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Loser. Dork. Psycho.
At least this time she’d gotten out long before she could get in too deep.
5
OH, COME ON. Zac stared in disbelief as Bodie pushed through the door of Slow Pour and headed straight for Chris—who was back to wearing that dumb wig again—Bodie’s eerily white-toothed grin on full display. It was nearly closing time, and Zac had been about to stroll over and suggest he and Chris go out for a drink. Seeing her today, watching her face light up when he walked in, then immediately shut down into that weird new way she had of not letting herself show any emotion, had just affirmed what he had to do. His next step was clear.
In their last exchange of emails, Eva had hinted that Ames was on the verge of being offered a job at Great Grapes Wine Distributors—an immediate opening. Which would mean she’d come back to California, and Chris would return to New York. After that...well, it was possible Zac would get into Columbia, in Manhattan, but he couldn’t figure that into any plans until it happened. If Chris left town in her current skittish state of mind, that would be that—he’d have no hope. There was no point trying to start an intense relationship with a woman who was fighting her feelings that hard.
So he’d left the office, bringing work on drought management he could do at Slow Pour, intending to propose to Chris that they maintain a casual relationship, one that involved a whole lot of good-night kisses like they’d shared last night, and whatever else those kisses led to—he had a whole lot of ideas on that front. The arrangement would be less than totally satisfying given Zac’s inexplicably deep feelings, but if he let any hint of those feelings slip too soon, Chris would have nothing to do with him.
A decent plan. But now here, once again, was bonehead Bodie, with Slow Pour about to close and Luke due back any minute to pick Zac up. Sometimes Zac wondered if this woman was worth all the headaches.
The memory of her warm, instantly responsive mouth provided the answer.
But man, life was so much easier when it involved only work and fun and friendship. So simple, neat and tidy—the way engineers like him preferred things to be. Once romance and emotions got involved, the world became a complicated mess.
“Dude!”
Zac looked over in disbelief at the flurry of high-fiving and fist-bumping.
Gus, decked out in bright yellow board shorts and a Hawaiian shirt, his dark hair recently gelled, probably here to ask Chris out again, too.
This was freaking nuts.
He got only a small amount of satisfaction from seeing Chris roll her eyes at the alpha display. Maybe she’d take his advice and steer clear of both of them.
“Hey! Guys!” She snapped her fingers to get their attention. “I’m about to close, do you want anything?”
In a movieworthy display of maleness, Bodie took off his sunglasses and leaned across the counter. “Just the chance to spend some time with you.”
Zac held his breath. If she did what any sane woman would do and threw up immediately, there was hope.
She didn’t. She lifted a dark eyebrow. “What were you thinking?”
“Aw, man.” Gus threw up his hands and let them drop. “I was going to ask her out.”
“Too late, Barney.” Bodie poked him in the chest.
That was it. Zac thumped his laptop closed and stood.
“Zac, dude!” Gus came over for a high five. “Haven’t seen you catching any waves for a while. They were cranking this morning on dawn patrol.”
“I was out later.”
“Yeah? You doing anything tonight, man?”
“Meeting my brother.” Who was now apparently going to be his date for the evening. Zac glanced pointedly at his watch, trying not to sound as annoyed and disappointed as he felt. “He’s on his way. I’m going outside to wait for him.”
He left the shop, giving Chris a brief nod. That was it. He was outta there. She could have her Gus and Bodie and eat them, too.
Twenty minutes later, he was still waiting and utterly pissed off. Luke wasn’t answering his phone. Zac could either walk the five miles home, or stand here like a moron, waiting for his loser brother, while any minute Chris would walk by, headed for a date with a mistake in evolution who happened to look like every woman’s surfer-dude fantasy.
