CHAPTER 5

C HAPTER 5

"BLTs, popcorn and chocolate covered strawberries," Reese supplied.

"Tacos, fried chicken and key lime pie," Zack said.

They both made sounds of approval at the other's choices of favorite foods. It was all part of the accelerated dating plan. A way of getting to know each other better and to pass the time while they waited to hear from Harry Floyd.

"All-time favorite movie," he threw out from the list they'd made while eating an amazing shepherd's pie lunch from Desi's Diner that had been delivered to her room at the inn.

" Love Actually ," she answered.

" Lord of the Rings ." That came from Zack.

They made more sounds of approval, something that'd happened for each and every item. Then she glanced at her phone again.

"A watched phone never rings," Zack said.

She had to smile, but she was feeling plenty of frustration as well. Frustration and a massive stewpot of other feelings. In fact, Reese had so many things swirling around in her head and body that it was difficult to think straight. Then again, thinking straight was always a problem when she was around Zack.

For now though, she couldn't blame her frustration on any kisses. Or because she was gawking at his amazing face or body. Or because she was conflicted about the attraction simmering between them.

Nope.

The list topper of the moment was the frustration of waiting for a call back or even a visit from Happy Harry. After Harrison had given them the man's name, Reese had used the PI databases on her laptop to locate him in Bulverde, Texas, which was only a short drive from Loveland. Armed with that info and his phone number, she had called him three hours earlier. When he hadn't answered, she'd left a message for him to contact her ASAP, telling him that she was a friend of a friend and was staying at the inn in Loveland.

What she hadn't mentioned was the number of his testes or the fact that he could be the bigamist she'd been searching for. Reese had hoped that the somewhat vague message would spark enough interest for the man to either return her call or show up in person. So far though, nada.

"Favorite childhood memories," Zack read from the list.

That snapped her attention away from her phone, and while she was trying to figure out which one to choose, her attention landed on something outside her window. She spotted her great-aunt, Arabella, and Maeve near the ice-skating pond, and they weren't alone. Zack's granddad, Harrison, and Hal were with them, and they were all putting on skates.

"Good grief," Reese muttered. Her first instinct was to hurry down there and warn Sylvia that she could fall. But then, she saw the beaming smile on her great-aunt's face. In fact, there were smiles all around.

"What the heck?" Zack grumbled when he saw what she was looking at. "To the best of my knowledge, my eighty-two-year-old grandfather has never ice skated in his life." He took out his phone, maybe to call his granddad and issue a be careful type warning, but then he sighed and slipped his phone back in his pocket. "I guess the right attitude to take about this is live and let live."

"Yes," Reese muttered, but she winced when Sylvia's arms windmilled as she stepped onto the ice. Reese was fairly certain that her great-aunt had never ice skated either, but thankfully Zack's granddad was able to keep them both on their feet.

Two by two, the others crept out onto the frozen pond. More arms windmilled, and their bodies bent at odd angles, but there were also smiles. Lots of them. And Reese saw something else: The way Sylvia was looking at Zack's granddad.

"Maybe there's something in the air here to make people . . ." she started but then trailed off. She'd nearly blurted out fall in love , and there was no way she intended to say that in front of Zack.

For starters, it might send him running. Yes, he seemed more than okay with this accelerated romance, but that didn't mean he wanted to hear the L -word. And there was the flip side to saying something like that: Reese didn't want to hear the L -word either. Two and a half days wasn't nearly enough time for . . . she stopped again.

"What exactly is going on between them?" she asked, tipping her head to the ice skaters. "And what's going on between us?"

Smiling, Zack moved closer and slid his arm around her waist so they were side by side and still looking out at the skaters. "Between us can be here and now. It can be just this. Or it can be—"

He stopped, winced, and muttered some profanity when his granddad slipped and landed on his butt. Sylvia fell too, and that created a mini pileup. Reese held her breath, but there didn't appear to be any injuries. However, there was a lot of giddy laughter, and the skaters created such a happy winter wonderland scene that others stopped to take some photos.

Reese forgot about her phone watching, her concerns about the romances going on, and just enjoyed the moment. She looked at Zack, glad that the moment included him.

"It can be just this," he repeated, brushing his mouth over hers.

She felt the heat skyrocket and waited for him to deepen the kiss, along with finishing his Or it can be. No finishing though because his phone dinged with a text. Muttering some more profanity, Zack read the message.

And did more cursing.

A lot more.

At first she thought it had something to do with their search for Happy Harry, but when he showed her the text, she saw it was from someone she certainly hadn't expected.

Paul.

Just heard from someone in Loveland that you're seeing Reese. Paul messaged. WTH? I know you can't be mixing it up with my ex. I don't think there's a statute of limitations on poaching on a friend's ex.

Reese felt another surge of heat, but this wasn't from the pleasure of Zack's mouth. It was from a shot of scalding-hot anger. She looked at Zack through narrowed eyes. And his eyes were narrowed, too. She saw that he, too, had anger flaring through him.

Good.

"Should I remind the cheating piece of crap that he doesn't have a say in what you and I do?" Zack threw out, but then he waved the reminder off and went with a much shorter, more direct response:

Piss off, Paul.

Reese laughed before she even knew she was going to. "I think I'm a little bit in love with you for doing that," she blurted.

Shock roared through her just as anger had done moments earlier. "Oh, crap," she muttered. "I shouldn't have said that."

She would have no doubt started babbling to try to explain, well, something, but all thoughts of babbling and explanation faded when Zack pulled her to him and kissed her.

Any and all kisses from Zack were hot, but this one was a chart topper. He put plenty of intensity into the pressure of his mouth on hers, and with a few clever moves and the flick of his tongue, he made her forget all about texts from pond scum exes. All she could remember was that she really enjoyed doing this with him.

He deepened the kiss, pulling her even closer until it wasn't just his mouth persuading her but also his body. And what a body it was. All those muscles that managed to feel both snuggle-worthy and hard at the same time. Her own body was especially pleased with this newfound contact, and Reese instantly wanted more.

Zack gave her more.

He turned her, moving them away from the window until her back was against the wall. Now that she was anchored, he pressed himself even harder against her, firing up the heat until an ache started in the center of her body and started to spread.

Zack lowered his mouth to her neck, landing some kissing there while he slid his hand between their bodies to her breasts, which had definitely started to long for attention. Zack gave it to her. First by cupping her and then by touching his mouth to the front of her shirt. Yes, there was fabric between her nipples and his mouth, but the shirt suddenly felt thin and flimsy.

He continued kissing, moving his lips over her throat and letting his warm breath stir up even more heat before he came back to her mouth. The problem with a really good kiss and some amazing touching was that it couldn't just do a run in place. Nope. It created a need to go further. It caused an urgency to wash over her, causing her breath to go thin and her heart to race.

For a moment, Reese thought the sound she heard was her racing heart, but when Zack stopped kissing her and lifted his head, she realized what it was.

Someone was knocking on the door.

Zack muttered some profanity and looked ready to do whatever it took to get rid of the interruption.

"Sheriff Caldwell?" a man called out.

Zack stepped back, and she gave him a questioning look. "I don't recognize the voice," he muttered.

He was clearly frustrated, but he was also the sheriff, so this wasn't a knock he could just ignore. Zack went to the door and threw it open to reveal their visitor: A man with thinning gray hair and a portly build.

"Reese Darnell? Sheriff Caldwell?" the man asked, and the moment he got confirming nods, he added, "I'm Harry Floyd. And I understand you're looking for me."