“It’s okay.”
Silence filled the car again, but instead of a stony silence, the mood had lightened to a comfortable quiet. Dusk coated the landscape. The orange and red tones muted into light gray, then inky blackness, making the trees look like twisted shadows on the side of the road.
Zach’s voice took on a gravelly tone when he finally spoke. “You ever think about it?”
“Think about what?” Her brow furrowed, and she studied his profile from the light of the dashboard.
“Getting married. Settling down. Maybe even having a kid or two. Seems like that’s what everyone expects.”
Reagan’s heart thudded so hard in her chest, she was sure he’d be able to hear it over the surround-sound speakers. “Sure I think about it. Don’t you?”
“You ever get close?”
“To settling down?”
He nodded.
“Once. Junior year of college.”
“What happened?”
She waited for the familiar pain to spread through her. It had faded from full-fledged heartbreak to a dull ache over the years. “My dad’s people did a background check. Turns out he had a record. I guess he sold some weed to a few friends back in high school.”
“And you had no idea?”
“Nope. He said he wanted to tell me about it when we got serious, but he knew my dad wouldn’t let me see him anymore. He made a mistake, had paid the price, and was ready to move on with his life.”
“But your dad didn’t see it that way.”
“Nope. Told me if I didn’t call things off, he’d stop paying my college tuition and cut me off completely. In hindsight, I probably should have stood up to him, then.”
Zach looked over. “Why didn’t you?”
She shrugged. “I was scared. Where would I go? You have no idea how far my dad’s reach extends.”
“I can guess. So dates have to be dad-approved?”
If only he knew. Not only did her potential dates have to be screened for political connections, her dad also did a complete background check on all of them. Thanks to the due diligence of his office staff, she hadn’t had a real date in over two years. Not that she wanted to admit that to Mr. I-Can-Date-Any-Supermodel-I-Want.
“Something like that. What about you? Do you ever get tired of supermodels and string bikinis?”
Zach snorted. “You know, I spend most of my time in front of a computer touching up photos. But, sure. I’d love to settle down. In fact, I’ve got a plan. One or two more jobs and I might have enough saved up to set up my studio as a home base. I want to move into more travel or location photography.”
“And the wife and kids?”
“Bring it on. Two point five munchkins, minivan, the whole shebang.”
“What, no dog?”
“Dogs aren’t really my thing. Did you notice that scar on my lip? Got that when I tangled with a stray down in Cuba. Thought he wanted a bite of my sandwich, but he wanted to chew off my face instead. But maybe a cat. Or at least a hamster. Yeah, I could handle that.”
He joked like he didn’t mean it, but she heard an underlying truth to his words. What kind of a girl would Zach be attracted to? Size zero, twenty-two-inch waist, bleached blonde hair and skin bronzed by the sun? Probably a Brazilian beauty with a gravity-defying badonkadonk. Reagan had done those Brazilian Butt lift workouts to no effect.
“Hamsters are nocturnal. They’ll drive you crazy on their wheel all night long. How about a cat instead?”
“We’ll see. Closest thing I’ve had to a pet in the past ten years is a cricket I can’t seem to find in my apartment. Every time I’m home for a few days he starts to chirp. Drives me up a fucking wall.”
Reagan squinted, trying to figure out if he was joking with her again. “How do you know it’s the same cricket?”
“Because he carries an umbrella and introduced himself as Jiminy.”
“Good one.”
Zach nodded. “It was, wasn’t it?”
How did he do it? She’d never felt so comfortable and at ease yet so aware of the man next to her as she did with Zach. He possessed a certain combination of sex appeal and boyish charm. It made her mind go fuzzy and other parts of her tingle with anticipation of the possibilities between them.
“Hey, can I ask you something?”
“Sure, what’s up?” He glanced her way, and she slouched against the door.
Something about being cloaked in the darkness of the car made her a bit braver. What did she have to lose? She and Zach would be going their separate ways soon.
Before she chickened out, she forced the words out in a rush. “That night in the closet, if someone hadn’t opened the door on us, how far would you have let it go?” Her face burned as the question raced across the short distance between them. The silence stretched, the pregnant pause drawing out into an uncomfortable awkward void.
“Forget it,” she said, waving her hand in front of her. “It was a stupid question.”
“No.” Zach’s hand fumbled for hers. He glanced from her to the road and back. “I would have let it go as far as you would have, Reagan.”
She let out a breath on a long exhale, followed by a startling hiccup. He laughed but didn’t pull his hand away. A low burn simmered in her stomach and traveled past her belly to settle in between her thighs.
Their eyes held the contact for a long moment. A much longer moment than they should have, seeing as how they were traveling seventy-five miles an hour down a dark interstate. Zach looked away first and Reagan’s gaze followed, just in time to see something brown flash in front of the windshield before a jarring impact tossed her body forward, causing the seatbelt to lock. Zach slammed on the brakes and the car skidded to a stop on the side of the road.
“Are you okay?” Zach leaned toward Reagan. Her hands pressed over her heart. If hers was pounding half as hard as his, she probably felt like she was about to go into cardiac arrest.
She nodded.
“What the hell was that?” he asked.
“I don’t know. Something bounced off the front of the car. Was it a deer?”
“You sure you’re all right?” He cracked his door to turn on the interior light. Her face seemed paler than usual.
“Yeah, a little shook up. You?”
“I’m going to check and see if whatever we hit is still back there. Wait here?”
Reagan nodded, and he pushed the door open. As he placed both feet on the dirt shoulder of the highway, she leaned over the seat and grabbed his arm.
“Be careful.”
He nodded and shut the door. What if whatever he’d hit was still alive? And hurt? And pissed? He wished for a baseball bat to materialize in his hand. Best he could do was fire up his flashlight app and hope for the best. He held his phone out in front of him, sweeping the small light from side to side as trucks and cars whooshed by on the highway. At least whatever he’d hit didn’t appear to be in the middle of the road.
Finally, about fifty yards back, he came across the still body of a giant, shaggy beast. He circled, giving it a wide berth. It didn’t move. What the hell was it? A wolf? A baby bear? Dark brown fur clung to its body in a matted mess. As Zach moved the light over the animal, he saw splotches of shiny red blood.