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CHAPTER 1
Zachary
Another shot of tequila was probably a mistake.
I tossed it back anyway. Rocco gave me the look. The one that said don’t even think about ordering another, because I ain’t serving you.
That was fine. My head was pleasantly fuzzy, my limbs loose, and I still had a beer to finish. I wasn’t drunk. Close, but I knew how to walk that line.
Granted, I probably couldn’t walk an actual straight line at that point, so I either needed a ride or I was walking home. Again.
That wasn’t ideal, considering it was raining enough to drown every squirrel in Tilikum. In early October, the weather in the mountains was basically drunk. It could go from sunny and warm to stormy and miserable in an afternoon.
Still, my place wasn’t far.
I shifted on my stool, turning so I could survey the action. Saturday night at the Timberbeast Tavern could either be fun or boring, it was anyone’s guess. My brother Garrett was there, hanging out with a couple of other off-duty deputies. Boring. Garrett was the boy scout of the family. He was basically a robot. It drove me nuts. And those guys wouldn’t know fun if it hit them in the face. They’d probably arrest it.
The two girls at the table beneath the old Tilikum Trading Co. sign, though? They looked like fun.
Tourist season had wound down, but they looked like out-of-towners. I wondered what they were doing there. The Timberbeast wasn’t nice enough to cater to most visitors. It was one step above a dive bar, really—rusty timber tools and old signs on the walls, and a bartender who looked like he’d come straight out of the woods.
They were dressed nice. One blonde, one brunette. Both hot. Looked to me like they needed a little Z Haven in their lives.
I hopped off my stool and paused while the room spun a little. Shit. That was fine, I had this. I grabbed my beer and sauntered to their table.
“Hey.” I grinned and took them both in, judging their first reactions to me. The brunette smiled but the blonde looked bored—even skeptical.
I liked her disinterest. Challenge accepted.
Not that my goal was to take her home with me. I had a reputation in this town, and it was partially well-earned. I was a world class flirt. If hitting on girls were a sport, I’d have every gold medal. But, unlike what people assumed, I wasn’t quick to jump in bed with every girl I met.
It was all part of my charm.
“Zachary Haven.” I held out my hand to the brunette. She shook my hand and batted her eyelashes a little. Cute, but she was making it way too easy. The blonde, though? She looked me up and down a couple of times before shaking my hand. It gave me a little punch of adrenaline, swirling with the alcohol in my system.
“I’m Julia,” the too-eager brunette said. “This is my friend Lynnette.”
“Mind if I join you?”
Lynnette’s eyes flicked from me to Julia and back again. “Sure.”
Score one for Z. I pulled an empty chair from a nearby table and straddled it backwards. They both had drinks, so I didn’t bother offering to buy one yet.
I started chatting them up. Basic stuff, just asking easy questions to get them talking about themselves. They were friends, had met in college, and were in town enjoying a weekend getaway. Julia was single and although Lynnette admitted she’d recently been on a few dates with a guy back home, that didn’t bother me. This wasn’t going anywhere. I just liked knowing it could.
A few jokes had them laughing, loosening up. Lynnette wasn’t looking so skeptical anymore, her eyes lingering on mine.
Score another one for Z.
The door opened and my sister, Annika, walked in, followed by one of her longtime friends, Isabelle.
Audrey came in right behind them. She’d moved to town a while back and was engaged to my brother, Josiah. When the door shut behind her, I let out a sigh of relief. Maybe it was just the three of them.
I thought I was safe until the door opened again. And she walked in.
Marigold Martin.
There went my night.
