Smitten (18 page)

“Doesn’t bother me in the least. You look great cutting the pie in those heels. That’s enough for me. Any man, actually.”

She flicked a heel off and tossed it at his shin. Then she took off the other one and sliced the knife into the pie. Without washing her hands.

“That’s a state violation,” Zak said. “Not washing your hands. You did that on purpose, didn’t you? To see if I was paying attention.”

“Sue me.” She put the plate in front of him and sat down at the table. “Are you going to tell me what all that was about this morning? Why didn’t you trust Devlin? You didn’t, right? From the start, I could tell.”

“No ice cream? I like my pie à la mode.” He slid the plate toward her and smiled. “With coffee. Nothing like a little pie à la mode with coffee. Just the right amount of sweetness, tartness, tasty bitterness. It excites the senses, all the taste buds.”

“Except salt.” She held a saltshaker over his slice of pie.

He swept it from her hand and leaned in close to her beautiful complexion. She wasn’t taking any of his hints, so he’d have to be more straightforward. He needed her to understand that he’d changed; he wasn’t the kid who’d pulled her hair and treated her like a second-class citizen anymore. Though as he smelled the sweet sensation of her shampoo, he quickly remembered his promise to Greg and backed away.

“Why?” Her voice was no more than a whisper. She cleared her throat and said it again with force. “Why did you do that this morning?”

“I Googled your friend.”

“That’s a lie. You couldn’t have Googled him. The Internet was down. That’s why he stopped at Natalie’s place and I was able to catch him before he left town.”

“That’s not a lie. I don’t lie.” He took her wrist, kicked out the chair with his foot, and told her to sit. “I didn’t say I Googled him today. Why are you so suspicious?” he asked again, but he knew what he’d done to make her suspicious. He felt red with shame for asking the question.

“Why would you search him at all? How does who I work for evoke one smidgen of concern on your part?”

“Because I promised your brother I’d look out for you while he was gone, and when you ran off to New York, how was I supposed to do that? Google was my only option.”

She winced. “I didn’t need anyone to keep an eye on me.

I needed an investor, and you sent Devlin and his money packing.”

“I offered you that. Devlin is not necessary.”

She exhaled loudly. “Who are you to tell me Devlin isn’t necessary? Why is everyone trying to tell me how to run my business? Maybe I want to do this alone. Did anyone think of that?”

“That’s not the way we do things in Smitten.”

“Maybe that’s the problem. I understand Greg asked you to look after me when he deployed, but I’m a grown woman. I don’t need looking after.”

“Everyone needs help once in a while. No one is an island.”

“Have you met my parents? Maybe I want to be an island.”

“If that were true, you wouldn’t be here to take care of your mother. You wouldn’t be starting the spa to pull off your friends’ girly idea. You’re more of a team player than you care to admit. I’m only asking to be on your team.”

She laughed for a moment, but it wasn’t her springtime, happy laugh. New York had changed her in some ways. Her laugh employed a sarcastic bent.

“No offense, Zak, but commitment isn’t your best attribute. How long until you’d want your money and your building back? You flirt a good game, but I need something solid as the foundation for my spa. You can see that my parents don’t really have the money to lend me, even if they did offer. That money is for Greg when he gets home from serving our country.”

Her words stung. Mostly because there was truth in them.

“I deserved that, but I’ll be there. I promised Greg.”

“Don’t trouble yourself. My bed-wetting, nose-picking, turtle-stealing self will find a way to make it work.”

She charmed him. She always had, if he were honest. He pushed his plate closer toward her. “The pie’s getting cold. I like it when the ice cream melts over the top of it. Sweet and tangy, warm and cold. Like I said, a taste sensation.”

She narrowed her wide, childlike eyes. “You think you’re cute, don’t you?”

“I think I want some ice cream on my pie and you’re not being a very good hostess. I might have to tell your mother.”

She pursed her lips together and walked to the freezer.

She yanked down on the handle and pulled out the frozen vanilla, covered with freezer snow. She banged it down on the counter. “Mmm. Ancient ice cream. Nothing like a little freezer burn to go on your fresh pie.”

“Looks like you have time to make the coffee.” He grinned, hoping for more time to convince her he meant what he’d offered.

Julia opened the yellow Tupperware canister and scooped coffee into the percolator. She measured water and set the pot onto the stove, and though she’d never admit it, she did it with the skill of a professional.

“I know Greg meant well, but I lived in New York City by myself. Surely you don’t think I need looking after in Smitten.”

She sat down again at the table and rubbed her feet. “Stilettos and Smitten do not mix.”

“You’re going to wash your hands this time, right?”

“You can’t tell me you care about sanitizing. I saw the grill today.”

“There’s a reason it looks like that.”

“How did you come by Devlin’s name to Google him?”

Zak chuckled. “This is Smitten, Julia. Not New York. If I want to know anything about anyone, I need only to visit the coffee shop. Nat isn’t exactly shy with details.”

Natalie!
She should have known. “Why don’t you visit the coffee shop now? I’ll pack your pie, and by the time you get there, the ice cream should have defrosted. You’ll bring my mother’s Tupperware back, won’t you? I’m afraid she’d never forgive you if you didn’t return her Tupperware. I don’t care how young you say she looks. Tupperware is sacred.”

He leaned back in his chair and took her foot into his lap.

Just the touch of her felt electric. He rubbed her arches, and she closed her eyes. He hoped there were more nights like this in their future. “You have to stop wearing those shoes. They can’t be good for your back on the brick sidewalks.”

“Julia!” Her mother entered the kitchen, and Julia pulled her foot to the floor. “Haven’t you gotten that boy a slice of pie yet? Honestly, if you were one of his waitresses, he would have fired you by now.”

“On the contrary, Mrs. Bourne, I’d never have hired her.

She has a bit of an attitude, I’m noticing.” He winked, but Julia slapped his arm.

Julia padded to the counter in her bare feet and pouted.

“The vanilla is frozen solid. How old is it?”

“That’s why you wait to cut the pie. Put it in the microwave for thirty seconds. Go on.”

Julia did as she was told while Zak rested his chin on his fist. She set the microwave as her mother instructed, then pulled out the tub and plunked it in front of Zak’s pie. “Your ice cream, sir. No charge for the freezer burn.”

“Well, serve it to him properly. Honestly, Julia, you’d think you were raised in the barn. Zak likes a dollop of Cool Whip on his pie, don’t you, Zak?”

“I sure do, ma’am.”

“You sound like Gomer Pyle,” Julia told him. “Mom, how can you fall for this?”

“Well, go-ol-ly,” he answered.

“Have you heard from Greg lately?” Mrs. Bourne asked.

She stumbled about the small kitchen on her crutch.

“Just a text now and again. He might be home for Christmas, but I’m sure he told you that already.”

“Yes,” Mrs. Bourne said. “What’s this I hear about Julia’s spa being in your grill?”

“My spa is not going to be in his grill!” Julia protested.

Zak thrust out his lower lip. “Your daughter’s a stubborn woman. I offered to do the build-out for her and use local workers. She wants to bring in foreign money, and who knows where she’ll get the labor. Tell her it’s all right to accept help when you need it. It’s the Smitten way. I think she forgot that while in New York.”

“New York is not foreign. Last time I checked it was part of the US of A.”

“Your mom knows what I mean.”

“Does my mom know you lie like a rug?”

“Julia, why wouldn’t you take Zak’s help?” Mrs. Bourne asked.

Julia rolled her eyes.

Why wouldn’t she take Zak’s help? Where did she start?

“Mom, Zak has plans for that grill, and if he gets it running again, I’ll be out of a business after putting all that money into his spot.”

“Zak wouldn’t do that, would you?”

“I might. If we had enough business.” Zak raised his brow.

“But not without finding the spa a new residence.”

“See,” her mother said. In one fell swoop, with one arm, her mother scooped up the ice cream, plopped it on the pie, scooped up a dollop of Cool Whip, and shook the spoon so the pie looked like something on a television commercial.

“The coffee will be ready in a minute.”

“I’ll get it, Mom. Can you leave us alone for a minute? I want to talk to Zak privately before he goes.”

Her mother smiled coyly, as if romance were in the air.

“Oh my, yes.” She hobbled quickly out of the kitchen.

“For an older woman on a crutch, she scurries about pretty good where you’re involved.”

Zak grinned. “Not everyone is immune to my charms.”

“What did you say to Devlin?”

“I just let him know I knew the truth about where his money came from and what ulterior motives he might have.”

“All right. I admit you know more than I do, and no doubt I’ve been blindsided by something you’re delighting to tell me. Do you want me to beg?”

“That would be kind of fun.”

“I’m not going to.”

“I figured as much.”

She hated that Zak knew something about Devlin she didn’t, but in fairness, she’d never seen Devlin turn on her as he had that morning. Three years and one incident seemed forgivable, but even if Zak thought the women’s ideas for Smitten were inane, she knew enough to know he’d never let anyone hurt her. That was a privilege he reserved for himself.

“Ask him yourself, Julia. If you’re so convinced of Devlin Stovich’s character, ask him what I told him. See if he’s man enough to tell you. If he’s not, you have your answer about his character.” Zak hadn’t touched his pie. “Let me help you.”

“No,” she snapped without thinking.

“You say you want the spa. I can give it to you. If you really want it, why won’t you take it?”

“I don’t want your help. That’s all. I don’t need to explain my reasons.”

“I promised your brother I’d do whatever it took to keep you here while he’s deployed. He doesn’t want your parents to worry.”

“Ah.” She nodded. “So this is all about Greg. Your word to him. It never had anything to do with helping me, is that right?”

“I didn’t know you’d show up in my grill today. You came to me, and I took it as a sign from God that it was time to do my duty.”

“Your
duty
?” She couldn’t bear to look at him any longer. Besides, she couldn’t have independence and Zak Grant, so she was only making herself crazy. “The coffee cups are hanging on the backsplash. Help yourself.”

It took every ounce of self-control she possessed not to break at his words.
Hope
was her problem, believing there was something more to Zak than the shallow, callous tool he was. As part of his man code, he’d look after her. When Greg returned, Zak would be released from any responsibility and from her life. He’d never looked at her as a woman, and why she had for a moment believed otherwise was a mystery.

Besides, she didn’t want to end up like her mother, waiting on some man hand and foot.

Zak stood and blocked her way.

“Move, Zak.”

“That didn’t come out right.”

“It didn’t come out covered in your smooth, milk-chocolate words that have my mother completely snowed, you mean.”