Out of the Blue Read online

  One of his eyes opened, and when he saw her, his smile widened as his arm snaked out and grabbed her close.

  “We’re cold,” she said inanely, gasping as he rolled and brought her in contact with his very warm chest and lower body.

  “Well, give me a minute, I can change that.” His big hands stroked her chilled skin. “Remember how I warmed you last night?”

  Yes, she remembered. And blushed furiously with the memory, thank you very much.

  “Ah, you do.” He gave her a wicked smile.

  She’d never forget. He’d warmed her over every single inch of her body until she’d been begging him for more. Begging. She wasn’t likely to forget how quickly he’d obliged her.

  Or how she’d returned the favor, thrilling to the dark, needy sounds she’d dragged out of him.

  “Hannah.”

  She realized his smile had faded and he was watching her with utmost seriousness. In direct contrast, he tenderly stroked her face. “Last night, in the shower...I didn’t use a condom.”

  “Oh.” Oh.

  “I didn’t protect you. I’ve never forgotten before, never, and—”

  “It...it wasn’t all your fault, I forgot too.”

  His face twisted, and he dropped his forehead to hers. “I’m sorry.”

  She knew the dangers of unprotected sex, and yet last night she’d never once thought about it. How could that have happened?

  “I hate to leave without knowing,” he said slowly. “If you’re pregnant.”

  She hated the way her heart constricted at the thought of him going, much more than worrying about the possible consequences of last night.

  “I want you to promise to contact me if you are.”

  “Zach—”

  “Promise,” he urged, his eyes a fathomless blue. “If you don’t, I’m going to stay until I find out for myself.”

  She stared at him for a long moment, seeing the genuine concern. He would stay, she knew that, he would think it his duty.

  And in that moment, she couldn’t help but wonder, what would it be like to allow herself to be loved by such a man, with this all-consuming passion?

  Would she want his baby?

  Would she be wishing right now that they’d started a child last night?

  “Hannah.”

  “All right,” she murmured. “I promise.”

  “I mean it. I don’t want you to face that alone.”

  “I promised, Zach. I meant it.”

  That seemed to relieve him, but all it did was up her confusion factor.

  She’d resigned herself to him leaving, or at least had told herself she had, to accepting whatever it was they could share until that time. But if she wasn’t careful, she’d be yearning for things like a white lacy wedding dress, a dreamy honeymoon and a house with a white picket fence.

  Zach lifted his head to speak, to probably say something that would make her heart squeeze all the more, and she couldn’t allow it. So she used the first distraction that came to mind, and tugged his head down to hers, kissed him, deepening it until he moaned and pulled her beneath him.

  Talking was forgotten.

  * * *

  TARA AND ALEXI MET in the kitchen early that morning. It wasn’t a scheduled business meeting, but a secretive one, which explained why Hannah wasn’t invited.

  They needed to discuss her.

  “She’s falling for him,” Tara said confidently.

  “And he’s falling for her, too,” Alexi said, but she paced the kitchen. “Still, he’s leaving soon and I don’t see her just walking away from here to be with him. Not that I want her to go—”

  “Of course not! But there can be compromises.”

  “Well, you would think so,” Alexi said with a sigh. “But they’re both so set in their lives.”

  “So what are we going to do?”

  “Well damn, I don’t know. Who would have thought matchmaking would be so darned difficult? We gave her a push with that silly toilet challenge thing, I would have thought she could take it from there.” Irritably, Alexi started chewing on her nails. “I swear, you’d think I was the older sibling, the way I have to take charge of Zach’s life.”

  “Excuse me?” Zach stepped into the kitchen, brow raised in query. “Take charge of my life? Since when?”

  Tara stood. “Well, I’d love to stay but I have...stuff to do. Yeah, stuff.” She shot Alexi a long look, smiled weakly at Zach, and left.

  “Chicken,” Alexi muttered. She forced a bright smile at Zach. “Hey, good morning. How about breakfast?”

  “Hold on. I see that look in your eyes, and I know it all too well. You’re up to something, and unfortunately for me, it apparently involves my life. So spill it.”

  “Are you kidding? And risk life and limb?”

  “I’ve never hurt you.”

  “What about the time you whacked me with a baseball?”

  “I was nine and you’d just happened to wobble out on the back porch just as I hit it. I didn’t mean to!”

  “Uh-huh.” She crossed her arms. “And how about the time you nearly lost me at Disneyland?”

  “Hey, it’s absolutely not my fault you fell asleep behind a rock on Tom Sawyer’s island. I searched everywhere!”

  Alexi smiled. “That was fun—you should have seen the look on your face when I popped up. You cried.”

  “I did not!”

  “It’s okay for a man to cry, Zach. In fact, it makes them sexy.”

  “I was twelve! And you’re still doing it, you’re still driving me crazy.”

  “That’s why you love me so much.”

  “Yeah.” And because he was in a good mood, and also because he knew she hated it, he ruffled her hair.

  She growled and made him laugh. “Love you, too,” he said with a grin.

  “Oh, Zach.” With a sudden fierceness, she grabbed him close in a hug. “And you’re leaving again. I’ll miss you so much. Why can’t you be tired of the big city life by now? Avila really is a terrific place. You could be happy here if you tried.”

  Slowly, gently, he untangled himself and helped himself to a glass of iced tea, which he downed in two swallows because suddenly his mouth was dry.

  And his heart heavy.

  In a matter of days he’d be back in Los Angeles, on a new case.

  Back to the grind.

  Only he didn’t think he was ready. For one thing, he was still tired. And for another...

  Oh, who the hell was he kidding?

  He was no longer tired.

  He no longer hurt.

  He was even in decent shape. There was no reason why he couldn’t go back to work—except that he didn’t want to.

  He didn’t want to leave Hannah.

  A longer leave might temporarily solve the problem, but as Hannah had pointed out, that would only make it worse when he did go back.

  Way worse.

  He turned away from his sister’s questing, worried gaze and looked out the window, which happened to overlook Hannah’s beautiful gardens.

  She was out there on her knees, bent over a small pot of daisies. Probably talking to them, he thought with a reluctant smile. She was beautiful out there, with the wind in her hair, the ocean at her back.

  And from deep within him came an unrelenting yearning for...for what? And wasn’t that just the problem? He couldn’t put a name to this terrible aching need, and because he couldn’t, he had no idea how to solve it.

  “She’s very special.”

  Zach turned his head to look at Alexi, who was standing solemnly beside him, looking out the same window at the same woman.

  “I can see how you look at her,” Alexi said. “And the funny thing is, I just knew it would be this way between the two of you.”

  “I belong in Los Angeles, Alexi. And Hannah...” He looked out the window again, saw the slight smile carving her lips as she tended to her beloved plants. “She belongs here.”

  “No, she belongs with her heart. Which will be