “I’ve told you a hundred times, this isn’t your problem.”
Zach shook his head. Lucy sounded as if she’d dug in her heels good, and Charlie sounded like she’d just about had it with that kind of mule-like independence. He sat down on the couch in the living room and tried not to listen. It was, after all, none of his business. But he started tapping his fingers on his leg—he was itching to get in there and do something to sort those two out and fix things.
“Lucy, you are the closest thing to family I have. So stop with that stubborn-ass pride of yours. That’s what friends and family do. Help.”
“If you’re going to keep pushing, I’ll be moving out.”
“What I need to do is go after that bastard with a gun! That’d sort Martino out pretty damn fast.”
Zach stilled. Martino? He was sure he’d heard the name before? Where?
From the kitchen, a pan clattered into the sink. “No, you’re not going after anyone. Because if anything ever happened to you... Charlie, I don’t have much family left either. So... you have to let me deal with him. I’m doing to pay off the debt. It’ll work out.”
“Girl, you know he’ll just find another way to make you keep paying. He’s going to bleed you forever.”
“Let me handle it. Please.”
Their voices dropped. Zach got up and headed out to the front to play with Sunny and feed him. He kept thinking about what Lucy had said. She owed money. How the hell had she gotten in debt to the wrong kind of guy? To this Martino? Did she have a drug problem? The name finally clicked into place. He had his name and face on a photo near the entrance as the guy in charge of the casino in town. Did Lucy have a gambling addiction? He hadn’t seen any signs of it, but how well did he really know her?
He thought about her naked and sitting over him today. He gave a low groan. Oh, he knew her—in all the ways that mattered. He knew she had a temper, she worked as hard as any guy he’d ever known, and she was used to looking after herself. He knew she had a mole on her left breast and the cutest dimples over her ass. He knew what she sounded like when she came. He knew she was pushy—and far too vulnerable. No one put up that much of a fight to keep others away unless they had softness inside that was too easily hurt.
He ruffled Sunny’s coat. “What are we going to do about her, hun?” Sunny gave a bark. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. I’m pushy, too.” Zach stood up. Maybe it was all those years of looking after his little brother that had left him wanting to butt in and handle the affairs of others. Or maybe it was just something about Lucy.
He knew he should take this slow—maybe all she really did want from him was money. But needing money and wanting it were different things. And he was starting to think that what Lucy needed was a good friend who could look out for her—and who she couldn’t back down with all that bristling of hers.
Or maybe she had some other issues he didn’t know about.
