Page 33 of Here & Now

Eight

Zane waited two days for Bree to contact him about the interview before taking matters into his own hands. When he got home from work on Friday and saw her car in the driveway, he went up to her door and knocked.

He heard footsteps, and then they paused. “I know you’re there,” he said.

The door opened, and she looked at him guiltily.

“Is this a bad time?” He glanced behind her and saw boxes scattered around the living room.

“Yes and no.”

She was obviously busy cleaning or organizing, but he forged ahead. “I stopped by about the interview.”

“I was going to call you on Monday.”

“How? You don’t have my number.”

“I would have called the shop.”

“Oh.”

“But since you’re here…”

He suddenly felt guilty for intruding. “That’s okay. We can do it on Monday.”

He turned to leave, but she stopped him.

“Wait, I could use a break.”

“You sure?”

She nodded. “I’ve been inside all day, and I was thinking about going to the beach.”

“To swim?”

“To walk.”

“Oh.” There went his chance to see her in a bikini again.

“You could come with me, unless you have other plans.”

As usual, Marco had asked him to go to the bar tonight, but he’d declined, hoping to hook up with Bree instead. Well, not hook up in that sense, but… Who was he kidding? He’d love to hook up with her, but that wasn’t why he was there.

“Nope, no other plans.”

“Okay, give me a few minutes to change, and then we can go.”

“Change into a bathing suit?” There was still hope.

She shook her head. “Shorts and a tank top.”

She was wearing sweats and a T-shirt, so that made sense if they were walking, but he gave it one more shot. “You could wear a bathing suit underneath, just in case.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Why are you so hung up on this?”

He shrugged. “It’s a nice night for a swim, that’s all.”

“It’ll be kind of hard to take notes in the ocean.”