Stranger in Paradise by McIntyre Amanda

Author:McIntyre, Amanda [McIntyre, Amanda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Amanda McIntyre
Published: 2015-09-10T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

Zack glanced at her from across the table. She’d picked at her soup, opting to stare out the window throughout the entire meal. She’d tossed him a couple of nervous, quick smiles, but managed to avoid making conversation. Yeah, he’d had about enough of this.

He tossed the fork down on his plate and sat back. “You plan to tell me what’s on your mind?”

Kacey glanced up, surprised it seemed by his very presence.

“Is this about last night?” He watched her face, trying to gauge her reaction.

She stirred and poked at her soup, then shook her head. “No. Just a lot on my mind, I guess.”

He caught the young waitress’s eye and nodded that he needed more coffee to go with his second piece of pie. At this rate, he’d have a whole one finished by the time they left. “Okay, if it’s not about last night… which, by the way, I don’t regret. Do you?”

Her gaze flickered to his. He knew it was smarter to leave it alone. Just let it be a one-time consensual thing between adults. The trouble was that until she was safe, they were going to be spending a lot more time in each other’s company.

“No, I don’t regret it,” she said, setting aside her meal.

Her lack of enthusiasm wasn’t exactly convincing. Still, he knew she had a lot on her plate, so he’d make it easier for her. “Meaning it can’t and shouldn’t happen again. I get it. You don’t need to explain.”

She reached over and covered his hand. Sixty minutes of damn near total silence and her singular touch slammed into him with the impact of a tidal wave. He glanced at her hand and gently removed it. “I’m a big boy, Kacey. No regrets. No repeats.”

“You don’t understand.”

Zack sighed and glanced out the window. Dammit. He hadn’t intended for this to happen; didn’t mean to let emotions screw up everything. It was better to nip this in the bud right now before things got any messier. He felt her gaze studying him. “Listen, Kacey, I do understand.” He leveled her a look.

“Tell me about your girlfriend.”

A cast iron skillet to the head would have been less painful. He pushed from his chair, ready to leave. She grabbed his hand.

“Please, I want… I’d like to know.”

He took a deep breath, glad they’d chosen a table in a screened porch adjacent to the main diner. He looked in her eyes and realized that this is what had been on her mind. How she knew was another question. He settled back in his chair and stared at the tall pine trees just a few yards from Betsy’s parking lot. Once an old house, the little diner sat back from the main road. The clapboard structure with its number of additions was nestled on three sides by dense Minnesota forest. Right now, he wanted to walk through those trees and get lost. He unscrambled his thoughts before he spoke. “How did you know?”

“I spoke to Harold this morning.

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