Part 18 (1/2)

Tansy Trevillian had agreed to make the trip to San Pico tomorrow night. He just needed to call Liz and confirm that everything was ready. One quick call, he told himself, strictly business.

”h.e.l.lo.” The single word, spoken in that softly feminine voice, had the power to make him go hard.

”It's Zach. I just wanted to check in, make sure everything is set for tomorrow night.”

”So far, everything looks good. Maria thinks she can keep Miguel away until at least midnight.”

”Good. Great.”

”You said she'd be there about dark so I guess I'll see you then.” She sounded way too eager to hang up the phone and a thread of irritation slipped through him.

His hands tightened around the wheel. ”You sound busy. Got a hot date?”

Her voice flattened out. ”No.”

”Why not? You're a beautiful woman. I'm surprised every man in town isn't trying to get you into bed.”

”The only man who's been trying is you, Zach. I guess the rest have figured out I'm not interested.”

”Maybe. And maybe you're living in a town full of idiots. I want to see you, Liz.” He hadn't meant to say it. The words just seemed to pop out of his mouth.

”I told you before, Zach, it's not a good idea.”

”Maybe it is. How can we know for sure unless we try it and see?”

A momentary pause. ”Are you sure you're not just looking for someone to fill in for Lisa?”

”Yes, I'm sure. I've been thinking about you all week. I'll be in town in less than an hour. I want to come over and see you.”

”Please, Zach, don't push this thing. I made a mistake last week, all right? I don't know exactly how it happened, but I don't want it to happen again.”

”Dammit, Liz!”

”I've got to go, Zach. I'll see you tomorrow night.” Liz hung up and Zach swore softly. He tossed his cell phone into the pa.s.senger seat and raked a hand through his hair. Liz was determined to stay away from himand she was probably right. He wasn't the kind of guy a woman should get involved with. He was too much of a loner, his single lifestyle too much a part of him. Liz deserved better than a brief affair with a guy like him.

Zach thought of his mother and Fletcher Harcourt and how they had mostly ignored him. He thought of Fletcher's late wife, Constance, and how she had made him feel like the dirt beneath her expensive high heels.

Then there was Carson, who had bullied him until he'd gotten tough enough to fight back. Carson hadn't stopped his hara.s.sment, just changed his tactics to ridicule and ostracism. Over the years, Zach had built a wall around his emotions, a wall that existed today.

After Liz's experience with her good-for-nothing husband, she had built a wall, too.

Maybe she was right to keep herself safely locked behind it.

But having done exactly that for as long as he could remember, Zach was no longer so sure.

Sixteen.

On Sat.u.r.day night, Elizabeth left her apartment just before dark. She was nervous. She had never met what Zach called a ”sensitive.” She didn't know if the woman was for real or a complete and utter fraud. She had no idea what might happen tonight in the house.

And Zach would be there. Since his phone call last night, he had been constantly in her thoughts. As soon as she'd heard his voice, she had wanted to see him, so badly it hurt.

Zachary Harcourt attracted her in a way no man ever had. She had never craved a man, never l.u.s.ted after one, never ached for a man the way she did Zach.

It was frightening.

And impossible.

Zach was Zach, a dedicated bachelor who enjoyed the single life, a man used to sleeping with dozens of women. He hadn't bothered to deny it. She doubted he had ever been seriously involved with a woman and he probably never would be.

But Elizabeth wasn't that way. If she let down her guard, her attraction to Zach would grow. She might even fall in love with him. She knew it could happen. Every time she saw him, she felt the tremendous pull between them. Zach Harcourt wasn't a man she could chance falling in love with. If she did, he would only break her heart.

Elizabeth thought of her marriage and remembered the crus.h.i.+ng despair she had felt at her husband's betrayal. Brian had taken the love she had offered and little by little destroyed it. She couldn't go through that again. She didn't think she would survive it.

As she drove down the road toward the little yellow house, Elizabeth steeled herself. No matter what Zach said, no matter how much she wanted him, she wasn't going to let him sway her.

Her purpose once more clear, she focused her attention on the strip of blacktop in the headlights in front of her. It was very dark tonight, the moon hidden behind a dense layer of clouds, its faint rays breaking through only now and then. A summer storm was moving in from the west. She could smell the ozone in the air, see the faint glow of lightning over the barren, far-distant hills.

Elizabeth dimmed her headlights as she neared the house, then pulled off the road onto the gravel driveway. Spotting Zach's silhouette behind the wheel of his car, she pulled up next to the black convertible and turned off the engine. Zach got out and started toward her as she climbed out of the car.

”Hi,” he said softly, his dark eyes on her face. She could see the golden flecks in them and something else, something that made her chest ache.

”h.e.l.lo, Zach.”

He glanced away, took a slow breath, and when he turned to face her, the look was gone. ”Tansy isn't here yet, but she called me on my cell and said she was on her way.”

Elizabeth nodded. ”I guess we can wait on the porch.”

”Good idea. After what happened last week, I'm not in any rush to go in.”

They sat down on the front porch steps. Zach was wearing a pair of worn Levi's and a V-neck, pullover s.h.i.+rt. He looked good. Too good. She wanted to reach out and touch him. She wanted to kiss him. She wanted to have him inside her.

”You keep looking at me that way and I won't be responsible for my actions.”

She flushed. It was one thing to l.u.s.t after a man, another altogether to get caught doing it. She fiddled with a strand of dark auburn hair, looped a thick curl behind her ear. ”I wonder when she'll get here.”

Zach gazed off down the highway. ”Headlights coming. Maybe that's her.”

Fortunately for Elizabeth, who was growing more and more nervous with Zach so near, it was. Both of them got up from the step and Zach walked over to greet her as her car pulled in and she turned off the engine.

Tansy Trevillian was nothing at all as Elizabeth had imagined. Instead of some dilapidated, flower-painted Volkswagen van, she was driving a white Pontiac Grand Prix, and she wasn't wearing a long, flowing paisley dress. In her simple beige slacks and pink-and-beige print blouse, her brown hair cut short and smartly styled, she looked more like a businesswoman than the lost-in-time hippy Elizabeth had more than half expected.

Zach stepped back as she got out of her car, then walked the pet.i.te woman over for introductions. ”Liz, meet Tansy Trevillian.”

The woman, probably no more than a few years older than Elizabeth, gave her a smile. ”It's a pleasure to meet you, Liz.”

Elizabeth didn't correct the shortened name. She was beginning to get used to it. In high school, lots of her friends had called her Liz. ”Same here.”

Tansy stuck out a small hand and Elizabeth shook it, the handshake firm, the woman's smile warm.