The sound of the doors whooshing open brought her to her senses. The vet tech stood on the sidewalk and cleared her throat. “Do you have that paperwork finished? We need it on file before we can start the surgery.”
Mortified to be caught in a public lip lock, Reagan broke the embrace. “I’m almost done. Let me fill in the payment portion.”
The tech nodded and went back inside.
Zach tucked a strand of hair behind Reagan’s ear. “So glad we figured out a cure for those hiccups.”
She cocked her head, not sure what to think about this new development. Was he really trying to get rid of the hiccups or did he mean something more?
“I’d like to pick up where we left off, Reagan.”
Her heart launched into a rapid torrent of heavy thuds. “I don’t know what that means.”
“Why don’t you go finish up your paperwork, and then we’ll figure it out together?”
She hadn’t been with a man in over two years. Zach’s kiss reminded her of what she’d been missing. Her body craved more. With one word she could give in to the bottled up need she’d felt for him for all those years.
But first, the dog. Her feet carried her backward, toward the clinic. Zach’s hands fell from her waist as she backed away. As the glass doors opened behind her, she whirled around to enter the clinic.
With one word, she casually tossed caution to the wind. “Yes.”
Zach’s feet remained rooted to the sidewalk. Yes. She’d said yes. Just like that. He needed to find a hotel, maybe someplace to grab a bite to eat. He pulled his T-shirt away from his body and took a whiff. And a shower. Definitely a shower.
He slid into the car and watched Reagan through the glass doors. The woman at the front desk said something, and Reagan passed the clipboard to her. Even in stained jeans, a wrinkled shirt and no makeup, she possessed a certain quality that commanded attention. Maybe her parents had ingrained it in her from the time she was a kid. Or she might have been born with it.
Whatever it was, he hadn’t been able to concentrate since they’d started this little adventure.
Once upon a time she’d been his world. His happiness depended on hers and hers on his. She was the first person he wanted to talk to when he woke up and the last one he wanted to see before he closed his eyes at night. And he’d blown it. After his run-in with her dad, Zach had tried to convince himself they were just kids, that what they had wasn’t even real.
But he’d never felt that way again about anyone—not the supermodels, the bikini-wearing beach bunnies he ran into in LA, or even the one or two women he’d managed to attempt a relationship with over the years. He’d been searching for that feeling—the mix of anticipation, chemistry, mega attraction, and a hint of nausea. It was the nausea that let him know he was on the right track with Reagan. While he was usually pretty laid back, she made him nervous. Reagan wasn’t a casual girl, and that thought both thrilled him and scared the shit out of him.
First step: find a place to stay. Based on the amount of signage he’d seen on his way to the clinic, this town had to have at least a two-star hotel chain. He crossed his fingers and hoped for a three-star room. It would be nice to treat Reagan to a halfway decent place after the questionable accommodations they’d shared the night before. By the time she returned to the car he’d put in an order of Chinese takeout and had a reservation for a king room right up the highway.
“How’s the beast?” he asked as she settled in the passenger seat.
“They’re taking her back to surgery and will text me to let me know how she’s doing. Poor dog. Do you think she belongs to someone?”
Zach reversed out of the parking spot and followed the GPS to the restaurant. “Looked like a stray.”
“That’s what the vet said. Where are we going?”
“Dinner, then a shower, then a bed. Maybe not in that exact order. We’ll be at the car place when they open at ten and get back on the road. Sound good?”
Reagan groaned. “No. It doesn’t sound good at all. But what other choice do we have? I’ve got to get there tomorrow. There’s so much to do.”
Zach reached for her hand and gave her what he hoped was a comforting squeeze. “You’ll be there. I’m going to make sure.”
She drew their clasped hands into her lap. “Thanks so much. I don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t run into you.”
The twinge surfaced again, a sharp pain this time. You’d probably pull off the secret wedding of the decade without the paparazzi finding out. He’d deal with that later. Right now, he had more pressing issues to think about, like sinking his teeth into some fried rice and then, hopefully, sinking himself into Reagan.
She chatted and joked while they picked up the food, right up until they checked into the hotel room and her eyes took in the king-sized bed.
He walked past her to set their takeout bags on the desk. “Will this work? Based on what you said before, I figured a king would be better than two doubles?” Doubt plunged into his gut like an anchor. What if he read her wrong? Was he pushing too hard, too fast?
He walked back to where she remained in the doorway. “I can get you your own room, if you want. It’s not a big deal.”
Finally, after too many long heartbeats to count, she rose up on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. “The room is perfect, Zach. Don’t change a thing.”
Relief surged through him, and he relaxed his jaw. “Well, I am going to change one thing—my clothes. I’d love to jump in the shower real quick. Do you want to go first?”
“That would be great. Any chance I can borrow another T-shirt?”
Zach unzipped his bag and pulled out a clean shirt.
She shook her head as she snagged the shirt from his hand. “We’ve got to work on your wardrobe.”
A few minutes later she emerged from the bathroom, her hair wrapped up in a towel. The T-shirt he’d given her barely grazed the top of her thighs. Although he’d rather forego dinner and get a taste of Reagan instead, there was plenty of time for that later.
He ducked into the bathroom to wash his hands and took a good look in the mirror. Dried blood from the dog smudged his T-shirt and he whipped it over his head. Within five minutes he’d showered and pulled on a clean pair of boxers. As he walked back out to fix a plate of food and finally get something into his rumbling stomach, Reagan paused, fork in mid-air.
“Is there a problem?”
She looked at her plate, shoved the fork in her mouth, chewed and swallowed. “No, no problem. What makes you think that?”
His lips quirked into a grin. “How’s the food?”
Reagan took a long sip from her bottle of water and wiped a napkin across her lips. “Good. Who knew good cashew chicken existed in Georgia?”
He fixed a plate then climbed onto the bed and sat down across from her. Her gaze darted to his naked chest then she focused her attention back on her plate. Zach enjoyed her discomfort a little more than he should have. She looked damn good in his shirt and would look even better out of it. But a battle raged within him. He’d never considered Reagan Campbell to be a one-night stand. There was so much at stake. Could he really go through with things tonight and still be able to leave her in Miami?