Zack…
He had claimed that nothing happened with Bailey because he was too tired. Rachel wasn’t sure if she believed him. And even if she did… what was the point when she kept thinking about him?
Her phone rang again. At first, she assumed it was the medications director calling her back to chew her out. But that wasn’t the facility’s number on her screen.
It was Sita’s.
“Hey!” That voice was way too cheery for Rachel’s hungover brain. “Good afternoon, Rachel! This is Super Bride Sita checking in!”
Rachel forced herself to smile into her oatmeal. “What’s up?” Sita rarely called her. After all, Rachel was friends with Parvati first and foremost. The cool sister came with the territory.
“Doing the last version of the guest list for my wedding. Are you still coming?”
“Of course. I wouldn’t miss a good Indian wedding for the world.”
“That’s the spirit. Now, how about your +1? I need a final count for the caterer.”
“I thought your aunt was catering straight out of her kitchen.”
“Yes, and she needs to know how many people to overplan for.”
Rachel laughed. “I didn’t have any plans to bring anyone. Probably coming stag.”
“Really? You’re not going to bring Zack?”
She slumped in her chair. “Can’t say I’ve asked him. He’ll probably be busy that day.”
“Oh…” Sita lowered her voice, disappointed. “I thought that you two were going out?”
The corner of Rachel’s mouth twitched. “Is that what your sister told you?”
“Well… she didn’t say otherwise.”
“We’re not going out. We’re just friends.”
“Really! Friends with a hot guy like that?”
“I’m starting to think that it’s you who wants me to bring him.”
“I’m not going to say no to more man candy at my wedding. Although he’ll have to be willing to put up with my extended family from India. And my fiancé’s extended family. The aunties especially would love him. On second thought? Don’t bring him. He’ll steal my show!”
They laughed, although it made Rachel’s head throb. “I’ll see if he wants to go. Otherwise, I plan on flying solo at your wedding.”
“All right. Thanks for amusing me. I’ve got a whole list of people to go through so I’ll talk to you later!”
Rachel hung up. Taking Zack to a traditional Indian wedding? It would be better than taking him to a traditional American wedding, at least. Zack seemed the type to enjoy a good, colorful party with a ton of dancing and enough food to feed a village.
Sita was right, though. Whether he intended to or not, he would probably steal the show from the bride and groom. There would be other non-Indians there, but Zack would stick out with his rugged good looks and oozing charm.
Or maybe that was how Rachel looked at him. Did he really tell that blond woman to go home last night? Did he really sleep alone? She couldn’t believe it. Zack wasn’t shy about sleeping around with different women. Hell, he had been so casual about asking Rachel out that she didn’t doubt he only thought of her as a fling!
So what did that make them now?
They were friends, yes, but what good was it if it was never meant to be?
Ha. Sounds like we’re a real couple when I put it like that. Rachel needed to go back to sleep. She couldn’t finish this oatmeal, anyway.
Chapter 15
“Rachel Taylor!” Zack called up to her apartment window Friday afternoon. “Get down here and cling to me right now!”
He revved up his motorcycle to send the point home. And to scare half the neighborhood to death. Everyone but the old man nodding at him in approval. “Nice model!” his gravelly voice called over the motor.
Zack saluted him before looking back up at Rachel’s window. “I know you’re up there!”
Two minutes later, she threw open her apartment window and gazed down upon him. “What the fuck are you doing?”
He held up his spare helmet. “Whisking you away on my bike.”
“What?”
“It’s a beautiful day and the lake calls to me. Get down here and let me spoil you!”
“You’re nuts!”
Zack lowered the helmet again. “Would you at least come down here? I look like a damn fool and somebody’s going to call the cops.”
“You’d deserve it, weirdo!”
Nevertheless, she was down on the sidewalk within a few minutes, her hair piled on top of her head as she stood before him in a pair of old, worn jeans and a raggedy band T-shirt that barely accentuated her nice figure. Just as well. I don’t need the temptations.
Temptations! Like the ones he had every day for the past week? Zack had already made a fool of himself every time he woke up or stayed in the shower too long. The last straw was that morning when he took matters into his own hands, so to speak. Oh, sure, he was into recreational self-touch like any other man – on a daily basis, no less – but there was a huge difference between generic fantasies and specifically thinking about one woman who drove him nuts.
The latter didn’t happen that often.
Zack needed to get out of town for a few hours. There was a lake not too far away that was peaceful enough to calm his soul and beautiful enough to inspire his artistic side. But as he prepared to take off that afternoon, all he could think about was taking someone along with him. Specifically, Rachel.
The same woman who looked at him as if he were insane.
“Well?” He held the helmet out to her. “You gonna get on my bike or not?”
“You totally would have a motorcycle, wouldn’t you?”
“What’s wrong with it? You got something against bikes?”
“No. I’ve never ridden on one, though.”
“Eh, you need a jacket – I’ve got a spare, by the way – but otherwise you’re totally ready to go. Come on. We’re going to the lake. You and me.”
And doing what?”
Zack lowered his sunglasses. “Whatever we feel like.”
She studied him for a few more seconds, her face contorting between disbelief and sweet curiosity. She totally wants to do it. No woman can resist me when I’m on a bike. That included women he was strictly platonic with.
Maybe. In all honesty, the only woman he had platonically taken along for a ride was his brother’s girlfriend. And that was because it had always been a dream of hers. One ride was enough. She was practically crying afterward, and Daniel was ready to punch me for daring to do that without his knowledge. Was that really three years ago? Damn. Time flew by.
“I don’t know…” Rachel took a step back. “This is a little sudden. I’ve got work to do. Work that I haven’t been good about doing ever since you came into my life.”
“Pfft. Work. I’m blowing that off too.” He was supposed to be working on that marble sculpture. Nope. Wasn’t happening.
“Yeah, but I’m a bit more reliant on my income.”
Oooh, she went there. “Tell you what.” Zack shoved the helmet into her hands. “If you end up getting screwed because you chose to hang out with me and clear your mind instead of working, I’ll take care of it.”
“That’s…”
“Non-negotiable.”
“Fine.” She snatched the helmet, only to give it right back to him. “Let me go organize a few things and maybe lock my front door and I’ll be right back down. Five minutes.”
“Right. You’ve got five minutes.” Zack squeezed the handlebars. “Then I’m personally coming up to carry you away.”
She bit her bottom lip as if that thought appealed to her. Don’t do that to me, Rachel. Good thing Zack had his sunglasses on. He wasn’t in the mood to betray what he really thought of her. Especially when she turned around and showed him that ass in her tight jeans.
When Rachel returned, it was with a small bag strapped across her chest and her own sweatshirt draped over her torso. Everything was left up to the imagination. Just as well. “Okay. How do I ride one of these things?”
“First, you get behind me. Then you grab me, and try not to readjust my family jewels.”
She flinched. “Ew.”
“I live to inspire you.”
Rachel slowly climbed onto the bike, careful to not stretch her delicate muscles. Zack couldn’t count how many times women hurt themselves underestimating how much they had to split their legs to fit on his bike. Even the seven foot tall supermodels sometimes walked away acting like they had sex for twelve hours straight.
“You sure you never ridden one of these things before?” Zack put his helmet back on and made sure Rachel followed suit. “Because you’re already a natural.”
She snaked her arms around his midsection and clenched her hands together. Damn. That’s night. Almost as nice having her head pressed up against his shoulder. “Prove it!”
Zack revved up the motorcycle before kicking it away from the sidewalk. “Hang on!”
Rachel’s grip didn’t falter as they went down the road, hitting every green light on their way to the pristine countryside that surrounded this concrete den of capitalism and culture. In an ideal world, he would follow the river up to the source in the Appalachian Mountains. But the infrastructure didn’t support that until they made it a few miles outside of the city limits. The only traffic allowed along the riverbank in the city were nautical vehicles, and Rachel had made it clear that she was terrified of the water.