“I really am blessed to have such great friends.”
He pulled into the driveway of the house, noticed a lack of cars. “Michael’s not home?”
“I’d be surprised if we saw him at all. Producers are night owls and they expect many of the actors in their films to be as well.”
He cut the engine. “The streets roll up at dusk in Hilton. Fair warning.”
She played with the handle of the door, trying to figure out how to open it.
Karen was laughing at herself when he jumped out to get it from the outside.
“Why can’t they make the doors normal? Everything else is over the top as it is.”
He pulled it open for her and stood back for her to get out.
“It forces chivalry,” she said.
He laughed. “Must have been made by a woman.”
She shut the door and turned toward the house only to find her sweater closed inside. “Oh, man.”
Laughing, he leaned over to grasp the handle at the same time she did. Their fingers touched and both of them stopped laughing.
The peach scent of the shampoo she used hit him first, and then the silver fleck of her blue eyes sparkled as she looked up at him.
There it was again, the chemistry he’d been denying since he met her bounced between them like fireflies. He heard her suck in a breath as her eyes drifted to his lips. The heat of her body, close to his, brought awareness of his desire for her over him like a tidal wave. He fisted his hands, and realized that he’d caught hold of her arm. For one brief second she swayed into him and she lifted her face toward his.
Then she twisted away, and the moment was gone.
Zach jumped back, shocked at what had nearly happened between them.
Acting as if nothing had transpired, he opened the door with more force than necessary and freed her sweater.
She mumbled a quick thanks, and fled.
Karen stumbled into her room, shaking. She’d run like a frightened child, and like a teenager, she had no intention of facing Zach again. Not without interference. She’d nearly kissed him. Could feel the weight of his lips against hers with only a thought.
What the hell is wrong with me?
Her head told her not to be attracted to Zach, but her body had other thoughts.
She could only imagine what must be going through his head about her. What wife kisses, or almost kisses, her husband’s brother?
“You’re a fool, Karen.”
There wasn’t protocol on how to deal with the situation now. There was no way she could avoid visiting Zach’s family. Not without causing serious issues for Michael, and she couldn’t tell Michael about her attraction to his brother. Damn, even though their marriage was as fake as most of the br**sts in Hollywood, chances were Michael would feel betrayed by his brother…and by her.
Karen rubbed her temples and made her way into the bathroom to scrub away Zach’s scent.
She glared at herself in the mirror. “You didn’t kiss him.” Maybe they could both just forget the moment ever happened.
If they didn’t talk about it…and they didn’t end up alone again…
It could work.
It was only two weeks in Hilton, and Zach didn’t live with his parents, so she’d probably only see him with the rest of the family.
It could work.
She fell into bed and woke in the morning with a raging guilt-ridden headache that only became more painful when she realized that Zach had left before dawn.
Chapter Six
When Zach had straddled his motorcycle, turned over the engine, and headed west, he was reminded that he was young enough to make changes in his life whenever he wanted to. The past few years he’d been restless, ready to make a move in his life. But each time he’d considered what that move would be, another job would come up, another way to build his construction business, another reason to stay in Hilton.
Being on the open road, with the wind blowing him around and the sun shining on him like the lone freaking ranger, Zach wanted just to keep riding.
Driving around with Mike for the half a day he had with his brother made him want a different life even more. Not that he wanted Mike’s life…just something more.
Then there was Karen.
Dammit. He’d almost kissed her, almost tasted the most forbidden fruit of all. His brother’s wife. He’d seen the spark of passion in her eyes, felt the way her body had swayed into his. So he ran.
Ran back to what he knew. Utah.
Only as he steered his motorcycle down Main Street and parked it along the curb by the hardware store, he realized how ready he was to move on. Rena’s life was in this small town, Mike had found a life in California, and he didn’t think Judy would stick around when she graduated from college the next year. So why did he stay?
Family.
His father had expected him to stay and he had. For a while, he told himself it was because he wanted the small-town life. But now he realized that wasn’t true any longer. He wanted something more.
Zach slid his helmet off his head and shook out his hair.
Inside the store, he waved to the kid behind the counter. “Hey, Nolan, my dad here?”
Nolan nodded toward the back.
“Thanks.”
Sawyer Gardner was a strong man full of hard edges and inflexibility most of the time. His disgust about Mike getting married and not bringing Karen home to meet the family brought heated conversations every time Mike ended up in the paper.
Sawyer tossed a box full of plumbing supplies onto a dolly when Zach walked into the room. “Hey, Dad.”
Sawyer glanced over his shoulder and kept right on stacking boxes. “You’re back quick.”
“California isn’t that far away.” Even on the back of a motorcycle.
“Did you remind your brother of that?”
“Yeah. I did.”
Zach grabbed a box alongside his father and helped him stack them.
“So, did you meet her?”
Zach swallowed, hard. “Yeah.”
“And she’s real? Not some made up TV version of a wife?” Sawyer never had approved of what Mike did for a living.
“She’s real.” Very, very real.
Sawyer stood now, looked Zach in the eye. “Are we going to meet her?”
“Yeah. Mike’s arranging some time off and Karen insisted they finally visit.”
The stoic expression on his father’s face didn’t change with the news. He simply turned on his heel, pointed toward a box, and said, “Grab that, will ya?”
No thanks for driving hundreds of miles on behalf of the family, not one word of happiness about Mike’s impending visit…nothing else was said on the Mike subject.