Sensual Stranger (17 page)

“Tell him I’ll be right there.”

With a nod, Angel left.

Back on the phone to Evan, Zach said, “Give me a name. Now.
Please.”

Reaching the last street that ended at the garage, Toni
glanced up and saw Zach. He stood just outside the shop’s front door next to an
older guy with a huge belly and florid skin. The man flicked his ashes on the
concrete, then lifted his cigarette to his thick lips, drawing deeply on it.
Smoke poured from his mouth as he nodded at Zach’s comments.

Toni’s steps slowed. New tears threatened, seeming to come
from nowhere.

This morning she’d been eager to get through the day and
welcome the night with Zach at her side. Now the passing minutes and hours
seemed to be sucking away all of her energy, telling her what she didn’t want
to face, not yet, not now.

With another day speeding by, she had even less time with
Zach.

Her stomach rolled at the thought of the following month and
all the others without him, the mixture of truth and lies she’d told Belle.
She’d admitted finally that Zach owned a garage in Indulgence, where she’d been
working to get a steady flow of cash for the start of the circuit. With the
last of the truth, her lies again took over. The worst of which was her claim
that Zach felt deeply about her, even hinting at what might be their future.

One she dismissed for Belle’s benefit. Toni didn’t want her
or Lucky thinking she was ungrateful for them bringing her into their act. And
so, she contradicted her earlier admission as to how much she liked Zach. She lied
and told Belle that despite her feelings, she didn’t want to settle down in one
place. She enjoyed being on the road, free to do as she pleased. She craved the
life Lucky and Belle had introduced her to, one Zach could never understand.

Belle had listened without comment until Toni’s lies ran
out. As she’d slumped against the phone, her body drained, Belle said, “Do
whatever makes you happy, hon. If it’s staying there with him, give it a
chance.” After a moment’s hesitation, she added, “Not every man’s like Joe.”

Toni blinked rapidly, trying to clear her eyes. Being happy
and taking a chance on something that didn’t exist wasn’t on the agenda three
weeks from now. Her future, the one she’d grown accustomed to, was what she had
to accept.

As she continued to approach, Toni watched Zach favoring his
good leg, an unconscious action on his part. It endeared him to her for reasons
she didn’t want to admit or address. He listened to the older guy, nodded in
apparent agreement, then smiled.

It tore Toni’s heart a little more and reached a part of her
soul she hadn’t known existed. Every part of her ached for him. He was the type
of man she’d dreamt of as a young girl before Joe had damaged her life. The
kind of man she’d longed for as a grown woman.

Virile, commanding…cherishing, generous, kind. Not to
mention handsome as sin, sensuous beyond belief.

How easily she could fall in love with him if he allowed
himself to do the same with her, which he would not. Toni figured he simply
appreciated the novelty she presented as a motorcycle performance artist and
enjoyed the physical comfort she could provide during their time together.

To him, it would be the sum total of their connection.

As she drew closer, Zach glanced over. Toni’s eyes snagged
on his, her steps faltering briefly. With a faint nod and a thudding pulse, she
acknowledged him and moved past.

She’d just reached the bay doors when Zach called out, “Hey,
where’s my Danish?”

Shit. She’d forgotten it. Digging into her pocket, she
extracted the bills and change, then returned to give him the cash. “Hector
didn’t make any today. Sorry.”

Before Zach could ask anything more, she went into the
garage and looked at the huge clock hanging on the wall. The seconds and
minutes ticked by.

Chapter Ten

With the chain-smoking customer gone, Zach returned to his
office and called the investigator Evan had recommended. Zach kept his voice
low, telling the woman what he’d found out so far—including verifying that the
Social Security number was under the name Toni Starr—insisting no one at her
agency contact Belle or Lucky for more information, especially to find out
Toni’s real last name.

The woman cleared her throat in what seemed an effort to
hide her impatience. “You’re making my job harder, Mr. Brody. They obviously
know her real name and past. It would be a simple matter to gain their trust
and in a roundabout way ask them what—”

“No.” An image filled his mind of Toni pulling their picture
from her bra, her face softening with affection. “I don’t want Toni to know I’m
doing this and I don’t want the Starrs worrying about her. Find another way.”

“It’ll take time.”

“You have two-and-a-half weeks.” He kept his eyes on the
door leading to the bays, alert to anyone, especially Toni, intruding. “At the
most, three.”

“Then it’ll cost you extra for the—”

He interrupted again, “You have my credit card information
and my approval for the charges, all right?” Not giving her a chance to
respond, he said, “I expect a report every morning in my email account. I need
to know what you’re finding out and how you’re doing it.”

After a brief pause, she spoke in a subdued, businesslike
voice, “If that’s what you want, Mr. Brody.”

What he wanted was assurance Toni would be all right after
she left here, not to mention being free of his sudden possessiveness. It
continued to flare, eating away his reserve as he next called the Last Chance
Diner and asked Em if they had any blueberry Danish, his favorite.

“Hector’s been making them all day, just like always,” she
answered, the inflection in her voice telling him he was an idiot for asking.

So Toni had lied just as he’d suspected. Why? He recalled
her wanting change when he’d given her the twenty. Had she made a call at a pay
phone? Probably. To Belle and Lucky or to someone else? A guy?

Zach’s gut cramped. Inhaling sharply at the pain, disturbed
by it, he recalled the way she’d given herself to him these last days—so
effortlessly, hungrily, repeatedly. If she had called a man, he couldn’t be a
current lover, or at least one she cared deeply about.

He certainly wasn’t a guy who worried about her. That kind
of a man would have helped her when she’d needed cash to stay out of jail and
to spring her bike…unless she hadn’t told him. Just as she surely hadn’t told
Lucky and Belle. Only why would she do such a thing? Because the man, lover,
boyfriend was as broke as her?

Zach’s frown deepened. Was that the kind of bum she’d known
prior to coming here? Had she loved any of them? Would she hook up with someone
like that again once she took off, going god knows where, doing god knows what?

“Want me to throw a couple in a sack and run them down to
you?” Em asked, breaking into Zach’s silence and hounding thoughts.

With jealousy eating at him, he declined, “I’ll swing by in
a few.” Grabbing his keys, he called Angel into the office. “I have a few
things I need to do,” he told the younger man. “I’ll be back in a couple of
hours at most. Take care of things.”

Angel nodded.

Zach left the garage on an errand involving Toni, one he’d
thought of during his many calls about her. A matter he’d share tonight as she
lay naked beside him in bed.

Her conversation with Belle, the feelings she’d revealed
about Zach, dominated Toni’s thoughts for the rest of the day. Already she was
far too attracted to him, which was deeply dumb because all of this would soon
end.

Despite that reality, the hours began to drag. Repeatedly,
she’d glanced at the time, having to force herself to concentrate on her work,
to laugh at Robbie’s lame jokes or offer comments at Angel’s gentle teasing.

On the drive to Zach’s house, Toni sagged against her door,
worn out. Her tangled emotions stole all the casual shop talk she’d intended to
share so she could make him laugh, dazzling him with her personality.

What had Meg’s been like? Sweet? Sultry?

Sadness gripped Toni at what he’d lost. Common sense warned
her it was the kind of woman she’d never be. She glanced at her hands. Her
nails were clipped short, no polish. Her only concessions to femininity were
her manicured toenails and toe ring. Glancing at it, she pulled her gaze up,
noticing the nasty bruise just above her left knee from running into one of the
shop’s cabinets. And then there was the scar near her elbow. And the tattoo on
her ass.

No, she wasn’t like Meg at all.

She tried to shrug it off, telling herself she was okay as
she was, but could not. Envy riddled her over a woman she didn’t know, over a
future she might have had, one stolen from her because of her father’s death,
then Joe.

His heartless smile and cold eyes filled her mind as they
had in nightmares past. His honeyed voice returned to haunt her.

With great effort, she forced them away.

Eyes lifting, powerless to resist, Toni looked at Zach. A
man who represented everything she’d lost and wouldn’t have, except for a few
weeks. An ache tore through her. So quick, it caught her by surprise. So deep,
it stole her breath.

He glanced over, his expression neutral. Toni hoped hers
matched it.

With his gaze skimming her, he asked, “You okay?”

“What was she like?” The words spilled from Toni, independent
of her brain and good sense
.
“Meg?” she added, her voice softening, as
it would be when discussing something sacred.

A red flush crept up Zach’s neck. Pulling his gaze from her,
he fiddled with the radio, turning the volume down, then up. The announcer’s
voice boomed with the sudden change. Zach adjusted it again, this time at a
reasonable level. A commercial for cattle feed came on. “You want to know about
my life?” At a four-way stop, he turned his head to her, his eyes wary, his
tone an accusation. “You haven’t told me anything about yours.”

Curling her fingers into fists, Toni tried to keep
discomfort from her voice and the past from intruding or wounding. “I’m the
best damn mechanic there is.”

Quick frustration and finally sadness registered in Zach’s
expression. With his attention back on the road, he pulled away from the stop
sign, driving a block in silence, broken only by the radio’s noise and his
heavy exhale of air.

At last, he said, “She was sweet, giving and very bright.”

Toni swallowed at the pain she heard in his voice. His
accompanying sigh nicked her heart.

He cleared his throat, his eyes avoiding hers. When he spoke
again, his tone was even, emotion buried. “I met her in Phoenix while I was at
technical school. On the side, I took some business courses at the university
so I could run my own shop someday. We had the same business law class.”

He paused briefly, finally continuing in the same steady
voice, as though he were a spectator, not a participant in his own past. “She
was studying hotel management and graduated with honors. She often talked about
going for a Masters. Both of her parents have MBAs. They’re very well respected
in the Phoenix business community.”

“They sound like my dad,” Toni boasted, suddenly unable to
stop. “He was an accountant. A CPA to be exact, with his own business.”

Zach’s head snapped to her. Beneath his surprise, he
appeared to be waiting for more.

Heart racing at what she’d foolishly revealed, Toni didn’t
offer anything else. She’d only wanted him to know that before she’d turned
fifteen, she’d had an upbringing similar to his and Meg’s. Despite her current
lifestyle and financial situation, she wasn’t that different from either of
them. She wasn’t less.

To block any questions he might have, she asked casually,
“So after school you guys decided to move down here?”

He made a turn and nodded. “We thought it would be a good
place for me to start a business and for us to eventually raise a family.”

Her mind pictured him with a little boy, the kid’s eyes big,
his questions frequent and fascinated at what went on in his dad’s garage.

Renewed longing for that kind of life—for him—cramped Toni’s
heart, her emotions both stupid and futile. But there they were, subduing her
tone. “She was good with kids, huh?”

Zach’s gaze turned inward as though he was recalling a
memory of her. “She has a younger sister, Allison, that she doted on.” He
smiled sadly. “Ten years separated them, so Meg always treated that kid more as
her own baby than a sibling.”

“You still miss her.” It was a statement, not a question.

He flicked his turn signal and made the next right. “I blame
myself for what happened.”

“It wasn’t your fault.”

Frowning, he swung his head to her. “You weren’t there.”

“I know.” Toni softened her voice even further. “But you weren’t
texting, Zach. The kid who caused the accident was.”

His fingers tightened around the steering wheel. “Angel or
Robbie talks too fucking much when they should be working.”

“Don’t blame them. I asked. I wanted to know how you’d hurt
your leg,” she admitted at his surprised expression. “They didn’t want to tell
me, but I pressed. The accident wasn’t your fault.”

He blew out an angry sigh. “If I hadn’t insisted on one last
run, it wouldn’t have happened.”

“You were going about your business that night. You had no
idea you were putting either of you in harm’s way. That’s not how you wanted
your life to turn out. That’s not how it should have. If I could change it for
you, I would. I’m so sorry.”

His frustration and anger hung on for a moment more, then subsided.
Shoulders slumping, losing his frown, he concentrated on his driving.

“You still miss her,” Toni said again. Wanting the truth no
matter how brutal, no matter how she failed to measure up to his memory of a
woman he could no longer have.