Wrong Side of Town

Chapter 9

Laney knew she was blushing. Despite her dark complexion, courtesy of her Mexican grandmother, she blushed easily and it showed. Why on Earth was the hottest man in Hawthorne sitting here chatting with her? "It's the only thing I ever really wanted to do. I love books - all kinds, despite what you just caught me reading."

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with a little escapism now and then. I actually saw plenty of grown men reading those in the Army. Romances, westerns, even comic books. Anything to remind you of softness and home or get your mind off reality for a little while." His grayish-blue eyes regarded her steadily from under sandy-brown lashes.

"That makes sense. Miss Mamie heads up a drive every year to collect used paperbacks to send to the troops overseas. I guess I just assumed it would be the women reading the romances."

"I recall getting one of Miss Mamie's boxes. She also fills them up with homemade oatmeal cookies. Makes her one popular lady. Hell, half the men in my unit would marry her on sight, even if she is in her sixties."

Laney was so charmed she forgot to be self-conscious, and she laughed along with Zach. "She's an impressive woman. I'm very lucky to have her for a boss - and a mentor. She funded one of the scholarships that let me go away to college and wrote me letters of recommendation for the others. Without her, I'd probably be here working for Andrea or cleaning other people's houses, like my mother. I owe Miss Mamie a lot."

"Somehow, I think you'd have come out ahead, even without her." Fine lines crinkled at the corners of his eyes when he smiled. "You have that determined look about you. I don't remember you from school. You must be a fair bit younger than your sister."

"Nina would be thirty-six, if she were alive. I'm four years younger." An old maid of thirty-two - with no prospects of ever changing that status.

"And your nephew is what? Fourteen?" His hand twitched almost imperceptibly on his water glass.

"Fifteen." Deciding to take pity on him, she sighed. "And in case you're like every other guy in town and had a thing with my sister, you can stop worrying. Nina was living in Dallas for a year before he was born. Parker's father was a city boy, who just happened to be married to someone other than Nina at the time. She came home, had the baby, dumped him with my mother then ran right back to the big city." It impressed her that Zach didn't seem to be doing any mental math. Had he actually been one man to not sleep with Nina?

He shook his head, shattering that hope. "I wasn't worried. He'd have to be somewhere around twenty for that one time to come back and haunt me. I've got no hard feelings or long-lost dreams, though I am sorry she died. My fling with your sister was short and came to a mutual ending, as soon as she realized I was headed for the Army."

"No, Nina wouldn't have cared for that a bit."

"Is Parker's father in the picture?" His questions were personal but not too much so - just as if he were a normal guy trying to get to know a woman he was interested in. Damn, it was too bad that couldn't possibly be true.

"No. Nina never even told us his name, and it's not on Parker's birth certificate, so I have no idea who he is. It's just the two of us now, since my mother passed." She nibbled on a corner of her grilled cheese sandwich then set it back down. It was rude to start before he had his food, but her lunch hour was only so long.

"Damn, your mother, too? I'm sorry, Laney." Zach reached across the table and laid his hand over hers.

There was that tingle again, one she hadn't felt in - oh, admit it girl - forever. Except for yesterday when Zach Shannon shook her hand.

"Your nephew lives with you, then?"

She took a deep breath, wanting to make sure he understood. "Legally, he's my nephew, but I've raised him since he was a toddler. In every way that counts, he's my son."

Zach's smile could have melted a glacier. "Good for you. Family is important."

Laney was delighted when Andrea bustled out with Zach's cheeseburger plate, breaking the intensity of the moment. "Anything else I can get you? Another Diet Coke, Laney?"

"Umm - sure." She snaked her hand back under the table, hoping Andrea hadn't seen, though of course she knew better. Andrea's keen eyes never missed anything.

As if to prove that, Andrea gave Laney a wink as she headed back to the drink station with Laney's glass. Ignoring her friend, Laney turned back to Zach. "So are you adjusting to being a civilian again? Miss Mamie said you were in the Army for twenty years."

"Almost twenty-one," he muttered around a mouthful of hamburger. "They kept saying, 'Just one more mission'."

"Are you glad to be home?" She took a bite of her own sandwich and chewed.

Zach just nodded, his eyes closed in apparent bliss. "Oh, lord, right now I'm really glad to be home. I had dreams about one of these burgers. Actual, full-color dreams."

"Fortunately, Andrea got all of Millie Cooper's recipes when she bought the diner." What would it be like to see that same expression on his face during...? Her face flamed again. Down, girl! He's not for the likes of you. "She also got Harvey Peterson, who was doing most of the cooking for the Coopers before they retired. Now, they pretty much run the place between the two of them."

"Old Harvey's still around? Good to know." Harvey was a Vietnam vet who had become a fixture around town since Laney was a kid, doing odd jobs and living in whatever room he could rent cheap.

"Yeah, Millie hired him about five years ago, and it turns out he's a heck of a cook. He lives above the restaurant, and he's more or less adopted Andrea. I think he treats her better than her own parents ever did."

"Cool. It's good to know some of the changes around town have been for the better."

They chatted easily as they finished their meal. When their checks came, Laney was stunned when Zach picked up both and glared her into silence. "You've been filling me in on stuff I need to know to get back into the community. Let me say thank you."

When he put it like that, how could she argue - even if Andrea gave her a funny look when they checked out? Zach put his left hand on her waist as they exited the restaurant, reinstating the tingle she'd felt earlier. To her greater consternation, he kept it there while he walked her back to the library. He didn't even pull it away when they stopped and chatted with any number of townsfolk along the way. By the time they climbed the steps to the library's wide brick porch, she was sure her face would be permanently set in a shade of scarlet. Her entire body tingled with pure, raw lust. At least, now, she knew what - or rather whom - she'd be dreaming about for the next month. She might as well enjoy it, she decided, as this ten-minute walk would probably be the highlight of her s*x life for the next ten years or more.

When Zach held open the library door, however, she knew the interlude had come to an end. She nodded at him. "Time to get back to work. Thanks for lunch."

He returned her timid smile with one so sexy it should have been illegal. "Thank you. It's been a long time since I've had the chance to sit and enjoy a burger with a pretty girl. Maybe, we can do it again sometime."

No! Zach Shannon could not be asking her out - on a date. It wasn't humanly possible. She just stood there, blinking and probably gaping like a fish.

"Hey, Shannon, we've got a call out." Detective Marla Jennings honked the horn of her car from the street twenty feet away. "Lunch hour's over, partner."

Great - Zach was working with one of the town bombshells - smart, tall, slim and deadly. He'd forget about Laney about thirty seconds after he got in Marla's car.

"My new partner has great timing." Zach touched the tip of her nose with a finger. "Can I call you?"

Mutely, she nodded. As if that was ever going to happen. Still, she knew she'd spend the next week listening for the phone to ring.

Only after she'd watched him stride away - and lord, did the man have a magnificent rear end - did she realize she hadn't even given him her number.