Total pages in book: 191
Estimated words: 182070 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 910(@200wpm)___ 728(@250wpm)___ 607(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 182070 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 910(@200wpm)___ 728(@250wpm)___ 607(@300wpm)
Because sure enough, there he was. Zac. Brown cowboy hat on, his usual jeans, and a T-shirt that stretched across his lean, muscular chest. Those big hands were on his hips and he…
Well, he was focused on me.
He looked tired.
“Snack Pack?” I asked like I didn’t know his face inside and out.
His smile was small but sweet. “Hi, darlin’.”
“What the hell are you doing here?” was the best I could come up with as I took in his exhausted features some more. “You have a game tomorrow,” I stated like he didn’t know that.
What was he doing?
He did this nonchalant little shrug like his game the next day, another game that represented his potential future, was no big thing. “I changed my cell phone number a little while ago. Wanted to come tell you face-to-face and give you the new one,” he explained slowly, looking me dead in the eye.
“What are you talking about?” I asked him before I could think twice about it. “Why did you change your number? You need to be home resting, you old fart, not… being here.” Because what the fuck was he doing here in the first place? And why did he change his number?
And why couldn’t he just text me and tell me he’d gotten a new one?
My comment had his smile cracking even bigger, into a full-grown, big, natural Zac smile that was basically my kryptonite. “Some things are more important than restin’, kiddo.” His eyes scanned my face slowly, his expression staying right where it was. That big palm of his came right up to the center of his chest, and he rubbed a circle right there as he said on an exhale, “I sure did miss you.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my sister smack Richard with the back of her hand on the upper arm.
And maybe I would’ve reacted if my heart didn’t feel like it had just gotten zapped with a defibrillator.
“I’ve missed you too,” I told him, struck by the way he was looking at me, like he really had missed me. A lot.
So much that all I wanted was a hug in that moment.
I hesitated for maybe a second before I slid off the stool and approached him, throwing my arms around his neck before he realized what I was doing. I hugged him tight. And in the time it took me to take a breath, to fill my lungs with the sweet, subtle scent of his cologne, his arms were around me, squeezing me tight and close, his cheek or his mouth pressing against the top of my head.
I’d swear on my life I heard him mutter, “Oh,” softly as his palm slid down the length of my spine, stopping only once it covered the small of my back.
I took in his heat and the long length of his torso pressed to mine so solidly for a moment. Then I released him from one breath to the next, taking a step back so quickly it forced him to drop his arms. I watched him take a breath, watched a determined little notch appear between his eyebrows, and then saw him watching me like…
Like he’d made some kind of decision and he was preparing himself for the consequences.
Those powerful, fit lungs of his filled before he spoke up. “I came to talk to Boogie too,” he said tightly, his hand going back to lay right smack in the middle of his chest.
I took another small step back. “What do you need to talk to him about that you couldn’t just do on the phone or tomorrow?” I asked, way too confused by the fact he was here, by him changing his number, and mostly by the way he was looking at me right then. “Are you okay? Did something happen?”
What was going on? He’d finally lost it. He’d gotten sacked really hard last week, and I’d stood up in front of the television—
That regal chin lifted. “I’m good.”
He was good, but none of this made sense.
“I should’ve talked to him months ago, but I can’t put it off anymore,” he said carefully, still watching me closely.
I wanted to think it was my sister who kicked me in the calf, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it had been my brother-in-law.
I went up to the balls of my feet, swallowing up the face I hadn’t seen in weeks like a starving person who knew she should take it easy. “Not that I’m not happy to see you, but are you trying to piss off Trevor and your agent?”
A partial smile lifted the corner of his mouth. “I’m not worried about Trev or anybody else, and you said you’d talk to me on the phone, but it’s been weeks and you still haven’t called.”
Well, he had me there, damn it. I swallowed hard. “Zac….”