“That’s my job,” she heard him say, and then his teeth were replacing hers on her lower lip and he tugged it in between his lips. “God, you taste good,” he said and then he was kissing her some more, an upside-down kiss that stole the rest of her brain cells away in perfect choreography with his hands as they moved from the bottom of her rib cage to feather over her stomach, then lower still.

She opened up for him, moaned into his mouth as he slid one hand past her damp curls and into her, while the other moved in perfect circles over the point of arousal between her legs. Just that quickly, she went off beneath him. Somehow, he managed to be there not just with his hands, his fingers, but with his mouth, too.

Too impatient to let her climax run its course, she pulled him up over her so that both of them were lying on the narrow massage table. She ripped at the zipper of his jeans and he was ready with a condom the second she had him free.

Wrapping herself around him was so natural, so perfect, that it was almost as if he’d always been there with her, in her arms, holding her.

Loving her.

Chapter Twenty-three

A short while later she dropped Zach off at his place so that he could head for Southern California. Heather went to pick up the dogs at Tina’s house and after a reunion where they both acted like she’d been gone for one year instead of one night, she took them to the park and the dog bakery and the coffee shop. By then, they were dragging enough for her to accept that she couldn’t avoid going home anymore.

She loved her house. After being around people all day long at her office, it had always been a wonderfully quiet, peaceful respite.

So then, why did it suddenly feel too quiet?

And how could she possibly feel lonely when she had two absolutely wonderful furry companions?

She didn’t already miss Zach, darn it. It wasn’t at all okay that he could have taken a spot in her life that quickly, or that thoroughly.

Her phone rang and she had her hands too full with bags of dog food to look at the caller screen before answering.

“Hi, Heather, it’s Lori. Zach’s sister. We met at the baseball game.”

Heather had given Lori her phone number to pass on to a friend who was thinking about getting a new puppy, but she hadn’t expected Zach’s sister to call herself.

“Of course I remember who you are,” she told Lori. “How are you?”

“Are you free tonight? We’re doing an impromptu girls’ night here and I thought you’d be a great addition.”

Any other time Heather would have made her excuses, but her empty house still loomed way too big. Besides, Lori and Sophie had been really nice. Why shouldn’t she spend some time with them? Just because she and Zach would eventually run their course and go their separate ways didn’t mean that she couldn’t make a couple of friends along the way.

After a quick shower, she grabbed a bottle of wine and a container of brownies she hadn’t been able to resist at the recent farmer’s market. Female laughter rang out as Lori opened her door.

“Heather’s here,” she called out to everyone and a moment later, Heather found herself being openly studied by several sets of eyes. “Heather, this is Chloe, Nicola, and you already know Sophie. Chloe is married to my brother Chase. Nicola is dating my brother Marcus.”

Oh no. Why hadn’t she realized she’d be walking into Sullivan Significant Other land? Had Zach scrambled her brain that much with his supersexy massage that she couldn’t think straight anymore?

“Look, she brought brownies. What did I tell you? Is she a good one, or what?”

Chloe, who was extremely pregnant, nodded. “It’s so nice to meet you.”

Nicola echoed the sentiment as she handed her a glass of red wine. Heather knew enough about Zach’s family to remember that Marcus owned a winery in Napa Valley, but was often on the road with his pop star girlfriend. She tried not to be too starstruck and prayed she wouldn’t make an idiot of herself around the girl by admitting the way she and Atlas liked to dance around the room to Nico’s songs.

Lori pinned her with a knowing glance. “A friend of mine was at the fundraiser last night and said it went really well.” She raised her eyebrows. “She also mentioned something about a kiss.”

Clearly, word had spread—quickly—not only about Zach donating his car, but also about the scorching kiss outside the Fairmont. Heather was glad Lori wasn’t the type to beat around the bush, because now that she had finally clued in to what was going on, she had to make sure they didn’t have the wrong idea.

“Zach and I are still just friends.” As the three other women blinked at her in surprise, she clarified, “With some benefits.” Despite the fact that she knew she was blushing, she wanted them to understand. “But we’re still just friends.” She looked at Lori. “Sorry, I know you were hoping for more than that, but—” She shrugged. “—it’s all either of us wants.”

Nicola recovered first. “Lori and Sophie said I would really like you, but they were wrong. I love you.” She grinned. “Seriously, I think I’m going to dedicate my next song to you.”

“Unless I beat you to it by having a girl and naming her Heather,” Chloe said.

Heather realized she must have been sitting there with a shell-shocked look on her face when Sophie explained, “They’ve never seen a woman resist falling head over heels in love with Zach before. Especially when he puts on the charm by giving away an expensive car to try to impress her.” Sophie thought about it for a moment. “I haven’t either, actually. Women always get so stupid around him, just because of what he looks like. It’s got to be kind of weird for him, even though I guess he’s used to it by now.”

Chloe nodded her agreement. “At my wedding, you should have seen my girlfriends. I thought they’d all be trying to get at Smith because he’s a movie star. But they were practically forming a line in front of Zach. Chase told me that Smith loves having him around as a foil. I heard he once offered him a fulltime job on the set of his movies just to hang around and deflect attention.”

Heather laughed. She could all too easily picture it. But she couldn’t let them think Zach had given away the car for selfish reasons.

“He really wanted to support the animal shelter with his donation,” she insisted.

“Of course he did. Like I told you at the game, he’s nice,” Lori said, before adding around the brownie she’d shoved into her mouth, “Even when we were kids, Sophie and I couldn’t tell who wanted to hang out at our house because they wanted to be our friends, or who was just there to drool over Zach.”