Some Kind of Wonderful (Puffin Island 2)
“I can manage.”
He saw Mel’s eyes narrow as she registered the tension and put her own spin on it.
“I’ll help,” she cooed and stooped, too, an elaborately choreographed maneuver that gave him an eyeful of carefully constructed cleavage contained by a froth of black lace as unsubtle as the red lipstick.
Zach, who was as shallow as the next guy, wondered why all that voluptuous flesh on display failed to distract him from Brittany.
She was wearing her usual trademark cutoffs and a bright top that showed the contrasting strap of her sports bra. Her outfit displayed limbs that were toned, strong and golden.
He wondered if she was wearing a thong under those shorts and then decided he was better off not knowing. He dragged his eyes from the taut curve of her butt to her hair, which fell in a thick braid between her shoulder blades.
The color on her cheeks was natural and there was no gloss on her lips, yet of the two women there was no doubt in his mind who was the sexier.
He clenched his jaw, wondering why Brittany’s soft, bare lips should be so much more kissable than Mel’s glossy pout.
Ten years and a whole lot of bad feeling lay between them, but still all he wanted to do was shove her back against the wall and bury himself in her.
Tension made his voice rough. “How are you getting home?”
She straightened, clutching the bag awkwardly with her good arm. “I’m walking.”
“That bag won’t survive. I’ll give you a ride.”
Mel clearly had her own ideas about that. “No need to go out of your way, Zach. I’ll give her another bag. All part of the service. You just wait right there, Brittany.” She vanished to do whatever she had to do to keep the two of them apart and Zach looked down at Brittany and raised his eyebrows in question.
“It’s your call. Do you want to go another round with her?”
“Is that a serious question?” She spoke between her teeth and he almost smiled because he suspected he was the lesser of two evils, which was a refreshing change for a man who usually found himself the greater of the two.
“I should probably warn you that at least ten locals currently have eyes on us, including Rita Fisher. She spreads gossip like butter on dinner rolls. You climb into my car and you know what they’ll be saying.”
“I don’t care if the whole damn island is lining up for front-row seats for whatever it is we’re supposed to be doing,” she said. “Get me out of here.”
They made it to the SUV he’d left unlocked and there was still no sign of Mel.
Brittany shot in so fast she almost scratched the paintwork and he gave a faint smile as he strolled around the car and slid into the driver’s seat.
“So it’s not just spiders. Never thought you’d be afraid of Mel.”
“I’m not afraid, but I don’t want to kill her on my first day home. I’ll alienate the islanders.”
He’d lived that way his whole life and she must have been thinking the same thing because she sent him a glance and sighed.
“I didn’t mean—”
“I know what you meant.”
“It’s been a hard morning, that’s all. I’m a little tired of people sympathizing with me.”
“They’re all sorry about your wrist.”
“It has nothing to do with my wrist.” She muttered the words under her breath but he caught them anyway and wondered why it hadn’t occurred to him that his presence would cause her a problem.
“They’ve said something to you?”
“No.” She answered a little too quickly and he wondered for the millionth time in his life why people couldn’t just attend to their own business and leave others alone.
I don’t care what anyone thinks. I want you to be the first, Zach. Do anything. All of it.