“Don’t do it because of them. Have fun, Isabelle. Channel your inner Rosie.”
She snorted, grimace-smiled, then fluffed her hair in a fair imitation of the real Rosie. “Who do you think taught her all she knows?”
Tickled at her show of sass, Zach laughed. “There you go.”
The music started. Taking a deep breath, Isabelle picked up one of the microphones and half said, half sang the first line of Frank Loesser’s classic about it being cold outside.
Grinning, Zach sang his line.
*
Keeping her gazelocked with his, Isabelle jumped into the song the same way she tackled most things, by giving her all. And, if she were truthful, with a desire to throw Zach off-kilter by letting him know once and for all that she was no fuddy-duddy.
Zach took her hands. “They’re like ice,” he sang.
Any nervousness she’d had at singing in front of her friends and family was replaced with an intense awareness of where his fingers held hers. He was so big and strong, capable of allowing her to lean on him the way she had at the shelter, capable of pushing her outside her comfort zone, such as their current predicament.
When it came to the line about her father, she tweaked the verse to say her sister instead.
She doubted most noticed the change, but the flicker in Zach’s eyes said he had. Without missing a beat, he continued the tune, though.
When they finished, clapping filled the restaurant.
Zach wrapped his arms around her, lifted her off her feet, and spun her around. “You’re amazing.”
Heart pounding from being in his arms, she fluffed her hair in another Rosie move. “I know.”
He laughed, then put her down. “For the record, I’ve never really paid attention to those lyrics. Next time, I’ll choose better. That song isn’t who I am.”
She knew that. It’s why she’d agreed to sing it with him. Zach was too honorable to ply a woman with alcohol and originally, the song had been written to encourage guests to leave a house party rather than with any nefarious intent. “Next time?”
He shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe our number will come up again.”
*
“Admit it. Youhad fun tonight.” Zach said later that night as Isabelle drove him home.
Tiny flecks of snow had started to fall and were hitting the windshield. The temperature had done a rapid nosedive from earlier that day, and the car’s heater blew warm, thanks to his having gone outside to start it prior to their leaving Lou’s. He’d offered to drive as his thirty days had finally expired without another incident, but Isabelle had declined.
“Tonight wasn’t bad.” She didn’t take her eyes off the road. “You make a good pretend boyfriend.”
Zach winced. She sure knew how to pop his euphoria bubble.
“And someday you’re going to make someone a great real boyfriend.”
“Probably not,” he admitted. “I doubt I’ve ever qualified as even a mediocre boyfriend. Relationships aren’t my thing.”
“Mine, either.”
“I wouldn’t say that.” Her gaze briefly cut his way, so he clarified. “You’re surrounded by people who you share strong bonds with.”
A soft laugh escaped her lips. “I thought you meant romantic relationships.”
“There was the guy in Nashville.”
“He was always staying there, and I was always coming home.”
“You wouldn’t leave Pine Hill for love?”
