“I’m Michael Green. Gracie told me what happened. Can’t thank you enough for looking out for her.”
Zach discovered that attention of any sort, even positive, made him uncomfortable. “She wasn’t in any risk.”
“That’s not what Caleb told me. He said you put yourself right between my girl and that dog and that you almost lost your hand doing it.”
“The dog had been badly treated. He was scared, not vicious. And Grace was brave and stood her ground.”
Grace’s shoulders straightened. “I stood right where you told me to stand and didn’t move a muscle.”
“That’s right, you did.” Zach gathered up his purchases. “It’s good to see you, Grace. Sir.” He nodded to Grace’s father and made for the door, wondering what Dawn Parker would make of that exchange.
She was the type who put people into compartments, as if she were stocking the shelves of her store. He could imagine her roaming the aisles, searching for a suitable place to shelve him. No doubt her preference until now would have been to tuck him in a dark corner along with gasoline or fireworks, probably under a big label saying “handle with care.”
Now she was confused.
He smiled. No doubt she’d still find a reason to shelve him along with the dangerous goods.
Noticing the blackening sky, Zach drove back to camp and went in search of Philip.
He was in his office, but so was Brittany, seated on his desk among the half-empty mugs and the untidy piles of paper.
She was wearing a simple T-shirt and a pair of denim cutoffs that showed off her athletic shape.
Drowning in desire, Zach found it impossible not to look at her.
All he wanted to do was throw her over his shoulder, take her deep into the forest and have sex with her until she could no longer walk straight, but that wasn’t what worried him most. What almost had him running for the door was the realization that she was virtually the only person whose company he preferred to his own.
She threw him one of her blinding smiles. Philip said something by way of a greeting, but Zach couldn’t hear through the roaring in his ears.
He thought his reaction should have been obvious but apparently it wasn’t because they carried on their conversation, which left him with nothing to do but simmer in the heat he’d created himself.
Restless, frustrated, he strolled to the window of Philip’s office and tried distracting himself with the view, but it was impossible to concentrate on anything when Brittany was in the room so he gave up and let himself look.
She was one of those people who wore every emotion on her face. When she was angry or frustrated, her eyes flashed. When she was amused she laughed, and it was such an infectious laugh that it usually had everyone around her laughing, too. Today, she seemed irritated as she sat on the edge of his desk, her legs swinging. “I spoke to three different people in the department and so far I can’t find anyone interested in running an archaeological activity.”
Philip pushed his glasses up his nose. “I’m grateful to you for trying.”
“I’m going to keep trying. It’s a great idea. It was fun and the children loved it. I can’t imagine why the department wouldn’t want to take that on. They could get some of the undergraduates involved.”
She never gave up, Zach thought. Whatever she did, she attacked it with the full force of her personality.
He was acknowledging just how much trouble he was in, when she glanced towards him. “Am I in your way? Did you want something?”
Yes, he wanted her. He wanted her so badly it was driving him crazy and he knew he had to get out of there before he did something that couldn’t be undone.
“It can wait.” Sexual frustration made his tone harder than he’d intended and he saw her eyebrows lift.
“Hey, if there’s a problem, Flynn, just say so. Don’t give me passive-aggressive.”
Passive? There was nothing passive about his feelings.
He strolled towards the door, his fingers digging into his palms. She had no idea, no idea, what it was costing him to keep his distance. “I said it can wait.”
“By the way, Zach—” Philip’s voice cut through the swirling clouds of lust in his brain “—I forwarded you an e
mail from Todd earlier. Take a look. You’ll be pleased.”
“Good to know.” He couldn’t think about anything while Brittany was in the room.