I’m safely inside the cab and grinning like a fool when he climbs in with a wicked gleam. Zack grabs my waist and hoists me onto his lap, claiming my mouth in the most delicious way.
“I thought you said you were hungry,” I say breathlessly.
“I am. For you.” His mouth moves to my neck.
I lightly push him back. “We can’t fool around here. This isn’t our land.”
“Never stopped us when it was your daddy’s. Shouldn’t stop us now.”
I giggle and move to take my seat on the bench beside him. He slaps my ass in return.
“Okay, where’s this great place you have for us to eat?” he asks.
“The only place any self-respecting Dixon girl would go,” I say with a Northern California accent. “Bud’s.”
“You know the whole town will be talking when we walk in there together.”
“That’s the plan. I want to show the town my new man.”
“And maybe a certain waitress who’s hated you since you were a teenager …”
I feign nonchalance. “Yeah, it wouldn’t hurt to totally rub Kelly’s nose in it a little. Oh, I can swing by Lindsey’s shop and catch up. Maybe you’ll see some of the guys there too.”
“You can take the girl out of Dixon, but you can’t take the Dixon out of the girl,” Zack says and then laughs. “That sounded really dirty.”
“Drive, babe,” I say.
His mouth grins from ear to ear, and he looks happier than I’ve seen him since the moment fate brought us into that Uber.
“What?”
“It finally just hit me.” He starts the car and then puts his arm around me as he pulls away. I raise a brow, waiting for him to finish his statement. He continues to grin as he pulls me tighter and says, “We’re really back together.”
I roll my eyes at his adorableness that is bordering on cheesy. I want to say something snarky in return. Instead, I kiss his jaw and tell him, “We are.”
I lean over and reach to unzip his pants, realizing he was right. If it didn’t matter whose land it was then, it shouldn’t matter now.
God, it feels really good to be in love again.
21
Zack
“So, there is a god.” Stella throws her arms up in the air from behind the bar as Jolene and I walk in from the back entrance.
Jolene waves to Stella and walks through the bar toward the hallway, while I make a detour around the back of the bar top and grab a cold bottle of champagne from the refrigerator.
Stella looks down at me with a surprised expression.
“Do not come upstairs tonight,” I warn her, and she gives me a wink in return.
“Thanks for the heads up, boss.”
I grab two flute glasses and then Jolene’s suitcase and walk her up to the office.
Once inside, I lock the door and turn on the lights.
“That’s an impressive bottle of Dom Pérignon you got there.” She giggles as she backs up toward the desk. “Are you planning on seducing me? Because, full transparency, you can get me naked by offering me a glass of water. But I’ll take the champagne.”
I shake my head with a smile as I pop the cork. It hits the wall, and the puff of smoke billows out the top. “This bottle has three purposes.” I pour her glass. “First, we’re celebrating being together again.” I pour the second glass and say, “Then, we’re getting tipsy enough to make us handle the inevitable how are we going to have a future together conversation.”
She widens her eyes as she sways her head. I hand her a glass and hold mine to clink with hers.
“What’s the third purpose?” she asks before taking a sip.
“Then, I’m going to seduce you.” I down my first glass and hear her cough on hers.
“Good plan,” she says, clearing her throat.
As I pour my next glass, I start, “I work at the bar four days a week and then at my parents’ place two days, and I have Luke every afternoon.”
She blows out her lips and crosses her arms, the glass tucked against her body. “I fly eighty hours a month, mostly long-haul flights.”
“Eighty hours doesn’t sound so bad.”
“That’s just the flight time. I only get paid if I’m in the air. That’s why I love overseas flights. I’m guaranteed more hours in one flight.”
“You’re fucking with me,” I say as I put my glass down, as if that’s going to help me understand this better. “So, if there’s a flight delay, you don’t get paid?”
“Nope. But I do get a per diem for layovers. That’s how I pay for my food and travel expenses when I’m away.”
I nod, doing the math in my head. “So, eighty hours has you traveling—”
“Twenty days a month—roughly.”
I run a hand over the back of my neck. That’s more days away than I was prepared for. “Realistically, how many hours do you want to be flying? And please don’t say eighty.”
She finishes her glass and thinks. “I’d be happy with three days a week. It would cut my salary down considerably though.”
“I’m not worried about your salary. You have me now. If we’re doing this, we’re doing it together.” My words are forceful but not mean. I’m very serious about making this work. “I’m not working in my dad’s shop anymore.”
“Zack, you can’t—”
“We already spoke about it. He has his disability check coming in, so he’s promoting one of the employees to full-time manager. I’ll pop in and do a surprise check every once in a while, but it’s time.”
She nods. “Wow, okay. So, this is working out. I have to relocate back to San Francisco.”
“Fuck yeah, you do.”
“Get my own apartment.”
“Fuck no, you won’t.” I walk up to her and puff out my chest.
“You certainly know how to go all alpha on me to prove a point. It’s kinda sexy, so I’ll let you think it’s making me quake in my boots.”
She’s such a smart-ass. I love it.
“We’ll get a place. Together. I’ll pay,” I state.
“Hold up, Mr. Moneybags. I can chip in.”
“I pay the rent. You can help with the bills.” My jaw clenches as I lower my eyes, showing my force, and then my shoulders fall, as do my brows, as I ask, “Why are you smiling like that?
She clamps her lips closed. “Ten years of anxiety, one dramatic fight in New York, and here we are, solving all our problems in five minutes. And, by the way, you don’t have to go all big man on me. I’m not your little woman who’s gonna do what you say,” she teases as she runs her fingers up my chest like they’re walking.
My brow quirks. “Oh no?”
“Nope.”
With a devilish grin, I take her glass from her, placing it on the table before hoisting her over my shoulder so quickly that she lets out a yelp. Her hair is dangling as I carry her caveman-style to my bed, pulling it down from the wall.
When it’s lowered, I lay her down, and she sits up in protest.